Keith Urban may have found a new backup guitarist at his Saturday night (July 2) show in Gilford, N.H.
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Urban — who was playing the first of a two-night stand at the Bank of New Hampshire Pavilion — gave aspiring Massachusetts musician Robert Joyce the axe off his back and was visibly floored as the guitarist ripped into his song “Good Thing,” off of the album Fuse.
Backed by Joyce, Urban took the mic and began the song as the rest of the band joined in. He even let Joyce take the song’s lead by exclaiming, “Play it to me, Rob!”
Urban invited Joyce up to the stage after spying a sign held up by his girlfriend, Lex. After reading the sign — which read “It’s my boyfriend’s birthday!” (Joyce held a sign “Can I play your guitar?”)–Urban beckoned the young musician up to join the band.
The former American Idol judge then conducted a short interview with his girlfriend, who told the star the couple met “playing pool at school.”
“Just pool?” he quipped.
Not missing a beat, Lex suggested that Joyce could be Urban’s “backup guitarist.”
Joyce is a major Urban fan and has posted several YouTube videos covering his songs.
Urban clearly enjoyed jamming with Joyce, sending a “massive shout out” to the musician in a video on his Facebook page.
“You killed it,” he can be heard saying in the clip below. “It was awesome. You played your ass off.”
Keith Urban’s Ripcord World Tour continues tonight (July 3) in New Hampshire.
Watch the special moment — recorded by Michelle Rae — here: