GTaranaki, also known as G-TARanaki, was

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

's first international guitar festival held in

New Plymouth New Plymouth ( mi, Ngāmotu) is the major city of the Taranaki region on the west coast of the North Island of New Zealand. It is named after the English city of Plymouth, Devon from where the first English settlers to New Plymouth migrated. ...

Taranaki Taranaki is a region in the west of New Zealand's North Island. It is named after its main geographical feature, the stratovolcano of Mount Taranaki, also known as Mount Egmont. The main centre is the city of New Plymouth. The New Plymouth Dist ...

, New Zealand annually from July 2008. The week-long festival brings some of worlds best guitarists to Taranaki to perform, educate and inspire Kiwi guitarists and music fans around New Zealand. G-TARanaki features a celebration of all things guitar with guitarists and bands from a range of genres including Rock,

Funk Funk is a music genre that originated in African American communities in the mid-1960s when musicians created a rhythmic, danceable new form of music through a mixture of various music genres that were popular among African Americans in the m ...

, Classical,

Jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a major ...

Blues Blues is a music genre and musical form which originated in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues incorporated spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts, chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads from the Afr ...

and

Metal A metal (from Greek μέταλλον ''métallon'', "mine, quarry, metal") is a material that, when freshly prepared, polished, or fractured, shows a lustrous appearance, and conducts electricity and heat relatively well. Metals are typicall ...

2008

Joe Satriani Joseph Satriani (born July 15, 1956)Prato, Greg"Joe Satriani – Music Biography, Credits and Discography". ''AllMusic''. Rovi Corporation. Retrieved May 28, 2014. is an American guitarist, composer, songwriter, and guitar teacher. Early in his ...

Uli Jon Roth Uli Jon Roth (born Ulrich Roth; 18 December 1954) is a German guitarist who became famous for his work with the hard rock band Scorpions and is one of the earliest contributors to the neoclassical metal genre. He is also the founder of Sky Aca ...

Gray Bartlett Graham Neil Bartlett (born 22 July 1942), generally known as Gray Bartlett, is a New Zealand born guitarist, country music performer, producer, talent mentor, tour promoter and entrepreneur. Biography Early life He was born in Auckland and at ...

Gilby Clarke Gilbert J. "Gilby" Clarke (born August 17, 1962) is an American musician, singer, songwriter and record producer. He had a 3-year tenure as the rhythm guitarist of Guns N' Roses, replacing Izzy Stradlin in 1991 during the Use Your Illusion Tour ...

Alex Skolnick Trio Alex Skolnick (born September 29, 1968) is an American musician. He is best known as the lead guitarist and one of the songwriters of the thrash metal band Testament (band), Testament and has played with several other bands, including The Alex S ...

* World War Four * Glenn Hughes *

Vernon Reid Vernon Alphonsus Reid (born 22 August 1958) is an English-born American guitarist and songwriter. Reid is the founder and primary songwriter of the rock band Living Colour, Reid was named No. 66 on ''Rolling Stone'' magazine's 2003 list of the ...

* Tim Donahue * Brian Hatcher Band The event was launched by an auction to benefit the cancer society. Items auctioned included guitars autographed by

Pink Floyd Pink Floyd are an English rock band formed in London in 1965. Gaining an early following as one of the first British psychedelic music, psychedelic groups, they were distinguished by their extended compositions, sonic experimentation, philo ...

Bon Jovi Bon Jovi is an American Rock music, rock band formed in 1983 in Sayreville, New Jersey. It consists of singer Jon Bon Jovi, keyboardist David Bryan, drummer Tico Torres, guitarist Phil X, and bassist Hugh McDonald (American musician), Hugh McD ...

AC/DC AC/DC (stylised as ACϟDC) are an Australian Rock music, rock band formed in Sydney in 1973 by Scottish-born brothers Malcolm Young, Malcolm and Angus Young. Their music has been variously described as hard rock, blues rock, and Heavy metal ...

and U2. Guitar clinics and discussion forums were held throughout the week. Special midnight sessions included performances from

, from

Living Colour Living Colour is an American rock band from New York City, formed in 1984. The band currently consists of guitarist Vernon Reid, lead vocalist Corey Glover, drummer Will Calhoun and bassist Doug Wimbish (who replaced Muzz Skillings in 1992). S ...

, and

, from

Guns N' Roses Guns N' Roses is an American hard rock band from Los Angeles, California, formed in 1985. When they signed to Geffen Records in 1986, the band comprised vocalist Axl Rose, lead guitarist Slash, rhythm guitarist Izzy Stradlin, bassist Duff McKa ...

, who were also joined by major artists on the bill such as

Alex Skolnick Alex Skolnick (born September 29, 1968) is an American musician. He is best known as the lead guitarist and one of the songwriters of the thrash metal band Testament and has played with several other bands, including The Alex Skolnick Trio, Tra ...

( Testament / Alex Skolnick Trio) and

(Ex-

Scorpions Scorpions are predatory arachnids of the order Scorpiones. They have eight legs, and are easily recognized by a pair of grasping pincers and a narrow, segmented tail, often carried in a characteristic forward curve over the back and always end ...

). These midnight sessions were held at

Puke Ariki Puke Ariki is a combined museum and library at New Plymouth, New Zealand which opened in June 2003. It is an amalgamation of the New Plymouth Public Library (founded in 1848) and the Taranaki Museum (founded in 1919). Its name, Māori for "hill ...

Sky Academy Sky Academy is the title given to guitar innovator Uli Jon Roth's tuition seminars and concerts. Sky Academy was first established in May 2006, at the Ralph Freud Theater at the University Campus of Los Angeles. Uli teaches a holistic approach to ...

, the music school founded by Uli Jon Roth, offered tuition classes at three Taranaki towns, Waitara, Inglewood and

Ōpunake Ōpunake is a small town on the southwest coast of Taranaki in New Zealand's North Island. It is located 45 kilometres southwest of New Plymouth. Rahotu is 16 km to the northwest. Manaia is 29 km to the southeast. State Highway ...

and included guests Vernon Reid and Gilby Clarke. Classical and Jazz performances were given by the New Zealand School of Music led by Matthew Marshall and Nick Granville. There were a number of firsts for G-TARanaki. Uli Jon Roth performed songs from his album 'Under A Dark Sky' for the first time live. Glenn Hughes performed with a one off New Zealand band, involving guitarist Kara Gordon plus 8Forty8 band members Simon Koretz and drummer Nathan Koretz. Vernon Reid also played with a unique band comprising Jonathan Crayford on keyboards, Magesh Magesh on drums and Crete Haami on bass. Local vocalist Aidan Morrell also joined them for Living Colour hit 'Middle Man' Paul Martin, DJ for New Zealand's longest standing Metal radio show 'The Axe Attack' performed with his band World War Four and was also MC for much of the G-TARanaki event. New Zealand artists performing included False Start, Kara Gordon, Swap Gomez, Jamie Anderson, Frank John, Burt Ropiha, Bryce Wastney, Ross Townsend, Stephanie Piqette, Karl Austin, Nathan Annand, Brandon Reihana of

Blindspott Blindspott is an alternative metal band from West Auckland, New Zealand. After performing under the name Blacklistt for several years, the original line-up got back together in 2018.Kellman, Andy " Blindspott Biography, Allmusic, Macrovision ...

, Ross Halliday, Diarmuid Cahill, Adrian Whelan, New Plymouth Ukulele Orchestra, The Smiles, Dave Ritchie Smith, Craig Radford, Joel Haines, Matt Herrett and Ash & Aidan. The second G-TARanaki festival is to be held in New Plymouth between 11–15 August 2010.

Band Line Ups (2008)

2009

The 2009 event was held between 28 September and 4 October at

and

TSB Stadium TSB Stadium is an indoor stadium located adjacent to Pukekura Park in New Plymouth, Taranaki, New Zealand, with main vehicle access off Coronation Avenue. Events Events held at TSB Stadium include: * Basketball – Taranaki Mountainairs ( NZNBL ...

Band Line-ups (2009)

Band Line-ups for 2009 UNKNOWN

2010

The 2010 G-Taranaki line-up will consist of: *

Slash Slash may refer to: * Slash (punctuation), the "/" character Arts and entertainment Fictional characters * Slash (Marvel Comics) * Slash (''Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles'') Music * Harry Slash & The Slashtones, an American rock band * Nash ...

Jennifer Batten Jennifer Batten (born November 29, 1957) is an American guitarist who has worked as a session musician and solo artist. From 1987 to 1997 she played on all three of Michael Jackson's world tours, and from 1999 to 2001 she toured and recorded wit ...

Tony Levin Anthony Frederick Levin (born June 6, 1946) is an American musician and composer, specializing in electric bass, Chapman Stick and upright bass. He also sings and plays synthesizer. Levin is best known for his work with King Crimson (since 198 ...

Vinnie Moore Vincent Moore (born April 14, 1964) is an American guitarist and a member of the British hard rock band UFO. Biography Moore was born in New Castle, Delaware. He began his professional career at age 12 after receiving a guitar as a Chris ...

Hail! Hail! is a heavy metal supergroup / cover band, formed in 2009. The band originally included Slipknot bassist Paul Gray until his sudden death in 2010. Members The band features a rotating lineup; the following people have played under the mon ...

* Guy Pratt *

The Checks "The Checks" is the 141st episode of the sitcom '' Seinfeld''. This was the seventh episode for the eighth season, originally airing on NBC on November 7, 1996. In this episode, the last to feature the writing team of Tom Gammill and Max Pross, E ...

California Guitar Trio California Guitar Trio (CGT) is a band of three guitar players founded in Los Angeles in 1991 by Paul Richards, Hideyo Moriya, and Bert Lams around the concept of playing acoustic guitars in the New Standard Tuning taught by Robert Fripp on Guita ...

* Oli Brown Band * Desireé Bassett * Shotgun Alley *

In Dread Response In Dread Response is a New Zealand metal band from Auckland formed in 2005 commonly referred to as "In Dread" or "IDR". In Dread has released three full-length studio albums and two EPs. Their video ''Cannons At Dawn'' from the album ''From the ...

* the Thomas Oliver Band * Blue Monkey Racket *Fall Within -Legendary guitarist

Leslie West Leslie West (born Leslie Abel Weinstein; October 22, 1945 – December 23, 2020) was an American guitarist, singer and songwriter. He was the co-founder, guitarist and co-lead vocalist of the rock band Mountain. Life and career Early years: 1 ...

was removed from the line-up due to health reasons. -the festival dates are 11 to 15 August, at the Puke Ariki and TSB Stadium in

Band Line-ups (2010)

External links

G-TARanaki Official website

G-TARanaki photography by Tahnia Roberts

G-TARanaki photography by Emily McCarvill
{{New Plymouth District New Plymouth 2008 in New Zealand Music festivals in New Zealand 2008 in music Music festivals established in 2008 Classical music festivals in New Zealand Annual events in New Zealand