There are guitarists who impress you with technique. There are guitarists who make you wonder how on earth they are physically playing what you're hearing. And then there are those rare players who can do all of that while somehow making the instrument sing.
Miguel Montalban belongs firmly in that last category.
This December, the extraordinary Chilean-born guitarist, composer and songwriter returns to Barnoldswick Music & Arts Centre for something rather different. No enormous festival stage. No barrier between musician and audience. Instead, on Sunday 27th December 2026, Miguel steps into our tiny listening room for UP CLOSE & PERSONAL — an intimate evening where one of contemporary rock's most remarkable guitar players will be just a few feet away. Doors are at 7pm.
And what a journey has brought him here.
Born in Santiago, Chile, Montalban's musical path took him to Italy, where he studied jazz guitar in Rome, and eventually to London. His early professional career included the band Andes Empire before his playing began attracting attention through something considerably more basic than a record company marketing campaign: people filming him playing guitar in the street.
One performance in particular changed everything.
Montalban's astonishing street rendition of Dire Straits' "Sultans Of Swing" became an internet phenomenon. One widely viewed upload of the performance has now passed 28 million views on YouTube alone, while Miguel's official channel has grown to more than 120,000 subscribers. His official site now credits his wider video catalogue with more than 60 million views.
But reducing Miguel Montalban to "the Sultans Of Swing guy" misses the most interesting part of the story.
Behind the viral videos is a serious musician who has spent years developing his own vocabulary — part bluesman, part classic-rock gunslinger, part melodic instrumentalist and, increasingly, a composer whose playing is about considerably more than how many notes can be squeezed into a bar.
Along the way his work has crossed paths with some formidable figures from the recording world. He recorded at Red Bull Music Studios in London with mastering engineer Kevin Metcalfe, whose credits include David Bowie, Queen, Duran Duran and The White Stripes, and has also worked on sessions involving Mike Hedges and Haydn Bendall, as well as collaborating with producer Andy Whitmore.
Then there are the endorsements.
Zakk Wylde has been quoted describing Montalban as "one of the greatest young guitarists around," while Rod Stewart described him as "one of the finest in London." Miguel's official biography also carries the wonderfully concise assessment attributed to Mark Knopfler: "This guy is totally excellent."
That's pretty heavyweight company for a guitarist whose international reputation began with people simply stopping in the street to watch him play.
But Miguel hasn't stood still.
He formed The Southern Vultures in 2019, creating a vehicle for his own writing and a muscular blend of blues, modern rock and old-fashioned guitar fire. The subsequent album And The Southern Vultures moved the story firmly away from covers and towards Montalban the composer, with tracks including "Wander" and "Fell In Love" establishing an original identity around that unmistakable guitar sound.
The live reputation grew with it. Festival appearances and European touring followed, while the double album Live In Birmingham captured exactly why Montalban makes considerably more sense with an amplifier roaring in front of an audience than he ever could on a computer screen. The recording stretches across two discs and includes "Wander", "Go Off The Rails", "The House", "Fell In Love", "Last Chance" and his interpretation of "Hey Joe".
There is another side to him, though, and it's one that should make this particular Barnoldswick concert fascinating.
His instrumental "Fragile Hearts" showed a noticeably more reflective Montalban. Rockfiend Publications praised its sense of romanticism and the emotional quality of his playing, pointing out that the track demonstrated not merely his technical prowess but his ability as a composer — something that can easily become overshadowed when a guitarist is capable of the sort of pyrotechnics Miguel produces.
That idea has now been developed further.
In 2025 Miguel released Golden Classics: Instrumental Collection, a record that effectively takes listeners through some of the music embedded in his guitar DNA. Rather than simply trying to reproduce the originals, Montalban puts his instrument where the singer would normally stand, taking on material associated with Dire Straits, Guns N' Roses, The Eagles, The Beatles, Gary Moore, Santana, Queen, Pink Floyd and George Michael.
It's quite a musical journey: "Money For Nothing", "November Rain", "Hotel California", "While My Guitar Gently Weeps", "Parisienne Walkways", "Black Magic Woman", "Killer Queen", "Comfortably Numb" and "Jesus To A Child" all passing through the hands of a player who has spent much of his career proving that an electric guitar can be every bit as expressive as the human voice.
And 2026 has hardly been quiet.
Miguel and The Southern Vultures have embarked upon the Ride The Ride Tour, with Miguel's official itinerary taking him through Britain and continental Europe. On 23rd September 2026 he played London's legendary 100 Club, followed by dates across Germany, Denmark, the Czech Republic and Austria during October.
Which makes his return to Barnoldswick at the end of the year all the more special.
Because this isn't about putting Miguel twenty feet away on a festival stage.
It's about putting him twenty inches away.
Anyone who has watched Montalban's hands move across a fretboard will understand why that prospect is so exciting. From whisper-quiet passages and beautifully controlled bends to those huge sustained notes, blues-soaked runs and sudden explosions of speed, this is guitar playing where you want to be close enough to see it happen.
And in our little cellar, you will be.
There is also history here. Miguel has played Barnoldswick before — including an earlier Close-Up Personal concert in 2023 and a return in June 2025 — so this isn't simply another pin stuck into a touring map. It is the return of an artist who already understands what happens when you put this kind of musicianship into a room this small.
Forget the millions of views for a moment. Forget the viral videos, the festivals and the famous endorsements.
Come and actually watch him play.
Watch the fingers. Hear the amplifier breathe. Hear the notes before they've disappeared into a massive PA system. Listen to the stories and the music from a guitarist whose extraordinary journey has taken him from Santiago to Rome, the streets of London to festival stages across Europe — and now back down the stairs into a tiny cellar in Barnoldswick.
That's what Up Close & Personal is supposed to mean.
MIGUEL MONTALBAN — UP CLOSE & PERSONAL
Sunday 27th December 2026
Barnoldswick Music & Arts Centre
Doors 7.00pm
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