The Associated Press reported last week that a young 8-year old blues guitarist named Tallan “T-Man” Latz was recently banned from playing in bars in Wisconsin:
An anonymous e-mail sent to state officials complained that Tallan was too young to perform in taverns and nightclubs because of state child labor laws. His booking agent even got an anonymous letter threatening her with death if she keeps booking him.
While I think sending death threats and being jealous of another guitar player (especially an 8-year-old prodigy) is ridiculous, I actually agree with the decision to ban Tallan from bars. While Tallan is obviously a unique talent, I don’t see the benefit in regularly putting him into a bar environment at such a young age. He’s still able to play at other venues, just not in bars.
I think we’ll be hearing a lot more from Tallan in the future, but you won’t be hearing him in bars in the near future. Here’s a video clip of Tallan playing with Les Paul this past June:
[…] guitar lesson to young guitar prodigy Tallan “T-Man” Latz, who you might remember was recently banned from playing in bars around Wisconsin. In the lesson, Joe gives Tallan some good advice about being […]