Nationwide search for best unsigned Blues Musicians chooses Redcar for North East heat - musicians from across the country urged to enter now!!

It has just been announced that entries for this year’s highly prestigious and nationwide competition - The New Brunswick Battle of the Blues - will open on 1^st October.  For a third year the cream of unsigned bands and singer/songwriters is being sought from across the UK and particularly from the North of England where, organisers believe, the area’s great blues talent deserves higher recognition. 
Five heats will take place around the country and the North East one will be held at Redcar Blues Club on 8th February (although musicians are welcome to enter any of the 5 heats – see below). Heat winners plus a ‘judges’ choice’ will go head to head at the final in London in March 2013, with the overall competition winner being taken out to play main stage at the world renowned Harvest Jazz & Blues Festival in New Brunswick, Canada, during September 2013.

Says Lisa Gagnon, who’s organising the competition in the UK for New Brunswick, “Harvest Jazz & Blues is one of the world’s great music festivals.  Once again we’re thrilled to be offering this chance to British blues musicians to play alongside the best of the best.  New Brunswick’s capital Fredericton, where the festival is held, is a wonderful place to visit at any point in the year, but at Harvest time the atmosphere is electric!”

And she continues, “The winners will play gigs on the Festival’s main stage and have the chance to make contact with some of the all time blues greats who come here from across North America and indeed the world.  And we’ll even take our winners whale watching, sea kayaking and sightseeing – all expenses paid, of course.

Last year’s winners – Groove-A-Matics from Gateshead – said this of the competition, “It’s a fantastic opportunity for emerging or established British blues artists to raise their profile and play on a world stage at this brilliant festival – as well as experiencing the wonders of the Canadian province of New Brunswick.”

Interested bands and singer/songwriters are invited to register initially at www.tourismnewbrunswick.co.uk between 1^st October and 30^th November 2012.  Artists will need to demonstrate the ability to produce new and original work, though some covers are permitted.  To qualify, they will need to be unsigned at the time of the competition (including the final). Musicians may enter whichever heat best suits them – choose from Newton-le-Willows in the North West, Redcar in the North East, Billericay in the South East, Hove in the South and Cupar, Scotland.