Guthrie Govan

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.

Guthrie Govan (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.

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.

Govan began his involvement with Asia playing on the album Aura, after the band was unable to secure the services of their first two choices for guest guitarists: Brian May or Steve Lukather.

Govan explained that he was then chosen as an "affordable" option for the band, which had not experienced recent chart success.

With his work on the album complete, Govan was added to the Asia line-up for the tour to support the new album.

He wrote an instrumental song, Bad Asteroid, which itself was based on material from Govan's early 1990s demo.

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."

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.

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.

He went on to play on the band's 2004 album Silent Nation.

In 2006, Asia keyboardist Geoff Downes decided to reform the band with its original 3 members.

Govan and two other band members, bassist/singer John Payne and Jay Schellen, along with keyboardist Erik Norlander continued under the name Asia Featuring John Payne.

Payne, Govan and Schellen also formed GPS (named after the members' initials), and after the addition of Ryo Okumoto on keyboards the band released the album Window to the Soul (2006).

Govan left in mid-2009.

He was replaced by virtuoso guitarist Mitch Perry, known for his work with Cher, Ratt, Lita Ford, and the Michael Schenker Group.

Since Govan's departure from Asia featuring John Payne, they have gone on to considerable international success.