The Blues Foundation’s International Blues Challenge (IBC) famously lives up to its name, drawing scores of ace blues artists to Memphis every year from around the world. Indeed, it was only two years ago that the winners of the Best Band prize were The Wacky Jugs from France. But if that proved that the blues have no nationality, this year’s tournament brought it all back home, as Nashville’s Piper & the Hard Times won in that same category last week. The event forged ahead through inclement weather in venues throughout the city and culminated in the final event at the Orpheum on Saturday, January 20th.
As someone who’s often jokingly referred to as “The Other Al Green,” I can sympathize with the band’s leader, Al “Piper” Green, who wisely foregrounds his nickname when fronting his band. But don’t let mere monikers distract you from this talent, who grew up closer to Memphis than Nashville, in Bolivar, Tennessee. In his youth, he sang in a gospel choir even as he absorbed soul, pop and rock influences from the radio. Ultimately, his biggest influence came from his own family — his uncle. “Every 4th of July he’d come down to visit us from Chicago and he’d be riding in this grand blue Fleetwood Cadillac,” Green recalls on the band’s website. “He’d be decked out and have a bunch of folks with him playing the blues. I wasn’t old enough just then to really get the full impact of what I was seeing, but I knew this guy had style and flair and really represented the essence of the blues. I think that’s where I got a lot of my vocal approach from.”
Green’s been playing around Nashville with the same core group since 2000, and now they’ve grown into a powerhouse ensemble fueled by rock-tinged guitar and horns. And while Nashville is not especially well-known as a blues town, the presence of Piper & the Hard Times is a significant milestone for the revitalized non-profit Nashville Blues and Roots Alliance, which hosted a competition of some twenty bands for the right to represent the city at the IBC.
Beginning last Tuesday, January 16th, the IBC was much more than just a competition, hosting master classes on various blues instruments, workshops for young blues artists, a health fair, and a screening of Augusta Palmer’s film, The Blues Society, among other events. And of course, there were other winners than just the “Best Band” champions.
Here is the full list of winners and runners-up:
BAND DIVISION
Winner: Piper and The Hard Times
2nd Place Band: The Stephen Hull Experience
3rd Place Band: Mandalyn & The Hunters
SOLO/DUO DIVISION
Winner: Joe Waters
2nd Place: Drum & Dye
BEST GUITAR AWARD
Winner: Stephen Hull
MEMPHIS CIGAR BOX GUITAR AWARD (BEST SOLO/DUO GUITARIST)
Winner: Bill Dye
LEE OSKAR HARMONICA AWARD (BEST HARMONICA PLAYER)
Winner: John Paul
BEST SELF-PRODUCED CD
Winner: Sister Lucille – Tell the World
