Best Self-Produced CD: ...and the winner is...

The Blues Foundation, based in Memphis, Tennessee, organizes the International Blues Challenge (IBC) which allows blues artists from all over the world to put their talents under the spotlight. The Best Self-Produced CD category was established in 2005, and only affiliated blues societies can submit entries. The Montreal Blues Society held preliminary judging this fall to determine the entry that will represent Quebec this year. Judges from within the Quebec blues community were selected to use the following criteria to choose the finalists:

Blues Content (is this a Blues Music recording)
Musical Performance (Musicianship)
Audio Quality of the Presentation (Production Values, levels)
Cover Art and Design (Professional Packaging, Ready for the rack)
Credits and Liner Information (Informative, Professional)

The judges whittled the list of more than a dozen albums released in the last twelve months down to four finalists. They were:

Ben Racine Band, A Grand New Brew
Cêcile Doo-Kingué, Anybody Listening Part 1: Monologues
Michael Jerome Browne, Sliding Delta
Ria Reece Band, Out All NIght

The Montreal Blues Society is proud to announce that the judges have selected Michael Jerome Browne's disc Sliding Delta as the entry representing the MBS and Quebec at the International Blues Challenge. The IBC winner will be unveiled during the last week of January. Unlike the Quebec to Memphis challenge that just concluded on October 20th, the winner of the Best Self-Produced CD does not need to perform in Memphis. Quebec artists have fared well in the past in this competition. Guy Bélanger's Blues Turn CD made the Top 5 last year, and Steve Hill's entry Solo Recordings: Volume 1 was the winner in 2013.

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