QUINCYBLUES.COM

BLUESFLASH EXTRA!!

RESULTS OF THE 1st ANNUAL TRI-STATES BLUES (IBC) CHALLENGE, MAY 2ND 2004
The competition is over, and the results are in from the 1st Blues Challenge. It was a very good contest, and all the bands competing should be proud of their efforts, and here's how it all went.

We had five bands in the contest, and here is the order of their performance. First up-CJ & the Big Brother Band of Camp Point IL. Next was Blue Voodoo of Kirksville MO, then there was 6V6 from Peoria IL, followed by Sugar Ray & the Knockouts of Quincy, and ending the competition was Bad Weather from Keokuk IA. The bands were competing for the coveted grand prize chance to go to Memphis to compete in the IBC Finals in 2005. But also of importance to most was the Festival slots offered to the winners to get to play at the Quincy Area Blues Fest, Keokuk IA's Rollin' on the River Festival, and Kirksville Mo's Round Barn Blues Fest.

Each band put on a great performance-nothing brings out the best in talented musicians than a little friendly competition. It was a good competition, and all were very respectful to each other's efforts, showing that all of our competitors were class acts.
We ended up with a little extra time on our hands waiting on the last two bands to compete (due to prior and other commitments). So, after the judges were done with their scoring, two of the bands gave us a couple extra tunes just to keep the event atmosphere rolling along smoothly. A big thanks goes to 6V6 and Sugar Ray & the Knockouts for your extra efforts. The crowd liked all the efforts, and the judges had a tough job on their hands.

When the scoring was done, there was just over 10 point's difference between the first and fourth place competitors, and fifth place wasn't far behind them. Here are the results:

1st PLACE - BLUE VOODOO - Kirksville, MO
2nd PLACE - BAD WEATHER - KEOKUK, IA
3RD PLACE - SUGAR RAY & THE KNOCKOUTS - QUINCY, IL

We would like to thank our judges, scorekeeper, timekeeper, AND OUR SOUND GUYS-TAPPE BROTHERS (and Rollo)-THE BEST SOUND GUYS AROUND.
And we'd also like to thank the fine folks at the Casino Starlite for letting us use their room for the Blues Challenge. We hope everyone had a great time, and we look forward to seeing our winner at the various festivals, and hope to have a fund-raiser this fall to give them some traveling funds for the Memphis trip. And of course, we look forward to seeing everyone at next year's Tri-States Blues Challenge.