Scott Gorham launched his first ever art exhibition in London in April. Until then, you were probably unaware that the Thin Lizzy and Black Star Riders guitarist likes to wield paintbrushes and pens as well as a Gibson Les Paul, probably because Gorham hid this ‘other’ talent under a bushel for decades, drawing in the secrecy of hotel rooms around the world, and without informing bandmates or even his wife of several decades, Christine. Indeed, Gorham insists that he would never have disclosed this artistic side but for the stubborn insistence of Mrs Gorham, who stumbled on a folder of his drawings at their home.
While discussing his art with Classic Rock, Gorham appears almost apologetic, at times close to embarrassment. “With a guitar around my neck you can throw me out on stage in front of a crowd of a hundred thousand, no problem,” he says solemnly. “But put me in a room with ten people looking at the art that I hid for forty years, I will turn into jelly.”
