Gugun Blues Shelter History

Gugun Blues Shelter, or Gugun and The Blues Shelter (often abbreviated as GBS), or Gugun Power Trio (for US and Europe Market) is an Indonesian blues band, formed in Jakarta, Indonesia, in 2004. The current members are Gugun on guitar, Jono on bass and Bowie on drums. They've released four albums in Indonesia, Get The Bug (2004), Turn It On (2007), Gugun Blues Shelter (2010), Satu Untuk Berbagi (2011) and two albums in US Far East Blues Experience (2010) and Solid Ground (2011).

The band formed in 2004 to play in blues bars in Jakarta. They have played in jazz clubs and festivals. They were influenced by Jimi Hendrix, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Betty Davis, and Led Zeppelin. Initially, the name of the band was The Blues Bug, which was later changed to Blue Hand Gang, later known as Gugun and The Blues Bug, and eventually Gugun Blues Shelter or Gugun Power Trio (for US and Europe Market). They changed the band's name because a Greek band had already used the name Blues Bug for ten years.

At the end of 2004, they released their first independent album, Get the Bug. The featured musicians on the album were Gugun, Jono and Iskandar.

In early 2007, they released their second album, Turn It On, on Sinjitos Records. The album was voted as one of the best Indonesian albums of 2007 by Rolling Stone Indonesia. It was also voted the number one blues album of the year, with Gugun voted as the best blues guitarist inSoutheast Asia, in 2007 by MTV Trax Magazine.

Bowie joined the band in 2007 (or 2008), replacing Iskandar on drums.

In 2010, they independently released a self-titled album as a replacement for their Set My Soul on Fire album, which failed due to conflict with their labels.

In 2011, Gugun Blues Shelter were chosen by a jury online votes from fans to win the Hard Rock Café’s Global Battle Of The Bands competition, celebrating Hard Rock Café’s 40th anniversary.They are scheduled to perform on Sunday, 26 June 2011 at Hyde Park, alongside Bon Jovi, Rod Stewart and The Killers.