Jon Gomm

Date Friday 2 Dec 2022

Doors 7:30 pm Show starts: 8:00 pm

Advance price £20.00

Door price £22.00

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Jon Gomm is a Yorkshire based singer-songwriter and acoustic solo performer known for his once-seen-never-forgotten virtuoso guitar style. This involves slapping, tapping and retuning as he plays, producing a huge, multi-layered sound filled with bass, drums and near-orchestral depth and complexity, all from a single guitar.

His songs are often deeply emotive, with or without his soft, affecting voice. And his live performances are intimate and powerful, and always punctured by his natural northern wit and self-deprecation.

When he was 2 years old, Jon demanded a guitar for Christmas from his parents. They gave him a ukulele instead, but after he summarily smashed it to pieces in frustration, they got him a guitar and found him a teacher. Growing up in Blackpool, UK, Jon’s dad – a journalist and music critic for the local newspaper – would take him to gigs, and often bands on tour would stay at their home. The young Jon was lucky enough to meet and pick the brains of such luminaries as Jack Bruce (Cream), Walter Trout and BB King.

Jon turned down a place at Oxford University to instead attend The Guitar Institute in London, then Leeds Conservatoire. Leeds became his adopted home, and the city museum requested one of Jon’s guitars for its permanent collection in 2021. From there, he began self-releasing music and touring, and while still a fiercely independent artist, he defied the odds to sell thousands of albums and tour countries across Europe, North and South America, Australia, Asia and Africa.

His breakthrough came in 2012, when he released his first ever single, Passionflower, along with a video of him performing the song, which went viral, totalling well over 20 million views across platforms. Suddenly being catapulted from cult obscurity to mainstream acceptance has been a strange experience for someone so devoted to his craft, and Jon is an unlikely guitar hero who remains very much true to his roots in the UK acoustic circuit.

Jon has released 4 studio albums, his latest being The Faintest Idea on Kscope records. Guitarist magazine (UK) said: “While The Faintest Idea is first and foremost a songwriting masterclass – with Gomm exploring the beauty and pain of life’s travails – it hasn’t stopped him casually ripping up accepted truths of acoustic technique along the way, with a slew of sounds-like-six-hands guitar parts.”

In 2020 Jon was voted “Best Acoustic Guitarist In The World” in the largest online poll of its type, conducted by MusicRadar and its sister publications including Total Guitar and Guitar World.

“Jon, you are a genius man, I LOVE your music and playing!” – Steve Lukather (Toto)

“Wonderful guitar playing. An all-round genius” – Stephen Fry (actor, writer) speaking about Jon Gomm on The One Show (BBC, UK)

“Making music can be a battle between trying to be a technical guitarist and trying to convey emotion. Unless you’re Jon Gomm. Then you can write the most complicated passages and have a heart-breaking melody as well.” – Andy McKee (guitarist)

“Hands down the most amazing guitarist I have ever seen!” – Tommy Lee (Motley Crue)

“There are very few musicians on the planet who can actually strike me speechless with the beauty and skill of their playing. Jon Gomm is one of those musicians.” – Randy Blythe (Lamb Of God)

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