[The Happening]

On Sunday October 19th the Viking Bar, one of the West Bank's homes of the Blues, hosted the first round of performances to determine a representative of the Twin Cities, sponsored by the Greater Twin Cities Blues Music Society, to compete against other national blues acts in January in Memphis as part of the Blues Foundation's Road to Memphis.

George (one of the bartenders from the Viking) arranged for the event to be held there and another of the bartending staff, Marty, was on hand to provide refreshments as well as hamburgers, chicken and brats on an outdoor grill for performers and attendees of the event.

All volunteers for the event were from the GTBMS and included - Judges: Lynn Kelly, John Harrington, Lynne Bly, Gregg Harcus, and Terry Marshall. Timekeeper: Mary Kay Harcus. Scorekeeper: Virgil Johnson. Photography: Tom Asp. Membership: Christina Marlatt. Once again Judy Cedar's tireless efforts made all the hard work a very successful afternoon for all!

Performers (in order of performance) Curtis Marlatt ; John Kolstad & Sam Fiske; Pete Meyer & Bill Finke; Paul Barlow; Andrew "Cadillac" Kolstad; Veronica Lake & Gabriella Sweet; Joe Cook & John Franken Scotty "Bones" Miller. The 8 acts (12 musicians) were judged in 5 categories: 1) blues content, 2) originality, 3) talent, 4) stage presence and 5) overall impression.

Society members and Blues fans if you're looking for a mid-winter getaway book now for BluesFirst and the International Blues Challenge sponsored by the Blues Foundation. which will take place January 29th -31st in Memphis, TN. Be there to support the winners of this event - Joe T. Cook and John Franken. who will be competing Thursday evening, January 29th. In addition to the challenge, Joe & John will be able to attend Blues music workshops, the Keeping the Blues Alive Award ceremony, and participate in the big jam and finale at the Daisy Theater.

Participants from the afternoon all received gift certificates for the Electric Fetus and a generous crowd donated to help defray costs of travel, lodging expenses for Joe T. and John's trip to Memphis. The enthusiastic crowd came out to support all 8 acts and included friends of the musicians, members of the society, regulars at the Viking, and others.

You can read about the IBC by going to the foundation's website at www.bluesfoundation.org. Drawings for the volunteers included gift certificates and a book of pictures and history of Memphis music. A drawing was held for all the society members present and gifts included a sampler CD from the Portland Blues Society, a CD from Little George Suref, and a beach towel with the GTBMS logo.

Papa John and others commented that this was not a competition but a gathering of Blues musicians and everyone agreed this should become a regular event. Next year, we plan to have Road to Memphis Gatherings for bands as well as solo/duo categories as this was. Musicians all commented how important these kinds of gatherings are to continue the exposure of the music to a wider audience.

This passage is excerpted fro an email to GTBMS secretary Judy Cedar the day following the event from Gabriella Sweet ..."what a cool event the Society put on Sunday at the Viking Bar... it was wonderful to hear all the different ways that blues can be represented: folk, gospel, Chicago, delta, boogie-woogie, New Orleans, surf--- from traditional to innovative, it ran the gamut! Veronica and I had a great time. For me it was really special to be able to meet some of the musicians I've heard for years but never made connections with, personally. Some of us are already planning to jam! We appreciate greatly all the work the Society volunteers and judges put into the contest, I'm sure it was a long day for you all, and it must have been a tough job to choose one act. I know we're all very very proud of Joe T. and John on the road to Memphis..."

This sentiment was repeated by many of those in attendance and we're already planning to do it again next year!

It must be said that the Twin Cities recently lost Joel Johnson, a Twin Cities Bluesman and host of the KFAI Lazy Bill Lucas Show. As a regular performer at the Viking the Joel Johnson Band provided many nights of some of the best live blues in the Twin Cities for many years - his spirit was with us that afternoon.

Support local musicians and visit the GTBMS and Blues Foundation websites in February to see how Joe T and John fared against artists from across the country.

TR Marshall 10/2003