Guitars in the Village

We have a site member playing in the King of Blues competition tonight at Guitar Center - Overland Park 6:30pm-7:30.  GOOD LUCK!  (We would like to hear about your experience too.)

cool How'd it go?

Performance was great... not a win this time - maybe next year.  

Last night was a perfect night at Knucklehead's in Kansas City to listen to Samantha Fish play some incredible blues. 

Playing at the King of Blues was an interesting experience. I did not advance in the competition, but I found specific reasons why! Although I felt my solo work and phrasing was good, one of the categories that I was judged in was "Staying true to the roots in blues". My solo was a little bit contemporary and lacked that rootsy vibe in spots!!

I had a great time preparing for the competition. I'm planning on participating again next year and hopefully will be better prepared for the the requirements!! 

Also, Samantha Fish was amazing!!!! She did an amazing job and has incredible talent and stage presence!! It's amazing that she is so gifted vocally and guitar skill wise!!

Way to play, Keith!!  We are so proud of you! 

Keith,

You should be very proud of your performance at the King of the Blues contest.  Josh and I did not agree 100% with the judges' opinion, and neither did most of the people that had come to see him play.  But music is always subject to personal preferences...sometimes you just can't understand why the judges make a certain decision.  You were by far the better technical player than the other guy who won.

Of all the judging criteria, the "originality" and the "authenticity" parts are the hardest to balance, and the most subject to the judge's individual opinions.  You've got to keep your feet in the roots of the blues while being original and contemporary and that is a difficult line to walk.  When Josh got to the Regional finals in Dallas last year, the judges told him that he wasn't original enough and sounded "like every other guitar player in Texas."  Of course, then the judges voted for their buddy--a country slide guitar player.  We tried our best to not be 'sore losers' but when everyone in the room sees a clear winner, and then the judges vote for their friend...its kinda rough.

All you can really hope for is to go in there and play your best, stay true to yourself, and hope that it resonates with someone.

Josh Parks competed last Thursday night and advanced to the next round. He will be competing tomorrow night, Thursday, June 3, 2010 at the Guitar Center in Overland Park between 6:30 & 7:00pm.  GOOD LUCK Josh..... the Villagers at Guitars in the Village are cheering for you.

Hey guys!!! I just got playing in the store finals....and losing...LOL!!!

Thanks again for recording it!!  I hope I get to see it

Later!

caylor02 at June 3, 2010 at 11:46 PM

Hey guys!!! I just got playing in the store finals....and losing...LOL!!!

Thanks again for recording it!!  I hope I get to see it

Later!

Hey - you will never believe this... the video camera will not power on and is in repair.  Please cross your fingers that they can fix it and recover our data.  Your performance was not downloaded before the power problem happened. 

YOU WERE GREAT!  Keep playing the blues....