Memphis, Tenn. (Top40 Charts/ Michael McClune Media & Marketing) Judges crowned
Little G Weevil, representing The Atlanta Blues Society, as 2013 International Blues Challenge winner in the solo/duo category and Best Guitarist Award in category.
The 2013 International Blues Challenge included 231 acts from 40 states and 17 countries. In its 29th years the IBC has become the largest gathering of blues acts in the world.
Weevil, once a Beale Street dish boy, made a triumphant return to Memphis. Twenty years after paying dues in smoky clubs on Beale, he returned to celebrate his music and career in front of a sold-out Orpheum Theater. He awaits a gloriously homecoming by a proud and boisterous fan base in Atlanta.
It is no coincidence the
Memphis Flyer's event preview touted Weevil as "One that might be worth keeping an eye on" saying he "combines rough juke-joint riffs and Bo Diddley beats into a warm-toned sound that suggests vintage and modern all at once." Weevil won over the crowd and judges with his high-energy, but laid-back performance singing his heart out and picking his guitar as if struck by lightning.
He played a myriad of guitars including cigar box style.
"I`m absolutely thrilled by the results. I can hardly find words to describe this feeling. Since I began writing songs over a decade ago I have been working very hard to get my music out there. I`m very happy that the judges understand the message I try to represent when I play my Blues. This music means everything to me and this award gives me more faith to keep going. I would like to thank the Blues Foundation for this opportunity, Atlanta Blues Society and everyone for all the love and support. Let`s keep the Blues alive!"
In a genre based on repetition, Weevil's real-life stories and singular delivery set him apart from the hundreds of fellow competitors. He tours behind two self-released albums, having taken his all-original music to fourteen countries. Yet after tonight, that number is sure to blossom.
The elite British music magazine MOJO labeled his new CD The Teaser as "Well worth hunting down" and named it one of 2012's best blues albums. Downbeat championed his "Strongwilled musical intelligence. Blues Revue magazine described the record "As Delta as the rolling fields outside of Como and as homebrewed as the sounds of Holly Springs."
The IBC is a collective of competing Blues acts representing an international search by The Blues
Foundation and its affiliates. Past participants include Susan Tedeschi, Ray Bonneville, Watermelon Slim and Tommy Castro. As the winner
Little G Weevil receives cash and promotional services.
With this victory,
Little G Weevil is now one of the premiere contemporary voices in carrying blues music forward, helping define the next generation of fans.
https://www.top40-charts.com
https://www.LittleGWeevil.net
