Guthrie Govan

Guthrie Govan (/ˈɡʌvən/; born 27 December 1971) is an English guitarist and guitar teacher, known for his work with the bands the Aristocrats, Asia, GPS, the Young Punx and the Fellowship, as well as his solo project Erotic Cakes. More recently, he has collaborated with Steven Wilson and Hans Zimmer. He is a noted guitar teacher, working with the UK magazine Guitar Techniques, Guildford's Academy of Contemporary Music, Lick Library, and formerly the Brighton Institute of Modern Music. Govan was named "Guitarist of the Year" by Guitarist magazine in 1993.

Govan began playing guitar aged three, encouraged by his father, but initially learning mainly by ear. His father taught him three chords first, and introduced him to his record collection. Govan began listening to 1950s rock 'n' roll artists such as Elvis Presley, Jerry Lee Lewis and Little Richard, and later the Beatles, Cream, Jimi Hendrix, Frank Zappa, and AC/DC, among others. He worked out chords and solos from listening to the records. Half-Scottish, Govan was also heavily influenced by Zal Cleminson, a Scottish guitarist best known for his work with the Sensational Alex Harvey Band. At the age of nine, Govan and his brother Seth played guitar on a Thames Television programme called Ace Reports. At secondary school he was exposed, via older classmates, to "shred" guitarists of the time. His first electric guitar was a Gibson SG, which he keeps at home.

After leaving school, Govan studied English at St Catherine's College at Oxford University. He dropped out after a year to pursue a career in music. Govan states that he was torn between continuing his studies or focusing on becoming a musician; he ultimately decided to concentrate on the latter. Around this time, (by Govan's own estimation, 1991) he sent demos of his work to Mike Varney of Shrapnel Records. Varney was impressed and offered him a record deal. Govan declined, despite initiating contact in the first place. He explained that: "it was as though all I really wanted to know was that I was good enough I found I was getting a bit weary of the shred movement."

In 1993, he won Guitarist magazine's "Guitarist of the Year" competition with his instrumental piece "Wonderful Slippery Thing." A version of this song was included on his debut solo album. The demo of the track earned him a place amongst several other entrants in the live final, which he then won. In the meantime, Govan hit upon the idea of transcribing music from records professionally, and submitted the most technically difficult piece he could think of (a Shawn Lane transcription) to Guitar Techniques magazine. This earned him a job as a contributor to the magazine, ending a spell working in fast food.

Govan has since worked with Guitar Techniques, providing transcriptions of songs, including his own track Wonderful Slippery Thing. Since the late 1990s, Govan has taught at the Guitar Institute in Acton, Thames Valley University, and the Academy of Contemporary Music. He formerly taught at Brighton Institute of Modern Music, and is invited to teach in seminars, masterclasses and clinics all around the world. In this context, he is known for his ability to teach a wide range of styles. Govan has published two books on guitar playing: Creative Guitar Volume 1: Cutting Edge Techniques and Creative Guitar Volume 2: Advanced Techniques.

Biography summary from English Wikipedia, photograph via Wikimedia Commons.