mashandflutter's video: Golan Eini G Sharp Tribute Lesson

It all started with entering the Joe Bonamassa Blues Masters guitar competition in 2013. I had never previously entered a guitar competition as I never viewed music in those terms, but it seemed like harmless fun so I made a video submission to the backing track of Lonesome Road Blues and put it up on YouTube. Over the coming weeks, I watched virtually every submission online. I enjoyed all of them and appreciated them because I respect anybody who is willing to put themselves out there and make themselves vulnerable with their art. But I will never forget the moment I watched Golan’s submission soloing over the same Lonesome Road Blues backing track. From the first few notes I remember saying to myself, ‘Holy fuck, who is this guy? Did Slash enter this contest? Isn’t that like against the rules or something?’ His playing was so guttural, yet so lyrical and musical all at once - I instantly became a fan. I must have given Golan like an extra 800 views on his submission because I couldn’t stop watching it. So, as it turns out my submission for the contest didn’t make the final 10 as picked by Joe (Though later I did hear from his management that I was in his top 20, I just didn’t make it as a finalist - that was absolutely good enough for me). Golan did make it into the top 10, and was invited to play with Joe and his band at The Mint in Los Angeles. Given that The Mint was only a few miles away from where I live, I really wanted to attend the event. There was just one problem: the contest was considered a private corporate event, invite only, not open to the public. Undeterred, I used my power of persuasion to get on the guest list. And with all due respect to Joe, he was not the reason I wanted to attend the event. I went because I wanted to watch Golan play. So when I arrived, I spotted him with his back facing me talking to some of his friends. I walked up behind him, put one hand on his left shoulder, and said to him laughing, “Dude, you’re going to win the whole fucking thing.” (And yes, I randomly appear in peoples lives like this) We both laughed and he proceeded to tell me how nervous he was. I then formally introduced myself and he responded, “I know who you are. You’re Mash and Flutter. I’ve done my research on you.” Golan did not win the contest that night, even though he absolutely should have - his guitar playing was scorched earth. But we became fast friends and our friendship was galvanized through our love of guitar, music, and Slash. One of the things that I am most proud of Golan for is starting his YouTube channel and sharing his talent with all of you. It took me two years to convince him to do it. He admired what I had done with my Mash and Flutter channel with my guitar lessons, but he was so resistant of the idea of doing it himself. He would always tell me that he was not a good teacher and he lacked the patience and time to do it. Through dogged persistence, I got through to him and he finally started it. I want all of you to know, all of you that left comments for him, all of you that direct messaged him, what your comments meant to him. He was humbled by all of you. He ultimately discovered that he did enjoy teaching and you guys gave him purpose. And he was a great teacher! It was inspirational to him because he felt like he was making a difference in your lives. And the truth is, he inspired me to play guitar like a few other guitarists have before him. I never admitted this to him, but I always kept a folder named GOLAN on my desktop. Without fail, every time Golan would post something on YouTube, or Facebook, or Instagram, I would watch it and I would always hear some cool idea or lick that I could put into my own playing. I would find a way to download the video and I would put it into the GOLAN folder. Needless to say, the contents of that folder grew over the years. Whenever I felt like I was in a rut, all I had to do was watch him play and find something new to learn. But I didn’t stop there. I would absolutely bug him directly too LOL! And without fail, he would always deliver. And that kind of goes to the heart of what this tribute video is about - Golan was monster guitar player but he was also one of the most beautiful people I have ever met. He was generous, kind, thoughtful, hilarious, and immensely talented. Like many of you, I miss him dearly and I hope he is at peace. Wherever he is at I can promise you one thing: they have probably asked him to fucking turn it down 100 times already.