Renowned New Zealand musician Jon Toogood, celebrated as the dynamic frontman of legendary rock band Shihad, is a driving force in the country's music scene. Since 1988 Jon has performed at more than 1500 live shows and sold over 250,000 albums world- wide, with two albums certified double platinum and five albums certified gold in New Zealand and Australia. And now Jon is set to release his first every solo album 'Last Of The Lonely Gods' this October! We are stoked to sit down with Jon as he takes us through his top five acoustic guitar driven tracks.

Catch Jon Toogood on his Last of the Lonely Gods Tour across New Zealand this Oct/Nov. Score your tickets below!

Words by Jon Toogood:

Back in the days before I started playing in Shihad my parents bought me a 3/4 size nylon string acoustic guitar that I played and played until it started falling apart. That thing got me throughhigh school and was a constant source of joy that was always there for me no matter how bad my day was going. After years of playing super loud rock music, I've ended up coming full circle back to the instrument I started my musical journey on and absolutely loving it. The acoustic guitar isa band in one instrument. It can be kind and gentle, as funky as hell or rock harder than anything on the planet. Here are my top 5 acoustic driven tracks which hopefully prove this point. 

Talking Heads - Psycho Killer

I went to see Talking Heads 'Stop Making Sense' live concert movie when I was about 14 or 15years old and it blew my little mind apart. I didn't really know any Talking Heads before then so the experience of seeing this nerdy looking fellah walk onto a stage in an oversized suit, a boombox and an acoustic guitar then completely slay this amazing unique pop song to packed crowd just floored me. It's still my favourite version of the tune.

Bob Dylan - A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall

It took me forever to fully 'get' Dylan. I wasn't really a fan of his voice (although I had loved the album Infidels as a kid-Jokerman and Sweetheart Like You rule) and It wasn't until I saw Martin Scorsese's "No Direction Home" doco that I finally had my Dylan 'eureka' moment. And it was actually watching the poet Alan Ginsberg describing hearing Hard Rain for the first time. In the movie Scorsese intercuts this wonderful description with a live TV performance of Dylan playing the song. It's beautiful and powerful and reminds me of how awesome humans can be when given the chance.

Bill Withers - Use Me

I think this performance of Bill Withers' Use Me' on the BBC's 'Old Grey Whistle Test' is one of the main reasons I wanted to play a Martin D18 dreadnought. The way he hits the guitar and the way the guitar deals with that and drives the whole tune (which is one of the funkiest tracks ever imo) just floors me every time. And it's quite an unusual use of the acoustic guitar which is usually playing the main arrangement of the song. In this it's an almost purely rhythmic element rather thana melodic one which, for me just highlights the versatility of the instrument. Joy.

The Jam - That's Entertainment

This track was huge in the Toogood family household growing up. My brother nought the album it was on "Sound Effects" home one day and I think I ended up thrashing it more than he did. It's a banger from start to finish but the biggest banger of all was this track in which singer Paul Weller manages to turn mundane, everyday suburban life into a thing of true beauty. It finds romance in things that would usually be overlooked and creates this magic with an acoustic guitar, bass and percussion. An unusual 'hit' song but a bona fide hit none the less.

Led Zeppelin - Going to California

Like many a metal bogan growing up in NZ I listened to a lot of Led Zeppelin (usually very stoned) and got lost in entire albums wondering how the hell they came up with all that incredible music. One of my favourites was Led Zep IV which is a beast of an album and features their biggest hit Stairway To Heaven along with a host of other classics but my absolute favourite track on the album was the mellower "Going To California" which just took you on this wonderful journey and transcended the whole 'rock' song thing. This version is a beauty and shows just how stripped back the arrangement is.