Luis Galang (Jerome Ascano, NPPA Images)Seeing Luis Galang play rock fusion instrumental pieces by Guthrie Govan on his Mark Rufo-customized Telecaster will make many frustrated guitar players envious.
Why?
For one, Luis is only 10 years old. Second, he can play pieces like Eric Johnson's finger-busting "Cliffs of Dover" with ease.
According to his parents, Luis didn't have any formal training. His romance with the stringed instrument started when he was seven years old. His father John bought him an acoustic guitar as a prop for a play in school.
But, a year later, his dad and mom were surprised to find him loving the instrument. His first song: "Narda" by the Kamikazee. Then, he moved on to playing "Sweet Child of Mine" by Guns 'N' Roses and classic rock tunes from AC-DC.
Luis just had a lot of time, patience, and natural talent to get this far. And it only took him three years to get to where he is now.
Luis has been around. He had his TV debut in a local talent show, where Kris Aquino, one of the judges, mistook him for a Math geek who carried a little Ibanez guitar to the show. Once he started playing his mini-axe, the judges were bewildered. Here was a kid who knew how to rock, and it was not as if he was just mimicking his Guitar Hero on a plastic replica that plugs into a gaming console.
Recently, Luis also played with local artists in Jam for Japan with his band Luis and the Uod. That's shorthand for Uncles of Destruction: Tonton Guerrero on bass and Bitoy Milan on drums.
Wait, there's more.
You know Steve Vai? Yes, he was the "evil" guitar slinger in the movie "Crossroads" who challenged other slingers to a duel in exchange for their souls.
According to Luis, this guitar god took notice of his video on YouTube, and "favorited" it—an honor that every guitar-toting guy and girl would wish they would receive in this lifetime.
He also was opening act to classic rock band Juan dela Cruz.
In short, Luis is a rising guitar hero who could later be in the pantheon of other great local heroes like Jun Lopito, Wally Gonzales, and Francis Reyes, to name a few. He's sure that he will be playing more guitar when he grows up.
These days, he plays Steve Vai, Eric Johnson, Paul Gilbert, Joe Satriani, Reb Beach, and British Guthrie Govan who is a jazz fusion player from a popular supergroup and progressive rock band called Asia. He also spends a lot of time online, searching for more challenging guitar pieces. His dad who also plays guitar admits he finds it fascinating to see his son learn pieces so quickly.
Luis practices around three hours a day, not bad for a kid who can memorize hundreds of notes without breaking a sweat. (But he's also recently taken up the yoyo, according to his mom Abigail.)
Luis, however, is shy. When asked a question, he keeps his answers short and simple. Incidentally, he dreams of playing with Mr. Big, a California-born hard rock group with a bass player named Billy Sheehan, who co-wrote a song called "Shy Boy."
When asked to give a message to other kids his age who want to learn how to play the guitar, Luis said, "Practice very hard."
"He doesn't have a lot of playmates. We also don't have cable at home," Abigail explained.
Despite being shy and spending all his time practicing, it's clear that Luis already has a lot of fans. Perhaps, that's the way guitar heroes are made.
No comments:
Post a Comment