Maritimes to Memphis - Be Part of the Journey 2015

Information Session for Maritimes to Memphis - International Blues Challenge

Have a Blues act? Want to go to to Memphis in January to represent the East Coast Blues Society? Come to our Information Session!

East Coast Blues Society is hosting an information session about the International Blues Challenge.

If you have a blues act, and want to represent the Maritimes in Memphis in January 2016, you should come to this session. We will provide information about the IBC rules, and some very good advice from former competitors and judges. This could be the edge you need.

When: May 12th, 7pm

Where: The Rocking Rodeo Lounge, 552 Windmill Road, Dartmouth, NS

For the purposes of the IBC, a band is any act with three or more musicians; vocalists are counted as musicians for the purpose of this competition.  Both electric and acoustic instruments are allowed.  At this local competition, entrants will be judged by the same criteria used for the International competition.  Each band will have 20-25 minutes to perform and will be given points based on Blues Content, Vocals, Talent, Originality and Stage Presence.  For full details on scoring criteria and official rules, see the Blues Foundation website.

All songs presented MUST be Blues (electric or acoustic), Rock/ Blues, Jazz/Blues, Country Blues or Rhythm & Blues.

What is the IBC?

The world's largest gathering of Blues acts representing an international search by The Blues Foundation and its Affiliated Organizations for the Blues Band and Solo/Duo Blues Act ready to take their act to the international stage. The IBC is a judged "Battle of the Bands" in which competitors take the stage and play a short set for a panel of judges. The acts are judged based on an established set of criteria. Each Affiliate of The Blues Foundation has the right to send a band and solo/duo act to represent the organization at the IBC in Memphis, TN. Affiliates are required to stage a regional preliminary IBC competition, where the winner of that competition earns the right to represent the Affiliate at the Memphis international competition. In 2015, over 200 acts entered, filling the clubs up and down Beale Street for the quarter-finals, the semi-finals and the finals. The 2016 International Blues Challenge will be the 32nd year of Blues musicians from around the world competing for cash, prizes, and industry recognition.

The 32nd annual International Blues Challenge runs in Memphis, TN on historic Beale St on January 26-30, 2016 in Downtown Memphis, Tennessee in the Beale Street Historic District