Gerard Corben

Gerard "Ged" Corben spent his early professional years as the Lead Guitarist 1985-2013 in the Lime Spiders, releasing 3 studio albums on Virgin Worldwide. They toured the USA, England, Europe & Australia for more than a decade and still make the odd outing, most recently as part of The Hoodoo Gurus’ Dig It Up Festival in Sydney & Adelaide.

In 1987 Ged & his brother David "d" Corben [bass guitar] were founding original members of The Cruel Sea. B^[1] while it was playing all instrumental music.They both played with the band before Tex Perkins joined, d leaving in 1989. Ged stayed on & departed in 1992. He appears on 4 studio tracks with the band. He still plays instrumental surf music with The White Pointers.

Periods

Lime Spiders

Lead Guitarist with The Lime Spiders since 1985. He toured & recorded 3 studio albums with them, as well as a number of singles & one-off tracks, until 1992, leaving due to personal differences. He teamed back up with the band in 1996. His first recording is the single "Out Of Control". He played Lead Guitar on all their recordings from 1985 to date, & still tours with the band. The Spiders were heavily influenced by the 60's Psychedelic movement, especially "The Nuggets" recordings. His son Tom joined the band as drummer at age 17, replacing Richard Lawson, in 2009.

Classical

1994 Certificate in Music with Distinction from the Australian Institute of Music. Went on to study Performance & Solo Classical Guitar to Degree Level and in 1997 & 1998, graduating with Distinction.

Celtic & American Folk

Played guitar & mandolin in Wheelers & Dealers, who toured Australia from 2001 to 2011, performing at national festivals including The National Folk Festival & The Port Fairy Folk Festival. The W& D's won Folk Song Of The Year in 2004 for "Woomera", a song about the detention centre set up by the Howard Govt, much to Australia's shame. The band became "Mike Kerin, Tinker Duffy & The Righteous Prannies" in 2011. Aust Champ fine fiddle player & flatpicker Mike Kerin [Flying Emus, Slim Dusty,Anne Kirkpatrick] leads the group, with in demand session bass player & producer Michael Vidale [Flying Emus, Jimmy & The Boys, Don Walker, The Bushwackers, plus countless others], & Tinker Duffy on accordion & outrageous hair. Celtic, Appalachian, Old Time, Bluegrass, Americana & Western Swing.

Teaching

Ged has been teaching since the early 1990s. He teaches at Primary & High Schools in the Sydney area & privately. He plays & teaches a wide variety of styles including Rock’n’Roll, Heavy Rock, Classical, Punk, Blues, Finger Style Blues, Celtic, Indie, Alternate Tunings & Surf music. Ged also teaches Slide Guitar, Mandolin & Ukulele. www.innerwestguitarlessons.com.au

References

Interview of Gerard "Ged" Corben July 2013 by Joseph Staub Darling