Young lithuanian guitarist Giedrius Balčiūnas is definitely not a newcomer on rock stage. He started playing guitar when he was 13 years old, and after couple of years he already had regular gigs with his first serious band „Linfeng“, releasing their first CD when he was only 16! In year 2004 he have joined famous lithuanian gothic metal band „Xess“ (voted as best gothich band of the year in 2005), from 2006 he started as a guitarist in revived legendary hard‘n‘heavy band SBS. He is not only aspiring guitarist, but also highly creative songwriter, so far responsible for over 100 songs.
His discography comprises of 16 CDs, recorded either with the bands he played in or with his contribution in side projects (he also did movie soundtrack for indie movie). The last CD released with his contribution was rerecorded SBS first album „Mėnulio šviesa“.
Being ultimately creative, Jumbo always was recording instrumental pieces for his own pleasure. First time his works seen stage was the guitarists‘ competition in 2005, where he have won first place with his piece „Escape from Enemies“. In the second competition in 2006 jury have gave second place for his song „The Reaper Was Faster“. After getting a lot of positive feedback Jumbo decided to launch his solo career.
Currently his band consists of famous lithuania players – Dellamorte is guitarist/singer from many times voted as best death metal band Ossastorium, Seras (drummer) is also from the same band, and Julce, the bass player, is his old friend from his first band. They all have big number of hours onstage behind their backs and this is obvious when they start playing. Intensity, energy, technique – thats their trademark. No wonder “Hamer USA guitars” and “TC electronics” wanted him to endorse their instruments.
Jumbo already recorded three demo solo albums, and is actively looking for a label, to release his works.
In August of 2008 invited to one of the biggest lithuanian commercial television “LNK”. Mr.Jumbo participated on international music reality show “Music Academy”. He was playing and singing on live TV broadcasting every saturday for more than two months. Mr.Jumbo photos and interviews were published in many lithuanian newspapers and journals.
Below are couple of qoutes what others think of him:
„Giedrius Balčiūnas is all rounded talent, repersentative of new generation of guitarists. He is not afraid to experiment and seek for perfection.“ – Stasys Daugirdas, legendary guitarist, who mentored several generations of guitarists in Lithuania.
"Unlike so many young instrumentalists, Giedrius displays a strong understanding and respect for melody in his compositions. While he has developed the technical aspects of his playing, he does not flaunt or abuse this technique at the expense of his songs. I'm especially fond of the lyricism in his phrasing. Hopefully, Giedrius will continue to develop his gift and pursue his talent, as the genre can always use more players with a musical approach like his." - J. Sepetys (SEG, Inc., managers for Steve Vai and Eric Sardinas)
At the moment Mr.Jumbo plans to finish SBS third studio album "The Gambler", which was recorded at Division sound in Riga, Latvia, and will be mastered at Finnvox by Mikka Jussila. And of course to do maximum possible gigs with his solo project and SBS.
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Ciao my friend, how are you? hope all is well! Just stopping by to say hello and wish you all the best! If you have time come to my page and listen my new song "Heartland". I hope you'll like it! Ciao from Genoa (Italy) Mike.
Can you listen to this, then post this on your page? Just hit, "grab this", copy the code, and paste in the about me or music section of your myspace page. If you have a facebook page, post it there also. Leave it up for 8 weeks... ASK ALL OF YOUR FRIENDS TO DO THE SAME!!! Thank You!!!
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