Guitar Center Celebrates The Blues With The Launch Of Guitar Center's Blues Masters: The Chance Of A Lifetime For Ten Musicians To Perform For Renowned Blues Guitarist Joe Bonamassa

Career-Altering Grand Prize Package Includes $10,000 in Cash, Gear, and Performance and Studio Time with Joe Bonamassa

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Feb 01, 2013, 11:00 ET

WESTLAKE VILLAGE, Calif., Feb. 1, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Guitar Center, the world's largest musical instrument retailer, in partnership with renowned guitarist Joe Bonamassa, celebrate the blues with the launch of Guitar Center's Blues Masters Featuring Joe Bonamassa. The new program combines Guitar Center's dedication to the support of emerging artists with their commitment to the preservation of one of America's greatest art forms, the Blues.

(Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20130201/LA51597)

Guitar Center's Blues Masters, through its unique partnership with Joe Bonamassa, will not only offer ten musicians the chance to perform in Los Angeles backed by Bonamassa's band, but will also provide one undiscovered blues guitarist with career-altering opportunities for development and exposure under the mentorship of one of the biggest names in blues rock. The grand prize includes an opening slot at Joe Bonamassa's headlining show in Los Angeles this fall, $10,000 cash, gear from Gibson, Ernie Ball, Marshall Amplification and Dunlop as well as a mentor session in studio with Joe Bonamassa and producer Kevin Shirley, who has worked with the likes of Journey, Led Zeppelin, Iron Maiden and more.

"I am proud to be part of a program created to help foster the careers of emerging musicians who are so passionate about the blues," said Joe Bonamassa. "It's exciting to use my experience to help up-and-coming artists finesse their skills, all while connecting a new generation of fans and musicians with the wonder that is The Blues."

To enter Guitar Center's Blues Masters Featuring Joe Bonamassa visit: www.guitarcenter.com/bluesmasters

How to Enter: Beginning in February through April 30^th aspiring blues guitarists from across the United States are invited to submit their best lead guitar performance to one of the ten official Joe Bonamassa tracks supplied at www.guitarcenter.com/bluesmasters. Submissions will be ranked through Guitar Center's technology partner Yoov.io, a leading social television platform that syndicates and measures content engagement throughout web. All artists who enter will be ranked based on their online fan growth during the first round. In the second round, the top-ranked artists will be reviewed personally by Joe Bonamassa who will handpick 10 finalists to perform live with Joe's band in Los Angeles. Based on these live performances, one winner will be chosen to open for Joe Bonamassa himself in Los Angeles. Additionally, the grand prize winner will receive cash, gear, studio time and a mentor session with Joe Bonamassa. All entrants to Guitar Center's Blues Masters must be 18 years of age or older. For official rules please visit: www.guitarcenter.com/bluesmasters.

Guitar Center's Blues Masters Winner Will Receive:

Opening performance at Joe Bonamassa's Los Angeles Headlining date
$10,000 cash
Gear from top music manufactures including Gibson, Ernie Ball, Marshall Amplification and Dunlop
A 4 song EP produced by Joe Bonamassa and Kevin Shirley
A career consultation and mentor session with Joe Bonamassa
Feature in Guitar Player magazine

"We're excited to launch a new Guitar Center program that puts the necessary tools and opportunities into the hands of musicians to help them attain recognition for their skills," said Maria Brown, Manager of Music and Entertainment Marketing for Guitar Center. "Guitar Center and Joe Bonamassa have an incredible relationship, partnering on many projects thanks to his extraordinary talent, collaborative spirit and commitment to blues music education, we are confident that this program will once again shed light on the multitude of undiscovered talent that exists within the thriving Blues music community."

As the world's largest retailer of musical instruments, Guitar Center is dedicated to supporting the global music community and providing musicians with opportunities to get their music heard. Guitar Center's commitment to unsigned artists runs deep with a full calendar year of diverse programs aimed to enable musicians by providing the opportunity and exposure they need to be successful. No other retailer is developing platforms for their customers like Guitar Center.

Guitar Center's musicianship programs include the award winning music television series Guitar Center Sessions, the weekly radio show Connections Made By Guitar Center, and the acclaimed podcast series At: Guitar Center with Nic Harcourt as well as various competition based programs such as Guitar Center Presents Your Next Record, Guitar Center Singer-Songwriter, Master Satriani, Guitar Center's Drum-Off and Guitar Center On-Stage.

Partners for Guitar Center's Blues Masters include: Gibson, Epiphone, Ernie Ball, Dunlop, Marshall, Guitar Player Magazine

About Joe Bonamassa
As Joe Bonamassa grows his reputation as one of the world's greatest guitar players, he is also evolving into a charismatic blues-rock star and singer-songwriter of stylistic depth and emotional resonance. His new album Driving Towards The Daylight, his "lucky" 13^th, is a balanced back-to-basics album that highlights Bonamassa's signature style of roots blues with rock-and-roll guts, while honoring the traditions of the original blues musicians. For a free Download from his latest Album please visit: http://bitly.com/JBfreesongGC. After spending over two decades volunteering and donating to various music advocacy programs, Joe Bonamassa founded his own foundation called Keeping The Blues Alive in an effort to supplement the loss of music education in schools – promoting the heritage of blues to the next generation while funding music scholarships and more. All donations to the non-profit are allocated to grade school programs all over the country – repairing music instruments and equipping music classrooms with the necessary learning tools. The foundation also funds Riffnotes.org which is a video "edu-tainment" initiative currently creating a FREE online music library of educational music lessons accessible to anyone. To learn more about Keeping The Blues Alive Foundation or to watch a RiffnotesTV video, please visit http://keepingthebluesalive.org.

About Guitar Center
Guitar Center is the world's largest retailer of guitars, amplifiers, drums, keyboards and pro-audio and recording equipment. Our retail store subsidiary presently operates 240 Guitar Center stores across the U.S. We are also the largest direct response retailer of musical instruments in the United States through our wholly owned subsidiary, Musician's Friend, Inc., and its catalog and Web site, www.musiciansfriend.com. In addition, our Music & Arts division operates more than 100 stores specializing in band instruments for sale and rental, serving teachers, band directors, college professors and students. More information on Guitar Center can be found by visiting the Company's Web site at www.guitarcenter.com.

SOURCE Guitar Center