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Eric Barnett will be living a dream when he takes the stage as a finalist in the Guitar Superstar Competition on Saturday, Sept. 13. Many of the judges are the same musicians who inspired his musical life.

The competition will be hosted by Andy Summers, guitarist for the Police, and is being judged by virtuoso Joe Satriani, who played on Mick Jagger's first solo tour; Steve Vai, who strummed alongside Frank Zappa and David Lee Roth; George Lynch of the band Dokken and Elliot Easton of the Cars. "Those are the guys that got me into playing guitar," Barnett said. "Just the fact that I get to get up and play for them is huge."

Barnett is one of 10 finalists selected by Guitar Player magazine to compete for the title of Guitar Superstar. The competition, which can be likened to an "American Idol" for guitar players, will be held in San Francisco's legendary Great American Music Hall. The winner of the competition will receive a feature in Guitar Player along with an assortment of instruments and equipment. While he has been playing guitar for most of his 39 years, Barnett started out with more classical training. At the age of 5, he fell in love with stringed instruments when he picked up a violin, but he soon transferred to a "cooler" instrument.

"As a teenager, I had a nice case of rebellion that led me to rock guitar," he joked.

But the classical training paid off. Barnett was accepted in the prestigious summer program at the Juilliard School. He later attended the Manhattan School of Music, where he met enough people in the industry to find steady work as a studio musician. As an aspiring songwriter and composer, Barnett said guitar gave him the medium he was looking for to grow as a musician.

"When I was 18 to 21 I did a lot of guitar-centered work," he said. "The guitar felt freer, it was more expressive."

As time passed, Barnett, like so many musicians, found it was tough making a living with a guitar. After several cross-country tours, living in a van and wondering how to get enough money for gas to make it to the next city, Barnett found work outside of the music industry. He moved to Los Angeles and took a "normal" job while still making time to play guitar on stage.

About five years ago, he moved to Sonoma and hooked up with his current band, Points North, which has performed throughout the North Bay. In his spare time he participated in music challenges on the Web site GuitarWars.com, which allows musicians to battle while independent judges decide who is champion. Several of the people he beat in battle suggested he was good enough to enter the Guitar Superstar Competition, an international contest with thousands of entries every year.

"I figured the worst that could happen is they wouldn't let me in," he said.

But they did.

At the end of July, Barnett was notified that he would take the stage as a finalist, playing a piece he wrote  in front of a panel of celebrity judges. Barnett is competing against guitar players from all over the country, but is the only Bay Area musician to make the cut.

"Because I'm the only local artist, I'm really hoping as many people as possible will come down," he said.

The 8 p.m. event is open to the public. Tickets are $15 in advance at www.gamh.com or $20 at the door to the Great American Music Hall, 859 O'Farrell St. in San Francisco.

To hear more of Barnett's music, visit www.pointsnorthband.com.

 

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