ALLMUSIC ACADEMY

Stu back stage at G-Taranaki with Alex Skolnick July 2008

July 2008 saw the New Zealand guitar community converge upon New Plymouth for the first G-Taranaki guitar festival. The week festival saw some of rock's greats assemble under the same roof and we were there to catch it all! From the awesome midnight Vernon Reid clinic to the day time Glenn Hughes meet and greet to seeing Uli Jon Roth, Alex Skolnick, Glenn Hughes and Joe Satriani perform on the same stage was stunning. Local guitarist Simon Koretz and brother Nathan took the stage to perform a set of Mk III & IV Deep Purple numbers to flawless perfection. During the concert we were lucky enough to spend some time with Alex Skolnick before he took to the stage with his new Jazz Trio. During this time Alex spoke of his time with Savatage, Testament & Ozzy Osbourne. It was amazing to meet another hero who turns out to be a great guy!

http://www.alexskolnick.com

Stu & Rupert with guitar legend Paul Gilbert in March 2007

In March 2007, Stu, Rupert & Ian McLaughlan were lucky enough to spend an hour with the great Paul Gilbert of Racer X, Mr Big & Solo Fame. Paul we generous to a fault with his time and was happy to talk about his influences, practise habits and his all round love of music. Leslie West of Mountain came up in conversation numerous times and Paul cites him as an icon and influence. The amazing part of this was that he enjoys listening to the feel players and doesn't tend to favour the shred variety for general listening. 'Work and Play' something like that. We had the opportunity to trade licks which was a truly once in a lifetime experience. Cheers Paul!

Check Paul out at www.paulgilbert.com