Canmore guitarist Andrew Ibanez plays in front of the Three Sisters Mountains. photo by Pam Doyle/www.pamdoylephoto.com
Andrew Ibanez fills his life with music.
He first picked up a guitar as young child, influenced by his uncle who sang and played guitar.
At 11 years of age, he started to take guitar playing seriously so he took lessons and played in local school groups. He went on to attend Humber College in Toronto in 1989, where he enrolled in formal Jazz Performance studies. He graduated with honours in 1993.
He moved to Banff in 1996 to work at the Banff Centre. He now lives in Canmore with his wife Nicki and son Jaxson. In 2017, he was awarded a Mayor’s Spotlight on the Arts award.
“I play a variety of guitar music but especially like playing Jazz/Blues and Spanish guitar styles,” Ibanez said. “Some of my favourite guitarists are Kenny Burrell, Jimi Hendrix and Paco de Lucia.”
But he has played on stage with great musicians including Bo Diddley, Murray McLauchlan, Amos Garret and Russell Jackson, to name a few.
“I have about a dozen instruments, a mix of acoustic and electrics,” Ibanez said. “I also play bass guitar, piano, drums and sing a little.”
He performs for many types of functions and events including weddings, parties and corporate events.
“I can be contacted through my website andrewibanez.com for bookings,” Ibanez said. “I perform as a soloist, duo or trio. I also perform with my Latin band ‘DeMayo’ and my rock band ‘Cronic’.”
Ibanez has recorded two music CDs. His first was a solo album called ‘Sueoños’ which was released in 2002. In 2005 he released a CD called ‘Sangria Blanco’ with his band called DeMayo.
His bands have also appeared at many music festivals including the Toronto Blues Festival, Canmore Folk Festival, Calgary Jazz Festival, C – Jazz Calgary, Fort McMurray’s Interplay Festival, Expo Latino and many more festivals throughout Alberta and British Colombia.
They have opened for great Canadian acts such as Trooper, Kim Mitchell, The Headpins, Streetheart, 54 40, Randy Bachman, Big Wreck, Widemouth Mason and April Wine to name a few.
“The biggest show I performed at was Globalfest in Calgary where my band DeMayo performed for over 10,000 people,” Ibanez said. “One of the most memorable was performing back in 2008 with Bo Diddley in Banff.”
He hopes to get back to steady work soon once the restrictions on the coronavirus are lifted.
“Covid-19 has been very tough on the entertainment industry and currently doesn’t look like it will return to ‘normal’ anytime soon,” Ibanez said. “One of the things I like about
playing guitar is that you never stop learning the instrument and there is always a new chord progression, riff or melody to be found.”
He recently presented an online performance for ArtsPlace that can be found on their YouTube channel.
Ibanez and his family like to ski, play hockey, fish and camp.
“This is why we enjoy living in Canmore,” Ibanez said.
