Queen guitarist Brian May has found a 17-year-old fan who he believes sounds closer to his own iconic playing than most have ever gotten.
Matthias Reisböck has the tools for the job. He’s got a Red Special copy, he’s got May’s curly locks and, most importantly, he’s got the touch and feel of a guitarist once voted the world’s best. He regularly posts Queen covers on his Instagram, and May can’t believe it.
“Bloody hell,” he commented on one video. “You’ve got the touch, young sir. I can retire now. A fabulous rendition.”
Other comments have included “you’re sounding more like me than me” and, on his take of the Bohemian Rhapsody guitar solo, he beamed: “Perfect tone. I think that’s about the closest to my feel in that solo anyone ever got.”
Unsurprisingly, that recognition has left Reisböck jumping for joy. May is, he says, the reason he picked up an electric guitar in the first place.
“When I discovered the Bohemian Rhapsody film, I knew I wanted to play the guitar like him,” he says in a post reacting to one of May’s delighted comments. “I started playing about three years ago during a challenging and hard time for me.
“I began to play on my grandmother’s old acoustic guitar and learned the first few chords, feeling that I really wanted to become a guitarist. I watched YouTube videos of Brian and Queen and fell more and more in love with the music, Brian’s sound and his technique.”
Guitar heroes are looking out for the next wave of star players. Nuno Bettencourt recently uncovered a “generational talent” on social media. Earlier this month, Steve Vai and Dave Navarro championed a teenage folk guitarist who blew them away.
Meanwhile, a 16-year-old Thai shredder has stunned America’s Got Talent judges and looks to be the show’s latest child prodigy. They’re out there in droves, and if they’re playing Queen covers, there’s every chance Brian’s watching…
