Guthrie Govan Discussion

[tafolla-howe-govan]

Is anyone familiar with him? He's from Canada and teaches for the National Guitar Workshop and has been over at Berklee's summer camp for the past couple of years.
He is a devastating player with very advanced chops. I highly recommend his newest album A Demon's Dream...insanely heavy riffs, fusionesque solos, great songwriting and production also. Head over to davemartone.com and check him out

[tafolla-howe-govan]

Wow, I did a really piss-poor job of describing this album and Martone in general. This guy is really a phenomenal player and very diverse. He has ben playing guitar since about age 5 and is already at like 30 years of experience. Ed I can't recommend A Demon's Dream enough. This album is a must buy for fans of instrumental guitar excellence. It is a self produced album and is probably one of the best sounding albums I have ever heard. There is something on it for everybody. Do yourself a favor and pick it up.

P.S. don't let the name A Demon's Dream turn you off, it is by no means a strictly shred or heavy metal album

[Carlo]

agreed. Dave Martone is an incredible player. Did you ever hear Dave's version of Satriani's Crush of Love? Wow! His phrasing and technique is so tasteful and precise.

[tafolla-howe-govan]

Yeah I have heard that before it is excellent, he also performed on a tribute to Jimi Hendrix album, and he covered Angel. It is pretty bizarre, I love it

[alexkhan]

Okay, I've placed the order with Guitar9. Looking forward to checking it out.
_________________
Ed Yoon
Certified Guthrie Fan-atic
BOING Music LLC - Managing Partner
.strandberg* Guitars USA
Ed Yoon Consulting & Management
Guitar Center Inc.

[tafolla-howe-govan]

Ed I promise you that you will enjoy this album, I read in an interview that he said alot of these tunes were improvised If you really enjoyed Joel Hoekstra's album you will like this, he does alot of fingerpicked arpeggios like Hoekstra and possesses a devilish legato. Give me a review after you get finished with it

[alexkhan]

Well, I finally got around to listening to a bunch of the clips and I'm sure I'll enjoy the album. Thanks for the heads-up and bumping up this thread. Sometimes you have to be persistent in this "biz", you know?
_________________
Ed Yoon
Certified Guthrie Fan-atic
BOING Music LLC - Managing Partner
.strandberg* Guitars USA
Ed Yoon Consulting & Management
Guitar Center Inc.

[alexkhan]

I just finished listening to most of the clips on Dave's site and I'm looking forward to hearing the album, but based on the clips, I do feel there's a little too much widdly kind of thing going on for the sake of widdling. Some of those runs sound like exercises and sound like they were put together to impress. They don't sound like a smooth flowing extension of the songs although I haven't actually heard the tunes. It seems most of these clips are from his earlier albums so I'll wait until I hear his latest album to get an idea of what his whole package is about. He's definitely got awesome technique but I don't quite hear the musicality and character I look for in a player's style on those clips. But I'm definitely looking forward to hearing the album. The potential is certainly there.
_________________
Ed Yoon
Certified Guthrie Fan-atic
BOING Music LLC - Managing Partner
.strandberg* Guitars USA
Ed Yoon Consulting & Management
Guitar Center Inc.

[tafolla-howe-govan]

Alot of those clips are from his earlier albums which were way more shred oriented, his newest album though is a much more enjoyable all around experience. He focuses alot more on the songs than on his previous efforts, although his second album Zone was pretty good. There are some fantastic musicians with him also, his brother Paul is a very good keyboard player, and the drummer is outstanding. Like I said earlier, the production is top-notch. He really knows how to mix an album

[Carlo]

there are some guitar players that can really get away with chop-oriented playing...only because their playing is so damn good and tastey. Greg Howe is one of them I think...hehe (I can listen to Direct Injection, Blindfold Drive or Dance till my ears bleed..lol). Dave Martone, I like to think is one of them too.

[alexkhan]

I've given "A Demon's Dream" a few spins now, and although I'm very impressed with his playing and all-around musicianship, I can't say that I'm fond of the compositions. It could be more of a personal taste type of issue as I'm now getting into more jazzy and classical type of stuff in terms of harmonic development and rhythmic variety, compositional flow and development, etc. Not that Martone is not capable of this kind of stuff, but to me, the compositions still sound like vehicles for his soloing and mega-chops display. He's a great player and I like what I'm hearing, overall, but not quite my cup of tea, yet...
_________________
Ed Yoon
Certified Guthrie Fan-atic
BOING Music LLC - Managing Partner
.strandberg* Guitars USA
Ed Yoon Consulting & Management
Guitar Center Inc.