The Mississippi Valley Blues Society presents the 2014 Iowa Solo/Duo Blues Challenge Preliminary Round to be held July 27 atThe Muddy Waters, 1708 State St., Bettendorf, IA. Four Solo/Duo groups will compete starting at 4:00 p.m. The cost of admission is $5 for all persons.
For 21 years, the competition has been sponsored by the Central Iowa Blues Society in cooperation with the Mississippi Valley Blues Society. The contest is open to any Iowa blues groups that has not been nominated for the Blues Music Awards (Handy's).
Competitors are 'Detroit' Larry Davison & Charlie Hayes, Dan Peart, SaJes, and the Zach and Mike Show. The solo and duo groups will start at 4 PM and perform 20-minute sets.
Two of the group will proceed to the final Iowa competition, held atZimm's Food & Spirits, 3124 Ingersoll Ave, Des Moines on August 24, with the final winner earning $250 cash prize, 8 hours recording time courtesy of Junior's Motel in Otho IA, opportunity for paid performances at 2015 Winter Blues Fest and the 2015 Bottoms Up Blues Bash, among others, and entry into and $300 travel expenses for 2015 International Blues Challenge in Memphis TN. The prize package, considered one of the best for such a competition, includes cash, travel expenses, and recording time.
FOLLOWED BY BRENT JOHNSON AND THE CALL UP
The Muddy Waters presents Texas native Brent Johnson and his band The Call Up on Sunday, July 27 starting at 6:00 p.m. Admission to the show in only $5 per person.
A guitar prodigy from the age of four, South Texas born Brent Johnson always knew where he wanted his playing to take him. Drinking in the very best of Blues, Jazz, Rock, Punk, Country and World Music, by the time his family moved to New Orleans in his teens, he was predestined towards a career in music.
"My sound is rooted in the Blues, though I don't pretend to be a purist, and I don't want to be" he explains, " I write music based on my experiences and the sounds I grew up with... I never want to pretend that I had the same experiences as the old Bluesmen did - so I'm not going to go around trying to sound like them. What I do is put the emphasis on the feeling of the music, the passion, the urgency, the directness - that's the goal".
Brent describes himself as "always a guitarslinger... I always loved songwriters and wrote songs for myself".
