Elkhorn guitar prodigy tops out on 'Talent'
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East Troy's Tallan Latz has advanced to the next round of NBC's "America's Got Talent."
ELKHORN — Elkhorn guitar prodigy Tallan Latz was shocked when he learned he wouldn't go through to the next phase on NBC's "America's Got Talent," but the 9-year-old said Wednesday he has already moved on.
Tallan was part of the second group to be eliminated during the show's Las Vegas boot camp phase. Surviving contestants advanced to the quarterfinals.
Judge Sharon Osbourne broke the news to Tallan and others in a group: "Our decision is you will all be going home tonight."
"I'm just going to keep playing my guitar, keep following my heart," a teary-eyed Tallan responded during the TV show.
"I was pretty shocked," Tallan said from his home in Elkhorn on Wednesday. "I had my guitar with me, I had my hands on the guitar. I just put my head down on my hands where the guitar was."
But, he said he's "over it."
Tallan's father, Carl, who accompanied his son to Las Vegas, said the family has been bombarded with support since Tallan's primetime performance.
"We've got 10 million people now who didn't know a couple months ago who Tallan was," Carl Latz said.
The Elkhorn boy has performed with guitar legend Les Paul and co-headlined a show in memory of Stevie Ray Vaughn. He passed the preliminary phase of the NBC show with high remarks from the judges and the roaring crowd.
Tallan's passion for playing guitar started at age 3, when a family member gave him a miniature guitar. At age 5, Tallan got his first real guitar from his parents and began taking lessons.
Not moving to the next phase of the show knocked him down, Tallan said, but he keeps moving forward.
"What I got out of it is that life isn't always what you want it to be," he said. "I wanted it, but hey, whatever."
Jul 31, 2009 at 9:46 p.m.
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Yes, several times. He's very good!
Jul 31, 2009 at 9:46 p.m.
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yes, several times. He's very good!
Jul 31, 2009 at 1:58 p.m.
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Oh, I get it now. And thanks for the link. I was on that site, but was looking at something else. Thanks.
Jul 31, 2009 at 12:38 p.m.
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Prodigy?
He's very good for 9 years old.
He has natural abilities and copies songs very well. Many children play many different instruments and styles of music proficiently via the Suzuki method.
When TLatz starts steppin' out with original music and develops the ability to improvise THEN we'll talk about progigy.
Jul 31, 2009 at 11:22 a.m.
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http://www.musiciansfriend.com/lespaulgu...
Jul 31, 2009 at 11:20 a.m.
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A Res Paul is my facetious name for the many (usually Epiphone) Les Pauls currently being made in China. Some models are under $500. That's just a guess because the frets and fingerboard look pristine and not worn. No, the guitar in the picture isn't a Stratocaster. I mentioned that he was playing a Strat' each of the times I've heard him play and so, having never seen him play any other guitar, couldn't say for certain which of the many variations of Les Paul brand that one in the picture might be.
Jul 31, 2009 at 11:06 a.m.
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The dot inlays on the neck and the cream bezels remind me of a Smartwood model. The faded Les Pauls all seem to have the trapezoid inlays. Find me a link to one with the dots.
Jul 31, 2009 at 10:52 a.m.
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Yeah, but doesn't just about anything cost more than my first car?
Jul 31, 2009 at 10:36 a.m.
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What every kid needs, a collection of guitars... The guitar that he played the first night is a custom shop job that cost more than my first car..
Jul 31, 2009 at 10:20 a.m.
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the photo on the story is a Gibson les Paul, the guitar he used on stage on America's Got Talent was not a Gibson, that's all.
the pic looks like a Les Paul Studio Faded model. They still make them.
Jul 31, 2009 at 8:59 a.m.
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All that I have seen is the picture in the article, so that is all that I have to go on. If you think that is a Stratocaster, well, thats alright with me. It wouldn't surprise me if someone made a model and called it a Res Paul, but I have never seen one. Les Pauls have been copied so much that it is used as a generic term for that style of guitar. I am not that fond of them, so I only have three.
Jul 31, 2009 at 8:20 a.m.
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It wasn't a Gibson, it was a copy. Headstock is not a Gibson and the horn is wrong.
Jul 31, 2009 at 7:32 a.m.
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That is probably a Res Paul, garyprimer. Whenever I've seen him, he was playing a Strat.
Jul 30, 2009 at 11:10 p.m.
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Anybody know what that Les Paul is that he is playing? Is that a mahogany top or one of the studio Smartwoods from the 90's?
Jul 30, 2009 at 10:22 p.m.
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Tallan i have been watching you,over & over. Little man don't be too sad,your life has only begun,and you "ARE" going to be successful,you already are,in many eye's. Success to many is in the amount of money one makes,you can not put a price on the joy & love people have for you & your talent. Check out peoples eyes & faces when you play,that alone is "Priceless."
Jul 30, 2009 at 8:12 p.m.
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Wow, sounds like a great kid with great parents who have taught him well to keep it all in perspective!
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