DC Blues Society’s Battle of the Blues - entry deadline 25 August 2008
Bands Competition
The DC
Blues Society is sponsoring its annual Battle
of the Blues Bands
Competition
this year with all-live final eliminations! The winners will compete at the 2009
International Blues Challenge in Memphis
on 4-7 February 2009.
The
deadline for entering is 8 August, 2008.
The competition will consist of a CD review competition and an all-live
final competition. The final competition is scheduled for 27
September 2008.
Contact
president@dcblues.org for more information.
The
contest is open to blues artists from DC, Maryland
and Virginia.
The
winning band will also perform at the Annual DC Blues Festival at the Carter
Barron in 2009. In addition, DCBS
requests that the winning band perform at a DCBS fundraiser to defray contest
expenses and raise funds to send the winners to Memphis.
See
Eligibility Criteria below for additional details.
To
enter, print and fill out the form below (write clearly). With the eligibility form, please include all
of the following: - A short band bio (100 words or less)
- A digital color or B&W photo with a 300 dpi resolution
- At least 3 sample tunes on CD
Failure
to send the above may forfeit the chance to have the winning IBC entrant’s
photo and bio in the IBC program. Sample tunes are required in order to
qualify. Materials sent to the society will only be returned if a
self-addressed stamped envelope is provided.
Send
everything to:
DC Blues
Society - IBC
P.O. Box 77315
Washington, DC
20013-7315
Eligibility Criteria
Restrictions:
Any
artist whose name has appeared on a final Handy/Blues Music Award ballot is
ineligible. (All other musicians who have had peripheral and/or professional
contact through performance with a Handy/Blues Music Award nominee, including
but not limited to touring band members and studio musicians, are deemed
eligible for the IBC.)
An
individual may not compete in more than one act in any capacity. The winner is obligated to attend the IBC
competition. No other entry restrictions
apply. This means that management contracts, booking agent contracts, recording
contracts, performance contracts (even those that include regular television or
radio broadcast) and nationally distributed recordings have no bearing on
eligibility.
For
complete International Blues Challenge rules, scoring, and other information,
visit http://www.blues.org/ibc/
Scoring Criteria
DCBS
will use the same scoring guidelines used by the IBC. Categories include
Talent,
Blues Content, Stage Presence and Originality:
1. Blues Content: Everyone has his or
her own interpretation of what is and is not Blues. Thus, any given three-judge
panel will include members with varying opinions of Blues, covering the
spectrum of Blues whenever possible, from the most traditional to soul/blues
and rock/blues. Bands should pick material carefully. At the Memphis semifinals and finals, the judges are
Blues professionals, not a bar crowd, and are likely to be unimpressed with
song selections that are uninspired.
2. Talent: This category is self-explanatory
– the act's vocal and/or instrumental skills.
3. Originality: Original work is
encouraged. Cover tunes are allowed but playing the recorded rendition lick by
lick is discouraged; will not be looked upon favorably by the judges; and will
be reflected in scoring.
4. Stage Presence: Over the years, the
quality of talent has risen so dramatically that we no longer consider this an
"amateur" competition. Most
contestants have performed on stage enough to know that they are not simply
playing music, but putting on a show. This category rates how
"sellable" a band may be.
To
reflect the relative importance of each category in the success of each act, an
act’s score in each category is weighted. Raw scores for Blues Content is
multiplied by four, Talent by three and Originality and Stage Presence are
multiplied by two. The total in each category represents the Weighted Score for
that category. Total possible weighted score is 110.
DCBS
International Blues Challenge (IBC) Entry Form
BAND/ARTIST’S
NAME: ________________________________
NUMBER
OF MEMBERS:________________________________
NAME OF
MEMBER/ARTIST WHO IS A DCBS MEMBER*_________________________
CONTACT
NAME: ___________________________
ADDRESS:
_____________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________
PHONE
NUMBER: _____________________________________
E-MAIL
ADDRESS: ______________________________________
On
behalf of the above named band/artists and in consideration for representing
DCBS at the 2009 IBC,
I,____________________
, agree to perform a minimum 120 minutes at the DCBS IBC Fundraiser.
__________________________________________
Signature
* If no
one is a DCBS member, please visit http://www.dcblues.org to download the
Membership form.
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