As The GI Music Lounge returns this September, our volunteers look back at the musicians, moments and memories that have made it such a special part of Guildford’s live music scene.
Small Venue, Big Sounds
There are plenty of places to hear live music in Guildford. The GI Music Lounge offers something a little different: live music in the characterful Assembly Room at The Guildford Institute, with a seated audience and a setting that brings performers and audiences closer together.
Since it began, The GI Music Lounge has welcomed an eclectic mix of musicians, from established artists and local favourites to emerging performers finding their feet. The atmosphere is relaxed and informal, with the intimacy of the room allowing audiences to settle in, listen and enjoy the music without the crowds and scale of a traditional standing gig.
The Assembly Room is an important part of that experience. Its character, warmth and acoustics create a setting where audiences can see the performers up close, hear the detail in the music and feel part of the atmosphere in the room.
But for the volunteers behind The GI Music Lounge, the memories are about more than the music or the setting. They are about the people who have performed, the audiences who have stayed talking long after the music has finished, and the unexpected moments that you cannot really plan for.
We asked two of our volunteers, Brian and Lisa, to share some of their favourite memories.
Meeting Your Heroes
Brian has been a great fan of Phil Beer for decades. He had mostly seen him perform as part of Show of Hands but never missed an opportunity to see him solo or with other bands.
So, when The GI Music Lounge was getting started, Brian’s wife suggested he get in touch and ask Phil to play.
“I sent a message to his management saying we were new, we were small, we were inexperienced.”
The reply was almost immediate. Phil would be happy to come and play.
When Brian arrived at The GI that evening, Phil was already set up in the Assembly Room, sitting on a chair and quietly strumming his guitar.
One of the risks of meeting your heroes is discovering that they are simply human. In Phil’s case, Brian found something better: a musician who was as generous, good-humoured and warm in person as he had hoped.
Phil chatted with the audience before the show, during the interval and afterwards. More people came through the doors that night than at any other Music Lounge performance, and when the music finished, nobody seemed particularly keen to leave.
For Brian, that evening was when the reality of The GI Music Lounge really sank in.
“We could get the highest quality of musician to perform with us and they enjoyed doing so! And we could create a wonderful warm and intimate atmosphere that was as good as anywhere in the country.”
A Room Full of Possibilities
For Lisa, choosing a favourite memory is considerably harder.
There have been performances from Phil Beer and Ian Shaw, both of whom Lisa remembers not only for their musical ability but for being “absolutely lovely and so easy to work with”. Reg Meuross and Suntou Susso also stand out.
Lisa considers one of the most rewarding aspects of The GI Music Lounge has been seeing local talent develop alongside more established performers.
The Open Mic nights have brought some exceptional musicians through the doors. Lisa remembers one young pianist who arrived with his parents, sat down at the Bechstein and left the audience completely taken aback by what he could do.
Then there is Sissy Gasson, who continues to use The Guildford Institute for rehearsals.
“I think she will go far,” says Lisa.
It is these moments that show another side of The GI Music Lounge: not simply presenting great musicians, but providing a space where local performers can try something out, find an audience and develop their confidence.
The Sound of Guildford
Some of the best Music Lounge memories begin outside The GI altogether.
In 2021, Lisa approached local musician Dean Dyson on Guildford High Street. His first performance at The GI Music Lounge followed in 2022, and he has since returned several times.
For Lisa, Dean is “the sound of Guildford High Street”.
It is a fitting description for a musician whose connection to the town is so recognisable, and it also captures something important about The GI Music Lounge.
Alongside artists who travel to Guildford to perform, there is a real sense of the local music scene running through the programme. Musicians who already perform around the town can find a different kind of audience at The GI Music Lounge- one that has come to sit down, listen and discover something new.
The programme has also welcomed poets from Wey Poets and many local musicians from Guildford’s open mic circuit. It has never needed to fit neatly into one particular genre.
Why the Assembly Room Matters
The Assembly Room is a big part of what makes The GI Music Lounge feel different.
The audience is seated. The room is relatively small. There is no need to navigate a crowded standing gig or watch a performer from the other side of a large venue.
Instead, you can settle into your seat, hear the music properly and feel part of what is happening in the room.
The character of the Assembly Room adds to that experience. It has the warmth and sense of history you would expect from a room within The GI, but it works remarkably well as a live music venue.
There is a particular pleasure in seeing a musician perform in a space where you can watch their expression, hear the detail in their playing and feel the response of the audience around you.
It creates a connection that can be difficult to replicate in a larger venue.
And that connection works both ways. The performers are not simply playing to a room full of anonymous faces. They can see the audience, talk to them and respond to the atmosphere in the room.
Memories Worth Making
For Brian and Lisa, the memories of The GI Music Lounge are varied.
There are the big names, the unexpected performances, the musicians who have become regulars and the local artists who have grown alongside the programme.
There are also the quieter moments: arriving before an event and finding a musician already sitting in the Assembly Room with their instrument; a conversation during the interval; an audience discovering an artist for the first time; or the feeling at the end of an evening when nobody is quite ready to go home.
Perhaps that is what makes The GI Music Lounge work.
It is not simply about putting on a series of gigs. It is about creating the right setting for people to listen, discover and connect with live music.
And sometimes, the most memorable evenings are the ones you could never have planned.
The GI Music Lounge Returns in September
There will be familiar faces, new artists to discover and, no doubt, more memories waiting to be made in the Assembly Room- Megson, Dan Whitehouse, Ian Shaw, The Ciderhouse Rebellion and Ainsley Hamill to name a few!
For those who have been before, it is a chance to come back and hear something new.
For those who have not, it is an opportunity to experience live music in a different way: seated, intimate and close enough to feel part of the performance.
The GI Music Lounge. Bringing you closer to live music.
Discover the full GI Music Lounge event listings.
