MusicRadar

Learn guitar - and maybe a few cool rock poses - with Paul Gilbert at his summer camp. © Larry DiMarzio

Want to improve your guitar skills with the personal help of Paul Gilbert? Now you can. The acclaimed guitar virtuoso, known for his work with Mr. Big and Racer X, has announced the first annual Paul Gilbert's Great Guitar Escape in which players of all ages, levels and styles are invited to join Gilbert and other expert musicians for a five-day series of workshops.

Set for 9-13 July 2012 at the Full Moon Resort in Big Indian, New York, the summer camp (which is also open to bassists and drummers, although the focus is on the guitar) features a host of instructors handpicked by Gilbert. Among the names are Guthrie Govan, Tony MacAlpine, Chris "Kid" Anderson, Scotty Johnson, and many more.

Interested players can get full details at www.greatguitarescape.com. MusicRadar sat down with Paul Gilbert to get his thoughts on teaching and how he came up with the idea of his own summer camp for musicians.

How did the Great Guitar Escape come together?

"The venue where it's taking place is the Full Moon Resort, and they do a lot of music camps there. A guy from the resort contacted me, and I took a look at the photos on their website, and the place looked amazing.

"Besides that, I was excited to put together a great group of teachers. Guthrie Govan and Tony MacAlpine are both well known and have incredible depth as musicians. Scotty Johnson is a guy who I've worked with on a lot of my tours and albums, and I'm always blown away by his musical knowledge and playing. And I'm really excited about Kid Andersen. His vocabulary in blues and rockabilly is just ridiculous.

"And I've been checking out Sam Coulson on YouTube for a couple of years now. He's got some of the best vibrato that I've heard, and can play ridiculously fast and clean lines as well. Sam didn't start playing guitar until he was 16, so I'm curious to talk to him and see how he could progress so quickly.

"Also, you've got to see my rhythm section! Rodney Holmes is just crazy-good. He has blistering technique, but he can also just hold down a wicked groove. He's played and recorded with Santana and jazz legends like Randy Brecker. I've got Kelly LeMieux on bass. Kelly played in my live solo band before and he also has that rare combination of great technique and love of a simple groove.

"I've also got my long-time engineer and friend Tom Size to run sound and give a crash-course seminar on live and studio mixing. I'll also have some top-notch guitar techs there to give some insight to the nuts and bolts of the instrument. Overall, I wanted to make a week of workshops and performances that will be life-changing to those who attend."

Around the web: