June 24, 2007, 11:48PM
U.S. AIR GUITAR HOUSTON
Can't play a lick? It's not a problem
With this competition, it's all about style
By TINA MARIE MACIAS
Copyright 2007 Houston Chronicle
<!-- rbox goes here --><!-- rbox ends here -->A Houston champion of rock will be crowned today. This person must have stage presence, technical merit and a deep appreciation for their air guitar.
Yes, air guitar. Rule No. 1 of the U.S. Air Guitar Houston regional is that all guitars must be invisible.
Knowledge of how to play a visible guitar is not necessary. In fact, knowing how to play a visible guitar might hinder the performer, U.S. Air Guitar co-founder Kriston Rucker said.
"They lose some kind of spontaneity," he said.
Rucker, along with cofounder Cedric Devitt and emcee Dan "Bjorn Turoque" Crane — the 2005 New York City Air Guitar champion, author of To Air Is To Human and star of Air Guitar Nation — are going all out for the fifth annual U.S. Air Guitar Championships. Not only are they holding regionals in 14 cities, but they're also doing so by traveling around in a tour bus, complete with a trailer to haul all the air equipment.
"We have an air trailer, because we have all these air amps and air guitars," Rucker said. "The load-in process is real easy."
Between 15 and 20 competitors will simulate shredding 8 tonight at Scout Bar, 18307 Egret Bay, Clear Lake.
There will be two rounds — freestyle, where a competitor performs for one minute to a song of their choice, most pick '80s glam metal; and compulsory, where top competitors from the first round perform to a surprise song.
In each round the competitor will be judged on a 6.0 scale based on technical merit, stage presence and "airness."
"There's a lot of people who are really good at it in privacy. That's step one," Rucker said. "You need to be able to do that on stage in front of hundreds of thousands of people."
The winner of the Houston regional will win a trip to New York City for the U.S. Championships. That winner will get $1,000 and a trip to the 11th Annual World Championships in Oulu, Finland, in September.
A few spots are still open for Houston Air Guitar Champion hopefuls. So get a costume, pick a stage name and visit www.usairguitar.com to learn how to participate.
Word to the wise: Rucker said no one with "air" in their stage name has ever won the competition. So toss the name "Airydactyl" and go for "Sinister Shredder" or "Axe Murderer," instead.
http://usairguitar.com/index.html
U.S. AIR GUITAR HOUSTON
Can't play a lick? It's not a problem
With this competition, it's all about style
By TINA MARIE MACIAS
Copyright 2007 Houston Chronicle
<!-- rbox goes here --><!-- rbox ends here -->A Houston champion of rock will be crowned today. This person must have stage presence, technical merit and a deep appreciation for their air guitar.
Yes, air guitar. Rule No. 1 of the U.S. Air Guitar Houston regional is that all guitars must be invisible.
Knowledge of how to play a visible guitar is not necessary. In fact, knowing how to play a visible guitar might hinder the performer, U.S. Air Guitar co-founder Kriston Rucker said.
"They lose some kind of spontaneity," he said.
Rucker, along with cofounder Cedric Devitt and emcee Dan "Bjorn Turoque" Crane — the 2005 New York City Air Guitar champion, author of To Air Is To Human and star of Air Guitar Nation — are going all out for the fifth annual U.S. Air Guitar Championships. Not only are they holding regionals in 14 cities, but they're also doing so by traveling around in a tour bus, complete with a trailer to haul all the air equipment.
"We have an air trailer, because we have all these air amps and air guitars," Rucker said. "The load-in process is real easy."
Between 15 and 20 competitors will simulate shredding 8 tonight at Scout Bar, 18307 Egret Bay, Clear Lake.
There will be two rounds — freestyle, where a competitor performs for one minute to a song of their choice, most pick '80s glam metal; and compulsory, where top competitors from the first round perform to a surprise song.
In each round the competitor will be judged on a 6.0 scale based on technical merit, stage presence and "airness."
"There's a lot of people who are really good at it in privacy. That's step one," Rucker said. "You need to be able to do that on stage in front of hundreds of thousands of people."
The winner of the Houston regional will win a trip to New York City for the U.S. Championships. That winner will get $1,000 and a trip to the 11th Annual World Championships in Oulu, Finland, in September.
A few spots are still open for Houston Air Guitar Champion hopefuls. So get a costume, pick a stage name and visit www.usairguitar.com to learn how to participate.
Word to the wise: Rucker said no one with "air" in their stage name has ever won the competition. So toss the name "Airydactyl" and go for "Sinister Shredder" or "Axe Murderer," instead.
http://usairguitar.com/index.html
