Yamato Mori

Finalists: Joey Bissell, Liam Garcia, Yamato Mori

Anyone who pays guitar performance videos on YouTube cursory attention will know there’s a host of jaw-dropping young talent around the world playing Paul Gilbert’s licks at their bedroom desks better than we could dream to. But playing your own composition in front of a room of strangers live? That takes a different level of teenage musician.

All three of these players shone for different reasons. The UK’s Joey Bissell was the youngest of the trio, but his

Forest Ride track was brimming with classic melodic flair. Colorado-based Liam Garcia performed a take on Jack Thammarat’s Awakening with his Strandberg Boden Fusion 6 and it was a masterclass in fluid legato. Finally, Japan’s Yamato Mori’s track, Eureka, was a wonderfully dynamic and emotive piece that showcased restraint and intensity in equal measures – and it won him the big prize of a Sterling By Music Man John Petrucci Majesty guitar and other goodies from sponsors Ernie Ball. The level of maturity showcased was spellbinding. We spoke to a stunned and delighted Yamato via a translator after he received his prizes from the live judges, who included our editor-in-chief Jamie and Brazilian virtuoso Lari Basilio. How are you feeling right now? “I’m so happy! Everybody was very good; I was very nervous because they are very good. I was apprehensive.” It didn’t show! Will you keep in touch with the other contestants? “Yes, of course.” Who are your biggest inspirations? “My cousin played a guitar and that was how I started. Plini is also an inspiration for me – he tells a story with his music, which is what I try to do.” What are your future plans for your guitar music? “I’m going to practise more and make more music. I want to [say] thank you to my family and the people back in Japan that have supported me. And also I will do my best more and more.”