YouTube is a great place to showcase yourself if you got skill. A rise from obscurity to viral fame in less than a million views. At the Knitting Factory I had the opportunity to witness YouTube Phenom, Yuto Miyazawa. This 9 year-old guitar prodigy playing a black Gibson Flying V that is just as big as he is. It is impressive to see this tiny tyke throw down riffs from such masters like: Hendrix, Clapton, and Randy Rhodes. If you were to ask any 9 year-old who these people are you would draw a blank, in fact this would probably hold true to most under 20.
Yuto was fresh off his performance at Lollapalooza with his 3 piece band. Full of energy running around the venue pre and post-show. I get the feeling that he has no idea the stir he is causing, being the next great guitar prodigy. For now he is a 9 year-old who has had the chance to play with his idol, Ozzy. Other than that a pretty shy quiet kid. But with the guitar in his hands he could probably take to school more than a few guitarists.
As the small crowd stood there slack-jawed in awe of the dexterity of Yuto’s fingers running up and down the neck of his guitar. You can only wonder how good he will be when he is 11. By then he will probably have a couple of national tours under his belt and improve on his English. Definitely keep an eye out for this wunderkid.
