[Harp-L] 2010 IBC - I'm Upset

[BluzeHarp@xxxxxxx]

Anyone else in Memphis for the IBC?  Jimi Lee was in a tough  preliminary 
room, with last years solo/duo finals runner-up, + Eric Hughes,  a Memphis 
staple & very talented guy (also a harmonica  player)...Jimi put on a great 
show & won that room!   He went on to the finals, where an act from Canada 
that I missed  seeing eventually got the top nod. 
 
Later on something happened in the band division  finals which really 
bothers me.  The winning act, Grady  Champion, put on a good show, except for one 
thing.  Grady played  a lot of long & well received solos on the harmonica, 
walking into  the crowd singing & playing harp with a wireless at the end 
of the  set.  His singing was good, the rest of the band was tight... but the 
 harmonica work was what I'd (kindly) describe as a near beginner level  
performance.  I'm quite familiar with the judging criterion, I've  judged for 
the last three years in local qualifying events in Colorado,  including when 
we sent Lionel Young as a solo act... who wound up winning  the whole damn 
thing in 2008.  The categories are weighted, tied as  one of the most 
important categories is musicianship, which in  this case seems to have been 
tossed out the window.
 
So, what would the verdict have been if he played a guitar  instead of 
harmonica in the same amateurish fashion?  I  suspect the band would have never 
been sent to Memphis, much the less to  the finals.  I'm upset that the 
panel of judges at the  IBC finals, notable people in the industry who are there 
 because they "know" about musicianship & the blues, were so abysmally  
ignorant of what constitutes talent on the harmonica.  Did they simply  not 
know, or did they give him a pass because after all, it was only a  harmonica?  
 
I'm pleased that a band with a harp player got the nod, and am  not trying 
to deliberately insult the winner, he was indeed  otherwise a good 
performer.  Certainly there's hope for  his playing, lessons with a guy like Ronnie 
Shellist, Adam Gussow,  Dave Barrett or any of the other great teachers we 
know could  quickly get him to where the harp portion would  be listenable.  I 
genuinely wish this band great success on  the wonderful journey that is 
now ahead of them (I'd kill to get paid  to go on the Blues Cruise)... but, 
DAMN, if you're going to now be  playing blues harmonica on a national stage, 
do yourself a giant  favor and contact Ronnie at harmonica123.com, otherwise 
the harp part will hold  you back.
 
Chris