Each of the 223 acts this year was allowed 25 minutes both Thursday and Friday evenings -- that amounts to over 185 hours of blues.  Wednesday afternoon my roommate Peter Sloan and I picked up our IBC guidebooks in our hotel's lobby and then sped-read through them, trying to pick out who we would see Thursday night.  Nineteen venues (twelve last year) hosted this year's event, accurately billed as the World's Largest Blues Festival. 

In the late 1980s there were 57 acts competing when our Society first sent a representative to this prestigious soirée.  Project R&B Revue, fronted by Rod Nickson, advanced to the Finals that year. 

Our representative this year was the Doubletake Blues Band from Batavia.  They kicked things off at 5:00 P.M. Thursday at Alfred's on Memphis' world famous Beale Street.  They had the crowd cheering, especially the dozen or so fans from Western New York.  On Friday our band once again put on a great show that had the folks at Alfred's yelling and applauding their take on the blues. 

Stoker's set at Pig On Beale the first night got and kept the crowd's attention.  Due to a change in the schedule, I missed his set on Friday.  Unfortunately neither he nor Doubletake advanced to Saturday's Finals.

Friday afternoon's Youth Showcase was held in eight bars, all on Beale.  Blues Beat Magazine Muddy Award winner Cale Hawkins and the Cotton Brothers (Chris and Mike) represented the South Canada Blues Society - calling themselves the Hawkins Cotton Trio.  Other acts/individuals I saw who were outstanding were:  the Young Austin Band, female guitarist Michaela Rae, and the band Skinny Legs and All.

The International Showcase, held at the New Daisy Theatre on Wednesday night, featured 13 blues acts from outside the USA.  The highlight for me was the Solo Act, Harrison Kennedy, from Andy Galloway's Electro-Fi Records label in Toronto.  Harrison sang decades ago with the group Chairmen of the Board, which scored many hits, including Give Me Just A Little More Time.

I got to see his set two more times during the competition, and his song I Can Feel You Leavin' blew me away each night.  Barely into his first tune each night a hush fell over all three crowds until the end of his set.  How he did not advance to the finals is a mystery to me.  The act that advanced from his competition venue did nothing for me at the Solo/Duo Finals  

In my opinion, this year's IBC was more bluesy than the last couple years.  Less Rock Bands pretending to play blues.  That was a good thing.  There's talk that the IBC will be expanded to four days next year - so far just a rumor though. 

The Finals Date for next year has been set - Feb 5^th, 2011.  Now that you know, there's no excuse for not going, as you have plenty of time to plan.  See ya there.