Coronation Countdown: Guitar Center's King of the Blues Competition

by Tom Watson.

On Saturday, June 16, 2007, four guitarists take the stage at the Music Box in Los Angeles where each hopes to prove that out of the more than 4,200 original hopefuls and four remaining finalists, he deserves to be crowned 2007's King of the Blues. With grand prizes valued at over $50,000 and an opportunity to perform at this summer's Eric Clapton Crossroads Concert at stake, the 2007 King of the Blues title is about more than simply bragging rights.

Billed as "the world's largest guitar competition", 2007 marks the event's ninth year. Until 2006, the competition was known as Guitarmageddon and was not dedicated to a particular musical genre. Last year, the contest was re-named Guitarmageddon: King of the Blues and its scope limited to the music that serves as the root of all popular styles. The word "Guitarmageddon" has been dropped for 2007 because, as Guitar Center's Manager of Event Marketing and Promotions, Dustin Hinz, puts it, "Guitarmageddon started sounding cheesy." The event is now also often referred to simply by the acronym, KOTB.

The audience at this year's KOTB finals will be treated to an entertainment package consisting of: a Hollywood's RockWalk induction ceremony in which Hubert Sumlin, George Thorogood & The Destroyers, and Keb' Mo' will be recognized for their significant impact on and lasting contribution to the growth and evolution of rock ‘n’ roll; a performance by Kenny Wayne Shepherd, during which he'll be joined on stage by Hubert Sumlin; the KOTB finals hosted by comedian Cheech Marin; and, an appearance by The Black Crowes.

The finals will be conducted in a manner similar to earlier rounds of the competition, but with two variations. Instead of performing their electric guitar, or electrified guitar, solo to one of 22 tracks from a CD supplied to each contestant, the finalists will perform with a live backing band led by Grammy Award-winning guitarist and producer Pete Anderson (who produced the backing track CD). The live band will then leave the stage and the finalist will perform for two minutes unaccompanied using a Gibson acoustic guitar won in an earlier stage of the competition, an element not required in previous rounds. The contestants will be scored from 1-10 in five categories: overall performance; originality; technique; style; and, stage presence. The list of judges has not been finalized, but will include Kenny Wayne Shepherd, Hubert Sumlin, Matt O'Ree (last year's winner), and Pete Anderson.

To take the stage at next Saturday's showdown, this year's finalists survived four rounds of eliminations that began in March at the 190+ Guitar Center locations throughout the United States. The pre-final rounds consisted of local store preliminaries (March 13, 20, and 27), local store finals (April 3), district competitions (April 18, held at 22 different Guitar Center stores throughout the country), and a regional elimination round on May 9, that took place in Hollywood, Detroit, Nashville, and Manhattan.

The 2007 regional winners who qualified for the June 16 finals are (name, age and region): Alex Johnson, 38, Detroit; Aaron Loesch, 34, Nashville; Rob Baumeister, 24, Manhattan; and, Zack Wiesinger, 20, Hollywood.

The 2007 KOTB finalists

Alex Johnson says he entered the competition on a whim. He hasn't performed with a group since he "retired" from live performing 15 years ago at the age of 23, the result of suffering from tendinitis and a desire to spend more time teaching guitar and various aspects of rock music performance. Johnson is the founder of the Ann Arbor (Michigan) Music School, whose staff of 16 teachers sees more than 300 students a week. In fact, some of Johnson's students and their parents will be among the dozen or so planning to fly to Los Angeles to support Johnson at the finals.

Entering KOTB also gave Alex an excellent excuse to buy a new guitar - a 2006 American Series Stratocaster, which he played in the first four rounds. For the finals though, Johnson says he might switch to a Gibson Les Paul he received as one of the earlier round prizes. "They (Gibson) sent me the most gorgeous Les Paul that I've ever touched and I just want to show my gratitude. This is a Gibson sponsored event and I'm here to play along."

Johnson also harbors a unique reason for wanting to succeed at the finals and make his way to the Eric Clapton Crossroads Concert: He has a story to tell B.B. King.

Alex says that he and B.B. King have something in common beside electric guitar blues - at the age of six, they both had the same babysitter, a woman named Clara. Shortly before she died, Clara, who occasionally babysat Alex when he was young, told Johnson that when she was 12 she lived not far from B.B. King and would help keep an eye on the neighborhood children who called her "Play Mama".

Aaron Loesch, a native of Houston, Texas, is the only one of the final four who didn't use a Stratocaster at any point during the pre-final rounds. In fact, it's hard to say exactly what model guitar Loesch used. "For years Ive been re-building old Silvertones, Regals, and Kayes," he says. "Around 12 years ago it was the start of my jug band and I liked the way these little trashcan guitars sounded, they had sort of a toilet bowl tone. I ended up routing a hole and sticking a humbucker in the little 3/4 scale acoustic guitars. I've got about 20 or 30 of these things. Some of them are waiting to be electrified because I just wear them out when I play gigs - throw 'em in the air and oops, I missed it, time to build another one." The originally acoustic guitar Loesch has used so far in the competition sports a DiMarzio Super Distortion humbucker pickup.

This year's competition is Loesch's second outing with the contest. In 2005, the final year the competition was known simply as Guitarmageddon without the focus on the blues, he won the store finals but lost at the district level. "You have to learn how to be a contestant. My first time out I wanted to test myself. This time around I wanted to have fun. I didn't want it to change my life, change my schedule, miss work. It's worked out fine. Seems the more fun I have, the better I play."

But, as he's progressed through the contest his attitude's become more serious and though having fun remains a core element, as he heads toward the finals he's found additional motivation. "I really want to win this contest, but it's not so much that I want it for myself, it's that I've got so many people rooting for me I just don't want to let them down. As the contest goes on the whole meaning behind it changes. It's weird. It's a guitar contest, but for me it's not really so much about guitar anymore, it's something else. It has something to do with my city, where I come from, my family, my friends. These are the people that taught me how to play, who supported me for 12 years, and I want to say thanks."

Around a dozen of those supporters will join Loesch in L.A., including his landlord and his landlord's wife, some of whom have no tickets to the sold out show.

Zack Wiesinger, who at 20 is the youngest of the four finalists, has already reaped a substantial benefit from his participation in KOTB - it helped him land a spot as the opening act for Steve Vai's upcoming tour of Europe. Five days after Saturday's finals, Zack leaves for Europe where he will be alone on stage with his 1979 25th Anniversary Stratocaster warming up the fans of one of the top names in the electric guitar world.

Wiesinger first met Vai two years ago when Zack attended Grammy Camp in Los Angeles at which Vai was a guest speaker. He handed Vai a CD of home recorded music, Vai heard something he liked in the music, and the two stayed in touch. When Wiesinger told Vai last year that he would like to move to L.A. but knew no one there, Vai offered him a job as an intern. Zack moved from his native Pittsburgh to Los Angeles in August of 2006, and now serves as one of Vai's assistants. He kept the boss abreast of his progress through KOTB and when he told Vai that he had made it to the finals, he was offered the opening act spot, for which he'll take the stage for 20-30 minutes and play solo electric guitar.

It was actually four intense minutes of Zack's KOTB experience that helped seal the deal. Each KOTB contestant receives a CD containing 22 blues-based backing tracks, but, in the event of a tie, the competitors have to play a tie breaker - two minutes of unbacked impromptu playing. Wiesinger experienced tie breakers at both the district and regional competitions and it was Zack's willingness and ability to stand up and play unaccompanied electric guitar that helped him secure the opening act spot on Vai's tour.

Rob Baumeister, who hails from south New Jersey and is a graduate of the Roberto-Venn School of Lutherie in Arizona, was a bit reluctant to enter this year's KOTB after having finished a close second in one of last year's pre-final rounds. But remembering the encouragement he received from the judges to try again in 2007, the left-handed Baumeister decided to give the contest a second shot.

While he's played guitar for 11 years now, it's only been a few years since Jimi Hendrix's "Red House" inspired Baumeister to start playing the blues. Since then, he's drawn further inspiration from icons such as Muddy Waters, Eric Clapton, Stevie Ray Vaughan, and B.B. King.

It's unknown what steps Baumeister's taking to prepare for the finals. He's currently on his honeymoon and unavailable for comment.

Some common threads

Though each of the three finalists we spoke to had his own tale to tell and will bring something unique to the Music Box stage, it's what they have in common that's most striking. "I feel excited. I feel elated. The whole thing is still very surreal. The fact that I'm going to this final still hasn't sunk in yet," one of them comments. He could have been speaking for all three.

The word fun often finds its way into the conversation. They entered the competition for fun, they've had fun, and they plan on having more of it next Saturday, which is not to say they're lighthearted. Each evinces a sense of humility and responsibility that inspires him to practice like he's never practiced before, not so much to increase the chance of winning, but to honor the privilege of performing at the finals with a presentation that represents his best, honest effort.

They also demonstrated a literate knowledge of and reverence for the blues. One of them remarked, "I don't have a blues life. It wasn't like I was born without privileges or freedom. But I learned the music and do the best I can to pay homage to all the great blues legends. I try to honor them. Even in my songwriting, you might hear a little Robert Johnson. I write as if I was going to present it to him and say thank you. I'm doing the best I can to carry on their musical traditions."

The conversations also yield an unexpected common thread: a sense of guitar community. "(Through the contest) I've met some of the nicest people I've ever known, and some incredible players," remarks a finalist, then continues, "Couple of kids in the regionals - I don't know what it is these days but I think the playing has been bumped up a notch. There's a new level as far as technical playing goes - high school kids are pushing the envelope when it comes to technique. Where are they getting it? Who's their icon? I don't pay much attention to what's out there outside my little musical bubble."

A contest designed to unite

In fact, creating an environment in which guitarists around the world can step out of the musical bubble was one of the prime motivations behind Guitar Center's creation of the contest. Says GC's Dustin Hinz, "Drum Off, which is a sister competition to KOTB, has been around for 20 years and we decided we should do something for our guitar players to create some sort of community."

The question is, how can a performance contest that might seem to divide guitarists as competitors, help unite them into a community? Hinz answers this way: "Our number one goal, beside crowning a winner, is creating and encouraging musicianship, community, and guitar playing in general. Think about the first round of local competitions, 10 players on three different nights, that's 30 guitarists, coming out, playing to their peers, and most importantly, getting to meet and know each other. Then, bear in mind that this is happening at Guitar Centers throughout the country. It helps create a huge sense of community among guitarists as you can see by our KOTB website and all the players who upload examples of their playing and who continue to interact with each other and share knowledge, experiences, and mutual support."

At the end of the rainbow and a few words of advice

Will winning the KOTB have a positive affect on the new king's career? According to last year's winner and the current KOTB, Matt O'Ree, the answer is a resounding yes. "Winning the competition has definitely helped me more than anything else that I've accomplished at this point. It definitely helped me tour more outside of the New York/New Jersey area because now that I have some kind of title and some national exposure it's easier to get booked in venues in other States where otherwise people wouldn't know who you are. It's also helped me on the local level because now people are rooting for me. The title has also helped get more music equipment endorsements."

Asked what words of advice he would share with this year's finalists, O'Ree answered, "Stay true to your heart, which is always the best advice. Just go out and play the best you can and try to put on the best show you can. As we all know, it's not just about great guitar playing, you have to deliver some entertainment value as well. The finals will be one of the most memorable days of your life. Savor it."

Related Links
Review: Eric Clapton Crossroads Guitar Festival Concert
Eric Clapton and Guitar Friends Raise Money for Crossroads Centre (concert photos)
Aaron Loesch Ready for Eric Clapton Crossroads Concert
Bill Murray, Robbie Robertson, and Johnny Winter Added to Eric Clapton's Crossroads Guitar Festival Concert
Eric Clapton's Crossroads Guitar Festival Announces Festival Village
2007 Eric Clapton Crossroads Guitar Festival Website
MSN Music Crossroads Concert Webcast
Eric Clapton Announces 2007 Crossroads Guitar Festival to Be Held in Chicago
Fender Creates Eric Clapton Crossroads Stratocasters and Amps
John Mayer and Eric Clapton Introduce the Sun Strat Guitar
Hail, Hail, the New Guitar Center King of the Blues Is Crowned
Coronation Countdown: Guitar Center's King of the Blues Competition
King of the Blues Finalist Zack Wiesinger Opens for Steve Vai
Guitar Center King of the Blues Website
Matt O'Ree

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