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Tri-States Blues Challenge

Click Here For Printable Entry Form and Rules

The Mid-Mississippi Muddy Water Blues Society has put together plans to end Dogwood Weekend with plans to hold the First TRI-STATES BLUES CHALLENGE on May 2nd, 2004 at the Casino Starlite. This Competition will be open to all Blues Bands from Central Illinois, Northeast Missouri, and Southeastern Iowa. The event will be held at the Casino Starlite at 1201 N. 20th St. in Quincy, and will start at 1pm and plans to be finished by 7pm. This is a fund-raiser for the 2004 Quincy Area Blues Fest, and the admission price will be $5 per person, and 6-7 Bands are expected to compete.

The Tri-States Band Challenge will be ran in conjunction, and under the rules of the yearly International Blues Challenge, held by the Blues Foundation, an international organization. The Blues Foundation's IBC Competition has affiliated Blues Societies from around the globe hold Competitions, and sends representatives to Memphis for the yearly finals, usually held in the spring. The winners of the yearly finals have a shot at winning various great prizes to include a cash prize, Studio time and CD's for distribution, professional promotion, and also a guaranteed number of gigs at many of the nations biggest Blues Festivals and Clubs. This assures any up and coming Band a shot at establishing themselves full time in the Blues genre, a shot that many bands work for years to attain.

The 2004 IBC finals were held in Memphis on January 31st, had over 90 Bands competing all over Beale St., and had winners from across the nation and around the globe. This was the Foundation's twentieth year of the competition, and next year, due to the large response, they are looking at changing or splitting the dates to better accommodate all the finalists.

The Mid-Mississippi Muddy Water Blues Society is working with other Blues Events to entice entrants to this competition. The Blues Society will be holding this Competition in cooperation with the Round Barn Blues Fest of Kirksville MO, and the Rollin' on the River Festival of Keokuk IA. Each Organization will be providing judges for this event. We are thrilled to announce that the winner's in the Band Competition will be offered performance slots at this year's Quincy Area Blues Fest, this summer's Rollin' On The River Blues Festival in Keokuk IA, and a slot at this Fall's session of the Round Barn Blues Fest in Kirksville, MO. And the winner will also be authorized to be the Blues Societies representative at the 2005 IBC Competition in Memphis. This also will be used to help raise funds for this year's Quincy Area Blues Fest, to offset rising entertainment costs.

Society President Jerry Davis believes that this event will hopefully become a yearly tradition, as well as provide some great entertainment to be enjoyed by all. This is an Event that the Society hopes will turn into competitions in Kirksville, Keokuk and Quincy, with the finals to be held in Quincy. Davis does however state that there are a group of strict guidelines for judging and performing in the IBC. A list of the Band guidelines and rules are posted at www.blues.org. Enter the site, and click on the International Blues Challenge Logo. And the rules are listed on the site. Entry forms and local rules can be found here. The society will also be using judges from all three festivals to help select this year's area winner. "We work together to support each other's Festival's, as we all have the same goals-promoting Blues music". The Quincy Society also is planning on announcing this year's Quincy Area Blues Fest lineup at this event. So please come check out the First Annual Tri-States Blues Challenge.

Click Here For Printable Entry Form and Rules