A DORSET musician is being forced to sell his £4,000 guitar after a slew of cancellations to his tour dates due to Corona Virus concerns and subsequent poor turnouts.

Phil Dewhurst, known by his stage name "Jinder”, was forced to sell most of his equipment over winter after falling ill due to a Vitamin D deficiency, in order to provide for his family.

After recovering from his illness, the father of seven was ready to embark on an extensive tour around the UK following the release of his most recent studio album ‘The Silver Age’ before the virus COVID-19 came to British shores.

The 38-year-old said: “It all started towards the end of last year. For around three months I was quite ill and when I came back, I was struggling to get gigs.

“But since Coronavirus has spread its way through Europe and now made its way over here, the majority of my tour dates have had to be cancelled.

“I am hearing from a lot of people in the music and arts industry that they have been struggling from the same thing.”

Following a survey of grassroot venue members, The Music Venue Trust found that over 40 percent had experienced a noticeable downturn in gross income over the past week, while 38 per cent had noticed an increased number of fans buying tickets but not coming to gigs.

Phil has had to cancel gigs in Manchester, Worcester, Newcastle, Leeds, Kent, Brighton and Wales.

He did manage to perform a gig in Scotland but, due to a low turnout and poor ticket sales at the music venue, Phil struggled to cover his own costs.

As the main breadwinner for his family, Phil, who live in Sherborne, has resorted to auctioning his main touring guitar, a Gibson SJ200, which has a market value of nearly £4,000.

“People like me that are creative performers, we are self-employed and don’t have another job, we are left in a very vulnerable position,” said Phil.

“As the album came out in February, I was feeling really excited to get on the road and perform again but you can’t really account for a pandemic like this.

“My guitar has been my primary instrument for the last five years. As a writer and a performer, you do become attached to your instrument, you travel with it constantly and it is by your side the whole way.”

Since setting up a crowdfunding page to prevent him selling his treasured possession, he has received a lot of support, raising almost £1,500 in just a few days.

Phil is looking to raise £2,850 in order to supplement his family for the next few weeks.

He has agreed that if he achieves his target and doesn’t have to sell his guitar, Phil will offer up his guitar as a communal instrument.

Phil added: “The response so far has been amazing.”

“I need to reach the target to guarantee that I can help my family for the next few months.

“I agreed that if the GoFundMe page reaches its target then I would offer up my guitar as a community owned instrument. It would belong to my fans, followers and friends.”

Jinder’s album The Silver Age is available on Amazon and iTunes.

To donate, visit https://www.gofundme.com/f/help-jinder-to-avoid-selling-his-guitar?utm_medium=referral&utm_source=unknown&utm_campaign=comms_shyp+help-jinder-to-avoid-selling-his-guitar.