“I haven’t heard anything this cool in a generation”: Nuno Bettencourt names the up-and-coming guitarist who has blown his mind

Nuno Bettencourt has namedropped an up-and-coming guitarist who’s currently blowing his mind, singling out the multi-instrumentalist in a series of reposts on social media.

As one of the world’s foremost electric guitar virtuosos, Bettencourt knows a thing or two about quality guitar playing. That said, he rarely talks about emerging talent, so it makes the praise he’s generously dished out on an aspiring artist named Christy Carey all the more impressive.

Bettencourt shared not one, not two, but four clips of Carey to his own channel – and called his musicality generational.

Carey has built a following of (at the time of writing) 14.5k followers on Instagram through a series of videos that showcase his expansive approach to production and guitar playing. It is, interestingly, pretty far removed from the traditional hard-rock world in which Bettencourt resides.

Instead, it threads the needle between lo-fi beat production, fusion, shoegaze, rock guitar, industrial noise rock and more far-reaching influences.

It might not be the music you’d associate with Bettencourt himself, but it’s got the Extreme legend all hot and bothered.

“I very very rarely repost anything. But this has to shared,” Bettencourt writes. “I’m right now just on the verge of passing out in bed … and I stumble upon this gift.

“And it just stopped me in my tracks,” he continues. “I haven’t heard or seen anything this cool, this fresh, this unique with anyone this talented as a producer, innovative guitarist and bass playing off the charts creatively… in a generation.

“If this is your early young compositions. Can’t imagine what’s coming. His vibe, confidence and style. HE owns this. Cool as fuck. Love love love your shit @christycarey_ I don’t know you but please keep creating … you got something special.”

“You’re like … THE POLICE, RADIOHEAD, ZEPPELIN, DEVO, YES, THE BUGGLES, KING CRIMSON and RUSH all wrapped into YOUR OWN CULTURE.”

It looks Carey has a new number one fan, and Bettencourt's praise has already put him on the radar of some big-name players. John 5 liked one of Bettencourt's reposts. Kiki Wong commented on another.

Head over to Christy Carey’s Instagram account to see what Bettencourt is talking about.

Last year, Bettencourt announced his very own guitar brand, which he debuted at Back to the Beginning without Washburn – the maker of his N4 signature guitar – knowing.