Guitar solos are like songs going off for a holiday. The whole tune inhabits a certain place that a band has built for it. But the melody then suddenly packs its bags and flies off to a different world when the guitarist steps in. The instrument pilots the song to places that are high and low with twists and turns in the way. Time and space dissolve in a sonic haze. And a short while later the melody buys a ticket back home, returning to the structure that the band had originally built.

There are few such pilots who are as good as Warren Mendonsa in this country, who is at his second home in Auckland during the pandemic. The founder of premier act Blackstratblues has started a series of Instagram live sessions recently, where he dips into his musical bag of goodies as if he is Santa Claus on Christmas. He plays his own tunes as well as cheeky versions of classics like Hotel California by The Eagles. It looks like just a man and his guitar. But it's actually a devotee who's treated his instrument like a temple for so long that he is now its high priest. Check his page out and pay your respects.