Guitar Center Announces Grand Finals for Drum-Off ’08

Saturday, January 10, 2009 @ The Music Box at Fonda Theater in Hollywood, Ca.

Live Performances by Papa Roach, Nicko McBrain of Iron Maiden, Jason Bittner of Shadows Fall; Plus a special collaborative performance by: Thomas Pridgen of Mars Volta and Thomas Lang!

Hosted by Stephen Perkins

For 20 years, Guitar Center has been committed to providing drummers across the country the opportunity to pursue their musical aspirations and achieve their dreams by hosting the world’s largest drum competition: Guitar Center Drum-Off. This year, nearly 5,000 drummers from across the country are competing for a chance to win over $45,000 in cash and prizes, and to be crowned Guitar Center’s Drum-Off Champion 2008.

Many of today’s most influential and respected drummers have embraced Guitar Center’s Drum-Off over the past two decades by participating in the program: Chad Smith (Red Hot Chillipeppers), Josh Freese (Nine Inch Nails), ?uestlove (The Roots), Stewart Copeland (The Police) Alan White (Yes), Tommy Lee (Mötley Crüe), Travis Barker (Blink 182), Adrian Young (No Doubt), Shannon Leto (30 Seconds to Mars), Brooks Wackerman (Bad Religion), Stephen Perkins (Jane’s Addiction), Danny Carey (Tool) and Jason Bonham (Led Zeppelin) are among the dozens of established drummers who have either performed or served as judges at previous Guitar Center Drum-Off events.

Past Guitar Center Drum-Off champs have gone on to have incredibly successful careers including Cora “CC” Dunham (Prince; Drum-Off ’02 Champ), Eric Moore (Bobby Brown, Sly and The Family Stone, Infectious Grooves; Drum-Off ‘03 Champ), Tony Royster Jr. (Jay Z; Drum-Off ’95 Champ) and Thomas Pridgen (The Mars Volta), who became the Guitar Center Drum-Off champion in 1993 when he was just 9 years old!

Like all Guitar Center music programs, Drum-Off is designed to provide developing artists with support-based opportunities that vastly improve the potential for their success as professional musicians. Guitar Center’s Drum-Off ‘08 champion will win an impressive package of prizes, including $25,000 cash, a Roland TD-20 kit, and a custom designed drum kit by DW, Pearl, Gretsch, Tama, or Orange Country Drums as well as a drum, stick, cymbal, and drum head endorsement deals, be featured in Modern Drummer magazine, and in a Guitar Center ad campaign, along with a VIP appearance @ NAMM 2009 and shopping sprees with Levi’s, Converse and Guitar Center. A Monster Energy Drink endorsement deal is also part of the prize package, making the total prize package worth over $45,000. In addition, Sabian, Zildjian, Remo, Pro-Mark, Vic Firth, Evans and Rhythm Tech are all proud sponsors of Drum-Off 08.

UPCOMING COMPETITION DATES:

DISTRICT FINALS: November 11^th

REGIONAL FINALS: December 2^nd

Following the regional finals on December 2, finalists will be headed for Los Angeles in January, where they will perform before a panel of celebrity judges to see who will become Drum-Off ‘08 CHAMPION.

Don’t Miss the Guitar Center Drum-Off Grand Finals!
Saturday, January 10th – 2009
The Music Box at Fonda Theater
Hollywood, California

This is an all-ages show. Tickets are $15 at www.TicketWeb.com

About Guitar Center

Guitar Center is the world’s largest retailer of guitars, amplifiers, percussion instruments, keyboards and pro-audio and recording equipment. Our retail store subsidiary presently operates 214 Guitar Center stores across the U.S. We are also the largest direct response retailer of musical instruments in the United States through our wholly owned subsidiary, Musician's Friend, Inc., and its catalog and Web site, www.musiciansfriend.com. In addition, our Music & Arts division operates more than 100 stores specializing in band instruments for sale and rental, serving teachers, band directors, college professors and students. More information on Guitar Center can be found by visiting the Company's Web site at www.guitarcenter.com.

The Guitar Center logo is a registered trademark of Guitar Center, Inc. Other brand or product names may be trademarks of the respective companies with which they are associated.