Ozark Blues Society
 of Northwest Arkansas
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Blues Challenge

PRESS RELEASE – July 27, 2011

CALLING ALL BLUES MUSICIANS!

OZARK BLUES SOCIETY OF NWA’S ANNUAL 

“BLUES CHALLENGE”

What:  Blues Challenge, a competition sponsored by the Ozark Blues Society of Northwest Arkansas in affiliation with the International Blues Challenge presented each year by the Blues Foundation

When: Wednesday, September 7, 2011, 6pm - 11:30pm 

Where: Fayetteville, Arkansas at George’s Majestic Lounge, 519 W. Dickson Street

DEADLINE FOR ENTRIES: August 20, 2011

On September 7, 2011, the Ozark Blues Society of Northwest Arkansas will host its Annual Blues Challenge at George’s Majestic Lounge on Dickson Street in Fayetteville, Arkansas. The society is seeking submissions from Blues bands and solo/duo artists to compete at this event. The acts will perform 20-minute sets in a randomly-chosen order which will be announced just prior to the start of the competition. Submissions will be juried so that there will be no more than a total of 10 acts in the competition. The September 7th competition will be judged by professionals in the blues music business, such as professional music media writers, blues radio show hosts, and officers from other blues societies surrounding Northwest Arkansas.

Submissions are free, and must be received by August 20, 2011. Submissions should contain a band or solo/duo bio, a CD recording of the act or a website link where videos or songs are posted, and professional-looking photographs in a “jpg” format suitable for press releases and web posting. Submissions must be mailed before August 20, 2011, to Ozark Blues Society of NWA, P.O. Box 2004, Bentonville AR 72712, or emailed to roger.plourde@gmail.com. Questions about submissions can also be sent by email.

There will be two winners announced on the same night of the competition -- one band and one solo/duo act. Winners will then compete at the four-day 2012 International Blues Challenge on Beale Street in Memphis on January 31through February 4, 2012. All expenses are paid by Ozark Blues Society for the winners’ travel and lodging, and a daily food allowance will be provided. Past winners of this local challenge are Kory Montgomery, The Eoff Brothers, The Brick Fields Band, Adam Posnak, Scott Leeper, Isayah Warford, and Buddy Shute, among others. Kory Montgomery and the Eoff Brothers each went on to the Top 10 Finals in Memphis.

The 2012 International Blues Challenge in Memphis will be the 28th year that Blues musicians from around the world will compete for cash, prizes, and industry recognition. This is the world's largest gathering of Blues acts and is produced by The Blues Foundation and its Affiliated Organizations. At the 2011 competition earlier this year, nearly 200 bands and 80 solo/duo acts entered, filling the clubs up and down Beale Street for the semi-finals on Thursday and Friday and the finals at the Orpheum Theater on Saturday. There will be at least that many artists competing in 2012.

Here’s what some artists and attendees have had to say about their experience in Memphis at the International Blues Challenge:

                                                                                                                   
 
                                                                                                                                                                             

Zac Harmon, the 2004 IBC winner and 2006 Blues Music Award Best New Artist, said, “Winning the International Blues Challenge is better than having a $100,000 publicity budget.”

                        
                                                                                                                                                                            

Matt Anderson, who won first place in the 2010 solo/duo competition, said, “I pushed the whole competition thing out of my head. I didn't want to focus on that. I decided to leave that alone and went and made a point to meet as many people as I could; made a lot of great connections.”                                                                                                                                                                                                 

 

“This was my first year attending the International Blues Challenge and it was better than any festival I have ever attended,” said Eddie Bagwell, vice president of the Tulsa Blues Society.

According to Chick Cavallero of the Colorado and Grand County Blues Societies, “The amount of talent that gathered in Memphis was staggering. I have to admit it sent chills down my spine whenever I looked around and realized I was in Memphis at the International Blues Challenge and that I actually knew some of these performers on stage. Goose bump time! We were able to see 35+ IBC performers and I can honestly say everyone we saw was talented and truly belonged there. Everything we heard was pure blues, and this was one time I was glad I was not judging.”

More information about the Ozark Blues Society of Northwest Arkansas can be found at www.ozarkbluessociety.org, and the Blues Foundation’s website is at www.blues.org.

 

Official Rules, Judging Criteria and Application Details 

The Ozark Blues Society has fashioned the production of the local annual “Blues Challenge” using the same guidelines and rules used by the Blues Foundation at the International Blues Challenge(IBC)  in Memphis.  What follows are the updated rules that will be followed for our local challenge in 2011 and at the IBC in 2012.

Questions can be directed to: webmaster@ozarkbluessociety.org

INTERNATIONAL BLUES CHALLENGE/ OBS LOCAL BLUES CHALLENGE - OFFICIAL RULES

1. Who can enter?

In order to qualify for the International Blues Challenge acts must enter local challenges presented by a Society Affiliate of the Blues Foundation (The Ozark
Blues Society is an affiliate of the Blues Foundation). The act is eligible as long as it has not ever received a Blues Music Award nomination. An act may not participate in the IBC in three consecutive years. An act may be a band, solo/duo or youth.

2. What is an affiliate?

The International Blues Challenge is restricted to acts sponsored by a Blues Foundation affiliate. A list of Blues Foundation Affiliates is available at Blues Foundation Affiliates  

Each of The Blues Foundation's 190+ Affiliated Organizations has the opportunity (but not the obligation) to sponsor one or more acts in the IBC. (If your nonprofit blues society is not an affiliate, contact Jay Sieleman at jay@blues.org). Each Affiliate may enter a Band in the Band Division and/or a Solo/Duo act in the Solo/Duo Division to compete in the 28th IBC in 2012. Each Affiliate may also send a youth act for the Youth Showcase.

An Affiliate must be affiliated with The Blues Foundation no later than the conclusion of the IBC of the preceding year to be eligible to sponsor an act for the IBC. (For example, the 2011 IBC concluded February 5 so to sponsor an act in 2012, the society had to be an Affiliate by that date.)

Any questions about affiliate eligibility please email jay@blues.org  or call 901-527-2583 ext 12.

3. What is a Blues Music Award nomination?

The only artists who are deemed ineligible for the International Blues Challenge are artists whose have been nominated for a Blues Music Award, whose name has appeared on a final Blues Music Award ballot-in the 30-year history of the Blues Music Awards (and formerly the W.C. Handy Awards). A searchable database of past nominees can be found at Blues Music Awards Search tool.  All other musicians who have had peripheral and/or professional contact through performance with a Blues Music Award nominee, including but not limited to, touring band members and studio musicians, are deemed eligible for the IBC.

4. Are there other restrictions? 

For the purpose of the IBC, being named on a final ballot for the Blues Music Awards is the dividing line with regard to eligibility. The Blues Music Award is considered the highest award a Blues artist can receive for excellence in their craft. Artists whose names have appeared on a final ballot for the Blues Music Awards have achieved a level of recognition within the Blues world that sets them apart from all other Blues artists. It is one of the measuring sticks by which a successful career in Blues music can be gauged.

An act under the same name is limited to two consecutive appearances at the IBC and must then sit out at least one year before being eligible to compete again. An act under the same name will not be allowed to compete three consecutive years. 

An individual may not compete in more than one act in any capacity.
 

A musician cannot compete in the Band Division and the Solo/Duo Division, even if that musician represents a different Affiliate in each.

Affiliates are allowed and often do impose additional eligibility restrictions for their own competition.


5. What is a band? What is a solo/duo? What is youth?

The IBC and OBS adhere to the following criteria for what constitutes a band, what constitutes a solo/duo act, and what constitutes as a youth act. 

Band - any act with three or more musicians. Vocalists are counted as musicians for the purpose of this competition. Both electric and acoustic instruments are allowed. 

Solo/Duo - any act with one or two musicians. Vocalists are counted as musicians for the purpose of this competition. Both electric and acoustic instruments are allowed. 

Youth - any act that all members are under the age of 21 at the time of the International Blues Challenge in Memphis.   


6. How does an Affiliate enter an act?

Affiliates in Canada and the United States must conduct an open, judged live music competition.  Affiliates in these two countries may not appoint an act.

The Blues Foundation recommends that each Affiliate produce a competition to choose their act(s). All affiliates may be required to conduct a live competition and exceptions, if we even allow any, will be subject to advanced approval.  If you already have a competition, you have nothing to worry about.  If you do not already have a competition, but you are going to produce one this year, you have nothing to worry about.  If you are hoping to to send someone without a competition, you best start talking to Executive Director (Jay Sieleman) real soon and have a real good reason for not staging a live music competition.  And even that may not work.   This represents a continuing tightening of the rules in this regard that affiliates have been advised of in recent years.

Do not ask to appoint an act(s) if you are in Canada or the United States, if the act includes a board member or officer of the Affiliate, or if the act is not from your geographic area.  If the act is appointed rather than selected through a competition, the Affiliate must submit a copy of the official meeting minutes at which the Affiliate took action to sponsor the act(s).  The Blues Foundation reserves the right to deny any or all appointed acts.

An Affiliate's entrant is considered a representative of that Affiliate in every capacity. Thus, the Affiliate remains liable for any problems created by its representative.

All digital applications, as well as findings of eligibility and registration requirements for IBC are the responsibility of the Affiliate, NOT THE ACT. However, OBS does require that the act cooperate fully in creating and providing the proper materials to fulfill the IBC registration requirements.


7. What else?

Affiliates are not only encouraged, they are expected to enforce these rules to ensure that their acts are indeed eligible.

The Blues Foundation will stand as the final arbiter of any eligibility disputes. All contestants must register by the pre-determined deadline, in the format requested, before competing in IBC. Any Band found at any time to have been ineligible at the time of the competition will be stripped of its award(s) and the Affiliate may be liable for financial restitution of cash and other prizes to The Blues Foundation. 

Any International Blues Challenge questions please email joe@blues.org or call 901-527-2583 ext. 11.

 

 

SCORING CRITERIA / BLUES CHALLENGE 

Scoring Criteria

The Ozark Blues Society follows the scoring criteria used in the Blues Foundation’s International Blues Challenge. Categories include Blues Content, Vocals, Talent, Originality and Stage Presence.

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 from the most traditional to soul/blues and rock/blues. Bands should pick material carefully. At the OBS Challenge and at the Memphis semi-finals and finals, the judges are Blues professionals, not a bar crowd, and are likely to be unimpressed with song selections that are uninspired. (Call this--with all due respect to Sir Mack Rice and Wilson Pickett--the "no Mustang Sally rule.")

2.   Vocals: The act’s vocal skills.

3.   Talent: The act’s instrumental skills.

4.   Originality: Original work is encouraged. Cover tunes are allowed but playing the recorded rendition lick by lick is discouraged; it will not be looked upon favorably by the judges; and will be reflected in scoring.

5.   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 a band, a band's score in each category is weighted. The raw score for Blues Content is multiplied by four, the scores for Talent and Vocals by three and Originality and Stage Presence scores are multiplied by two. The total in each category represents the Weighted Score for that category. Total possible weighted score is 140.

The weighted multipliers will be Blues Content (4); Talent (3); Vocals (3); Originality (2) and Stage Presence (2).

Penalty Points

A competing act will be penalized one point from its Total Weighted Score (see below) for each ten seconds that it runs overtime. There is no penalty for using less than the allotted time. At Ozark Blues Society’s discretion, a policy of penalty for excessive time loading-in and out will also be applied.


SCORING SYSTEM FOR JUDGES

Here is the scoring procedure that will be used for the local Blues Challenge and for the 2012 IBC.

1.   All categories and weightings are as previously stated.

2.   Each judge will indicate his or her Raw Score (a whole number between 1 and 10) in each category and turn that information over to the scorekeeper.

1-3 -- Typical of a beginning blues band.

4-5 -- Typical of a local weekend band.

6-7 -- Typical of an advanced local band but not yet ready to headline a major blues club.

8-9 -- Typical of the quality of blues artists who headline major clubs.

10 --  Typical of those who play the main stage at major festivals such as Chicago or King Biscuit Blues Festival.


3.   The scorekeeper will multiply the Raw Score in each category by the established multiplier to get each judge's Weighted Score in each category for each act.

4.   The Weighted Scores from each category for an act are added together to determine the acts' Total Weighted Score for each judge.

5.   Any penalty points will then be deducted to obtain the act's Net Weighted Score for each judge.

6.   After all acts have been judged and each act's Net Weighted Score for each judge calculated, each act will then be ranked for each judge based on that judge's order of scores, with the act receiving the judge's highest Net Weighted Score being given a ranking of 1, and so on for that judge. So, in a competition with five acts, for example, each judge ends up with the acts ranked 1 - 5 based on each judge's personal scoring habits. This results in the acts' Final Ranking Number for each judge.

7.   Next, the scorer totals the Final Ranking Number from all judges for each act to determine the Gross Final Ranking. That figure is averaged (divided by the total number of judges) to achieve the Aggregate Act Ranking. The highest-scoring acts at the OBS competition will be announced as soon as possible after the last act’s competition set. At the Memphis competition, for the semi-finals the act in each venue with the best two-day total of Aggregate Act Ranking will advance to the finals. Finally, for the Memphis finals, the act with the best Aggregate Act Ranking is the top finisher.

8.   In the case of a tie, the scorer shall calculate the sum of all Total Weighted Scores from all judges for the tied acts. The band with the higher sum of Total Net Weighted Scores wins. 


Staging and Equipment
The Ozark blues Society  will provide backline and sound. The setup on stage will include a drum kit with snare drum, amps, and mics. Drummers should bring their own cymbals and kick pedals (Yes, you will need your cymbals, you might want to bring your own snare too) and Harmonica players can bring their own harp amp. Keyboard players may bring their own keyboards and keyboard amps, stands will not be provided. Effects racks and other auxiliary equipment are permitted. Musicians must include on the Affiliated Organization's application any additional or special equipment needed. 


Competitors are prohibited from bringing their own amplifiers (harp amps and keyboard amps being the only exceptions.)  Please bring a DI (if you use one) every effort will be made to provide suitable equipment.

The Ozark Blues Society  reserves the right to approve or restrict any and all equipment an entrant wishes to bring on stage.


Ozark Blues Society of NWA - 2011 Blues Challenge Application

Read instructions carefully, complete the form and click on Submit when done.  If you wish to apply via email or regular mail, please make sure you include all of the information asked for below.


DEADLINE FOR ENTRIES - AUGUST 20, 2011

 
  BandSolo/Duo
Name of Competing Act::  
Bio:
Please provide a 600 character (not 600
words) band biography.
.
 Number of band members (names and instrument):  
 Special equipment request:: 
(Max 300 characters)
 Name of main ACT contact::  
 Email of main ACT contact::  
 ACT website::  
 Mailing address for act::
(You will be mailed your score sheets 30 days after event)
 

Note: You must upload a hi-res photo (300 dpi) as part of the application process. Also note that the size of the image MUST be 900x600 pixels or 600x900 pixels. Images may be uploaded in these formats: jpg, jpeg, tif, tiff, gif.  
Send photo under seperate cover to Webmaster@ozarkbluessociety.org