Guitar Center Announces District Final Winners of World’s Largest Blues Guitar Contest

Winners Move on to Regional Finals on October 21 in Brooklyn, Nashville, Arlington Heights, Dallas, and Hollywood!

Grand Finals in Hollywood on November 12, 2009

Featuring Joe Bonamassa, Pete Anderson, and the Top Five Undiscovered Blues Guitar Players in the Country!

Last Wednesday, the top 24 undiscovered blues guitarists in the nation were selected to move on to the King of the Blues Regional Finals, moving one step closer to being crowned Guitar Center’s King of the Blues and $25,000 cash. On October 21, 2009, these winners will once again go head-to-head, competing to move on to The King of the Blues Grand Finals scheduled for November 12th in Hollywood.

Tickets are currently on sale for the King of the Blues Grand Finals, which are scheduled for November 12 at the House of Blues Sunset in Hollywood, CA. In addition to showcasing the top five finalists as they compete for the King of the Blues crown and $25,000 cash, the King of the Blues Grand Finals will also feature performances by renowned blues guitarist and Gibson artist Joe Bonamassa, who has been awarded “Best Blues Guitarist” by Guitar Player Magazine for the past three years, as well as Grammy Award winner Pete Anderson. Tickets for this very special event are just $20, and are available at Ticketmaster.com or the HOB box office.

Like Guitar Center’s other talent search competitions – the legendary Drum-Off (now in its 21st year), and the recently launched On-Stage – King of the Blues is part of Guitar Center’s ongoing mission to provide emerging artists and musicians with career-altering opportunities and vehicles to achieve success.

Introduced in 2006, King of the Blues is more than just a competition to find the most technically skilled players. King of the Blues is designed to seek out the most passionate, innovative and authentic guitar players and give them a shot at stardom.

For example, the winner of Guitar Center’s 2007 King of the Blues, Aaron Loesch, was invited to perform at Eric Clapton’s Crossroads Festival in front of over 25,000 attendees.

How It Works:

Each contestant must perform live to 1 of 25 original backing tracks, developed by Grammy Award winning producer, Pete Anderson, which have been made available for free download at www.guitarcenter.com/kingoftheblues

Contestants may bring and use any 6, 7, or 12 string acoustic or electric guitar, lap steel or pedal steel guitar, plus any audio pedal effects that can be set-up in a 5 minute time limit, all of which will be plugged into a selection of amplifiers provided by Guitar Center.

District competitions took place on September 30 where one winner was chosen from each of 24 districts. Those winners now move up to regionally hosted semi-finals (5 locations), culminating in the final King of the Blues Grand Finals competition in Los Angeles on November 12th.

Guitar Center’s King of the Blues champion will win an impressive package of prizes, including $25,000 cash, along with a Gibson Guitar ’59 Les Paul reissue guitar, a $2,500 Levi’s® shopping spree, a Marshall Vintage Modern 50 watt half stack, a Boss GT-10 Guitar Multi Effects Pedal, a feature in Guitar World magazine, worldwide distribution of their music in iTunes and more, plus endorsement deals from Ernie Ball, Marshall Amplification, VOX Amplification and Gibson. Additional regional, district and local prize packages will also be awarded, thanks to the generous support of Gibson Guitar, Levi’s®, Ernie Ball, Marshall, Boss, VOX, Guitar World Magazine and TuneCore, all of whom are proud partners of Guitar Center’s King of the Blues.

UPCOMING 2009 COMPETITION DATES:

Regional finals: October 21st
Grand Finals: November 12th

Some of today’s most iconic and groundbreaking artists, including BB King, John Mayer, The Black Crowes, Kenny Wayne Shepherd and Hubert Sumlin have participated at past King of the Blues events.

With “the Blues” being the foundation for nearly all of today’s popular music, the search for the nation’s greatest undiscovered blues guitarist is expected to unearth a goldmine of unsigned talent, some of whom are destined to become tomorrow’s legends.

For the latest information, go to:

Guitar Center – King Of The Blues Official Website

The Search For The Nation’s Greatest Undiscovered Blues Guitar Player is Back!

World’s Largest Guitar Competition Offers Grand Prize Worth Over $35,000, Including $25,000 Cash, Gear and Product Endorsements.

Guitar Center is pleased to announce the return of King of the Blues, the nationwide search for the next great undiscovered blues guitar player.

With sign-ups launching July 1, 2009, Guitar Center’s King of the Blues will feature competitions in over 200 Guitar Center locations across the country, culminating with the Grand Finals in Los Angeles this November.

In addition to showcasing the top five finalists, the King of the Blues Grand Finals will also feature performances by renowned blues guitarist Joe Bonamassa and Grammy Award winner Pete Anderson.

King of the Blues is part of Guitar Center’s ongoing mission to provide emerging artists and musicians with career-altering opportunities and vehicles to achieve success. Other Guitar Center programs include Drum-Off and On-Stage.

Now in its 21st year, Guitar Center’s Drum-Off has been a launching pad for numerous professional drummers, including Cora “CC” Dunham (Prince), Eric Moore II (Suicidal Tendencies), Tony Royster Jr. (Jay Z) and Thomas Pridgen (The Mars Volta). In 2008 Guitar Center also added On-Stage, a search for America’s next great rock band, with close to 8,000 bands vying for an opening slot on Mötley Crüe’s 30+ city North American arena tour. The winning band, The Last Vegas, not only toured with Mötley Crüe, but was also awarded a record deal with Eleven Seven Music and a management contract with Tenth Street Entertainment (Mötley’s management company).

Watch video trailer: King Of The Blues 2009:

Introduced in 2006, Guitar Center’s King of the Blues is designed to offer similar life-changing opportunities for unsigned guitarists. More than just a competition to find the most technically skilled players, King of the Blues is designed to seek out the most passionate, innovative and authentic undiscovered guitar players and give them a shot at stardom.

Some of today’s most iconic and groundbreaking artists, including BB King, John Mayer, The Black Crowes and Kenny Wayne Shepherd have participated at past King of the Blues events, and the winner of Guitar Center’s 2007 King of the Blues, Aaron Loesch, was invited to perform at Eric Clapton’s Crossroads Festival in front of over 25,000 attendees.

With “the Blues” being the foundation for nearly all of today’s popular music, the search for the nation’s greatest undiscovered blues guitarist is expected to unearth a goldmine of unsigned talent, some of whom are destined to become tomorrow’s legends.

“The Blues defines today’s music—from Robert Johnson to Jack White and B.B. King to John Mayer,” notes Dustin Hinz, Manager of Event Marketing and Promotions for Guitar Center. “By tapping into this rich and deep musical art form, our goal is to find true original talent—not clones of great guitarists, but rather great guitarists in their own right who deserve a place alongside the legends.”

Guitar Center’s King of the Blues champion will win an impressive package of prizes, including $25,000 cash, a featured spot in a Guitar Center ad campaign, along with a Gibson ’59 Les Paul reissue guitar, a $2,500 Levis shopping spree, a Marshall Vintage Modern 50 watt half stack, a Boss GT-10 Guitar Multi Effects Pedal, a feature in Guitar World magazine, worldwide distribution of their music in iTunes and more, plus endorsement deals from Ernie Ball, Marshall, Vox and Gibson. Additional regional, district and local prize packages will also be awarded, thanks to the generous support of Gibson, Levi’s, Ernie Ball, Marshall, Boss, Vox, Guitar World and Tunecore, all of whom are proud supporters of Guitar Center’s King of the Blues.

How It Works:

Sign-ups for the preliminary rounds of the King of the Blues competition begin July 1, 2009, and run on a “first-come, first-serve” basis, with a maximum of 30 registrants per store.

Contestants must sign up with a Guitar Center associate at their local store — no phone or online sign-ups are available.

Each contestant will perform live to 1 of 25 original backing tracks, developed by Grammy Award winning producer, Pete Anderson. All backing tracks are available for free download at www.guitarcenter.com/kingoftheblues Contestants may bring and use any 6, 7, or 12 string acoustic or electric guitar, lap steel or pedal steel guitar, plus any audio pedal effects that can be set-up in a 5 minute time limit, all of which will be plugged into a selection of amplifiers provided by Guitar Center.

Local competitions start August 20, 2009 in all 214 Guitar Center locations nationwide.

One winner from each store will be chosen to move up to district competitions (24 locations), followed by regionally hosted semi-finals (6 locations) and culminating in the final King of the Blues Grand Finals competition in Los Angeles in November, where the grand finalists will perform in front of a live audience and a panel of celebrity judges, sharing the stage with Joe Bonamassa, who was named Best Blues Guitarist by Guitar Player Magazine’s readership in their annual Reader’s Choice Awards for 2008, and whose incendiary playing has resulted in numerous albums in Billboard’s Top 10 blues chart.

COMPETITION DATES 2009:

(Dates and information subject to change.)

Store Prelims: August 20th, August 27th, September 3rd

Store finals: September 10th

District finals: September 30th

Regional finals: October 21st

Grand Finals: November 2009

For more information about the competition, rules and terms, go to:

Guitar Center Official Website

King of the Blues Competition

Guitar Center is pleased to announce the next installment of Guitar Center Sessions: An Evening of Dialogue and Insight with Joe Bonamassa.

Taking place Wednesday, September 17, 2008 at the Guitar Center in Hollywood, CA, the evening is free and open to the public. The evening will be powered in part by Gibson Guitars.

Joe Bonamassa is one of the premier blues-rock guitarist of his generation. At the early age of 12 he was already a touring pro, opening for the legendary B.B. King. Since then, Joe’s incendiary playing has earned him a loyal legion of fans and numerous albums in Billboard’s Top 10 blues chart.

Also a gifted singer and songwriter, Joe Bonamassa was named Best Blues Guitarist by Guitar Player Magazine’s readership in their annual Reader’s Choice Awards for 2008, and recently released ‘From Nowhere in Particular’, a 2-CD live album recorded during his fall 2007 U.S. tour and released on his own J&R Adventures label. The CD debuted at #1 on the Billboard Blues Charts.

Joe also hosts “Daily Cup Of Joe” as well, a Monday-Friday show on Sirius Satellite Radio’s Blues Channel 74 that airs from 12-12:15 PM (ET).

Designed to provide informative, provocative conversation and hands-on tutorials, Guitar Center Sessions serves as an incubator for musicians, providing them an opportunity to network with their peers in an intimate setting and gain career-fostering advice from their heroes.

Join us for a very special in-store event as Joe shares tips, techniques and experiences, talks about his signature Gibson Les Paul, and lays down some seriously soulful licks.

Wednesday, September 17, 2008 @ 7 pm
Guitar Center Hollywood
7425 Sunset Blvd.
(323) 874-1060

Free to the public. Limited capacity.

Guitar Center Sessions
Guitar Center

Joe Bonamassa Official Website