2003: Jordi ‘Funky Jordi’ Nieuwenburg
Vrijdag, 2 februari 2007
The first official Dutch air guitar champion ever is Jordi ‘Funky Jordi’ Nieuwenburg from Rotterdam. In 2003 he beat The Hurricane, taking the title to Finland for the World Championships. During the first world championships with Dutch participation, he came in second, only to be beaten by the American entry C-Diddy. In 2004 he defended his title, coming in second behind The Destroyer, who in 2005 became world champion. Funky Jordi is still considered to be one of the leading air guitar players in The Netherlands.
He is also a great guitar player in his own right, graduating from the Rotterdam conservatory in guitar playing. He was guitarist of ‘Wealthy Beggar’, which had success in 2003 and 2004, released their cd ‘Roxxx at the Disco’ and once was the opening act of PinkPop, the biggest rock festival in the Netherlands and the oldest surviving annual rockfestival in the world.
Currently, from 2007 onwards, he is guitarist in the American but Dutch Based (Amsterdam) punk-rock-surf-wave band Jaya The Cat. (photo: c Wim de Groot)