Live Music Phoenix Saturday Night!
Live Music Friday Night in Phoenix
Weekends start on Thursday at www.LiveMusicPhoenix.com
Over 30 Live Music Events in Phoenix Saturday Night
Live Music Thursday Night in Phoenix
The Case for Live Music from Ovation Press
“Music is a temporal art form; it exists truly only for the fleeting time that it is heard, and then it is gone.”
http://stringvisions.ovationpress.com/2012/01/daily-bow-the-case-for-live-music/
Tuesday night blues….or jazz or ??? in Phoenix tonight.
The weekend starts on Thursday!
Crescent Ballroom upcoming events on Live Music Phoenix
The Crescent Ballroom
www.LiveMusicPhoenix.com
Crescent Ballroom is three things. It’s a mid-size music venue in Downtown Phoenix able to accommodate crowds in the 400-500 range. Crescent Ballroom also is a Lounge, open daily with full-bar service, and free live music everyday. The final component is our Kitchen, featuring a unique menu hand-crafted and operated by Chris Bianco, of Pizzeria Bianco, and Doug Robson, of Gallo Blanco.
Crescent Ballroom is an adaptive reuse project utilizing a block-constructed building built in 1917, the F.L. Hart Garage.
F.L. HART GARAGE
International Blues Challenge in February
Support Live Music – www.LiveMusicEarth.com
The International Blues Challenge (IBC) will be held this coming February in Memphis as it has been for the last twenty-seven years. The IBC is a gathering of almost two hundred bands competing for what could arguably be called their “big break” and for some it could be their biggest heartbreak. The IBC really began early this year with Blues societies throughout the world holding local and regional competitions to raise money and sponsor their representative band and/or solo-duo act to the IBC. The judging rules and information about the IBC can be found HERE, but this story is not about the rules but about the real-life drama, joy, excitement and blood, sweat, and tears of most of those who compete in the local, state, and then the global competition. Everyone cannot make it to Memphis.
Blues Societies holding local and regional competition usually have at least twenty-five plus bands competing for two spots, one for a band and one for a solo-duo artist. The numbers are staggering if you think about it. As the growth of the IBC’s these last few years have proven two hundred bands this year is very likely. So the math is simple, each bands had to qualify by winning against on average twenty-five bands. That’s five thousand bands competing for two hundred spots, staggering numbers! Never mind the fact that these bands average three and half members per band, that’s over fifteen thousand band members who ultimately will experience the rush of winning and the agony of losing, many more the latter.
To say there isn’t a lot riding on this would be a foolish statement. In the last few years, winners of the IBC have gone on to tremendous success, created memorable music and because of their talents we became their fans for life. Several of these winners have graced the cover of Blues Revue and other notable blues publications around the globe. Included are Tommy Castro,Susan Tedeschi, Watermelon Slim, and recently featured on the March-April cover, Trampled Under Foot, to name a few. That’s not to mention the many feature stories written about other IBC winners such as Zac Harmon,Eden Brent, Fiona Boyes, and the list goes on and on. The have together gone on to win some of the most prestigious music awards in the world.
This is a big thing! It starts with what I witnessed at a local competition this weekend and many times around the country over the years in other competitions. The Suncoast Blues Society held their final round of what I refer to as “The Road to Memphis And Beyond.” It took place at the long-standing blues venue Skipper’s Smokehouse (My children are 21 and 19. Their mother and I had our first date at Skipper’s prior to them being born; it’s been their a while and always had the blues). Having witnessed many competitions, take my word for it, this contest showcased some fierce local talent. SBS President Tom Carter shared with me that on the first day of sign-ups to compete fourteen bands entered the competition.
Upon arriving at the venue there was a unique energy that I have witnessed before, whole families and loved ones arriving to show their support for a family/band member. There was plenty of good humor and cool outfits but also nerves were on edge creating a feeling of excitement not normally witnessed at a blues party. The question that was posed to many band members, which seemed the focus of everyone’s thoughts, was “Are you ready?”
As the day progressed and both band and solo-duo acts performed, the next band up seem to huddle; set lists were changed based on what the previous bands performed, words of encouragement with hugs and high fives were witnessed as the artists took to the stage.
Then it was time to do what most musicians have been doing for many years in their living rooms, garages, high schools, and small clubs, play and try to play your best.
It was a spectacular array of local talent, with each act showcasing their own style of what blues is to them on harmonica, guitar, bass, drums, and vocals. A coordinated effort of many different styles called the blues. Each band and solo-duo artist seemed to raise the bar just a little bit higher and the vibe became really cool. But in this as with all competitions there is only one winner in each category and lots of heartbreak for those who left without a ticket to “The Road to Memphis And Beyond.” Witnessing the exhilaration of the winners and the thousand-yard stares from the bands not going to Memphis, hearing comments like “No one in my band has a job, we are musicians and winning this competition would’ve meant a lot” burned a hole in my soul.
So it is a big thing to most of the competitors and when you’re at your local supporting these musicians who sacrifice so much to entertain you, drop a dollar in the tip jar, buy a CD or t-shirt. Hell, buy two because you probably know someone who could use the blues.
The winners were all who performed in this amazing competition and The Selwyn Birchwood Band and Franc Robert got tickets for “The Road to Memphis and Beyond.” The other bands who played were Backwater Blues Band, Dennis Devine & Stan Geberer, Backtrack Blues Band, Josh Lamkin & Automatic Heat, Charlie Morris, R.J. Howson Band, Standback Band, and the Blackjack Blues Band.
Jack Sullivan is the circulation director for Blues Revue and BluesWax. He would like to read your IBC story below.
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