Mickey Barnett is hoping to help set a world record.
Sure, the Shawnee boy may have just graduated from kindergarten and stand only 3 1/2 feet tall, but he can crank out Deep Purple’s “Smoke on the Water” with the best of them.
And that’s all that’s needed for Mickey and his electric guitar to help make history and grab a page in the Guinness World Records book. At least that’s the plan.
This Sunday thousands of guitarists — including local rockers, hobbyists, parents, teens, senior citizens, people from other states, other countries and, yes, even kindergartners — will try to break the record for the world’s largest ensemble performance of the same song.
The effort is a promotion of radio station KYYS (99.7 on the FM dial), which hopes to sign up 2,000 players for the assault on the recognized record of 1,322, which was set in 1994 in Vancouver, British Columbia.
The attempt, which is free to the public, will be witnessed by several political officials, videotaped, then sent to Guinness for validation.
The effort is the brainchild of Tanna Guthrie, one of the station’s morning hosts. The attempt at the record will take place from 10 a.m. to noon at Community America Ballpark in Wyandotte County.
“We have people coming in from London, Sarajevo, from California, Minnesota, Nebraska and Michigan,” Guthrie said. “After we play we’re going to turn it into a huge jam session — everybody play what you want. Wouldn’t that be nuts?”
She got the idea in late February after reading a story about a planned attempt at Harrods department store in London that got called off.
“I thought, ‘We could do that in Kansas City!’ ” she said.
If she can get enough guitarists, that is. Guthrie is aiming for 2,000 because she knows a certain number will not show up. She chose “Smoke on the Water” with its iconic chord progression because it’s one of the first songs guitarists learn.
There are few rules for the attempt. You have to be able to play the whole song, and you have to show up and play it.
That’s it. You can play electric or acoustic. You can even bring a battery-powered amp if you like. Just know there will be row monitors to root out posers.
Mickey will be one of the youngest participants. He started taking acoustic guitar lessons at 4, then plugged in after receiving his electric three-quarter-sized ax for his sixth birthday. He has been practicing at Funky Munky Music in Shawnee, which is sponsoring the event with Gail’s Harley-Davidson in Grandview.
“He’s basically been devoting his guitar time to ‘Smoke on the Water’ for about a month and a half,” his mother, Betsy Barnett, said. “He’s doing pretty good.”
Kyle Kimbllin is coming from Stillwater, Minn., and bringing three friends. The 17-year-old read about the event on ultimateguitar.com.
“I just thought it would be cool to break a record,” he said. “It would be something to tell your kids about.”
Mike Thompson, chief meteorologist at WDAF-TV Channel 4, said he heard about it from a cameraman and thought “Oh, I’ve got to do that.”
Thompson has played the song hundreds — maybe thousands — of times with his high-school band but never with 2,000 strangers. “I can just imagine what it will sound like,” he said. “After that I may just retire. I’ll just bronze my guitar and call it quits.”
Not sure how “Smoke on the Water” goes? Log onto kyys.com. You’ll find a video of local guitarist Jeff Scheetz playing the song as it will be played at the event, along with printable custom guitar tablature. Scheetz, founder of the Jeff Scheetz Band, is also teaching some guitarists to play the song before the event. He even taught his non-guitar-playing wife to play it.
“Her first gig is going to be in front of several thousand people setting a record,” he said.
“Smoke on the Water” is Deep Purple’s account of a large fire the band witnessed at a bar/casino in Montreaux, Switzerland, on the Lake Geneva shoreline. The band was nearby when the place burned to the ground and spewed out … well, you know.
Mickey Barnett is glad Deep Purple decided to write a song about it.
“He’s real excited,” his mother said. “He’s been telling everybody.”
Rock on, Mickey.
Here's a link to your own private lesson on how to play Smoke on the Water!
Smoke it! 
