Photo credit (for Chris Robinson image only): Forrest Reda

Guitar Center’s King of the Blues Finals was not only the culmination of a contest that saw more than 4,000 guitarists compete to be crowned King of the Blues, but the evening was a celebration of the rich history of the uniquely American style of music.

Headliners The Black Crowes certainly know a thing or two about the blues and treated the sold-out crowd to an 80-minute set showcasing some of the band’s most soulful material.  The band paid tribute to musicians from the past with three cover songs; Elmore James’ “Shake Your Money Maker,” Willie Dixon’s “Mellow Down Easy” and Peter Green’s “Oh Well” as well as the requisite fan favorites like “Remedy” and “She Talks to Angels” that had everyone in the theater singing along with front-man Chris Robinson.  Wearing the shaggy beard that has defined him as a blues singer, the enigmatic singer shook his body to express the feelings in his songs. Brother Rich Robinson doesn’t reveal his emotions with his expression, but bleeds the blues through his guitar. 

The night began with a ceremony inducting Hubert Sumlin, George Thorogood & The Destroyers, and Keb' Mo into Guitar Center’s Hollywood RockWalk. Legendary “free form” disc jockey Jim Ladd presided over the ceremony.

Ace blues-guitarist Kenny Wayne Shepherd kicked off the evening’s music, working the stage and his guitar with equal aplomb. Shepherd invited Sumlin back to the stage to perform one of the cornerstones of the genre, “Sittin on Top of the World.” Shepherd’s facial expressions belied his joy to be sharing the stage with a blues legend like Sumlin, who appeared to be enjoying himself as well.

Strutting around the stage in the cocksure manner of a blues virtuoso, Shepherd closed his set with an instrumental version of Hendrix’s Voodoo Child that elicited a huge response from the audience and proved that the former teen prodigy is only getting better with age.

After Shepherd’s set, the four finalists in the King of the Blues competition; Aaron Loesch, Zack Wiesinger, Rob Baumiester, and Alex Johnson, took turns performing with GRAMMY Award winner Pete Anderson and his band.

The player’s performances ranged in the level of showmanship they exuded.  Each guitarist played well, but in the end, the guitarist who emerged victorious was Aaron Loesch, whose bio states that likes to rebuild classic guitar.  Indeed, Loesch seemed to have an innate sense of how to get his guitar to speak the blues.  When host Cheech Marin announced Loesch as the winner, the excited but humble Houston native commented that the contest was actually a celebration of the blues and thanked Guitar Center for keeping the blues alive.

In addition to the title and a slot to perform at Eric Clapton's Crossroads Guitar Festival Loesch (pictured above) will receive: