By MECHELE COOPER
Staff Writer Saturday, April 14, 2007

enlarge Staff photo by Joe Phelan

Thomas Faunce will be competing in a regional "King of the Blues" contest next week in Massachusetts.

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"Then, if I didn't win, I wouldn't have to tell people I lost," Faunce said Friday.

The University of Maine at Augusta junior won the state's "King of the Blues" contest at the Guitar Center in South Portland. He now qualifies for the New England competition on Wednesday in Neddick, Mass.

If Faunce, 25, of Pittston wins in Neddick, he would advance to the regionals in Manhattan. And from there, he would go to Chicago to compete in the national finals with guitarists from around the country.

The contest is endorsed by blues guitarist BB King, he said.

Faunce, a Gardiner Area High School graduate, plays in one of UMA's jazz ensembles and is a member of the Smoked Salmon band. He plays electric lead guitar.

He competed in three preliminary rounds starting April 3 before he made it to the state final. He battled 10 guitarists in each round.

Before the competition, Faunce said he was given a CD with 20 "backing tracks" of bands playing blues progressions that he had to learn.

"I had to play along with that and add my own thing to it," he said. "The judges told me that they thought my strongest point was that when I was competing I looked really natural. I looked as if I was playing a gig opposed to playing in a competition. I just tried to have fun with it and not think about competing."

His winnings included a Gibson guitar accessory pack, 30 iTunes, a year's subscription to Guitar magazine and three pairs of Levi jeans.

Steve Grover, a music instructor at UMA who heads up Faunce's ensemble, said his student is a talented musician and accomplished blues guitarist. Grover said he hopes Faunce goes all the way in the competition.

Grover thought it was funny that Faunce didn't give people a heads up about entering the competition.

"All the other contestants brought along their friends and family and fans, but he didn't tell anybody," Grover said. "I think he went down there by himself. But the cat's out of the bag now."

Darrell Briggs, Smoked Salmon's keyboard player, said he had no idea Faunce entered the contest. He learned about it in an e-mail.

"He went down to Portland and competed and when he won he e-mailed me and said, 'Guess who is the guitar champion?'" Briggs said. "I said, I don't know. And he said 'Me.'"

"I think it's amazing, but I'm not surprised because he's unbelievable and he's really very, very talented."

Faunce, who wanted it emphasized in this story that he is single and available, said he probably will move out of state after he graduates. He wants to go to a recording school in Boston and become either a record producer or studio musician.

The self-taught guitarist started playing the instrument 13 years ago.

Some of the more famous musicians who influenced his guitar playing include Stevie Ray Vaughan; and Trey Anastasio, who played guitar with the band Phish; and Johnny Hiland, a successful Nashville musician originally from Maine.

Julie Faunce of Chelsea said she's thrilled her son won the contest. She said he has a passion for the guitar.

"He's a hard-working kid," Faunce said Friday. "He's going to school full time and he's working. He's gone into other fields in other colleges but always goes back to music. He loves what he does and I'm very excited for him."

If he ends up in Chicago for the national competition in July, he could win a 2007 Ford Mustang, $5,000 in cash, a Gibson endorsement deal, and a recording contract. He would spend a week in the studio of a Grammy-winning record producer, he said.

"Everybody's pretty excited about that," Faunce said.

Mechele Cooper -- 623-3811, Ext. 408

mcooper@centralmaine.com