Phew, what a busy day yesterday was. I don’t know where the time went but it sure passed by in the wink of an eye.
Let’s reverse events and start with the result of the contest. A guy called Mike Andersen from Denmark [http://www.mikeandersen.com]was the jury’s choice. He only flew in yesterday so we didn’t really get a chance to know much about him prior to the night’s events. It’s a sort of strange feeling in a way because it’s a bit like some stranger dropped in on ‘our’ event! :).
All the rest of the participants had gotten to know each other really well over the couple of days and it has been a real pleasure to meet so many like-minded people. It’s great to see they are all very with what’s going on in the music business these days, are very committed to making good music and are passionate about what they do. It gives you hope for the future of music.
To me the real ‘winners’ were the Wentus Blues Band. Not only are they a great bunch of guys but they did a great show themselves and then backed everyone without fault. They were truly wonderful. If the organisers decide to do this again next year they’ll need either the boys again or someone of their calibre.
My final thoughts about it all: I’m really happy I did it. It’s been a great experience and I think everyone involved got a lot from it. The organisers have been really great and it’s just been one big holiday really. The fact that one of my songs “One Of These Days” was considered one of the six best songs in the blues world by a group of people in another country is an honour and something that I’m proud of. On the other hand I don’t know if I’d bother to do a live contest type thing like this again. The waiting around as the time got closer made me feel like a condemned man! 🙂 It should all be about the song and nothing else. Maybe when you take it into a live arena some of those dynamics change.
The good life continues today with a sightseeing trip in Helsinki. I think we’re going to get a boat trip as well, which includes lunch. There’s the possibility to jam tonight in some club in Helsinki so I think some of us are going to try and make that.