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MBS Meetings are held on the 2nd Monday of each month. Our next meeting is Monday, May 14 starting at 6:00PM! downstairs at the Argus Bar & Grille. Everyone is welcome! |
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The search for the nation's top undiscovered blues guitar player
Guitar Center has an annual, nation-wide electric blues guitar contest called "Battle of the Blues" (formerly called "King of the Blues") that's open to all interested guitarists (except GC employees & their families). The competition starts at the store level at all 226 Guitar Center stores across the country, with preliminary rounds on Tuesday evenings May 8th, May 15th, & May 22nd. The store-level final round is on Tuesday evening June 5th. All participants get a GC discount card, and winners receive prizes at each stage of the competition.
The Grand Prize winner receives $25,000 in cash plus, the six finalists will perform at the Grand Finals featuring Joe Bonamassa! And there are lots of other prizes for Grand, Regional, Distict, and Store level winners. Check out the full Prize List.
Sign up in person at Guitar Center, which is located next door to Office Depot, right across the street from Westgate Mall. A maximum of 10 contestants plus 2 alternates can sign up for each of the three preliminary rounds on May 8th, 15th, & 22nd, allowing for 30 total contestants and 6 total alternates. Most of the slots are full for May 8th, but plenty of slots are open for May 15th & May 22nd. Guitarists can sign up until May 7th or until all the slots are filled, whichever comes first.
See the link below for backing tracks, rules, and all the details: BATTLE OF THE BLUES!
Winners from the store-level competition move on to multi-state district contests, then regional contests, and then the national finals in Los Angeles, CA later in the Summer. Madison has had some great contestants in recent years who have gone far in this electric blues guitar tournament, including Bill Roberts and John Masino. The judges for this year's contest are well-known Madison-based blues guitarists: Paul Filipowicz, Don Rembert, and Aaron Williams, with Cliff Fredericksen as a reserve judge.
If you have questions, please refer to the web link shown above, or contact Chris Newby, Guitar Dept. Mngr. at (608) 271-7454. Also, feel free to contact Bruce Wasserstrom, Accessories Dept. Mngr., who many of you may know from blues shows & jam sessions.
WILD WOMEN 2012
WILD WOMEN 2012 was another great celebration of Women of the Blues showing their attitude and style. This year MBS brought in a really fabulous WILD WOMAN from Minnesota, SENA EHRHARDT! It was another great celebration near the end of a long winter! It was held on Sunday, March 18th at the Harmony Bar at 2201 Atwood Avenue on Madison's East side. Well attended, a large number of Blues Society members and the general blues fan public really enjoyed the rousing attitude of the band and everyone present!
Check out the whole story of WILD WOMEN 2012.
10th ANNUAL BLUES PICNIC
The 10th ANNUAL BLUES PICNIC is gonna to be a really fun community event! We'll be gathering at Warner Park at 2930 North Sherman Avenue on Madison's North side. We'll be playing the blues again for an all day event on coming up on Saturday, June 23rd. For this anniversary event, we're planning to feature some of the best acts from over the years, remembering those great artists who have been an invaluable part of the Blues Picnic spirit!
Check out the lineup and the rest of the story of 10th ANNUAL BLUES PICNIC.