You can find talented musicians almost anywhere you travel.
Whether you’re in another city, country, or continent, like clockwork there will be talented buskers who take to the streets with their instruments and astonish people passing by. The dawn of technology and social media has made it possible for those artists, the same ones you never would have heard 20 years ago, to spread their amazing gifts.
This street busker in Melbourne, Australia stunned onlookers when he played an awesome song.
Sam Westphalen is an extremely talented guitarist who posts phenomenal cover performances on YouTube, some of which have spread like wildfire across the internet.
In this video from back in 2014, Sam plays a popular Tool song in a way that will leave you scratching your head in disbelief.
It’s immediately obvious that Sam is no regular guitarist.
He begins playing “Lateralus” by Tool while beating on his guitar like a drum and simultaneously plucking. You won’t find many people who can multitask this well! Sam makes a drumline with his right palm while playing the chords and picking the strings using his left. It’s like he’s playing two instruments at once, which is probably why it sounds so incredible!
About 0:45 into the video, Sam picks it up a notch using his entire guitar to get a plethora of unique sounds.
I guarantee you’ve never heard an acoustic show like this before! Sam makes a popping sound with his guitar that doesn’t even seem like it’s coming from his instrument.
That’s when Sam brings both hands up to the neck of his guitar and begins picking rapidly.
Watching him play is seriously mesmerizing, and it’s hard to keep up as his arms swing around the guitar and his hands shift across the instrument to create one-of-a-kind sounds.
Sam obviously has tons of experience under his belt, in a conversation I had with him through social media, he explained what influenced him to play the way he does:
“I have been playing a little over 20 years (started about age 10) and I have found that what inspires me the most on the acoustic guitar is when I am learning/practicing/teaching other instruments (drums, piano, electric guitar, bass) and bring all those elements together into one hand-held instrument. This is what originally inspired my approach to the acoustic guitar and it’s what re-sparks my interest if I ever feel bored and uninspired.”
In the last minute of the insane acoustic cover, Sam gives one last glimpse into his unique guitar style.
Sam is in a league of his own when it comes to live, acoustic guitar, and he proves it in all of his content. He goes through “Lateralus” by Tool with ease, making it his own every step of the way.
People on the internet couldn’t get enough of his outstanding cover, and it quickly went viral, reaching people all around the world.
Sam Westphalen’s rendition of “Lateralus” has been viewed over 2.2 million times and 58,000 have liked it.
Thousands of people also left comments for the expert musician, many couldn’t believe all of the sounds he was getting out of his acoustic guitar.
It’s easy to see why so many people were drawn to this video! Be sure to check him out on social media for more extraordinary content.
To see him play the acoustic guitar like nothing you’ve ever seen before, just watch the video below!
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