Karen Lovely Takes Second Place at the International Blues Challenge!

The Blues Foundation’s annual event of bringing in bands from around the world to Memphis, Tennessee, to compete in the International Blues Challenge continues to grow in size and popularity every year. This year saw 110 bands, 82 solo/duo entries and 32 Youth Acts flock to Beale Street for the chance to showcase their talents before fans and industry people that include major recording labels, media, festival buyers and blues societies. Appearing on 19 stages along Beale Street, only one act may advance from each to compete in the IBC finals at The Orpheum Theater.
    This year the Pacific Northwest had probably it’s largest turn-out of representatives in the IBC as of yet. The Karen Lovely Band and Son Jack Jr. & Michael Wilde represented the Cascade Blues Association; Adam Scramstad was sent by the Rainy Day Blues Society; South Sound Blues Association had Blues Redemption and J.D. Hobson; Washington Blues Society sent The Randy Oxford Band; Klamath Blues Society was represented by Cee Cee James; and the Boise Blues Society had Lori B! and The Blue Diamonds as well as The BoDo Brothers. A stellar line-up of acts that in its own way was a showcase for the talent that is so abundant in our region of the country.
    The International Blues Challenge has grown into much more than just a competition of acts, though. There is an International Showcase that focuses on many of the performers traveling from around the world, this year seeing acts from as far away as India, Australia, Poland and Argentina to note just a few. On Friday afternoon, eight venues held showcases with Youth groups, all with members under 21 years of age, which gave a nice reflection of the future for the blues. It is certainly in good hands from what I witnessed. Then there are seminars for musicians and blues societies; a meet and greet; an all star jam this year with artists like Jonn Del Toro Richardson, Zac Harmon, Candye Kane, Tom Holland, Barbara Blue, Laura Chavez and Eddie Turner all joining in. And there is always the Keeping the Blues Alive brunch, where non-performers of the blues world are recognized for their achievements, not just for the previous year, but for their lifetime of work. Congratulations to all.
    But the main event will always remain the Challenge itself. IBC producer Joe Whitmer gives a briefing to all the acts before the event begins on Thursday night. He tells them that just by being in Memphis, being selected by their individual blues societies through local competitions, that they are already winners. Each and every one of them. They are not competing against one another. They are competing against the judges’ score sheets. Anybody who has attended one of the Cascade Blues Association’s Journey To Memphis events knows how the IBC is run. We do it exactly the same way so there are no surprises to the people we send to Memphis. Each of the acts are scored in five categories: Blues Content, Originality, Vocals, Talent and Overall Stage Presence.
    There is no way to truly describe the IBC to somebody who has never been before. It is a revelation to acts who show up to compete and for the fans in attendance just how outstanding all of the performers are. We know and love our local players, and consider them some of the best around. How can they possibly be beaten by anybody else? But as much as we may love them, they’re probably not too well known elsewhere and those other societies are sending acts they feel exactly the same way about.
    For the first two nights, each act goes before two different sets of three judges. The acts receiving the highest total scores over each night move on to the finals at The Orpheum on Saturday.
    I was unable to catch Son Jack Jr. & Michael Wilde perform because I am in charge of one of the band venues myself. I did have Blues Redemption in my venue and they put on a fantastic performance both nights. Son and Michael did not make the finals, but I heard that they were magnificent at their venue, plus they had a show of their own set up on Wednesday at the Center for Southern Folklore, played in a jam with Tas Cru at Ground Zero in Clarksdale and also sat in Blind Mississippi Morris at Ground Zero in Memphis. Obviously, they made their name fairly well known over the weekend.
    I did catch Karen Lovely’s final performance at the New Daisy Theater on Friday night. My venue ended early enough to make my way over. I stood directly in front of the stage alongside a cast of blues celebrities that included The Blues Foundation’s executive director Jay Sieleman, Alligator Records’ owner Bruce Iglauer, Blues Revue editor Art Tipaldi, Rolling Stone’s chief writer David Fricke and performers Candye Kane, Hawkeye Herman and Zac Harmon. Karen had command of the stage and the audience. The band was in a zone that came off perfectly and captured the entire crowd. When the names of the finalists from all the venues were announced in the New Daisy, they held off the venue’s own for last. When Karen Lovely was named the room erupted in delight. They had certainly become a favorite amongst the many contestants.
    Saturday afternoon at The Orpheum, the solo/duo finals were held. The finalists were Jimi Lee with P.B. Shane (Austin Blues Society), Ken “The Rocket” Korb (Long Island Blues Society), Matt Anderson (Harvest Jazz & Blues Society), Tom Walbank & Arthur Migliazza (Southern Arizona Blues Heritage Foundation), Alphonso Sanders & Bill “Howl-N-Madd” Perry (Crossroads Blues Society), Steve Cohen (Grafton Blues Association), Becky Boyd & Tim Matson (Cleveland Blues Society), and Sherman Lee Dillon (Central Mississippi Blues Society). Each act seemed to have a completely different flavor of their own and were all very enjoyable. But when it came down to it, the winner was announced as Matt Anderson, a solo guitarist from New Brunswick. Second place went to Alphonso Sanders and Bill “Howl-N-Madd” Perry; which in its own way was unusual that Alphonso Sanders also was part of last year’s second place solo/duo act Alphonso & Richard.
    Immediately following the solo/duo finals, the winners of this year’s Best Self-Produced CD were named. The finalists were Pat Pepin “In It For The Long Haul,” Laurie Morvan Band “Fire It Up!,” Little Joe McClerran “Believe I’ll Make A Change” and The Informants’ “Crime Scene Queen.” This year ended in a tie with Laurie Morvan and The Informants being declared the winners.
    That night eleven bands came to The Orpheum for the finals: The Sonny Moorman Group (Columbus Blues Alliance), Jackie Scott & The Housewreckers (Baltimore Blues Society), Mojo Theory (Pomeroy Blues & Jazz Society), Jesse Greene Band (Ottawa Blues Society), Big Boy Little Band (D.C. Blues Society), Karen Lovely Band (Cascade Blues Association), R&K Brew Co. )West Virginia Blues Society), Cheryl Renee with Them Bones (Cincy Blues Society), Labron Lazenby and LA 3 (Smoky Mountain Blues Society), The Avey Brothers (Iowa Blues Society) and Grady Champion (Mississippi Delta Blues Society of Indianola). All eleven bands came out showing that they had the merit to take it all. Karen Lovely’s performance was flawless, but when the scores were added up, only one came out ahead of her, Grady Champion, living up to his name took the honors with a set that has been described as reminiscent of Bobby Rush without the dancers. Grady was everywhere on the stage as well as walking the crowd blowing his harmonica. He came to win it all and that was exactly what he did. Third place honors went to Cheryl Renee with Them Bones for her often bawdy rapport with the audience and outstanding keyboards/guitar combination.
    The Karen Lovely Band has a lot to be proud of as does the Cascade Blues Association. Having a band in the finals two years in a row is highly unlikely with 185 blues societies affiliated with The Blues Foundation that can send acts to the IBC. Being in the finals two years running is amazing, but having the second place act both years is an achievement that again is a testament to how incredible the talent of our region truly is. A huge congratulations goes out to Karen Lovely, Joe Diehl, Bob DiChiro, Allen Crutcher and Teri Cote of the Karen Lovely Band for such a brilliant showing. I am certain that with all of the acclaim they received over the weekend that the Karen Lovely Band will be in high demand at festivals around the country this next year and will be a name not soon forgotten by blues fans who were in attendance.

by Greg Johnson

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