Recap of IBC trip for CABS

Hi, all -- I know it's been waaaaaay too long since I've posted here and I'm very, very sorry for that. I promise that one on my new goals for this year is to be much better about updating this blog (I really am gonna try)!

As a start back into things here, I thought I'd post the write-up that I did for the Capital Area Blues Society covering 6 Hands Down adventure at this year's International Blues Challenge down in Memphis, TN.

Below is said write-up in it's entirety. Hope you enjoy!

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It’s always tough to try and summarize an incredible experience after the fact, because no amount of words can ever seem to sum up the memories properly. That was the problem I was faced with after I promised CABS president Toni Alexander that I would send her a write-up on our adventures when 6 Hands Down returned from the 2009 International Blues Challenge. I should have realized that that promise would have been easier said than done. Here’s why -- I should have known it would be impossible to put into words…

…how thankful we are to CABS for sending us to Ground Zero of the biggest blues party anywhere on earth!

,,,how happy we’d be when all members of the band and entourage safely arrived and re-united for celebratory beverages at the Best Western Inn in West Memphis, Arkansas (10 minutes from Beale Street), after having traveled by car and plane from points north, south, east and west of Memphis!

…how great we felt when we checked in on the first day of competition and found out that we’d be competing in the first 2 days of the event (semi-final round) at the very same venue we were fortunate to draw last year (The Rum Boogie Café), assuring us some familiarity with the layout, staging, sound system and personel of the club -- always helpful info at these types of events!

…how great that first plate of ribs and bowl of gumbo would taste!

…how good it makes you feel to run into Gordon Wilson around the corner from Beale Street on his way to watch you “make CABS proud”!

…how dreamlike it feels to be finally hitting those first notes on stage and how fast a 25 minute set can blaze by when you’re having so much fun!

…how great that ice cold Bass Ale tastes after you’ve finished your set on the first night!

…how darned great it was to watch and get to meet the other performers at our venue and all over the rest of Beale Street and realizing how cool it is that, for the most part, this whole thing doesn’t feel like a competition at all, but rather, one huge, non-stop blues concert with 16 stages!

…how you go to bed that first night, thankful that everything went so well and thinking you would be more than happy to just be able to have tomorrow’s performance go the exact same way!

…how you wake up the next day and superstitiously eat a big bowl of grits (since you did so the day before)!

…how you hit the stage for round two and, even though the whole thing is once again kind of a blur, you finish happily realizing that somehow it went even better than the night before!

…how even though you’re a bit anxious to hear who will advance to the Saturday finals, it’s pretty cool to be doing so while listening to Muddy Waters’ old guitar player (Bob Margolin) playing and singing on stage at the Rum Boogie from just a few feet away!

…how hard it is to believe that they just said the name 6 Hands Down as the winner of the Rum Boogie venue and knowing what tears of joy really feel like!

…how difficult it is to get to sleep when you’re going over and over in your head how hard it is to turn a 24 minute 38 second set into a 19 minute 59 second set!

…how awesome the grits taste on the third morning!

…how lucky you feel to draw the opening slot of the finals because you get a sound check!

…how you wish the spotlights weren’t so bright when you take the stage at the finals of the 2009 International Blues Challenge so you could actually see the couple thousand people that are out there in the audience of the Orpheum Theater!

…how it feels to get a standing ovation in front of that kind of crowd!

…how when the 3rd, 2nd and 1st place bands have been announced you honestly don’t feel bad in any way that your name wasn’t mentioned – that you truly feel honored, blessed, fortunate and thankful to have been able to have this experience!

…and finally, how you can’t wait to get the opportunity to once again really, really thank the wonderful people of the Capital Area Blues Society for the incredible support over the last 2 years!

THANK YOU CABS!!! It’s been a pleasure to represent you at the 2008 and 2009 International Blues Challenges!

Kev Nichols – www.6handsdown.com

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