Today in our Musician’s Series, we are covering Guthrie Govan, one of the world’s foremost guitarists. A true master of the instrument, which he has incidentally played since he was just 3 years old. He learnt mostly by ear and was also taught 3 chords by his father, who then introduced him to his record collection. From there on, we can say Guthrie never looked back. Starting with his first Gibson SG guitar (which he still keeps), he rose quickly in the guitar scene, and was offered a record deal after dropping out from Oxford University (although he turned it down to explore more options as a musician).
He worked hard on his skills as a guitarist in the 1990s, working in the fast food industry to support himself while practicing and refining his skills, and his hard work paid off when in 1993 he won the Guitarist of the Year competition from the Guitarist’s Magazine with his hit instrumental piece “Wonderful Slippery Thing”. He also began working as a music transcriber for the Guitar Techniques magazine, the income from which allowed him to quit his fast food job.
In later life, he became a guitar teacher at the Guitar Institute in Acton and played professionally with various ensembles and bands, including Asia and his own formed GPS.
His debut solo album “Erotic Cakes” was released in 2006, and also performed with the band of the same name. After this he played with The Fellowship and The Aristocrats, with whom he has extensively toured and recorded 4 studio albums with. Also notably, he played with Joe Satriani and Steve Vai in G3, on tour in 2016.
After 2016, he began playing with the Hans Zimmer Live ensemble, and also contributed to Zimmer’s compositions for various major motion pictures. In fact, Hans Zimmer came across Guthrie on YouTube, and contacted him through Facebook, inviting him to play with his ensemble.
Recently, Guthrie has been touring Canada with the Aristocrats, promoting their 4th Studio Album “You Know What…?”
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