Tom Poak

Tom Poak

Writer

Tom Poak has written for Guitar World, Total Guitar, Classic Rock, Metal Hammer, Esquire, The Big Issue and more. In a writing career that has spanned decades, he has interviewed Brian May, Brian Cant, and cadged a light off Brian Molko. He has stood on a glacier with Thunder, in a Norwegian fjord with Ozzy and Slash, and on the roof of the Houses of Parliament with Thin Lizzy's Scott Gorham (until some nice men with guns came and told them to get down). He has had a drink with Shane MacGowan, mortally offended Lightning Seed Ian Broudie and been asked if he was homeless by Echo & The Bunnymen’s Ian McCulloch.

Articles by: Tom Poak

the COver of the TIMES THEY ARE A CHANGIN'

60 years ago, Bob Dylan recorded The Times They Are A-Changin’. In 2015, he explained how you could write songs like that too…

By Tom Poak published

How Bob Dylan set out to make new sounds out of old sounds and new words out of old words – and pointed the way to the future along the way

Graham Coxon playing an acoustic guitar

"How do you tune a B string? You can't." What Blur’s Graham Coxon learned – and didn't learn – from folk legend Bert Jansch

By Tom Poak published

The Blur guitarist and solo artist on the pressures of playing – and even tuning-up – in front of your heroes

Nick cave onstage 2008

“You look like sh*t, your voice has gone, the hotel has lost your laundry”: Nick Cave's description of touring will put you off the idea for life

By Tom Poak published

“Touring is actually hard to do,” says Nick Cave. “It's not working down the coal mines, of course, but it has its own struggles.”

Christone "Kingfish" Ingram playing guitar on top of the Hard Rock Hotel

Watch Christone "Kingfish" Ingram play Jimi's Red House... on the roof of Hendrix's last-known house

By Tom Poak published

JIMI AT 80 Grammy-winning guitarist Kingfish would have blown the roof off the Hard Rock Hotel in London – but he was already on it

Gretchen Menn

Martin's No Limits Challenge is literally taking acoustic playing to the limit

By Tom Poak published

  • £1599
  • €1999
  • $1499

From AC/DC's Thunderstruck to trap/hip-hop remixes of Destiny's Child, Martin's challenge pushes acoustic playing to its limits

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