(Image courtesy of Eric Melin)
Take a moment to listen back to KPR's interview with the newly-crowned World Air Guitar Champion for 2013, Eric "Mean" Melin! This interview aired prior to Eric's trip out to California to compete in the U.S. Air Guitar Championships on August 17. Now, he's the World Champion...and KPR couldn't be prouder. Congratulations, Eric!
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Nearly everyone who's ever heard a rock song with a blistering guitar solo has probably -- at some point -- pretended to play along. The tradition of playing "air guitar" is practically a teenage rite of passage. But did you know that air guitar has become a competitive event? Film critic and musician Eric Melin (muh-LEEN) of Lawrence won a regional semifinal air guitar competition in July. He dropped by KPR before heading out to the U.S. Air Guitar Championships in Los Angeles to talk with Laura Lorson about the art of air guitar performance, and how organized air guitar competitions got started.
That's Eric Melin of Lawrence, who reviews films for the website Scene-Stealers.com. He was speaking with KPR's Laura Lorson. This conversation took place before Melin came in second at the U.S. Air Guitar Championships in Los Angeles. Despite the second-place finish, he decided to take a chance, and competed for a "dark horse" spot so he could compete at the World Championships. His dream came true...Melin took the top honor at the World Air Guitar Championships in Oulu, Finland, on August 23rd.
For more information on the 2013 U.S. Air Guitar Championships, visit www.usairguitar.com. For more information on the World Air Guitar Championships, visit http://www.airguitarworldchampionships.com/.
To see our original posting of this interview on August 16, and to hear a longer version of the conversation, click here.