WV Blues Society to send winners of competition to Memphis
October 12, 2012 ·
The West Virginia Blues Society is presenting its 6th annual
Appalachian Blues Competition tomorrow at the Sound Factory in
Charleston. Winners from each of three categories will receive a cash
prize and a sponsorship from the organization to participate in the
International Blues Challenge, which will take place in Memphis, Tennessee
February of next year.
Competition Director Jack Rice says blues bands and musicians from
five states in the region will participate.
He says this weekend’s
winners headed to Memphis will find themselves in good company as
they try
to make it to the finals in that
competition.
“They have over 256 acts worldwide down
there at that competition. The
West Virginia Blues Society has had an
act in the finals two of the last
three years and only 10 acts worldwide
make it to the finals. That says a
heck of a lot about the talent of
musicians out of this area.”
That talent has been growing over the past
few years thanks to the high
standard the organization has set for itself.
“What the competition is going to build
off the past is the high quality
of musicians that come to enter the
Appalachian Blues Competition. Our
competition entry is 50 dollars, whereas
most blues competition entry
fees are 25 or 30 dollars. We set that
for a good reason. We want
quality acts. We now have a good reputation
to say that ours is a high
quality competition.”
Rice also says despite Appalachia being most widely known for
music genres like old time and bluegrass,
blues from this region is
distinct in its own right.
“With the blues, a lot of people
pigeonhole it and they think there’s only one type of blues and that’s wrong. You’ve
got your Delta blues. You’ve got your Chicago electric blues. You’ve got your West
Coast blues, Texas, and Piedmont blues.
And rightfully so, we have our Appalachian Blues and it’s really
starting to catch on.”