Past Events:
Topp Strings are proud to anounce that the worldwide guitar strings company "Rotosound" will be sponsoring the October show.
www.rotosound.com
An evening of guitar. Plus master classes
On Saturday, 31st October, we will be hosting a one off evening with two of the world’s most prolific guitar players.
Carl Verheyen (Supertramp guitarist) and Guthrie Govan (Asia, Guitar Techniques) will be performing together and taking questions from the audience. They will also be supported by the fantastic Seaford Allstars, who themselves are all top session musicians in their own right.
Master Class:
On the day of the gig, both players will be holding master classes for a limited number of people. This really is a once in a lifetime opportunity to get close up and learn some of their techniques first hand.
They will hold two 50-minute master classes each. Numbers are limited to ten per class, so an early booking is a must.
About Carl Verheyen
Carl is a major presence in the guitar world. In 1985, Carl became lead guitarist for the British rock group Supertramp, since then he slipped into the enviable position of being one of L.A's first call studio guitarists. He has played on over 200 different television shows as far back as 'Happy Days' and 'Laverne and Shirley' and including 'Cheers', 'Suddenly Susan' and 'L.A. Law.'
In his studio career he recorded with Stanley Clarke, Dave Grusin and Little Richard. Soon he was getting called to work on many pop records including Tiffany's multi-platinum selling debut. He performed live with jazz saxophonists Joe Farrell and Ronnie Laws, and over the years worked with singers Carl Anderson, Christina Aguilera, Melissa Manchester, Miley Cyrrus, Leanne Rimes, Michael Damian, and Glenn Frey from the Eagles. He played on the Tonight Show with country music artists Tom Wopat and Shelby Lynn, and recorded a movie soundtrack with Dolly Parton and a few records with Cher.
While living near the University of Massachusetts, Carl got the opportunity to work with the innovative jazz drummer, Max Roach. After a brief taste of the road, he returned to the Los Angeles area and began leading his own group, which included bassist's John Patitucci and Dave Marotta and drummers Chad Wackerman and John Ferraro.
Carl's latest album "Trading Eights" features some of the greatest guitarists on the planet including special guests Joe Bonamassa, Rick Vito, Scott Henderson, Steve Morse, Robben Ford, Jim Cox and Albert Lee.
About Guthrie Govan
In 1993 he won Guitarist magazine’s "Guitarist of the Year" competition with his instrumental piece ‘Wonderful Slippery Thing’ (a version of which would eventually appear on his debut solo album). From there he landed a job with the magazine, writing articles to help literally thousands of aspiring guitar players.
Govan began his involvement with the band “Asia”, playing on the album Aura. He came to Asia through the recommendation of Michael Sturgis, the band's long-time session drummer. Sturgis had been a colleague of Govan's at the UK's Academy of Contemporary Music. With his work on the album complete, Govan was added to the Asia line-up for the tour to support the new album. "Bad Asteroid", an instrumental in the live shows, was a Govan original composition .He went on to play on the band’s 2004 album Silent Nation.
In 2006, Asia keyboardist Geoff Downes left to reform an earlier Asia line-up; Govan and the other two band members, John Payne and Jay Schellen, formed GPS (named after the members' initials). After the addition of Ryo Okumoto on keyboards the band released the album Window to the Soul (2006).
Govan’s debut solo album, Erotic Cakes, was released through Cornford Records in August 2006.
Guthrie is one of the UK’s most versatile players. He can play in a Jeff Beck style one moment, then Steve Vai another, mixed in with some Hendrix. He really is the complete guitar player.
“We Rocked You” Bexhill
It was billed to be a night of spectacular guitar playing and that certainly turned out to be the case. Phil Hilborne, guitarist and top session player from the hit Queen show “We Will Rock You” performed songs from the West end show at The Bexhill Athletic Club on Friday 16th Jan. Not only did he perform Queen tunes but an array of Jimi Hendrix and Jeff Beck songs with the help of the fantastic “Topp Strings” house band and a few special guests. Earlier on in the evening the show was opened by the local band “Silicon Beach”, which set the standard high in terms of guitar playing and will be a band to watch out for in the future. As well as guitar playing, there was a charity auction on behalf of Great Ormond Street Hospital, which raised £450 from a signed playing card from the Dire Straights front man Mark Knofler.
A comment from a satisfied customer...
Hi Jeff,
Just wanted to say how much we enjoyed the Phil Hilborne evening. Can't play anything ourselves and wondered if we'd even 'fit in' the audience being, as we are, of a certain age, but just appreciate the opportunity to hear good live music.
We loved the venue and the informal, club-like atmosphere - the freedom to get up and buy a drink or two - and were pleased to find such a mixed crowd of friendly like-minded people.
Of course enjoyed hearing Phil Hilborne play, and the other musicians who joined him, and what he had to say - a really nice guy.
I shall be checking your website for future events - every Friday night will do nicely.
Thanks Jeff!
Hilary & Richard
