Local musician Andy Hoke broke the Guinness World Record for continuous guitar playing once again.

Hoke originally broke the record in February 2007 in a 48-hour marathon that took place at the Thunderbird Cafe in Lawrenceville. Some of the rules included: no repeat songs in a four-hour period, songs more than two minutes long, and a five-minute break every hour.

In June, another musician from India set a new record of 53 hours. Hoke, not one to back away from a challenge, set out to reclaim his title. "I figured I did it once and really felt great afterward, so I went full tilt this time," he saidï¿ 1/2

His new record (also set at the Thunderbird in late October) is 60 hours. During that time, he played more than 1,000 songs, played his instrument behind his head, right-handed, left-handed and even blindfolded. He also managed to play a full gig with his band ï¿ 1/2The Smick Brothers.ï¿ 1/2

You can catch video highlights of both attempts at www.andyhoke.com.

ï¿ 1/2-- Rosa Colucci, Post-Gazette staff writer