International Blues Challenge crowns winners. Here's who took home top honors.
The annual International Blues Challenge crowned its winners Saturday evening at Downtown Memphis' Orpheum Theatre, capping the 39th edition of the event.
Nashville combo Piper and the Hard Times took home top honors in the band category. In the Solo/Duo Division, Joe Waters claimed the title, representing the Columbus (Ohio) Blues Alliance.
Staged by the Memphis-based Blues Foundation, the 2024 IBC featured performances from more than 140 competing acts from nearly 40 states and 12 countries playing in and around Beale Street. The event — which began in 1984 and has grown exponentially over the decades — has become one of the blues world’s most important gatherings.
In the Band Division, runners-up to Piper and the Hard Times included The Stephen Hull Experience from Wisconsin and Mandalyn and the Hunters from Indiana. In the Solo/Duo Division, Waters — a veteran blues musician from the Dayton area — edged out runner-up Drum and Dye.
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Drum and Dye’s Bill Dye also won the award for best solo/duo guitar player, while the duo’s John Paul Drum claimed the best solo/duo harmonica player honor.
Several other awards were also presented as part of the event. The “Most Promising Guitar” player award went to The Stephen Hull Experience’s 24-year-old six-string ace Stephen Hull.
Southwest Missouri outfit Sister Lucille won the Best Self-Produced CD award for its 2023 album, “Tell the World.”
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Although snow and frigid temperatures affected many events in and around Memphis last week, the International Blues Challenge went on as usual, with big crowds of traveling fans attending several days of the competition at various clubs on Beale before Saturday night’s finale at the Orpheum.
For more information on the International Blues Challenge, go to Blues.org.
This article originally appeared on Memphis Commercial Appeal: International Blues Challenge 2024: Here are the winners
