Guitar Idol Is Back for 2016, and There's a Blues Category

Guitar Idol, the competition that helped launch the career of Thai guitar virtuoso Jack Thammarat in 2009, is back for its 2016 edition.

The international guitar-talent search, best known for inspiring extremely fast playing by technique-heavy contestants, now includes a "King of the Blues" category in an effort to shine a light on some of the best unknown talent at another end of the musical spectrum.

All the previous winners of the contest have gone on to success within the music industry. However, it's not only the winners who have done well, with the likes of Yiannis Papadopoulos (2014 finalist) touring with Scott Stapp (Creed) and Tom Quayle (2008 finalist) enjoying a popular social media following.

The winners of this year's Guitar Idol will share prizes of $10,000 worth of equipment from a host of manufacturers, including PRS Guitars, Marshall and Ibanez.

If you think you could be the next Guitar Idol (or King of the Blues), read more about the competition right here.

Check out Thammarat's performance at the 2009 final below.