Indiana Blues Society

It was a great evening for the Blues and all those who got to hear and see so many talented musicians at this year’s Indiana Blues Challenge held at the world famous Slippery Noodle Inn in Indianapolis. The challenge provided a great opportunity for musicians to totally immerse themselves for one evening with a group of their peers. After hearing and seeing the performances, any one of the acts could very well have been selected to go on to the 2012 International Blues Challenge (IBC) held in Memphis, TN. The fact still remained that only one solo/duo and one band could go on. 

Cole Prior Stevens will represent us in the Solo/Duo category.  For those that couldn't make it to the Noodle this is the style of blues he played. Click  Cole had his cigarbox and steel out that night as well. 

Dicky James and The Blue Flames in the Band category.

For the Flames the evening didn’t stop there. Their “Hard Rain” CD took top honors for the IBS Best Self-Produced CD. 

The IBC will begin the week with the FedEx International Showcase (Jan 31), two days of quarter-finals (Feb1-2), and one day of semi-finals (Feb 3) concluding with finals in the beautiful Orpheum Theater (Feb 4). To view the daily IBC schedule go to our calendar. 

The IBC will include an afternoon (Friday, February 3, 2012) of talented young musicians showcasing their talents for record labels, media, festivals, managers, talent buyers and the fans.  For the third year the IBS will have a youth act participate in the showcase during the IBC.

The youth act to participate in the“Youth Showcase” during the IBC is “Carson and The Spike Drivers”

2011 Blues Challenge Video

The evening also included the “IBS Blues Woman-Man” award presentations to Miss Carol Lockridge and Prentiss Eastham for their outstanding efforts in keeping the blues alive and charitable works.

The IBC is the world’s largest gathering of Blues musicians and will be held in19 venues in and around the Beale Street Historic District.  It will offer approximately 600 performances by 223 acts over 4 days and will feature 800 performers from 40 states and16 countries.

To produce an event of this size will take over 200 volunteers and 165 judge slots to pick the top acts. 9 of those volunteers are Susie N., Mac, Paul Strohm, Bill M., Doc Malone, Gayle F., Roger Upchurch, Tim Diersing, Prentiss Eastham and last but not least, Penny Lane. Penny has also promoted the IBC countless times on here show "A Trip With Penny Lane" on WSVX - The Giant.

Complete IBC 2012 information can be found on the IBC pages, including a list of  IBC participants at http://www.blues.org/ibc/current.php

IBS Best Self-Produced CD Entry

Dicky James & The Blue Flames CD ﾓHard Rainﾔ was entered for consideration in the Best Self-Produced CD category.

“Hard Rain” keeps the soul and history of the blues intact while simultaneously looking ahead to the future!!….

The BSPCD complements the live music component of the IBC Weekend.