Last week, local Travis James Humphrey came one step closer to becoming a future guitar legend when he was crowned the district winner of Guitar Center's King of the Blues, the nationwide search for the next great undiscovered blues guitar player.

Travis's journey began when he was crowned the Portland local winner on September 10. Now, he will be competing against all the winners from the Northeast on October 21 for a chance to compete in the Hollywood Grand Finale. The winner of the Grand Finale will receive a prize package worth over $35,000, including $25,000 cash, gear and product endorsements and the dream of being named the "Greatest Undiscovered Blues Guitarist of 2009".

Last Wednesday, the top 24 undiscovered blues guitarists in the nation were selected to move on to the King of the Blues Regional Finals, moving one step closer to being crowned Guitar Center's King of the Blues and $25,000 cash. On Oct 21, these winners will once again go head-to-head, competing to move on to The King of the Blues Grand Finals scheduled for November 12th in Hollywood.

Tickets are currently on sale for the King of the Blues Grand Finals, which are scheduled for November 12 at the House of Blues Sunset in Hollywood, CA. In addition to showcasing the top five finalists as they compete for the King of the Blues crown and $25,000 cash, the King of the Blues Grand Finals will also feature performances by renowned blues guitarist and Gibson artist Joe Bonamassa, who has been awarded "Best Blues Guitarist" by Guitar Player Magazine for the past three years, as well as Grammy Award winner Pete Anderson.

Tickets for this very special event are just $20, and are available at Ticketmaster.com or the HOB box office.

Like Guitar Center's other talent search competitions # the legendary Drum-Off (now in its 21st year), and the recently launched On-Stage # King of the Blues is part of Guitar Center's ongoing mission to provide emerging artists and musicians with career-altering opportunities and vehicles to achieve success.

Introduced in 2006, King of the Blues is more than just a competition to find the most technically skilled players. King of the Blues is designed to seek out the most passionate, innovative and authentic guitar players and give them a shot at stardom. For example, the winner of Guitar Center's 2007 King of the Blues, Aaron Loesch, was invited to perform at Eric Clapton's Crossroads Festival in front of over 25,000 attendees.