Gordon Giltrap

Welcome to Gordon Giltrap's Website

I'm sure there are many like myself who use the internet to trace names and faces that they were familiar with in times gone by, and if you were following my career from the mid seventies onwards and wondered whatever happened to me you have come to the right place!

Yes, I'm older and greyer but thankfully I'm still here doing what I love best and that is writing, recording and performing. Gone are the days of the sylph like rockstar who fronted the Gordon Giltrap Band, appearing on Top of the Pops and the Old Grey Whistle Test. What remains is the acoustic guitarist that was there LONG before the hit albums and the two hit singles. My first love has and always will be this hollow magic box with either six or twelve strings attached to it, although in recent times I have embraced technology via a Boss Loop station and am featuring the electric guitar on stage with a piece from my 1981 Peacock Party album, The Dodo's Dream.

I have never stopped working in spite of being plagued by a plethora of dreadful managers and agents. My current agents are without doubt the best that any artist could ask for, but my God it took years to find them! I find myself these days playing all sorts of weird and wonderful venues from village halls to the grandeur of Birmingham's Symphony Hall and the beloved Birmingham Town Hall. I'm happy to play private events as well as public concerts. Give me an audience and I will play my heart out!

Hopefully this website of ours will give you an insight to what this ageing guitarist is up to in the 21st century from working with great musicians like Raymond Burley and John Etheridge through to my friend and brother Water Rat Rick Wakeman. Rick and I had our first duo album released last year and I promise you it is a bit special. More concerts are planned for Three Parts Guitar who are now Four Parts Guitar since inviting Clive Carroll to join us. We also plan to record an album together! All this along with much of my back catalogue being released by Demon records promises to make it a very full year indeed. All I need to do is keep these old fingers of mine working and hope that we all stay well and healthy to enjoy it all.

Do take the time to peruse this VERY comprehensive site to find out where I'm playing and where you can obtain my product. You may even want to leave a message on our FORUM page, you may even wish to purchase one of my old guitars!

It's all here I promise you.

Be Well.

Gordon.

HEADLINES.....

Update 1st July 2010

Shining Morn Tour Over:

Selected dates in April, May and June of this year formed part of a major theatre tour that I embarked on throughout the UK. It was under the banner of  'The Shining Morn' tour to promote my new double album on Floating World Records. This was the first time in years that I have done a tour of this nature.

Well, like all things it came and it went!

The Shining Morn tour in the main was a very enjoyable and satisfying experience on many levels. The chance to play bigger venues was good and of course the back projection and whole presentation was a new thing for me. What it did do was to make me play the same pieces each night and really focus on tunes old and new.

My thanks go to Andy Reiss and David Fawcett from Smart Move Productions for promoting the tour and for looking after me so well at each concert.



My dream is to plan a concert for maybe eight months hence at a Birmingham venue like The Symphony Hall or the Town Hall, and repeat the Shining Morn show.

You can read more of my thoughts on the final part of the tour HERE and an overview HERE


Update 1st July 2010



WIN a Gordon Giltrap Signature Guitar !!

In recognition of Gordon’s contribution to the world of guitar music for more than 40 years, John Hornby Skewes & Co. Ltd. the worldwide trade distributors of Vintage ® brand instruments has launched the Vintage Gordon Giltrap Signature electro acoustic Guitar.

Competition closed on 30th June 2010. - The winner's name will be posted here shortly.

Update 1st July 2010

Guitar String Jewellery


Find out how my used guitar strings are being made into beautiful jewellery HERE



Update 1st June 2010

SHINING MORN CD OUT NOW

A brand new studio album from one of the most accomplished acoustic guitarist this country has produced. GORDON GILTRAP has a career stretching back to the late 60's. Gordon's work leans more to classical than rock. He is joined on the final track by old friend and long time collaborator Rick Wakeman and is touring extensively in the UK through out MAY/JUNE 2010 to promote this album - see info further down this page.

The accompanying booklet gives background details of each track including the tunings used for each piece along with photos of the other artists involved in the recording, Rick Wakeman, Andrew Bernardi, Hilary Ashe-Roy, Ian Carnegie and Karen Tweed. Full info and track samples HERE


Update 6th May 2010

A photogallery from the 1st May Tunbridge Wells Shining Morn show by Sue Holton is now online HERE and another by Brian Brown HERE


Update 1st March 2010

Two more Edsel re-releases available from 1st March

Two more of the superbly packaged CD releases from Demon are now available from Amazon or HMV.

They are as follows..

Remember This + Janschology                                                                          The Peacock Party + Airwaves.



For more info go to the Discography Section and March News Update page.









History of the Hofner Guitar book back in print

Many of you will remember I'm sure the Hofner book that IMP brought out onto the market way back in 1993.This book has been out of print for a number of years. Well, it is now out there again but this time with the Hal Leonard publishing group. I have to say that they have done a fantastic job.

The book is pretty much the same as it was apart from the cover and new colour photographs plus an extra chapter written by Paul Day detailing "Hofner yesterday and today" featuring some of the super newer models. There is also a brand new Preface written by me! Full info in the  Discography section


Album Re-releases


The first two double album re-releases from Demon records are now complete and will be available from 1st Feb onwards.

The first is Troubadour coupled with a previously unreleased high definition DVD of a concert from May 2008 at the Winter Gardens in Ventnor. The DVD contains pretty much all the material I have been playing live over the last couple of years including The Dodo's Dream and a bonus interview with Rodney Hearth.
The accompanying booklet contains never before seen photos from the Troubadour artwork sessions and many others.

The second of these twin releases are Music for the Small Screen and my Solo album. Once again these superbly packaged albums contain never before seen photos from my personal collection.

For more information see the February News page or go to the Discography section.




Update 1st Jan 2010

Gordon was the special guest of Rick Wakeman for two concerts in Dec at Marlborough. Find out about them on the Jan News Update page.

Update 1st Sept 09

VINTAGE GILTRAP BOOK OUT NOW

After the tremendous success of the Troubadour book, here is the second in the series of printed books in a project which will eventually feature all the music composed by Gordon Giltrap in his many years in the music business.

This new one, titled Vintage Giltrap, includes twelve of his classic instrumentals, including Fast Approaching, The Tyger, From the Four Winds, London and the two for which Gordon is probably most famed for, the brilliant Heartsong and Lucifer's Cage. The pieces are presented in standard notation and tablature.

For more information click here.

Read the News Update pages for extra details on these items and more.

You will read it first here on the website, but make sure you don't miss anything by signing up for Gordon's email newsletter "Airwaves" Click the link in the column to your right.

GET UP CLOSE AND INTIMATE WITH GORDON

During his 40 year career, Gordon has played in pretty much every kind of venue in the UK from the grandeur of Birmingham's Symphony Hall to tiny, out of the way village halls. He enjoys performing in all types of venues and particularly loves the challenge that the smaller venues present where the front rows of the audience are 'up close and intimate'.

This is where YOU come in. If you would like Gordon to perform a private concert especially for you and your friends in your home (or at a venue of your choice) then call or email Sue Holton ( details on the Contact page )

Why not make your personal concert with Gordon even more memorable by having a CD recording as a memento of your exclusive event?

Subject to availability, Mike, one of Gordon's regular sound technicians, will accompany Gordon and make a recording to professional standards of Gordon's music and chat. He'll also include any short speeches from the occasion as well as audience reaction and applause. The recording will then be mixed, edited and mastered and presented to you as two copies of an audio CD with appropriate artwork and in library cases. (Further CDs can be produced at additional cost.)

To find out more about this permanent reminder of your private concert please ask Sue Holton for details when you first contact her.

We guarantee you and your guests an exclusive night to remember with personal entertainment from one of the UK's top guitarists.

ALTERNATIVELY........ HOW ABOUT A GORDON GILTRAP MUSIC MESSAGE CD ?

The CD would contain a Giltrap piece of your choice along with an individually recorded message from Gordon. The message will be unique, worded exactly as you request.  The CD sleeve will be personalised with the recipients name. Each CD will be personally signed and dated, and accompanied by a signed GG photograph.

For all those who would like a unique personal Gordon Giltrap Music Message CD for any occasion you desire, then please see here for full details

CD 'From Brush and Stone' by Gordon Giltrap and Rick Wakeman now available




We are pleased to announce the CD is now available to purchase from Voiceprint. This long awaited CD sees the collaboration of two musical masters - the interplay between piano and guitar brings out the best in both artists and will surprise and delight fans of both genres. Find out more by visiting the Feb News Update Page, the Latest Releases section or the Discography section.








Voiceprint have posted an interview with Gordon and Rick along with some of the music online here:

Voiceprint Web Radio

Enjoy !

Gordon and Rick Wakeman discuss their CD release "From Brush and Stone"

updated 1 month ago