BIO

Jack Gillen is a guitarist who doesn’t quite fit neatly into any one category – falling in love with classical guitar at age 7 and immersing him self in it, before becoming obsessed with Jimi Hendrix (and consequently electric guitar) at 15, then going on to study Jazz at Leeds College of Music for 3 years are just a few early snapshots of a musical journey that refuses to settle in one place.

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Returning to his home town of London after studying in Leeds, Jack cut his teeth as a session guitarist/ co-writer/ musical director/ producer, working with artists in various musical settings and playing the role of musical chameleon, meanwhile learning a lot about the nuances of songwriting and music making.

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After a particularly influential lesson with UK guitar legend Mike Walker (The Impossible Gentlemen), Jack decided to start his own trio and begin creating his own original music, the first evidence of this being his EP ‘The Long Way Down’. In composing for his budding guitar trio, Jack draws influence from the likes of Nick Drake, Wes Montgomery, Jimi Hendrix and Frederic Chopin, as well as modern guitarists such as Julian Lage and John Scofield, guided by a deeply introspective leaning and focus on emotional potency.

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Years of collaboration with bassist Phil Donnelly and drummer Darren Beckett (Aaron Parks, Madeleine Peyroux, Kurt Rosenwinkel) have forged an unquestionable musical chemistry, which brings an exciting energy and spontaneity to this idiosyncratic yet accessible music which can go between sensitive ballads, hard grooves and cathartic rocking out, all with Gillen’s distinctive songwriter-esque approach to composing. Jack’s debut album ‘No Home But Here’ was released in 2024 and was heralded as ‘emotionally powerful’ (Le Soir).

 

‘A real storyteller’ – Adam Levy (Norah Jones, Joey Baron, Larry Grenadier, Larry Goldings)