Steve Senes of Myrtle Beach, South Carolina Crowned Guitar Player’s Guitar Superstar 2009
San Bruno, CA (September 14, 2009) —Ten finalists battled for the international title of “Guitar Superstar” at Guitar Player’s Guitar Superstar 2009 competition Saturday, September 12 at the Bankhead Theater in Livermore, California. Steve Senes of Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, captivated the crowd and the judges with his fierce technique to emerge victorious in Guitar Player’s Guitar Superstar competition.
First runner-up was Krisz Simonfalvi of Dallas, Texas (originally from Budapest, Hungary) and Brian Davidson of Nashville, Tennessee took second runner-up.
Guitar Player’s Guitar Superstar fifth annual event was the centerpiece of Guitar Player LIVE!, a 3-day celebration of guitars, music, and gear presented by the Livermore Valley Performing Arts Center in Livermore, California, east of San Francisco.
Across the globe, hundreds of “unknown” guitarists of all ages and styles answered the call to post their best performances at sonicbids.com. Ten finalists were chosen to perform onstage in front of a live audience and a panel of world-famous guitar stars that included Elliot Easton (The Cars), Jennifer Batten (guitarist for Michael Jackson, Jeff Beck), Steve Lukather (Toto), Earl Slick (David Bowie), and Greg Hampton, (producer of Alice Cooper, Ronnie Wood, Lita Ford).
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The judges provided comments after each contestant’s performance in an American Idol-style format, finding much to highlight among the uniformly high quality of the performances. Introducing each contestant and serving as master of ceremonies was Brendon Small, co-creator of Adult’s Swim’s Metalocalypse animated series.
“This event is about celebrating the awesome power of the guitar, and all ten finalists stood onstage and delivered absolutely sizzling performances,” said Guitar Player Editor in Chief Michael Molenda. “Each player is a thrilling evangelist for all that is good and holy about transcendent guitar playing, and we were honored and humbled to have them represent their technique, creativity, and passion right here at Guitar Superstar 2009.”
Senes, the tenth and final contestant of the night gave a mesmerizing performance, wowing judges and audience alike with his chops, dynamics, tone, and attitude.
Jennifer Batten said "Where did you come from and why are we just now getting to hear you?" Elliot Easton said, "We sit here and listen to ten guitarists, then all of a sudden, here YOU come. Wow". Further thrills were provided by Vicki Genfan, last year’s Guitar Superstar winner as well as from the house band Thud Factor.
All ten contestants received an all-expenses paid trip to the San Francisco Bay Area. The winner, First Runner-Up and Second Runner-Up of the event received custom trophies and complete gear packages. Steve Senes will be featured in a forthcoming article in Guitar Player magazine and he took home prizes from event sponsors—including presenting sponsors Voyage-Air Guitar, and Digitech, with additional sponsorship from Harman International–Digitech, Mesa Boogie, Taylor Guitars, D'Addario, Planet Waves, GBase, Line 6, Sennheiser, Washburn, Randall and Gallien Kruger.
For more information on Guitar Player's Guitar Superstar, and the Guitar Player Live! 2009 event, check out www.guitarplayer.com/live.