Early years Garrett was born in Detroit, Michigan, on November 26, 1941. When he was five, his family moved to
Toronto, Ontario. He studied piano and
trombone at the
Royal Conservatory of Music of Toronto. There, at the Esquire Club, he would learn while watching performers such as
Ben E. King,
T-Bone Walker,
Fats Domino, and
B. B. King. From 1964 to 1967, Garrett played in the Toronto
jug/
string band, the Dirty Shames, which included Chick Roberts, Jim McCarthy, and Carol Robinson. The Hawks would later be recommended by Hammond to
Bob Dylan. In 1968, he played guitar on
Geoff Muldaur and
Maria's album
Pottery Pie. In 1968, Garrett began a two-year stint of touring and recording with the Canadian duo
Ian & Sylvia, which led to becoming a founding member of
Great Speckled Bird. Based there, he performed and recorded with artists that were part of
Albert Grossman's
Bearsville stable, such as
Bobby Charles,
Todd Rundgren, and
Jesse Winchester, and as a member of
Paul Butterfield's Better Days. Garrett was also a member of Hungry Chuck, another Bearsville act, which was formed of ex–Great Speckled Bird members. They released an
eponymous album in 1972. Garrett also played trombone on two songs for
Jerry Garcia's second solo album,
Garcia, released in 1974. He played the guitar solo on Maria Muldaur's hit single "Midnight at the Oasis", which reached number 6 on the
Billboard chart in June 1974. After living in
Boston for two years, Garrett moved to San Francisco in 1976 to pursue session work. With Garrett, the band has backed such acts as
Richard Thompson,
Solomon Burke,
Ruth Brown,
Rick Danko,
Jay McShann,
Johnnie Johnson, and
Rosco Gordon.
Third Man In, released in 1992, was a collection of
covers and originals. Garrett's covers were written by Bobby Charles and
Percy Mayfield. Garrett was presented with an Alberta Music Industry Award in 1994. The album
Off the Floor Live followed in 1996. It was recorded live with the Eh Team at the Sidetrack Club in Edmonton. The Cold Club was a collaboration with
Oscar Lopez, David Wilkie, Karl Roth and Ron Casat. They released an eponymous record in 1996. Maria Muldaur, Mike Lent and Teddy Borowiecki guested on the album. Garrett released ''Amos Garrett's Acoustic Album
in 2004. It features tracks written by Lead Belly and Hoagy Carmichael, among others. It was nominated for a 2005 Juno Award. This was followed by the 2008 release Get Way Back: A Tribute to Percy Mayfield'', which was also nominated for a
Juno Award for Blues Album of the year. Garrett was living in
High River, Alberta, in 2008. The festival was presented by
Six Shooter Records and curated by
Luke Doucet. ==Other works==