Guitar Center has announced Isais Gil, of Houston, TX as the winner of Guitar Center’s 22nd annual Drum-Off, the search for the nation’s top undiscovered drummer. Performing in front of a capacity crowd this past January 8th at The Music Box at Henry Fonda Theater in Hollywood, California, 26-year-old Isaias Gil beat out four other Drum-Off finalists from across the country to win a prize package worth more than $40,000 and earning the title of Guitar Center’s Drum-Off Champion. Isaias was chosen by a panel of judges that featured some of today’s most respected and distinguished drummers including John Tempesta (The Cult), Kenny Aronoff (John Mellencamp) Trevor Lawrence Jr (Herbie Hancock, Eminem) Tony Royster Jr (Jay-Z) Atom Willard (Angels & Airwaves, Social Distortion), Taylor Hawkins (Foo Fighters), Dave Elitch (The Mars Volta), Keith Harris (Black Eyed Peas), Rick Latham (Juice Newton) and Jason Sutter (Foreigner).

 

The evening’s competition was the culmination of months of local and regional competitions, which kicked off on September 23, 2010, with more than 4,000 drummers competing at local competitions across the 214 Guitar Center locations nationwide. More than 850 competitions total including district and regional showcases, paved the way to the final event in Hollywood. By creating a venue where undiscovered artists can reveal their talent, Guitar Center has been fostering the discovery of talented artists with its Drum-Off competition for more than two decades.