Music:
Member Since: 10/26/2007
Band Members: Markus ‘giles’ Koehorst - vocals, acoustic guitar, Line 6 delay for grooves
Markus has had a long career in music. Born in Holland, he started to play guitar, piano and drums at the age of 14. Inspired by the Beatles and the Stones, he wrote his first song when he was 15 and went on to front a college band called ‘Garlic’. He spent a couple of years studying meditation and Eastern philosophy in India and Thailand, after which he moved to England in 1981 to continue his career in music. He decided that if he was going to be a professional musician, he should be in the country of his heroes Led Zeppelin, Cream, the Stones and the Beatles. In England, he fronted excellent bands ‘Glass’ and ‘Sattva’, writing and producing all the original material for a number of acclaimed albums. In 2002, he formed ‘GILES’, an English blues funk trio, playing electric guitar and singing. ‘GILES’ has toured Europe extensively and their live shows and 4 albums are continuing to receive rave reviews, with their music being played by radio stations worldwide. For more information about ‘GILES’, including reviews, visit www.gilesmusic.com
SOLO PROJECT ON ACOUSTIC GUITAR
As a sideline to the electric sound of GILES, Markus has recently started a solo project on acoustic guitar. His solo style is quite different from GILES. It is much more understated and laid-back. The review of his first solo concert in Liverpool called him a “Dutch master†with a “sparkling acoustic setâ€. He is currently based in Portugal, working on his first solo CD, with all new songs on ‘Blondie’, his favourite acoustic guitar. His live repertoire combines his best songs with refreshing interpretations of blues classics such as ‘Stop Breaking Down’ and ‘CC Rider’. A wonderful rendition of the Beatles song ‘Rain’ is included too. The solo project gives him the scope to show off his considerable talents as a songwriter, vocalist and guitarist. Some songs are ‘straight down the middle’ blues, with a large helping of funk and jazz. For other songs, intricate grooves are created using just his acoustic guitar and a delay pedal. Bass lines are mixed with percussive sounds from the body of the guitar to create unique soundscapes. Imagine a meeting of JJ Cale and Massive Attack.
Influences: Everybody good
Sounds Like: JJ Cale and Stephen Stills meet Massive Attack
Record Label: May Tree Studios
Type of Label: Indie
