Don Amero | |
|---|---|
 Don Amero in 2022. | |
| Background information | |
| Born | September 11, 1980 Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada |
| Genres | country, folk |
| Years active | 2007-present |
| Labels | MDM Recordings |
| Website | Official website |
Donald Amero (born September 11, 1980) is a Canadian country and folk singer-songwriter from Winnipeg, Manitoba.[1]
Prior to launching his career as a musician, Amero worked as a hardwood flooring installer,[1] and unsuccessfully tried out for Canadian Idol in 2006.[2] He released his debut CD Change Your Life in 2006,[3] and left his flooring job in 2007.[1] The album garnered five Aboriginal Peoples Choice Music Award nominations, for best new artist, songwriter, folk or acoustic CD, album cover and producer/engineer.[4]
His second album, Deepening, followed in 2009. The album again garnered several Aboriginal Peoples Choice nominations,[5] and Amero won the Canadian Folk Music Award for Aboriginal Songwriter of the Year.[6] In 2010, he performed on the bill for APTN's Aboriginal Day Live concert,[7] and released his third album The Long Way Home.[8] The album won the awards for Best Folk Recording at the 2011 Native American Music Awards, and for Best Aboriginal Recording at the Western Canadian Music Awards.[9]
In 2012, he performed at a fundraising benefit concert for indigenous music pioneer Shingoose,[10] and released his fourth album Heart on My Sleeve. He also collaborated with Vince Fontaine of Eagle & Hawk in Indian City, a band whose album Supernation fused traditional First Nations music with experimental rock.[11] Amero won Male Entertainer of the Year, and Supernation won Best Pop Album, at that year's Aboriginal Peoples Choice Music Awards.[12] Heart on My Sleeve garnered Amero his first Juno Award nomination for Aboriginal Album of the Year at the Juno Awards of 2013,[13] won the award for Best Folk/Acoustic Album at the 2013 Aboriginal Peoples Choice Music Awards,[14] and was nominated for a Canadian Folk Music Award.[15]
His fifth album, Refined, was released in 2015.[16] In the same year, he collaborated with country singer Brett Kissel on "Rebuild This Town", a song about cultural reconciliation between Indigenous peoples and other Canadians.[17][18]
At the Juno Awards of 2016, Refined garnered Juno Award nominations for Aboriginal Album of the Year and Adult Contemporary Album of the Year.[19]
In August 2018, Amero released his sixth album, Evolution, which launched him into the country music genre. In 2019, Amero released the single "Music Lover" to Canadian country radio.[20]
In September 2020, Amero released his extended play The Next Chapter.[21]
| Year | Single | Peak positions |
Album |
|---|---|---|---|
| CAN Country [22] | |||
| 2019 | "Music Lover" | 45 | The Next Chapter |
| 2020 | "Morning Coffee" | — | |
| "Wouldn't Be Home" | — | ||
| "Wasn’t the Dress" | 48 | ||
| 2021 | "You Can't Always Be 21" | — | Nothing Is Meaningless |
| "My Poor Mama" | 46 | ||
| 2022 | "Let You" (feat. Raquel Cole) |
28 | |
| "Ain't Too Late" | — | Six | |
| 2023 | "Go Girl" | — | |
| "Wheels Off" | — | ||
| 2024 | "Can't Fix This" | — |
| Year | Association | Category | Nominated Work | Result | Ref |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | Canadian Country Music Association | Album of the Year | Nothing is Meaningless | Nominated | [23][24] |
| 2023 | Canadian Country Music Association | Innovative Campaign of the Year | "Let 'Em Lie" Release Highlights (with Kyle McKearney) | Nominated | [25] |
