Guitar Idol - The Story So Far...

4 weeks ago we launched the first new International Guitarist Talent search since Phil Hilborn and the gang from Music Maker Publications - then owners of Guitarist and the soon to be launched Guitar Techniques magazines - launched ‘The Guitarist Of The Year’ in 1992.

Whilst guitarist talent competitions have always been a part of the scene – particularly in the US (but also in the UK with the now defunct Guitar Hero competitions - won by AOG’s own Andy James back in 2004) – there hasn’t been a large scale competition on the scale of ‘Guitar Idol’, one that could cross continents using the Internet.

With the massive increase in virtuoso guitar playing in the last few years - particularly in the metal world, but also evident in the success of artists such as Joe Bonamassa (Blues Rock) and Newton Faulkner (Acoustic virtuoso) - after over a decade in the doldrums, last year we at Alloutguitar.com decided that the time was right to launch a new version more in keeping with the times. With the massive advance of the Internet in all our lives – and of course with AOG being the first stand alone online guitar magazine - for the first time all the contestants would have a platform for their abilities online, and benefit from exposure to thousands of guitar fans the world over.

AOG have been advocates of bringing virtuoso guitar playing back to the mass live arena, and so we realised that this would only really work if we had a suitable venue for a live Grand Final. We approached MB Media, publishers and Conference organisers behind the successful London Guitar Shows of recent years, and now staging Europe’s second biggest music show the London International Music Show at London Excel June 12-15th 2008.

What better place to stage Guitar Idol than this? LIMS has a projected attendance of over 60,000 visitors and a line up of artists playing including the spiritual Godfather of Virtuoso Rock Guitarists Joe Satriani – so what better than to have the winner open up for Satch himself?

Coupled with other world renowned virtuosos playing including.. as well as rock legend Roger Daltrey and Pete Townshend this was too good an opportunity to miss!

And so, after months of preperation and with partner company Licklibrary.com, and official sponsors Paul Reed Smith, Peavey, Roland, The Institute of Contemporary Music Performance, International Exam body Rockschool and Lion Records, Guitar Idol was launched to an unsuspecting guitar community on March 21st 2008.

So what do you all reckon? Is the contest living up to what you hoped for?

To celebrate one month of competition here is a report on how the event has been running.

Entries… so far…

First of all, we are amazed at amount of international entries so far for a competition that will have its final in the UK, with entrants as far afield as Chile, Brazil, Greece, France, Germany, Canada - and loads from the US.

With over 130 entrants so far the quality has exceeded our expectations – and leaves us in no doubt that this was the right thing to stage – and at the right time.

Travel and Accommodation costs.

For our foreign entrants we were always aware that there would be a risk attached to making the Final 10 in that the travel costs are going to be high – unfortunately there is no way around this. Competitions such as this are common place in the Classical world, and contestants usually try to arrange sponsorship to help pay for travel and accommodation cost to foreign lands, but as this is a popular music based competition no such precedent exists – yet…

This will be an annual event, of that there is no doubt, and as the competition grows in stature opportunities will arise for all of you to spend months in advance trying to secure sponsors from local businesses involved with the guitar for 2009, 2010 and beyond. But we had to start somewhere, and we really couldn’t announce this any earlier than we did – but for those who can’t make it we’ll see you in 2009!

As a response to concerns over flight and hotel arrangements we have brought the deadline forward to May 25th, and in certain cases where the outcome is clear that they will make the Top 10 we will notify entrants in advance of that – so keep in contact and e-mail us regularly to track your performance. WHICH BRINGS US TO…

Voting….

Subject to much speculation and comment so far, it is important that I clarify once and for all how the system has to run.

First of all, as clearly stated the Online vote is primarily for the Peoples Choice Award. This will guarantee you a Finalist place and a special prize.

The other finalist places will be decided by a panel of pro music industry figures from the sponsors and organising companies.

As an online competition it was important to have a public vote, but it was always going to be hard to balance how to achieve this: contestants with a massive network of online contacts and MySpace friends would always be in a stronger position than someone who might be the next Van Halen, but was comparatively unknown.

As this is a contest to find the best player out there we couldn’t just rely on this being an Internet popularity contest – equally in the modern day world self-marketing is vital, so having this as well is a massive help to the judges to assess if someone is the complete package. It’s harsh, but if someone is great but cant muster more than a couple of dozen votes then it’s not going to help their chances at all…

EVERY VOTE counts – and some of you who have been active for a few weeks with an indisputably great entry, but comparatively few votes (and you know who you are!) get working on this as soon as possible!

In the music industry of today you will have to promote yourself massively in order to get anywhere – no longer can you rely on record companies etc to do this – so use this as a way of brushing up on your networking abilities and SELL YOURSELF. Get every student/fan/friend/family member to support you NOW. There are 4 weeks left so it is vital not to waste any time.

The Live Performance

This will take place on Saturday at … , June 14th 2008 in the main stage, where Paul Gilbert, Satch, Guthrie Govan, Roger Daltry and the rest will be playing later in the weekend.

The Guitar Institute is providing a band to provide a backing for your entry – UNLESS you actively insist on using your own backing tracks, but remember that you will instantly lose the excitement and energy of a professional live band.

The finalists will be contacted directly well in advance to assess their requirements, and rehearsals shall take place on Friday 13th for those using the backing band.

Backline will be supplied, but it may be an idea to bring your own effects and pedals.

The winner will be selected by a panel of top industry figures - soon to be announced.

Prizes

For all the finalists this a fantastic opportunity to play in front of thousands of guitar fans on the Main Stage on the busiest day of the LIMS. Even if you don’t win think of the exposure…

Throughout the weekend the finalists can play on the Guitar Idol/Alloutguitar.com Stand

The Finals will be shown on Alloutguitar.com, Licklibrary.com and each contestant will have interviews and profiles on all associated sites and magazines.

The Winner will also have:

All Finalists will win prizes, but the outright winner will also collect prizes from:

Paul Reed Smith
Peavey
Roland
Rockschool
The Institute of Contemporary Music Performance
Lion Records

What next?

In the words of Joe Satriani:

“ …because I run G3, I’m looking for new players all the time, and it’s very hard - believe it or not! – to have some sort of outside filter go through the thousands of possible newcomers to offer up somebody that’s been through all these different stages of competition, and all of a sudden it comes to my attention and I go “Wow, look at this, this young player who comes from somewhere in the world –I don’t know it could be Chile, or Japan or London or whatever – and they’re 18 or something and just like amazing.

That great for me because I can approach that person and say “Hey, lets do something – let’s take you somewhere, lets help you climb to the top”. So that’s great - I’m really looking forward to it!”

So there you have it – this is a fantastic opportunity so make the most of it!