Meet Simon Towers: Guitarist, Teacher and Band Founder

Simon Towers is a Melbourne guitarist, singer, teacher and founding member of The Adele Show. He began playing in cover bands at 16, spent about a decade teaching guitar as his main daytime job and has performed everywhere from Melbourne pubs and schools to Hamer Hall and an international wedding in Jakarta.

Music did not arrive as a carefully planned career. It kept finding another place in his life.

First Simon was the child borrowing his brother’s guitar and copying records. Then he was playing five or six nights a week. Later he became the teacher introducing hundreds of children to the instrument. These days he gigs with musicians he has known for decades and with his son Carlin behind the drum kit.

Simon Towers at a glance

Name	Simon Towers
Role	Guitarist, vocalist and founding member of The Adele Show
Melbourne music background	Cover bands, pubs, clubs, weddings, corporate events, theatre, radio and television
Started gigging	At about 16
Teaching career	About ten years as a professional guitar teacher
Students at his busiest	About 130 each week, according to Simon
Major teaching event	About 130 young guitarists performing at Hamer Hall
Notable former student	Tash Sultana, according to Simon’s recollection
Long-term collaborators	Musicians he has worked with for more than 30 years
Family connection	Performs with his son Carlin Towers on drums
Current major project	The Adele Show

How did Simon Towers start playing guitar?

Simon’s first guitar was not really his. It belonged to his brother.

He picked it up as a child and began trying to reproduce the sounds he heard on his brothers’ records. Formal lessons became part of the picture, but listening was central from the beginning. A record could be stopped, started and played again until a chord or phrase began to make sense under his fingers.

By about 16, Simon was playing in cover bands. The work expanded from there: pubs, clubs, weddings, sports clubs, corporate events, theatre, radio and live television. At busy points he was performing five or six nights a week.

That schedule teaches things a lesson book cannot. Songs have to work through different sound systems and in front of audiences who do not care that the guitarist spent the afternoon practising. Musicians learn to recover from missed cues, faulty leads and changed running orders.

The work was not glamorous every night. It was work. Simon kept doing it. Playing that often developed judgement: when to fill space, when to leave it alone and how to support a singer without turning every gap into a solo.

Was Simon a professional guitar teacher?

Yes. Simon says teaching guitar was his main daytime occupation for about ten years, while he continued playing gigs at night. At his busiest, he taught roughly 130 children each week across schools around Melbourne.

Week after week, he was showing beginners how to hold the instrument, find the next chord and get through the first song that sounded recognisable.

Simon recalls doing this work through or with Soundhouse. The precise employment or contracting arrangement has not been established in the records we have found, so it would be misleading to give him a formal job title there.

The wider context is clear. Soundhouse Music Alliance records that it grew from the Alfred Brash SoundHouse at Arts Centre Melbourne and helped schools, teachers and musicians use music technology to create music rather than simply consume it. It became part of Arts Centre Melbourne’s education and community-access programming.

Simon’s teaching sat naturally inside that idea: get instruments into students’ hands and let them play.

What happened when Simon put 130 young guitarists on the Hamer Hall stage?

Simon remembers one teaching project becoming considerably larger than the usual school lesson. He helped organise a Hamer Hall performance involving approximately 130 young guitarists playing Deep Purple’s “Smoke on the Water” together.

Before they played, Simon says, the audience watched a specially recorded message from Deep Purple singer Ian Gillan acknowledging the students and the performance.

Searches of Soundhouse material, event listings, news archives and public video records have not found a surviving program, photograph or recording. Until one turns up, the student number and Ian Gillan message remain Simon’s recollection.

Getting about 130 young guitarists onto the Hamer Hall stage is a production job: instruments, amplification, entrances, supervision and stage positions all have to be organised. It brought together the two sides of Simon’s working life at the time: musician at night, teacher during the day.

Did Simon teach Tash Sultana?

Simon says he taught Tash Sultana guitar for several years when Tash was young, including around the period of the Hamer Hall project. We have not found a school record, interview or archive independently linking the two, so the connection is attributed to Simon rather than stated as an externally documented fact.

There is no need to make a larger claim. Simon is not suggesting he created Tash’s later career.

What happened afterwards is well recorded. Tash developed into a Melbourne multi-instrumentalist whose recordings and live looping built an international audience. ABC and triple j reported sold-out Australian and overseas shows after Tash was named triple j Unearthed Artist of the Year.

For Simon, the meaningful detail is simpler: one of the children who once arrived for guitar lessons kept playing and eventually built a working life in music on a very large scale.

Which professional musicians has Simon played with?

Simon’s decades in Melbourne music have put him beside musicians from several parts of the industry. He says those collaborators include bassist Craig Newman. We have not located a record of the specific performance they shared, so that connection remains first-hand information from Simon.

Newman’s broader career is independently established. Australian Musician records that he was a resident bass player on Hey Hey It’s Saturday, worked across television, touring, recording and musical theatre, and became John Farnham’s permanent bass player, including the The Last Time tour from 2002 to 2003.

Working beside experienced musicians changes a player. Simon values the relationships, discipline and listening involved in a good band, whether the person beside him has a famous credit or is someone he has known since the pub circuit.

How did Simon help form The Adele Show?

The Adele Show grew out of Melbourne connections built over decades. Simon was a founder and brought Michael Smedley and Mike Yanko into the project, followed by Carlin Towers when his touring commitments allowed.

It was a practical way to build a seven-piece show. Adele’s catalogue depends on restraint, vocal space and dynamics, while the second half moves into a broader party set.

Sometimes Simon’s guitar needs to be exposed and clear. Often it supports the piano, rhythm section and layered vocals without crowding them. His singing adds another harmony voice.

The project also brought two stages of Simon’s life together in one lineup.

What is it like for Simon to play in a band with his son?

Carlin Towers plays drums in The Adele Show and is also a singer and multi-instrumentalist.

Simon first picked up his brother’s guitar as a child. Years later, he spent his days teaching other people’s children to play. Now he performs professionally with his own son keeping time behind him.

There is no need to dress that up. A large number of family bands do not survive a rehearsal, let alone years of loading equipment together.

Simon and Carlin have played local venues, large events and the band’s international booking in Indonesia.

What was Simon’s biggest international performance?

In July 2026, Simon travelled with The Adele Show to Jakarta to play at a wedding at Hutan Kota Plataran. The booking placed the band in front of an audience that included Indonesia’s president, vice-president and two former presidents.

The trip involved passports, visas, substitute-vocal planning and a proposed one-hour set that became about 50 minutes. Our full account, The Adele Show goes to Jakarta, includes the awkward parts as well as the stage.

It was a long way from borrowing his brother’s guitar.

Why does Simon still play live music?

The answer is contained in the length of the story. Simon has been a student, working cover musician, teacher, collaborator, band founder and father playing beside his son. The individual bands, rooms and working arrangements have changed. Playing has remained.

That does not mean every drive across Melbourne is appealing or every load-out is fun. It means the first song still justifies the trouble often enough to come back for the next one.

The guitar stopped being something Simon merely played a long time ago. It became one of the threads connecting the different stages and people in his life.

Simon Towers FAQs

Who is Simon Towers?

Simon Towers is a Melbourne guitarist, singer, former professional guitar teacher and founding member of The Adele Show.

What does Simon play in The Adele Show?

Simon plays electric and acoustic guitar and sings backing and featured vocal parts.

When did Simon start playing professionally?

He began performing in Melbourne cover bands at about 16 and has played live music for decades.

Was Simon a professional guitar teacher?

Yes. Simon says guitar teaching was his main daytime occupation for about ten years while he continued performing at night.

How many guitar students did Simon teach?

At his busiest, Simon says he taught approximately 130 students each week across Melbourne schools.

Did Simon teach Tash Sultana?

Simon says he taught Tash Sultana guitar for several years when Tash was young. We have not found an independent record of that relationship, so it remains attributed to Simon.

What happened at Simon’s Hamer Hall guitar performance?

Simon says he helped stage a Hamer Hall performance with about 130 young guitarists playing “Smoke on the Water”, preceded by a recorded Ian Gillan message. Public archive material has not yet been found to confirm those details.

Has Simon played with other well-known Australian musicians?

Simon says he has performed with bassist Craig Newman, whose credits include John Farnham, Hey Hey It’s Saturday, touring, television and musical theatre.

Is Carlin Towers Simon’s son?

Yes. Carlin is Simon’s son and the drummer in The Adele Show. They perform together regularly.

Did Simon help start The Adele Show?

Yes. Simon was a founding member and helped bring musicians from his existing Melbourne network into the band.