Bio

Based in Victoria, B.C., I've performed my global guitar treks and portraits across Canada and in the U.S., Mexico, Brazil, Britain,
Europe, and Japan.  Skim show descriptions below and click MP3 or video links (videos of others are intended to inspire).

GLOBAL GUITAR TREKS

Around the World in 40 Songs crosses six continents on the six strings of my global guitar.
Sakura * Dark Eyes * Happy Land * Czardas * Rhap * Lomond * Londonderry * Paris * Wimoweh *
Condor * Maya Danza * CubaDia * Peanut Vendor * Celito Lindo * Scherzo * Freedom * Wonderworld *
"Godbout takes you on a tour of world songs from fluttering Japanese ballads, East Indian plucks (he modifies his guitar
with tin foil to simulate a sitar buzz), Russian gypsy songs, and Scottish folk tunes.  Settle down for some captivatingly skilled
acoustic guitarwork [as] he scrapes, slaps, and flicks the strings with dizzying speed, and the styles blend together seamlessly. 
Godbout sees the wonder and harmony in the world...and he plays guitar like a Buddhist god." 
Fast Forward Weekly, Calgary

Route 66: a Musical Quest for the American Dream winds from Chicago beyond Pat Metheny’s Missouri sky
to Bruce Springsteen’s ode to migrant Okies, Ottmar Liebert’s New Mexican nuevo flamenco, and a California surfari.
Chicago * Have You Heard * Midwest Dream * Travels * Train * Minuano * Ghost of TJ * Surf Version * 
Dust in the Wind * Santa Fe * Horse * McGhee * Hotel * Pipeline * Miserlou * Ghost Riders
"A pleasing hour spent with virtuoso Colin Godbout on a musical tour across the U.S. heartland."  Winnipeg Free Press 
"Godbout is a stellar guitarist...and the show is a pleasant, laid-back musical journey."  Uptown Magazine
"Godbout leads listeners to another world with his music. Audiences have only to sit back and relax alongside him,
as he does all the driving with his guitar.  Godbout's fingers make the guitar sparkle with emotion.  He mixes jazz, country, surf,
and blues with a unique flair that not many can do, or even much less imitate."  Nexus Newspaper

TransCanada ‘69: a Musical Trip to a Magical Time
TransCanada '69 * Guests * Suzanne * God is Alive * Freedom * Lightfoot * North * Woodstock * Love *
"It’s easy to get lost in the beauty of Godbout’s virtuosic classical / jazz guitar playing, as he reinterprets
songs by Leonard Cohen, Gordon Lightfoot, Joni Mitchell, Oscar Peterson, Lenny Breau, and Neil Young.
A loving homage to homegrown talent and a way to hear the past with fresh ears."  Georgia Straight
"Sink into the spell woven by Godbout’s technical prowess and emotional intensity. 
Relish the songs of hope and change that still echo so poignantly today."  Edmonton Vue Weekly
"Godbout produces an entire rhythm section from a single six-stringed instrument.  You’ll spend the hour
listening to gorgeous, jazz-infused renderings of Canada’s musical landscape."  Winnipeg Free Press
"Godbout is a brilliant guitarist and musical interpreter.  In his hands the guitar becomes a whole
rhythm section.  His interpretation of works by Leonard Cohen, Sylvia Tyson and Neil Young
were nuanced and beautiful."  The Gate: Toronto Entertainment Magazine

Spanish Guitar Trek surveys four centuries of Spanish guitar repetoire.
Sanz * Sevillanas * Fantasia * Malaguena * Torija * Ravel's Pavan & Bolero * Aranjuez * Spain

Mediterranean Guitar Trek samples music from North Africa to the Middle East and Southern Europe.
Tunisia * Afro1 * Afro2 * Danza Arabia * Danza Mora * Blue Rondo * Zorba * Paradiso * Tango * Sundance

Brazilian EcoMusical is a soundtrack to my ecotour of Brazil.
Berimbau * Berimbau2 * Passarim * Aviao * Aviao2 * Orfeo * Stone * Rainbow * G's Oboe * Bells * Green

Global Rhythms: from Raga to Rumba explores dances from around the world. 
Indian Raga; Polish Mazurka; French: Tambourin * Pavan * Bolero * Passacaglia * Gavotte * Rumba *
Spanish: Espanoleta * Folias * Galliard * Rujero * Tientos * Farruca * Rondenas * Granadinas * Fandango *
Brazilian: Samba * Samba2 * Bossa Nova * Choros * Bolivian Lambada * Argentine Tango; Martinique Beguine;
Jamaican: Reggae * Reggae2 * Calypso; Cuban: Habanera * Son * Salsa * Cha Cha; American: Boogie * Swing *

Gypsy Diaspora traces the music of Roma migrations westward from India.
Roma Raga * Klezmerising * Dark Eyes * Czardas * #5 * Zamfir * Zawinul * Django: Improv * Echo * Parfum
A New Man; Reyes * Bulerias * Rumba * Anglo-American Gypsies: Lane * Taylor * Jones * Bunyan * Presley *

Music on the Orient Express: a Melodic Whodunit ventures from Paris to Istanbul in search of the greatest melody.
Pink Panther * Clair * Pavan * Gymnopedie * Meditation * Traumerei * B's 5th * B's 3rd * Vals * Liebestraum * Turkish Rondo

Organic Music cultivates a garden of tonal organisms from a single note. 
Raga * Solea * Alegrias * Blues * Rhythm Changes * Prelude * Fantasia * Fantasia2 * Theme & Variations * 
T&V2 *  T&V3 * T&V4 * Canon * Fugue * Fugue2 * Fugue3 * Sonata * Sonata2 * Sonata3

Sonic Chakras: 7 Steps 2 Inner Harmony is a musical journey through human energy centers.  RagaClip *
Roots Rock Raga * Sacral Raga * Solar Plexus Soleares * Heartbeatle * Throat * 3rd Eye * Corona

Modal Odyssey explores the effects of seven musical modes on the human spirit.
Dorian: Maiden Voyage * Greensleeves * Fair * Jazzraga; Phrygian: Soleares * Winding Stair; Lydian: Dance;
Mixolydian: All Blues; Aeolian: Windmills; Locrian: Gnossienne * 5 O'Clock Bells; Ionian: Hymn to Freedom

Elemental Journey is a musical evocation of earth, water, air, and fire.
Earth: Feilds of Gold * Nothing Gold Can Stay * Margaret * Morning Dew * Paved Paradise * Woodstock
Water: Rain Music * Agua * Double Rainbow * Over Air: Clouds * Sky * Wind Fire: Icarus * Light

Songs from Poets' Corner features musical settings of poems by poets commemorated in London's Westminster Abbey.
Poet's Eye * Diapason * Bard * Leaping Heart * Dancing Heart * Kubla * Margaret * Ungentle * World, Life, & Time

Highway 61: Songs from the Blues Highway 
61 Revisited * North Country * River Quay * Green Onions * New Orleans * House of the Rising Sun * Take me to the River *
Dry Salvages * Jar in Tennessee * Blind Willie McTell * Proud Mary * Easy Rider *

GLOBAL GUITAR PORTRAITS

2 to Django is a gypsy jazz journey into the life of guitarist Django Reinhardt, from the caravan fire that burned his fingers
to occupied Paris, where he fell in love and rose to stardom.  DjangoClip *
Caravan * Nuages * Castle * 2 to Django * I Love Paris * Sentimood * World on a String * Gutstring
"Godbout's playing is blazing good, shot through with passion and very brave."  Plank Magazine, Victoria

Last Gig of Lenny Breau dramatizes the Canadian guitar legend’s last performance before his murder.  LennyClip
Lenny Overture * Reverie * 5 O'Clock Bells * Toronto * Jazzraga 
“Godbout is a virtuosic musician, adept at complex fretwork and dazzling fingerpicking. 
He plays everything from classical to flamenco to jazz, and it's all luxuriously listenable.”  Georgia Straight, Vancouver

Crossroad Blues is a musical drama of an ex-con's encounter with a mysterious man who offers him supernatural skill
in exchange for his soul.  With songs by Johnson, Hendrix, Clapton, and Dylan.  CrossroadClip
Folsom * Midnight Special * Parchman * Man * Crossroads * Train * Sorrow * Nobody's Fault * Soul * Move *
Grace * Serve * Saved * Baloney * Messiah * Tears * Presence * Jesus *  Get Ready * Somewhere * Dying *

Viva Tarrega is a journey into the life and music of revolutionary guitarist Francisco Tarrega. 
Through his compositions, transcriptions, and performances Tarrega brought the guitar from cafes to concert halls.
Nokia Tune * Music Box * Lagrima * Marietta * Prelude in E * Sueno * Alhambra * Capricho Arabe

Beethoven Rolls Over 
When the maestro’s plan to woo his beloved with a Faust Symphony backfires he rolls over his ivories to pluck a guitar. 
And why not?  He did call the guitar “a miniature orchestra” and you may agree after hearing my take on Beethoven classics.
Moonlight * Emperor #2 * B's 5th * 7th, #2 * Judgement of Moon & Stars
"Be spellbound by a man who makes one guitar sound as rich as an orchestra."  Edmonton Vue Weekly

Unplugged Cop features my arrangements of sixteen songs by Sting and The Police that mix jazz, pop, reggae, and raga. 
Roxanne * Every Breath You Take *Fragile * Feilds of Gold * Jazz Police *

Unplugged Zep is a global guitar trek from California to Kashmir, from Iceland to Mount Thor and a Stairway to Heaven.
From California sunlight to sweet Calcutta rain and Honolulu starbright, the song remains the same.

Beatlemaniac: the Fab One features my arrangements of songs by The Beatles.
Sun+ * Weeps * Tripper+ * Day in the Life *

Bird on a Wire: Colin Plays Cohen features my arrangements of songs by Leonard Cohen.
Bird on a Wire * Avalanche * Fire * Guests * Sisters * Dance * Hallelujah * Will * Suzanne * God is Alive *

Bardic Blake: a Romantic Rhapsode
Like ancient bards and rhapsodes English poet William Blake sang his visionary verses. 
Though his melodies were lost to posterity I recreate the bardic Blake with musical settings of his lyrics.
Golden Cage * Jerusalem * World in a Grain of Sand *

Romantic Muse explores inspiration in musical settings of poems of Wordsworth and Coleridge. 
Leaping Heart * Dancing Heart * Singer * Lucy Gray * Gymnopedie * Lucy's Grave * Corals *

Baroque Muse explores inspiration in musical settings of Baroque poems. 
Vivaldi1 * Vivaldi2 * Diapason *  Nativity * Hymn * Resurrection * Jesu * Cadence * Troubled *

Madonna & Magdalene: a Musical Portrait of Two Marys
Leda * Ave * Mother * What Child * Boy Child * Spring * Nativity * Hymn * Mary Kissed the Child *
Don't You Weep * Tirzah * Mystifying * Alright * How to Love * Resurrection * Awake * 2nd Coming *

Seasons in Song is a musical celebration of the seasonal cycle as an analogy of the rhythms of human life.
Human Seasons * Rain Music * Margaret * Autumn * Retreat * Do Not Go Gentle * World, Life, & Time *