People and Personalities

Ben Poole is being talked of as the new up-and-coming UK Blues guitarist after reaching the finals of the Total Guitar Magazine 'undiscovered guitar hero' competition

Ben, 22, who lives in Barton Le Clay is one of 12 guitarists up for the award, which is voted for by the general public.

He explained how he ended up in the finals:

Ben Poole

“I was a featured artist in Total Guitar Magazine, which is one of the biggest guitar magazines in Europe if not the world back in September last year” he said.

“Every month they’ve been looking at a different young guitar player. I was the first artist to be featured and since then they’ve looked at about 13 up and coming young guitar players. Now they’re holding a competition so that people can vote for who they think is the best and the winner will get the chance to play at the Download Festival next year.”

Describing himself as a “blues/rock guitar player”, Ben learnt to play at Greenbank studios in Luton before honing his skills at the Brighton Institute of Modern Music where he took a degree in professional musicianship, specialising in guitar.

Encouraged by his dad, who was once a professional musician himself, he first picked up a guitar at the age of nine after his parents bought him one, but freely admits that he didn’t take to it at first.

“I didn’t get on with it at all when I first started” he revealed, “I think I just wanted to be outside playing football most of the time, so [my parents] kind of forced me into it a little bit.

“I had a teacher who would come around each week and teach me to play songs like ‘She’ll be Coming Round The Mountain’ and ‘Old MacDonald Had A Farm’. This held no appeal for me whatsoever, so I did not have a great deal of passion towards the guitar at that time.

Ben Poole

“I then got a new teacher at Greenbank and he started teaching me some really great songs” he continued, “things like Guns ‘n’ Roses and Metallica. In our first lesson together, taught me the intro riff to ‘Voodoo Child’ by Jimi Hendrix. The very same day I asked my mum and dad if I could have an electric guitar for Christmas!

“I then just started to have a real passion for it after hearing guys like Jimi Hendrix. I then started to actually want to do it.”

Since then, Ben has had the honour of playing with some really great guitarists like Jeff Beck, Gary Moore and John Mayall and from the age of 15 he also started to take an interest in the singing side of things as well.

Ben now gigs extensively across the UK and Europe and next month is going on tour all round the UK before heading off to Luxembourg, Switzerland, Germany, Spain and the Canary Islands.

To find out more about the guitar competition and cast your vote, visit the Total Guitar Website: