Guitar Player Magazine Announces Guitar Hero 2006 Finals

After listening to hundreds of entries posted on SonicBids.com, the staff of Guitar Player has selected the ten finalists who will battle for the title of "Guitar Hero" at the magazine's Guitar Hero 2006 competition to be held September 23, at the Great American Music Hall in San Francisco. At the conclusion of the event, one player will be crowned as the 2006 Guitar Player Guitar Hero.

This is the second annual Guitar Hero event. The premiere Guitar Hero competition was held last year at Cleveland's Rock and Roll Hall of Fame on June 10, 2005. The winner of the Guitar Hero '05 title was New York's Dominic Frasca. First Runner-Up was Rodney VerBrugge of Northern California, and Second Runner-Up was Germany's Marcus Deml.

"After just two years, Guitar Player's Guitar Hero competition is already one of the industry's biggest community-building events for guitarists," says GP Editor in Chief Michael Molenda. "The concert brings together guitar legends, incredibly talented 'unknown' guitarists, and scores of players who aspire to be the next Guitar Player Guitar Hero. It's a fabulous celebration of the guitar, and one of the most exciting and fun-filled things the Guitar Player staff does all year!"

The ten finalists for Guitar Player's Guitar Hero '06 Competition are: David Powers (Brewster, New York), Sergei Roudzinski (Russia), Patrick Woods (Winona Lake, Indiana), Joe Cefalu (Boise, Idaho), Ed DeGenaro (Seattle, Washington), Trey Alexander (Lancaster, Pennsylvania), Josh Karickhoff (New York, New York), Anton Tsygankov (St. Peters, Missouri), Ron LoCurto (Kenmore, New York), and Nathan Hahn (Waxahachie, Texas).

The winner of the event will receive a mammoth gear package, including gear provided by the sponsors of the event.

The complete panel of celebrity judges who will pick the winner of Guitar Hero '06 are guitar legend Joe Satriani, session great and Toto axeman Steve Lukather, former Poison and Mr. Big guitarist Ritchie Kotzen, Rockstar:SuperNova house band guitarslinger Rafael Moreira, the fabulous Shredmistress Rynata, and Steve Read of Musician's Friend.

Guitar Player's 2006 Guitar Hero competition is proud to be sponsored by Epiphone, First Act, Hughes & Kettner, Mesa Boogie, Musician's Friend, and Sonicbids.com.

Advance tickets for this incredible celebration of guitar are available through the box office at the Great American Music Hall. Or, you can click here and order them online.