A SPANISH guitar player is plucking ahead in The Argus’ battle of the buskers competition.

Rafa Guallart, 27, an acoustic guitarist from Valencia, has had 122 votes from readers, with just one week left until the title of best busker in Sussex is awarded.

Latvian pianist Vadim Petrov, 26, is currently in second place, while electric guitarist Jake Gillespie, 21, of Brighton, is in third.

The hopefuls are in with a chance of landing a day at a leading studio to turn their streetwise serenades into radioworthy recordings.

We filmed the strummers, singers, pluckers and players over the last few weeks and now we are giving you the opportunity to pick your top tune and uncover a local talent.

The voting process opened on Friday and closes at 11.59am on Thursday, April 2.

The Yellow Fish Music Group, based in Margaret Street, Brighton, has offered a day in its studio with the use of experienced engineers to bring the winner’s sound to life.

Dan Crook, of Yellow Fish, said: “They get our time to bring their visions to life.

“The recording itself will be radio-ready as it were so it provides everything they need in a demanding market.

“It’s important to have a good quality recording of oneself – it’s easy to get lost otherwise.

“The ten-hour day will see the winner come away with a CD recording at the end.”

He said: “It’s important for everybody to be able to have the opportunity to rep- resent themselves in this way. It’s not an elite thing, everybody should have the right. It means a lot to provide the service to someone who might not normally be able to afford it.”

The studio has seen artists as diverse as Roger Daltry, Chris De Burgh, Arthur Brown and Rob Lord through the door.

Mr Crook added: “We get a wide variety of people coming in – everything from busker-style singer-songwriters all the way up to big rock bands and classical musicians. Buskers represent something great because it shows people still care and are passionate about music. It’s great to show the industry is still thriving in that sense.”

How to vote

It is easy to play your part in getting your favourite busker into the studio.

Go to theargus.co.uk/backthebuskers, where you can listen to each competitor’s music and watch a video of them in action.

Choose your favourite at the click of a mouse and you could potentially be putting them on the road to stardom.

The voting is open until Thursday, April 2.