Champ Is Crowned for Sam Ash Music's 'Best In Shred' Guitar Championship!

HICKSVILLE, N.Y., Jan. 26, 2011 /PRNewswire/ --  After four months and four grueling rounds, the Sam Ash Best In Shred Contest has its champion! John-Joe Michael Roarty is the 2010 Best In Shred champion, winning $20,000 in music, sound and recording gear from Ibanez, Line 6, EV, Zoom, Jim Dunlop, Samson and Morley, plus the grand prize: the opportunity to perform live, onstage with legendary guitarist Steve Vai! Sammy Ash, COO of the music store chain personally awarded John-Joe the coveted Ibanez RG9670Z guitar, a custom model flown in from Japan for the event.

The celebrity panel of judges for the final round was a "who's who" of great musicians: John 5, guitarist for Rob Zombie; Kiko Loureiro, guitarist for Angra; George Lynch, legendary guitarist for Dokken and Lynch Mob; and Frank Bello, bassist for Anthrax. Both the crowd and the shredders were thrilled as each of the judges offered their opinions of the performances and the advice they gave. The contest's final round took place January 12th at the Sam Ash Music superstore in Cerritos, California. Hundreds of guests and rock fans attended the event.

Sam Ash Music, America's premier full-line music store chain, launched the "Best in Shred" contest in October to find America's best unsigned guitar player. Over six hundred guitarists entered. At the Championship, the remaining six finalists soloed live onstage to their choice of a Steve Vai backing track.  The judges scored the players on their technical skills, originality, accuracy, and showmanship to determine the winner.

Sam Ash Music is the country's leading full-line music store chain with over 45 stores. The family owned and operated business opened in 1924 with a small store in Brooklyn and now operates stores nationwide.

SOURCE Sam Ash Music