A REGULAR face on the Stortford music scene has shot to stardom after getting the thumbs-up from television presenter and Twitter guru Stephen Fry.
Virtuoso singer and guitarist Jon Gomm, who has headlined the town's Acoustic Club night several times and was one of the main acts at the 2009 Stortford Music Festival, became an overnight sensation after the QI host recommended one of his videos with a simple tweet: "Wow".
The clip, a performance of his newest song Passionflower, shot past two million views across major websites like YouTube and Reddit following Jon's surprise celebrity endorsement.
This morning (Thursday, February 2), Jon was one of the guests on morning TV show BBC Breakfast - and he's now got the world's media hammering at his front door, with channels across Europe and beyond inviting him to be interviewed.
Despite his vast talent and unique approach to his instrument, which won him rave reviews in the Observer's Stortford Music Festival coverage three years ago, Jon - who hails from Leeds - has remained largely unknown because of his passion for small, independent venues and refusal to sign to a major label.
But he's not the first Acoustic Club star to be catapulted into the limelight - Matt Cardle, formerly of Stortford Music Festival headliners Darwyn, went on to win ITV's X Factor in 2010.
And acoustic guitar prodigy Eric Roche, who died of cancer in 2005, remains widely regarded as one of the most groundbreaking players in his field.
Passionflower by Jon Gomm is available to download at http://jongomm.com/store, along with sheet music for the piece. Buyers can pay what they want, with a percentage of proceeds going to the Happy House children's home in Watamu, Kenya.
To read listings for Acoustic Club, which is held at the Half Moon every Thursday, see www.acousticclub.co.uk.
