King of the Blues

In case you haven't heard, Guitar Center is putting on their annual 'King of the Blues' contest in hopes of discovering the newest blues virtuoso. It's open to all the GC stores in the lower 48. They accept 30 contestants per store who then battle it out for the rights to move on to the regional competition and eventually the finals . The prizes get better with every contest you win. The grand prize is a 2007 Ford Mustang, a year-long endorsement with Gibson guitars, $5,000 cash, a recording contract with Little Dog Records as well as some other cool stuff.

For those of us who missed the opportunity to enter the contest (I only just stumbled on the competition the other night when I stopped in at GC for some weekly gear-lusting) there is still an awesome prize for us too. Guitar Center recruited veteran producer and ace string-slinger Pete Anderson to write/produce the backing tracks for the competition. There are 22 tracks in every conceivable blues style from which to choose and they are offered either as a CD (only at GC stores) or as downloads from the KOTB website. The best part is that they are FREE!! Yup, now you can practice your blues licks while being accompanied by some of the best session players the world has to offer. Thanks Guitar Center!