Well, it is almost upon us. I will be representing the local Blues Society at the International Blues Challenge held in Memphis every year. This year's dates are January 22-25. The 22nd and 23rd are the quarter final nights, 24th is the semi-finals, and the 25th is the grand finals. Hope to represent well and maybe make it to the finals. But that is hard. I think there are some 200 some odd acts this year representing over 35 different countries from around the world. You would think that if you are from where this stuff originated you would have an edge, but that ain't so. So many acts from so many countries and a whole lot of them have been listening to the cold, hard-edged, ragged ol' blues for a long, long time. And they have been playing them blues to large crowds in their countries. Seems that this original American style of music has a world wide following.
But even with all that, it comes down to the judges and their interpretation. I know a guy who has got vocals to die for. He writes great tunes and plays good guitar and harp. On a scale of 1 to 10 a couple of years ago he got all 9's and 10's in the quarter finals except for one judge who gave him straight 5's. And that blew him out of it all. And this guy just teamed up with Garth Hudson of the Band along with Neil Young to do a CD entitled "Canadian Celebration of The Band". This guy has been nominated 5 times as vocalist of the year in Canada's Maple Blues Awards and 3 times for Lifetime Achievement Award. And, the National Association of Rhythm and Blues DJ's gave him the song of the year twice, and in 2007 he won the best Jazz/Blues Album of the year. And he did not make it to the semifinals. So.....with that said I just hope to represent my area well and meet some cool folks. Maybe even see you there on Beale Street.
No comments:
Post a Comment