Daddo Oreskovich: runner up guitar superstar 2008

News:
02-10-2008:
Daddo Oreskovich posted:

Ten finalists battled for the international title of "Guitar Superstar" at Guitar Player's Guitar Superstar 2008 competition Saturday, September 13 at the Great American Music Hall in San Francisco. First runner-up was Daddo Oreskovich of Chicago, who won points for his original approach, employing Middle-Eastern melodic lines and Japanese koto-like effects.

Wall St. Journal:

We're under way at Guitar Player magazine's fourth annual Guitar Superstar Competition, held Saturday here at the Great American Music Hall. Up on the balcony are the judges: guitar gods Joe Satriani and Steve Vai; the Cars' Elliott Easton; Dokken's George Lynch; and Brendon Small, a death-metal guitarist who's behind "Metalocalypse," an Adult Swim series on TV's Cartoon Network. Andy Summers of the Police, the master of ceremonies, introduces the first contestant -- Makana, who blends country finger-picking with the slack-key style of his native Honolulu. It's a satisfying acoustic start to what threatens to be an evening of blizzards of notes and bludgeoning volume. In his critique, Mr. Satriani calls Makana's performance "flawless," which is not quite right, but he sets a collegial tone.

Though not for long. After the next guitarist, Eric Brewer of Erie, Pa., plays his Eric Johnson-influenced set, Mr. Easton tells him, "If you played like that in 1971 you would've been the world's greatest guitarist." Rockabilly guitarist Mark Christian of Los Angeles doesn't sound as crisp as he does on his recordings, and he's dismissed by the panel. Three up and nothing new: If this is the future of rock guitar, it's in trouble.

When we spoke by phone last week, Guitar Player's editor in chief, Mike Molenda, told me the magazine solicited show-me-what-you've-got tracks through Sonicbids.com, a community site for musicians and industry professionals. Thousands of tracks came in, and the Sonicbids community winnowed the list of contenders down to the best 210. Then Guitar Player's editors picked its 10 finalists, each of whom received an expenses-paid trip here to compete. Top prize is about $8,000 in guitar gear.

The contestants aren't unknowns; several have CDs available on iTunes, and most can be found on MySpace and YouTube. "They have a certain level of local, regional or even national attention," Mr. Molenda said of the finalists. "These guys want to be recognized by a community of peers with technical skills. That's incredibly valuable."

And intimidating. "My nerves will be pretty tight," guitarist Vicki Genfan told me when we spoke before she left for San Francisco from her home in Fairview, N.J. "For this group of judges, I don't want to slip up."

Ms. Genfan is the only woman in the competition, and Mr. Summers seems to forget she's here. "The testosterone level -- that's what it's all about!" he shouts at one point, and repeatedly refers to the group of contestants as "guys."

That's literally true in one case: The fourth contestant, from Norwalk, Conn., performs as "the guy." His spacey approach is quietly flashy and intense, but at a crucial moment he hesitates, as if drawing a breath, before a furious flurry.

From Chicago by way of Bosnia, Daddo Oreskovich wins the near-capacity crowd with a fun, dynamic showcase, using foot pedals to shift from an acoustic guitar sound to electric guitar squeals and speed. There's a bit of the aggressive jazz-rock playing of early Al DiMeola, but Mr. Easton doesn't mind this look back. He says, "I loved it."