<< Home ...

News

Guitar lessons

About the music

Listen

Ordering CDs

Open Play

Contact

......... JULIAN GARNER


....... Julian Garner [image: jonboyes.com].

GUITAR MAN

In 2012 Julian Garner's main musical activities continue to be giving guitar lessons and composing and performing his own distinctive style of instrumental music for classical guitar. He is able to draw from many valuable and varied musical experiences, going right back to the age of four: he has sung or played the guitar or keyboards (and the violin as a child) in various bands, orchestras, duos and ensembles; he has performed regular headline solo gigs as a singer/songwriter; he recorded four albums of his songs between 1999 and 2006; he was the singer, keyboard player and main songwriter with 'neo-progressive' rock band Rook and other bands in the 1990s, including Kick; and since 2011 he has been singing in the tenor section of the Bournemouth Symphony Chorus.

Julian still gives very occasional performances as singer/songwriter. But over the last decade he has increasingly specialised in classical (nylon-string) guitar - a wonderful instrument that deserves to be more widely listened to, and is overdue a popular revival. He performs regularly in Dorset and is also in constant demand as a guitar tutor. He hopes that, by all his musical activities, he encourages people to discover that playing and performing on guitar can be as rewarding as listening to someone else do it!


WAKING LIONS

Julian's 8 years specialising as a singer-songwriter/acoustic guitarist began with the release of his first solo album, Wake The Lion, in 1999. He had previously been known as a keyboard player with London-based pop/rock and progressive rock bands Flight, Kick and Rook (a band named after an obscure XTC album track).

While keyboards continued to feature on his solo albums, years of formal classical guitar training then ensured that the guitar gradually became his new main instrument. Acoustic, electric and bass guitar parts blended with keyboards and vocals increasingly on the two albums which followed over the next 5 years, Doublethink and Your Good Self.


HEARTBEAT, INCREASING HEARTBEAT . . .

Open Play, still Julian Garner's current album of songs, confirmed that his heart lies with the guitar, as it's an entirely acoustic set, recorded with various guitars including his favourite Lowden acoustic, a Taylor 12-string and a classical. During the far from straightforward years of transformation from keyboard player to guitarist, gigs took second place to albums, but over 50 performances in the two years to February 2008 led to Julian becoming a familiar figure on the thriving Bournemouth acoustic music scene, making many friends. Open Play is the album that truly reflects his solo singer/songwriter live work of that period. A typical set list would include, alongside plenty of his own material, songs made famous by Squeeze, King Crimson, Sting, Crowded House, Jellyfish, Pink Floyd, XTC and Sparks. Julian's song repertoire included fine songs you would rarely hear performed as acoustic guitar/vocal arrangements, such as This Town Ain't Big Enough For Both of Us (Sparks), Money (Pink Floyd), Three of A Perfect Pair (King Crimson), Pulling Mussels (Squeeze) and Senses Working Overtime (XTC).


"MR GARNER SHOWS HIMSELF UP..."

You don't have to look far to find critical praise for Julian's recordings. The respected and articulate Dutch Progressive Rock Page wrote in 2005 that “Mr Garner is an exceptionally talented lyricist...", and that: “The playing, arrangements, and compositions on Your Good Self are mostly fantastic, with the title track and Cryptic Love standing out as hallmarks. Mr Garner has a fine sense of atmosphere...”. Classic Rock Society magazine have said: "He is a fine guitarist and all round musician...", referring to his "...strong, expressive voice...". The same publication, a great champion of new, progressive music, described 2004's Your Good Self as "...brilliant...one of the year's best releases".

Meanwhile, as the Progressive Rock & Progressive Metal Internet Zine of Brazil put it in 2005: "Mr. Garner also shows himself up in great style on the lead vocals", which may lose something in the translation but was part of an excellent review which suggests that English-style classic pop/rock with a hint of progressive rock has an appeal way beyond Julian's native Dorset, London, or even Europe. Another well-established review website, Silhobbit, pointed out that: "Garner's 'signature sound' [is] a subtle blend of the best parts of XTC and Sting with a forward velocity that is unique to Garner's talent as an arranger.” Another site dedicated to original and progressive music, the Hairless Heart Herald said that Your Good Self was: "...a pure delight to listen to! Full of little surprises at every turn... This is rich, beautifully layered but nothing is laboured or overblown. The result is absolutely gorgeous.”

Top of page
JULIAN GARNER

<< Home