Tuning up for guitarfest

BY KAREN KOTZE

Former Blues rugby player James Somerset is going to be among a different crowd this Sunday. And it is very possible that this crowd may go wild too.

The amicable 24-year-old reporter for Prime TV’s quirky sports show The Crowd Goes Wild will be picking up a guitar to be part of New Zealand’s largest band and guitarfest.

Juice TV and Sky-City are hoping to amass as many Kiwis as possible to have them play guitar together in celebration of New Zealand Music Month.

The group is going to strum along together to the Kiwi favourite Why Does Love Do This To Me by Jordan Luck, lead singer of The Exponents.

Everyone is invited to gather at SkyCity in central Auckland at 11am to take part in the New Zealand Music Month Guitar Record Challenge.

It is hoped the event will set a record and start an annual tradition for music month.

Juice TV managing director Daniel Wrightson put the event together to cele-brate the impact Mr Luck has had on generations of Kiwis, and the singer will be there on the day to lead the song and perform.

Mr Somerset, from Meadowbank, is happy to be part of the event.

"I’ve spent many hours dancing in the sun and singing badly to a lot of Jordan Luck’s songs," he says.

He insists that in a large family of musically competent siblings, he’s the one who can’t sing, is tone deaf, has no rhythm and doesn’t play an instrument.

Mr Somerset says he wants to support the genuine talent in Kiwi music, which he enjoys for its depth of feeling, and that doing this is forcing him to apply himself to something that’s not a strength.

He has recuperated fully from breaking his lower back while playing rugby and says the time spent healing from the injury has given him perspective.

"It’s hard to complain about things, anything really, when I can walk again," he says.

A Kiwi boy at heart, Mr Somerset believes Kiwi music is unique, especially for its niche market, and needs to be appreciated.

He is hoping that the "noise on the day" will drown out his self-confessed terrible singing.

To help make that noise, register at www.nzguitarrecord.co.nz.

Celebrities taking part can be seen learning the song on Juice TV and at www.juicetv.com.

• The current world record stands at 1951 guitarists and was set in Poland last year.

- © Fairfax NZ News