Blues Society of Western PA - Newsletter

We had success last year at the Clarion for the 6th IBC's in many ways. It was our largest crowd ever, we made enough money to pay for all the expenses and more. Mostly, we had the best group of competitors ever. We promptly decided to not mess with success and do it there in 2011. This year we had to cover more costs, though. We did not get the same amount of sponsorship that we did last year. We had to pay a sound man which we were happy to do after last year's fiasco. For those who didn't hear, we had a sound man who volunteered his services to get advertising and get in with the Blues Society. He got a call in the middle of the day and left! Poof! We were lucky he left the equipment and that Jim Hamel was knowledgeable enough to handle the sound for the rest of the night. Thanks to the blues fan, TJ who has since passed for assisting Jim. This year we had an excellent sound team, Big Cat Entertainment, who we paid for but at a much reduced rate. It was well worth it. Great job, Charlie and Jeff.

That was only one improvement over last year. The competition was even better than last year! There was not a weak spot in the line-up, as all the judges echoed. This is the thing that amazed me, though. Three years ago, we had to call bands from other areas to get enough bands for an interesting competition. Some people liked it, because there were new bands to hear. Others thought we should just do a half day with the few bands from the area who joined. We had 15 acts this year. Most thought it was the most talented that we have ever had ...AND every band was from Western Pennsylvania! This was the first time since I have been a member (5 years) that we have had all Western PA bands. More evidence of a growing pool of talent in the region. It was a good mix of bands we all know, like the band winners, Jill West and Blues Attack. This was their third win. Good luck to them. They had new stuff and they closed with their trademark "freeze." They ran away with first place this year (four 1st places and a 2nd on the score sheets). I thought that was unusual considering the level of competition, but way to go Blues Attack! The next three bands were separated by fractions of a point. Ron Yarosz and the Vehicle (last year's winners),Wayne and Wildroot and the Jimmy Adler Band. All of the bands got good comments. The judges had told me that this was the highest level of competition, top to bottom, that they had seen.


As far as the solo competition, the voting was tight. All three entries had solid marks. It was both tie-breakers that gave the victory to Chris Yakopcic. It was his solid guitar playing that gave him the victory. He plays old style blues guitar and switched up a guitar and dobro. The judges liked that.

The crowd was good again and we received many comments (most of them good) about the venue, the bands and mainly the atmosphere. The mix of tension ,excitement ,expectation and curiosity was everywhere. For those who have yet to come to an IBC competition, you don't know what you are missing. I remember my first. While the level of competition and few entries were nothing close to what we have today, it was still exciting. Make it next year!

So, thank you to the people who came to hear the bands. Thank you to the bands for giving their best 20 minutes. Thank you to the judges who have the toughest job. All I can say is "wait till next year!"

~ Article: Don Vecchio, Photos: Tom Martin