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press quotes:
“We have seen the future of acoustic guitar playing, and it is called Jon Gomm” Blues Matters “One of the world's most successful, gifted and inspirational guitar players” Acoustic Magazine “This guy has it all - great heartfelt vocals, inspired and original songs, and guitar playing as good as you will ever hear. The new Hendrix.” ReviewCentre.com
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Jon Gomm is an acoustic singer-songwriter with an incredible virtuoso guitar style, where he uses one acoustic guitar to create drum sounds, basslines and sparkling melodies all at the same time, and combining styles from blues and jazz to rock and pop. The emphasis is still on the soulful vocals and songwriting however, and his original material is influenced by everything from Robert Johnson to Radiohead.
Biography
Jon first laid his hands on a guitar at the age of two (actually it was a ukulele - his parents couldn’t find a guitar small enough). He started taking classical guitar lessons, wrote his first song at the age of six, and at twelve he was accompanying his father, a music critic, to blues gigs in his hometown of Blackpool. Touring musicians would often stay at the Gomm household on the understanding Jon would get a guitar lesson, meaning he had one-to-one instruction from such legends as Walter Trout, Bob Brozman, Sherman Robertson and Norman Beaker (Jack Bruce band).
On leaving school Jon turned down a place at Oxford University to attend The Guitar Institute in London. While there he paid his way through college playing jazz in café-bars, recording as a session guitarist, and even playing Country & Western in working mens clubs for line-dancers.
Eventually he heard the call of the north and moved to Leeds, where he is now based, to study on the Jazz degree course at the music college there. He decided to try his hand at performing solo, and discovered all kinds of new sounds he could make with an acoustic guitar – hitting the surface of it to make snare drum, bass drum and bongo sounds, re-tuning the strings to get bass sounds, and teasing high harmonics from the guitar for synthesizer-like effects. He worked all these techniques into his own songs, and put his years of singing blues into use.
Nowadays he tours Europe, playing at festivals from Rome to Athens, has a huge cult following and is regarded by those in the know as one of the world’s most talented and innovative acoustic guitarists. Even with only one CD so far released he is already cited as an influence by many other performers. His videos are watched thousands of times within days of appearing on Youtube, and his home-recorded CD “Hypertension” has sold over ten thousand copies with no industry backing.
Don’t Panic is the follow up to debut album Hypertension, released way back in December 2003. Why the long wait?
“I made the first record shortly after I’d put together a solo acoustic set and wanted to start touring: it was just a demo to get gigs. I made it a full length album because back then the gig fee was barely covering my petrol money, so I needed something to sell!”
This plan worked a little too well, and Gomm has been touring hard ever since, taking his unique brand of virtuosic acoustic guitar-playing to prestigious festivals around Europe and a punishing tour schedule centred around the UK and Italy, and a new album has had to wait.
The new CD features stronger songs, exhibiting Jon’s genuine grasp of a wide range of genres from blues to jazz to rock to country, which comes from his lifelong experience as a session musician and musical academic. Throw in some Urdu lyrics and you’re getting the picture – a one man melting pot. The songs range from dark laments, to sweet melodies, to frenzied romps and there’s even elements of the humour for which Jon’s live shows are renowned.
The guitar playing here is perhaps even more technically demanding than the previous CD too:
“Every time I arrange a new guitar part I make sure I can’t play it without practice. I love the technical aspect as much as the creative process of songwriting, although they are very much separate affairs.”
And as with the debut album, there are no overdubs here, although it may sound like it: there is never more than one guitar on every track.
Jon’s fiercely independent approach to the music industry has meant that the CD was home recorded and is released on the label he owns, which will be launching releases by other artists - including a Grammy winner - in 2010.
Record Label: Performing Chimp Records
Cat no: PCCD006
Mp3s from iTunes and all digital download sites. CDs from Amazon and www.jongomm.com
