MARIETTA - The Blues, Jazz and Folk Music Society will host its 21st annual River City Ohio Blues Competition in February and is seeking local and regional blues acts to vie for the chance to perform in an international blues competition.
The deadline to apply to enter as a blues band or solo/duo act is Jan. 4, 2013.
The blues competition will be Feb. 15-16 at the Lafayette Hotel in downtown Marietta. The winner will compete for cash prizes and BJFMS sponsorship to the International Blues Challenge in 2014 in Memphis, Tenn. The cash prizes are $1,000 for first (with $500 more for registration for the International Blues Challenge), $500 for second and $300 for third.
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The Elm Street Blues Band, from Willoughby, Ohio, competed in the 2012 River City Ohio Blues Competition in Marietta.
The complete information, format, application and rules are available at www.bjfm.org. For more information, go to www.bjfm.org.
The River City Ohio Blues Competition is the oldest and largest blues talent competition in Ohio, with 18 competition slots to be filled by local and regional blues acts from all over Ohio, West Virginia, Pennsylvania, Michigan and other states.
The winner of the 2012 River City Ohio Blues Competition in Marietta was the Tee Dee Young Band, from Lexington, Ky. Last year's third-place finisher, soloist Gary Applegate of Indianapolis, also received sponsorship to the IPC in the solo/duo category since he finished in the top three at the Marietta competition.
The International Blues Challenge (IBC) represents an international search by The Blues Foundation and its affiliated organizations for the blues band and blues solo/duo most deserving of taking their act to the international stage. Competing artists can gain valuable exposure to record label A&R representatives and blues industry professionals and festival promoters capable of real career advancement for a serious blues musician, organizers said.
This year's Marietta competition will again be a two-day event. The competition will begin on Friday night with the first preliminary from 8-11 p.m., followed by the second preliminary on Saturday afternoon from noon-6 p.m. The finals on Saturday night will feature the winners from the two preliminaries from 8-11:30 p.m. This format accommodates more blues fans and make the competition a weekend event.
For those wishing to attend the blues competition, tickets are $10 for BJFMS members and $15 for non-members for the Friday night show, $15 for members and $20 for non-members for Saturday afternoon and $20 for members and $25 for non-members for the Saturday night performances. Weekend passes are $40 for members and $55 for non-members.
For ticket information, call Mary Anne at 304-422-2944 or Peggy (evenings) at (740) 376-0222.
