Acoustic Guitar Don Alder – Just a Rogue “Choiwaru”

“Don Alder performing on a Yamaha LLX36C. Song is in standard tuning. Choiwaru is a word in Japanese that means “A bit of a rogue”

Don Alder, get down with yer bad self.

This is some really cool guitar pickin’ and something different that stands out… What’s depressing though is the fact that I haven’t heard of Don Alder before. Either shame on me, or shame on the world. I think he’s amazing.

Don seems to have a lot of influences and a lot of different techniques going on all at once. I really had to listen to this video a few times. Some of the runs are just spectacular.

Here’s some bio material on Don…

“Don Alder plays acoustic fingerstyle guitar with a passion that has quickly earned him a reputation as Vancouver’s “best kept little secret”. Don is a world-class fingerstyle guitarist with a “wow factor” that has let to multiple endorsement deals with major manufacturers and a collaboration with Greenfield guitars to produce a signature acoustic guitar- the “Don Alder G4” model.

Don currently resides in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. His unique style of playing incorporates fingerpicking with simultaneous percussion on the soundboard to create a wall of sound. He is often referred to as sounding like a four piece band. Don’s music is his own unique weave of deeply textured melody and story. Lyrical and compelling, his original songs are notes of exploration – some passionate and haunting, some hard-driven, others light and teasing. In quiet pieces or pushing right to the edge, Don’s phenomenal fingerstyle playing and rich voice captivate.

“We are extremely proud to have Don as a National Endorsee. Don chose our handbuilt L-Series flat tops as his weapon of choice. We recognize that Don is at the forefront of the ‘new fingerstyle’ movement and look forward to a long relationship with this mind blowing guitarist”.

In 1985, he put his music career on hold to assist his lifelong friend, Rick Hansen, with his quest to create awareness for the potential of people with disabilities and to generate funds for spinal cord research. The World Tour (www.RickHansen.com), inspired millions of people throughout the 34 countries visited and raised 26 million dollars. Today, Don still works with Rick in a vital role at the Rick Hansen Man in Motion Foundation, which has had an impact of over 200 million dollars in the field of spinal cord injury. Don says he got involved with the Foundation to “help make a difference” in improving the quality of life of others and now continues to do so with his music.

In the early 90’s, Don was mostly playing guitar as a hobby and was heavily involved in Wheelchair Sports. The World Tour developed Don’s wheelchair tech skills which he continued to hone post Tour. This evolved to the point where Don was chosen to represent Canada as the Equipment Manager/ Wheelchair Tech for the Canadian Paralympic Team in Atlanta in 1996 and Sydney Australia, 2000. During that time Don met Sam Sullivan and Dave Symington, both quadriplegics from accidents. Sam and Dave both musicians, founded the Vancouver Adapted Music Society. Don became the guitarist for the society’s, performance band “Spinal Chord”. They released a CD title “Why Be Normal” which received national airplay. They also released the video “Mary.” read more

Miche Archetto found this as well. Hey Miche, do I owe you some money or something?