I caught up with Steve Senes, the winner of Guitar Players Magazines “Guitar SuperStar” competition and he graciously allowed me to interview him again! If you missed the first interview (before the competition), you can read it by CLICKING HERE.

I got the scoop over Guitar Player Magazine – TWICE!

Watch his winning performance here, then read the interview below:

GD: Were you pleased with your performance (before you knew you won?)
“Ya know man, I didn’t know what to think. I was more nervous than I’ve ever been, then when I walked out on that stage, something just clicked in my head, and I thought to myself “I’m gonna melt your faces” – that helped the nerves. So I just rocked out. There was definitely some flubbage, haha. It’s the first time I’ve EVER played the song with a band, gig or otherwise. So, it was a little different. Course I’d like to go back and improve some things but who knows – perhaps some of the charm that the grabbed the judges was in the clams I hit ”

GD: Did you watch the the other nine finalists play?
“I was the last guitarist to play, so I tried not to. Upstairs in the green room, there was a TV with a live feed of the event. I had my Macbook up there with headphones, but with the TV going, I had to occasionally (often) take off the cans and check it out. Seems like every time I did, the judges were ripping someone apart, which made me even more nervous. Also, the guys yet to play were up there warming up and I’m hearing some incredible playing right there! When I had about 15 minutes to go, I went down to the backstage area because there was about a 25 degree temperature difference (hot in the Green Room), I didn’t wanna have my guitar adjusting to temperature and going all outta tune. So I saw the last three guys before me from the wings. Man, that was even worse, cause then I could feel the power of their performances – which only added to the nerves!”

GD: Who did you think was going to win?
“Honestly, all of these guys are top notch players. I honestly believe ANY of ‘em could have taken the whole thing. Had it been a different night, judges been on a different vibe, who knows? All the guys brought something unique and individual to the table. I’m still in awe and proud to have shared the stage with such incredible talent!!!!!”

GD: So tell me about the prize package! What did you win?

• My choice of one of 3 Mesa/Boogie amps (I chose the Stiletto)
• BC Rich Exotic Class Mockingbird in Spalted Maple
• D’Addario Prize Package (dunno what’s in there)
• My choice of a Seymour Duncan stompbox and pickup set
• Voyage-Air Acoustic Guitar
• Line 6 Spider IV 75
• Peterson StroboStomp 2
• N-Tune Tuners
• Essential Sound Products – MusicCord PRO Power CordDean Markley Prize Package
• And sometime in the coming months, there will be a feature article about me in Guitar Player Magazine. Dunno when it’ll be but I hope not too terribly long. They run ‘em months in advance, though, so I suspect it’ll be the early part of next year. Which is cool – gives me more time to work on getting my CD mastered.

GD: Will this success change your plans for the new CD release?
“Well, I still plan to self-release it once I can get it mastered. Good mastering ain’t cheap, so I’m working towards being able to get it done. Any takers?”

GD: So where do you go from here with your career?
“It’s really hard to say. I plan to continue with my band, Superswamp Heroes and also try to pursue some success with my instrumental stuff. I have a few irons in the fire I’m working out, so who knows what will happen…..”

GD: Tell me the truth… did you sleep much Saturday night?
“That would be a big NO. After the show, most of the finalists, a bunch of the GP Magazine staff and some other people convened to the hotel lounge for some drinks, to decompress, and just hang out. A great friend of mine flew up from LA for the contest, so we did a lot of hanging out, trading war stories, just an all around good time. By the time I got to my room, got everything ready to go for the morning, it was 4:30/5:00am, somewhere in there. At 8:45am my room phone starts ringing, it’s the driver wanting me to get down there so he can haul me to the airport and pick up his next client. So I woke up, shook my head a little, brushed my teeth, grabbed my stuff and headed out. Take off from the West Coast, a bumpy flight home & next thing I know, I’m flying over the Atlantic making the approach into Myrtle Beach. What a whirlwind!!!!!!”

“Also, I GOTTA give some props to the band that backed up all the finalists – they’re called Thud Factor, I believe they’re out of LA. These cats had to learn and chart out 10 songs, all by artists they’ve never heard of before. In as many different styles! All in all, they did an incredible job. I can’t speak to the authenticity of their playing on the other guys’ songs (sounded incredible to me), but their playing on my song was almost 100% right on to what I wrote, with no rehearsal time. I thought they did a magnificent job and are to be hugely commended. It was an honor to have those guys play my song!”

…end of interview…-GD

Guitar Player Magazine has posted videos of all 10 performances.  Follow THIS LINK to watch the entire competition.

Keep up with Steve on his NEW Website by CLICKING HERE.

ONE MORE TIME – CONGRATULATIONS STEVE!

Back on August 31st, GuitarDaddy interviewed Steve Senes — one of the “10 Finalists” in Guitar Player Magazine’s “Guitar Superstar” Competition.

The competition finals were last night, and I stayed glued to Steve’s Twitter page as he promised to update everyone on the evening.

Then… about 10:15pm MST… Steve sent out a tweet that said “1st place. I won!“

Follow Steve on Twitter by CLICKING HERE.

Something tells me Steve did not sleep very much last night!

Stay tuned to TheGuitarBuzz for more details of the competition….

If you want to make a guitar blogger’s day, send them an email saying you really enjoy reading the content on their blog! (hint-hint!)

That’s exactly what Steve Senes did for The GuitarDaddy a few days ago.

Steve came across the TheGuitarBuzz.com while searching on Google for information about Guitar Player Magazine’s “Guitar Superstar” Competition.  I had posted an article about the competition back on July 11th and Google delivered that link to Steve.

Let’s just call it a match made in “Guitar-Cyber-Heaven”!

Now in its fifth year, Guitar Player’s Guitar Superstar competition is 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) on Saturday, September 12, 2009.

Steve is one of the Top-10 Finalists in the competition and after exchanging a few emails, he graciously agreed to give The GuitarDaddy an interview for TheGuitarBuzz.com. Check this out:

GD) Steve, tell me a little about yourself…
“I’m a guitarist living in the Myrtle Beach, SC area, though I’m originally from the Washington, SC area. I’ve played in a lot of different styles of bands, from Metal to Pop Rock to Funk to Country & Southern Rock, which has (I guess) given me kind of a schitzo style; God only knows what’s gonna come out next.”

GD) How long have you played guitar?
“I started playing guitar in late 1985, so that’d make it about 24 years now. I’d fiddled around with it before then, but that is when I started taking it seriously…”

GD) What style of music do you enjoy playing?
“I enjoy playing a lot of different stuff on Guitar, but when it comes right down to it, it’s hard driving rock that I dig the most. I like hitting on some funk as well, but in moderation. I say it like this remembering a band I played with for around three years where we’d go weeks (literally gigging 7 nights a week) without playing a song where I could turn distortion on my guitar. It’d drive me nuts cause after a while, I just gotta crank it and get my wail on…..”

GD) Is this your first time to enter a guitar contest?
“I’ve been in a few contests over the years – starting in the DC area, where I grew up. There were three Hot Licks Guitar Shop contests, the third of which I won. In 1996 I won a contest here in the Myrtle Beach area sponsored by a local rock radio station. In 1999 I won a contest sponsored by Guitar Center in conjunction with Steve Vai. In this contest, the grand prize was to get up and jam with Steve Vai and his band on stage at their gig. Thus far, it’s been the pinnacle of my guitar playing career – and the most frightening – Jack Butler anyone?”

GD) Are you nervous about playing in front of those mega-star judges?
“Not so much playing in front of the judges as much as “boy o boy, I hope I don’t get up there and lay an egg”, LOL! I’m just gonna go up there & play the way I love playing. I love to play guitar, I think that’s the way it should always be.”

GD) What are your aspirations with the guitar?
“To never again have to play gigs that I hate in order to pay the bills. Also, in a questionnaire for this contest I was asked pretty much the same question, to which I answered the following: “To travel the world, playing my music for every guitar music fan I can find. The stages, the lights, the crowds. I want it all!”

Steve has a new CD coming out titled:
dE​-​eVolution oF thEorY.

The release date is October 30, 2009.

Click on the CD cover to the left and you will be re-directed to a site where you can sample all of the songs from the upcoming CD.  You can even download individual tracks (or the entire CD).

The funds collected will go toward the cost of mastering the final CD for production.

Come on GuitarBuzz readers… let’s help the guy out! This is great stuff!

Steve will be performing the first track from the CD titled: “The Swami” for the Guitar Superstar competition.  He gave me permission to embed the track below so you can listen to what the judges will hear (while you continue reading The GuitarBuzz…)

[Play audio of Steve Senes: The Swami]

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

The ten finalists receive an all-expenses paid trip to the San Francisco Bay Area. The winner, First Runner-Up and Second Runner-Up will receive custom trophies and complete gear packages. The champion will receive a feature article in Guitar Player magazine and prizes from event sponsors–including Mesa/Boogie, Harmon, Line 6, Peavey, Sennheiser, GHS Strings, DR Strings, and U.S. Music.

The competition takes place Saturday, September 12, 2009, at 8:00 p.m. at the Bankhead Theater, Livermore Valley Performing Arts Center, 2400 First Street, Livermore, California. Admission $23.00. Tickets can be ordered online at www.bankheadtheater.org or call 925-373-6800.

You can contact Steve directly through his MySpace page by CLICKING HERE.

GOOD LUCK IN THE COMPETITION STEVE!!

GuitarDaddy will provide an update on the results…