Jon Gomm Announces 'Live In The Acoustic Asylum' Album

Acoustic guitar virtuoso and viral success story Jon Gomm is pleased to announce a new album made up of live versions of fan favourites titled ‘Live In The Acoustic Asylum’ and set for release on 8th September via his own label, Performing Chimp.

Jon will also be hitting the road throughout the UK in October on a run of rescheduled headline dates, with the album preceded by two brand new live performance videos.

Explaining the inspiration behind the live album, Jon comments; “I picked a list of songs which are either the most requested or are "hidden gems" that I have real love for but don't often play, or are songs where I wasn't truly happy with the original album version. I practised the f*** out of them, and spent three days filming. In the end we got performances for 9 songs that I was really happy with. I mixed the audio with my friend and producer Ed Heaton in his basement, and when we finally finished and listened to it all through, we just looked at each other and without even saying anything we knew we were both just thinking: This has to be an album.”

In other exciting news, Jon also appears in a brand new television series, Guitar Star, featuring as a mentor for the show which also stars the likes of Tony Iommi, Rodrigo Y Gabriella, Milos Karadaglic, Lee Ritenour, Paco Pena and judges Nitin Sawnhey, Helen Sanderson and Huey Morgan. The semi-final episode featuring Jon is being broadcast on Sky Arts in the UK on Tuesday 21st July.

“Shows like X Factor and The Voice make my skin crawl” he explains of his initial wariness of being involved with a competitive programme “they are nothing to do with music. After talking (a lot) to the guys making Guitar Star, it became clear they're making a show about the craft of guitar playing, and there's no shady contract for the winner, no dead grandma back stories, just guitar. The other mentors were incredibly influential, esteemed guitarists like flamenco maestro Paco Peña and Tony Iommi of Black Sabbath who pretty much invented metal. I still have personal reservations about any kind of competitive music, but I went and gave the finalists a lesson for a day, and I was really able to get into fixing mechanical problems with their technique, which might sound boring, but it's incredibly rewarding to help somebody's musicianship. I'll have to wait and see what people's reaction is when it airs, but I'm pretty confident it was the right decision.”

Jon’s breakthrough video ‘Passionflower’ is now at 9 million Youtube hits and over 13 million across Facebook, leading to him finally crossing off his goal of playing a show on every continent on Earth to a devoted and ever-growing audience. Notable sold out international gigs include the legendary Basement in Sydney, the 100 Years Honour Hall in Beijing, the 100 Club in London, The Joburg Theatre in Johannesburg, Bourbon Street in Sao Paulo, Brazil, Hugh’s Room in Toronto, Cabaret Sauvage in Paris and many more. He has also appeared at festivals as diverse as Electric Picnic in Ireland and Download Festival at Castle Donnington, to the prestigious Heinsberg Classical Music Festival in Germany.

His unique human-interest story has prompted performances on TV talk shows around the world, from BBC Breakfast to Jo Soares in Brazil (which has an estimated 10 million viewers worldwide).

Live In The Acoustic Asylum is released 8th September via Performing Chimp.

Live In The Acoustic Asylum track list:

1) Stupid Blues
2) Gloria
3) What's Left For You?
4) Afterglow
5) Hey Child
6) Temporary
7) Orville (The Secret of Learning to Fly is Forgetting to Hit The Ground)
8) The Weather Machine
9) High and Dry

Jon Gomm 2015 live dates:

September 10th 2015 - Leeds, UK
September 12th 2015 - London Acoustic Guitar Show, UK
September 13th 2015 - Masterclass - London Acoustic Guitar Show, UK
September 19th 2015 - Port Hope, CANADA
September 20th 2015 - Toronto, CANADA
September 22nd 2015 - Quebec, CANADA
September 24th 2015 - London, CANADA
September 25th 2015 - Kitchener, CANADA
September 26th 2015 - Calgary, CANADA
September 27th 2015 - Vancouver, CANADA
October 15th 2015 - Huddersfield, UK
October 17th 2015 - Devizes, UK
October 18th 2015 - Bristol, UK
October 20th 2015 - Milton Keynes, UK
October 21st 2015 - London, UK
October 24th 2015 - Cardiff, UK
October 25th 2015 - Newton Abbot, Devon, UK
October 27th 2015 - Southampton, UK