The Club Becomes An Affiliate Of The Blues Foundation
The Auckland Blues Club's application to be an affiliate of The Blues Foundation has been approved.
This is a great step forward for the club, and makes the Auckland Blues Club the only affiliated blues club in New Zealand.
This means that the club is now on the front page of the Foundation’s Society Listings, is the only New Zealand representative on the Foundations Society Map, but more importantly confirms our club as a serious and worthwhile organisation.
More so than any other form of music, Blues relies heavily on a grass roots network of urban or regional blues societies for support.
The Blues Foundation is Memphis-based, but is know the world over as THE organization dedicated to preserving our blues music history, celebrating recording and performance excellence, supporting blues education and ensuring the future of this unique art form.
Founded in 1980, The Blues Foundation has 3500 individual members and 185 affiliated local blues societies representing another 50,000 fans and professionals around the world.
Its signature honours and events (the Blues Music Awards, Blues Hall of Fame, International Blues Challenge and Keeping the Blues Alive Awards) make it the international centre of blues music.
All around the world, Blues Foundation affiliates help keep the blues thriving by producing festivals, booking club gigs, organizing weekly jams, producing a newsletter, website and event calendar, sponsoring blues education or just by coming out, paying a cover charge, and making noise.
These non-profit, all-volunteer organizations provide an important backbone to the blues, and occupy a vitally important spot in the pantheon of Blues music.
Blues fans who band together for the support of the music they love play an irreplaceable role in the international Blues scene.
The Blues Foundation recognizes the importance of its affiliates and constantly seeks new ways to provide support to these groups.
The Foundation itself operates as an umbrella organization for these affiliates and, over 185 such groups in more than a dozen countries have become an affiliate organization of The Blues Foundation.
Each Affiliate of The Blues Foundation also has the right to send a band and solo/duo act to represent the organization at the International Blues Challenge (IBC) Semi-Finals held on historic Beale Street in Memphis, Tennessee.
The IBC has evolved into the biggest and most respected showcase for blues musicians and is a judged "Battle of the Bands" in which competitors take the stage and play a short set for a panel of judges.
It represents an international search by The Blues Foundation and its affiliated Organisations (mostly blues societies) for the blues band and solo/duo blues act ready to perform on a national stage and the opportunity to compete for over $20,000 USD in cash and prizes and that extra break.
With the mission to find the best unsigned blues band, this annual competition is held worldwide on a regional level by The Blues Foundation's 150 Affiliated Organizations around the world, drawing an audience of many thousands to Beale Street and attracting extensive media coverage.
The IBC weekend also features the only international conference for Blues societies, offers networking and problem-solving opportunities not found elsewhere.
These behind-the-scenes people so important to the blues world are also honoured during the IBC weekend with the Foundation's annual Keeping the Blues Alive Awards.
For more details, visit the The Blues Foundation's web site by clicking HERE.
