Yiannis Gougourelas - Flatpicking Guitar Instrumentals
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Help this great Greek flatpicker live his dream and come to the United States. Every cent from the sale of CD will go directly to Yiannis to help him afford to make his dream come true! Here is some more information about Yiannis and his CD: Imagine that you have fallen in love with the sound of bluegrass music and have become a fanatic about learning how to play the flatpick style of guitar like your guitar heroes Clarence White and Tony Rice . Now imagine that you are only one of a few people in your entire country who has an interest in bluegrass and that you are the only person in your country that has ever heard of Tony Rice, much less wants to play the guitar like him. You have no place to buy bluegrass recordings, no place to see bluegrass performances, and nowhere to purchase quality instruments or instructional material. Welcome to the life of Yiannis Gougourelas, the Greek flatpicker. Over the past few years we have periodically received email messages from Yiannis regarding his subscription to this magazine or items he has ordered from our catalog. He would always sign the bottom of the email “from Yiannis, your Greek subscriber” as if to say he was the only guy in Greece who subscribed to the magazine. One day we looked at the mailing list to find out that, yes indeed, he was the only person in Greece who subscribed to Flatpicking Guitar Magazine. Later, we found out that he was the only guy in Greece who was even interested in flatpicking the acoustic guitar. This realization came about the same time we heard his new CD Flatpicking Instrumentals and heard a little bit of his story. We were completely blown away by how great Yiannis played the guitar, given the fact that he has never seen a bluegrass band perform live. In the liner notes of his CD, Yiannis says, “It sounds crazy, a Greek guy playing this style of music. I fell in love with bluegrass music, without having seen a live concert ever, and without having been to the States in my life. The only journey I have made is mental, listening in my room and absorbing the solos of the great masters.” A few months ago Yiannis had emailed to say that he had just recorded a new CD and wanted to send it to us to see what we thought of it. We told him to send it on. Just before we received our copy we got an email from Bryan Kimsey regarding Yiannis’ CD. He said that he thought it was a great recording and that Flatpicking Guitar Magazine should do a feature story about Yiannis and his new CD. We get a lot of CDs in the mail and over the years we’ve sent a bunch of them to Bryan for review. We knew from Bryan’s email that he must have been very impressed with Yiannis’ recording and we became anxious to get our copy and give it a listen. When our copy came in, we could understand why Bryan felt that this was a CD our readers needed to know about. On its own it is one of the best flatpicking CDs that I have heard in years. Given the fact that Yiannis has never seen a bluegrass band perform live, it is downright amazing. Here is what Bryan had to say about the recording: “What struck me about listening to Yiannis Gougourelas’ Flatpicking Instrumentals CD was how well he’s captured the flatpicking idiom. This is no small feat for a person who may very well be Greece’s only flatpicker! I easily heard Grier, Rice, and Gambetta influences, but Gougourelas has mixed these together into what is clearly his own style. He has not copied anything note-for-note but seems to have mixed his influences into a unique blend. That’s how styles are born. Yiannis gets a bright clean tone from his guitars and seems to know his way around the guitar neck. Floaters, crosspicking, and scalar licks all jump from his instrument. While he has several standards on this CD, Yiannis has given them some pretty non-standard and creative arrangements, such as on the slower and bluesy ‘Nine Pound Hammer.’ His own three tunes are creative and humorously named: ‘Faux Chet,’ for example. Overall, Gougourelas’ playing is impressive, even more so when we realize that he has absorbed the flatpicking style from clear over across the big pond.” We totally agree with Bryan’s assessment of this recording. From the very first tune, a Yiannis original called “Appalachian Barn,” there is a freshness in his playing. It is not “the same old thing” and Yiannis does not attempt to blow anyone away by hot licks and pyrotechnics. The pace is moderate, his tone is clear and clean, and the groove is solid. To get an idea of what I’m talking about, put on the companion audio CD for this issue and listen to Yiannis play “Ragtime Annie.” He is not trying to blow anyone away with his speed. He solos are tasteful, yet creative and interesting, and his rhythm work behind the fiddle and banjo is solid. He has absorbed the flatpicking idiom, but is not simply spitting back a carbon copy of what he has heard. He has made it his own. Another refreshing aspect of this CD is the variety of tunes and tempos that Yiannis presents. Although it is an all-instrumental recording, he has not simply strung together the same old fiddle tunes played with a string of eighth-note solos. The opening tune, Yiannis’ “Appalachian Barn” is a very nice bluegrass style instrumental with interesting chord changes and dynamic stop-time sections. It sounds like something that might come from the Lonesome River Band. The second tune is another Yiannis original called “Tim’s Untitled Tune,” which pays tribute to Tim Stafford. In this tune Yiannis captures those qualities that we love about Tim’s playing. But again, this is not really a “fiddle tune” in the traditional sense. Next comes a great bluesy version of “Nine Pound Hammer” which Yiannis calls “Nine Pound Hammer Blues.” This is followed by a old-timey version of “Hangman’s Reel” where Yiannis does some doubling with the fiddle. It is great high-energy stuff. With tune five we hear a string of fiddle tunes from the standard flatpicking repertoire. First “Bill Cheatum,” then “Ragtime Annie,” and then “Durham’s Bull/Big Sandy River.” I have heard these tunes thousands of times, but Yiannis’ creative treatment of each keeps my attention. After playing three fiddle tune cuts, Yiannis slows things down with Beppe Gambetta’s “Slow Creek,” a unique slow and smooth rendering of the bluegrass classic “Cripple Creek.” The recording ends with Yiannis’ version of “John Hardy” and then a tune he calls “Faux Chet,” a tribute to Chet Atkins. All in all this was a very enjoyable CD to listen to and very impressive from a guy who has learned everything from sitting in his room and listening to recordings. Coming to the United States and attending a bluegrass festival is Yiannis’ greatest dream. When asked who he would like to meet if he had the opportunity to come to the States, Yiannis said, “If I was able to come to the States, I would like to meet David Grier to play a tune with him maybe (if I could play any notes!). He’s an icon. Tony Rice also, to shake his hand, and to tell him face to face “thanks” for his contribution on flatpicking guitar and for the big influence he gave to all of us.” Yiannis decided to record his new CD, Flatpicking Guitar Instrumentals in order to both introduce Greeks to flatpicking and to let people in other parts of the world know that flatpicking does exist in Greece, even if it is only in the hands of one player. He said, “I wanted to have a sample of my work for friends and to show to people out there that there’s someone in Greece who plays and loves this music.” One of the tunes on the CD, “Tim’s Untitled Tune” is dedicated to Tim Stafford. When asked why he chose to write a tune for Tim, Yiannis said, “Tim Stafford is a guitar player who plays so perfect and so clean at the same time. Last year I bought from FGM a DVD with Tim, Bryan Sutton, and Jim Hurst. I saw him playing his tune ‘Horseshoe Bend’ and he influenced me, so I wrote a song and I dedicated to him. I love his style.” Two of the other tunes on the ten-song disc were also written by Yiannis. The first cut, as I mentioned previously, is a great tune called “Appalachian Barn” is a very catchy tune with a great groove and nice energy. The last tune on the CD is called “Faux Chet” and is Yiannis’ tribute to Chet Atkins. The remainder of the tunes are flatpicking standards, including, “Nine Pound Hammer Blues,” “Hangman’s Reel,” “Bill Cheatum,” “Ragtime Annie,” “Durham’s Bull/Big Sandy River,” “Slow Creek,” and “John Hardy.” When asked about his tune selection, Yiannis said, “On my CD I selected some specific tunes. For example, I like fiddle tunes so much. It’s what a flatpicker has to know to achieve a good knowledge for this music, plus it’s a good way to exercise your right hand. On ‘Bill Cheatum’, I played smooth, I wanted to get a different feel, like David Grier. David Grier’s I’ve Got the House to Myself was a big influence on this one. I play three originals, and Beppe’s “Slow Creek”. This is a fun song to play. It has a haunting melody. I use my Santa Cruz OM/E for this one, and tune my guitar (high to bottom strings) E,B,G,D,G, and F for a little variety. It’s what Beppe did actually.” After hearing Yiannis’ CD and his story, we thought, “We have got to help get this guy to the United States so that he can have the experience of seeing some live bluegrass and going to a few jam sessions.” What Flatpicking Guitar Magazine is going to do in that regard is sell Yiannis’ CD for him and send him every bit of the money that is made from the sale so that he can afford to travel to the United States and attend a bluegrass and/or flatpicking event like the Walnut Valley Festival or the IBMA convention and Fan Fest. If you’d like to help Yiannis fulfill his dream, give us a call and purchase his wonderful CD. You’ll hear some great music and help the lonely Greek flatpicker live his dream.