Music / Daniel Champagne. At The  Street Theatre, October 19. Reviewed by CASSIDY RICHENS.

Classically trained, far south coast guitarist and singer-songwriter Daniel Champagne performed with dexterity and artistic flair.

It was his fourth time playing at The Street and show number 191 for the year.

Drawing from multiple genres, his acoustic guitar style a blend fingerpicking, complex chord progressions and intricate improvisations. His song themes explored reflection and connection. His stage persona, personable, authentic, lively.

Opening with That’s Why I Still Chase the Sky off his 2014 album The Gypsy Moon – Volume II, his classical training and more than a decade of touring behind him immediately obvious.

His skill on guitar applied in the gentle delivery of Thunder of Your Heart – a recent composition about life on the road, and lively instrumental The Pursuit – a tribute to his long-time guitar teacher, equally virtuosic.

In-between songs and a few instrumental numbers, Champagne shared childhood stories and musical adventures traversing Newfoundland to Nashville, revealing a genuine appreciation for his musical community.

Highway One, a reflective and dreamlike track released in 2022, captured the vast, open road, moonlit pine forests, and snow-covered mountains of Canada, evoking a sense of wonder and contemplation. The gentle pace and evocative storytelling a highlight of his first set.

Standouts included Back to Nova Scotia off his 2019 album Nightingale Collection and Supernova featuring his signature percussive guitar that combines tapping, slapping and scraping the body of the guitar body, while simultaneously plucking or flicking strings and playing intricate chord progressions.

His technical prowess further illustrated in Nightingale and Midwestern Blue – a track from his latest album of instrumental music released in January, using live retuning. A technique he uses to create shifting tonalities in a song by loosening and tightening strings to change the pitch of strings.

And sometimes his dynamic, energetic music encompassed his entire body and he danced with his guitar around the stage.

The contrasting stillness of him bowed-down on the floor, and pin-dropping silence maintained by the full auditorium for several minutes at the end of his final piece made for a powerful finish.