Guthrie Govan Announces Guitar Clinics and Solo Tour in February

Within months of touring the country with jazz/rock trio The Aristocrats, English guitar virtuoso Guthrie Govan will return in February to perform across five cities, in addition to hosting clinics. He will be accompanied by bassist Mohini Dey and drummer Gino Banks as he tours Bengaluru, New Delhi, Mumbai, Guwahati and Pune between February 14^th and 22^nd. Govan will also conduct guitar clinics in Bengaluru, Mumbai and New Delhi in conjunction with Furtados School of Music. Says Govan, “I’m looking forward to the whole experience of playing with both Mohini and Gino. Not only are they both great musicians but I believe they’ve also worked with each other before””always an advantage in any rhythm section…”

Govan’s India tour comes within six months of playing largely successful shows with The Aristocrats in Mumbai, New Delhi, Bengaluru and Kolkata (as part of their Tres Caballeros AustralAsian tour), an experience he describes as “most excellent”: “My fellow Aristocrats had never been to India before so I must admit that I rather hyped the place”¦ Naturally, I was relieved when those four shows basically backed up all of the positive things I had told Marco [Minnemann, drummer] and Bryan [Beller, bassist].” While The Aristocrats’ India tour was organized by Delhi-based event firm Up Your Arts, Govan’s solo tour will be hosted by Ahmedabad-based event/booking firm and 2Stroke tour organizers BlueTree Studios.

Govan, who is widely regarded as one of modern music’s best guitarists, first visited India in 2010, to conduct guitar clinics and promote his solo album Erotic Cakes (2006) in Mumbai and Chennai. He recalls it as a “slightly surreal experience,” having held clinics in venues like the Russian Embassy and a temple, with a “full-on Hindu wedding going on downstairs [during the clinic]!” Nonetheless, the guitarist seems to hold a high regard for the musicianship in the country, describing himself as a huge fan of artists like [Indian slide guitar pioneer] Debashish Bhattacharya and [mandolin player] Srinivas. Says Govan, “It didn’t take me very long to realize that yours is a country which takes its music very seriously, and a typical audience there will bring both raw energy and musical intelligence”¦ What’s not to like?”

Guthrie Govan will tour India on the following dates. Click on each of the cities for more details about ticket sales and venues.

14^th February, Bengaluru, The Humming Tree

15^th February, Pune, Hard Rock Cafe

16^th February, Mumbai, Hard Rock Cafe, Worli

19^th February, Guwahati, ITA Machkhowa

22^nd February, Delhi, Hard Rock Cafe