Drawing thousands of guitar lovers and enthusiasts to the 2018 Melbourne Guitar Show, #MGS2019 is growing year on year and is gearing up for the biggest event yet. Champion of the Australian music products industry.
We caught up with Jeremy Barnes to talk guitars
What was the first guitar you ever owned? Tell us about how you got it.
The first guitar that I actually bought myself was a Yamaha RGX 312. What drew me to it was a couple of things, 1. It had a pointy headstock, which at the time was very cool, and 2. And even more importantly, it had a whammy bar, which I thought was the best thing ever. It was also red so what was not to love for a 16 year old kid. I did all kinds of odd jobs around all my parents friend’s houses like mowing lawns and fixing stuff to save up for it and when I finally got it I didn’t even have enough for a case to go with it but I couldn’t wait any more (so my Dad had to chip in for the case).
What was the first song you ever learned to play?
The first song I ever taught myself was Money For Nothing by Dire Straits. There were probably a bunch of other little snippets before that but that’s the first song I remember sitting down and going ‘I’m not going to move until I learn this whole song’. I had been playing for about 3 months at that point so I was pretty pumped when I got through it.
If you could add any guitar to your collection what would it be and why?
Well I would pretty much stick to what I like in a guitar, so I would probably get someone like Charles Cilia to build me a super strat with some kind of buck eyed burl finish with humbuckers you can split for versatility in tones, with a tremel-no type system where you have the option of floating or fixed trem system with a reverse start style headstock and an on board boost system like the EMG afterburner. A guitar like that would pretty much do whatever I needed it to depending on what the gig was.
Who do you think are the top three male guitarists in the world?
That’s always a tough question and my answer would change depending on what day you asked me. So today I guess my answer would be;
Guthrie Govan – very versatile and can play basically anything
Greg Howe – I love his style, note choice and groove, great fusion player
Daniele Gottardo – He has a great handle on so many styles and is a monster player and composer.
Who are the Top Three female guitarists?
Again a tough question which changes regularly, todays answer,
Jennifer Batten – amazing player and pioneer in the two handed tapping technique which I’m a big fan of.
Lari Basillio – Great sense of melody and groove love her playing.
Sarah Longfield – great composer and very clever guitarist.
If you could design your own custom guitar what features would it have?
I know this is the same answer as above, but I guess I’m a pretty simple guy when it comes to guitars so I would stay with what I love in a guitar and get someone like Charles Cilia to build me a super strat with some kind of buck eyed burl finish with humbuckers you can split for versatility in tones, with a tremel-no type system where you have the option of floating or fixed trem system with a reverse start style headstock and an on board boost system like the EMG afterburner. I believe a guitar like that would get me out of trouble in pretty much all musical situatuons.
If you could play a gig alongside any guitarist ( alive or dead) who would it be?
For the ‘no longer with us’ option for me it would be Shawn Lane, he was such an incredible player technically but that never got in the way of him writing beautiful music.
The living option, I would love to jam with Guthrie Govan, I think that would be inspiring and also fun, which is why we play music in the first place.
Five musicians you’d invite to dinner and why?
Another question that would change daily for me
Steve Lukather for the stories
Steve Vai because he has a lot of great insight into the whole guitar/music industry
Joe Satriani because that’s where it all started for me
Paul Gilbert because again, he was a huge early influence
Keith Richards can you imagine the stories that guy has!!! Would make for an interesting night.
The Melbourne Guitar Show will be held at Caulfield Racecourse on August 3 and 4.
Tickets are on sale June 7.
The Melbourne Guitar Show is produced by the Australian Music Association, an incorporated not-for-profit. Proceeds, if any, are used to provide services to the Australian music products industry, particularly the promotion of music making to the community.
Online ticket prices when pre-ordered:: Adult day pass $20, adult weekend pass $30, family day pass $40, concession day pass $10, concession weekend pass $15.
MELBOURNE GUITAR SHOW DETAILS
SATURDAY AUG 3 | CAULFIELD RACECOURSE |10.00am – 6.00pm | TICKETS
SUNDAY AUG 4 | CAULFIELD RACECOURSE |10.00am – 4.00pm | TICKETS
#MGS2019
