Hello Blues Club Friends --

The third round of the Lowcountry Blues Challenge was this past Sunday, and attendees got to hear some great music from My Buddy Todd, Super Kush, Skye Paige and the Original Recipe, and The Wyatt Garey Band. I love the Challenge because we get a chance to see lots of our favorite musicians play, sometimes in new bands formed just to have a chance to be a part of this event... Each band is unique, with its own style and approach, and has something to offer. So, what I don't like about the Challenge, or any battle of the bands, is the whole judging thing. Because in the end, there are only four bands chosen to compete in the Finals of the Blues Club Challenge, but that doesn't mean that there were only four great bands, of course. Every one of the bands has its fans, and should be proud of the music they give to the world -- So we thank you all!!

That said, I do want to thank our judges, who've done what had to be done -- scoring the contestants using a specific set of criteria invented by the International Blues Challenge. Using that criteria, which included vocal skills, instrumental skills, and blues content, among other things -- we have four finalists to announce.

The Lowcountry Blues Challenge Finals will be held at Fiery Ron's Hometeam BBQ on Sunday,September 26 beginning around 3pm. On the bill will be Groove Therapy, Hollywood and the Willies, Wyatt Garey Band and Dan Wright. This will be a show you do not want to miss, so mark your calendar. The winners of the Solo/Duo will be announced as well as the winner of this competition at the end of the show. We are also working on an oyster roast so stay tuned.

It is also time to elect officers so if anyone is interested in helping with the Lowcountry Blues Club, let us know. The positions up are President, Vice President, Treasurer and Secretary. Our next organizational meeting will be Monday, October 4th, 7pm, at Home Team BBQ/West Ashley.

Now, you may be wondering where to go for good music this weekend... On Friday night, Sept 17, there are two great choices: Scott Holt is at Home Team/Sullivans Island, 10 pm, only $5! Scott used to be a guitarist for Buddy Guy, so you know he's good! Same night, local band Steel Petals plays at Home Team/West Ashley, 10pm, $5 -- They play a mix of blues and rock, really good too. On Saturday, Sept 18, you may want to see Highway 17 Band at the VFW Ladson, Bikers Helping Bikers 4th Annual Bike Rally & Car Show, 11 and 4:00 -- check it out!

And of course, we want to see you out at Home Team/West Ashley for the Wednesday night Blues Club jam, 8pm till midnight or so...

Reminders:

Check out some of our recordings from the Wednesday jams at http://www.reverbnation.com/lowcountrybluesclub featuring artists such as Jon Hager, Wyatt Garey, Dan Wright, JoJo Wall, Tim Shaw and many other local players. The recordings are also on our facebook page under the My Band tab. And thank you to JP Jones for posting these.

Join us on facebook and twitter.

Artists featured in September are B.B. King, Jimmy Reed, Ray Charles, Freddie King and Koko Taylor. When you come to the jam, let our jam-master know if you want to play a song by one of the featured artists. In October, we will feature Steve Miller and Stevie Ray Vaughan.

To get info in this blog, send all details of your event to lowcountrybluesclub@gmail.com, and put "Attention blog-writers" as the subject heading, please.

LMW, Sept 16, 2010