Here is the next chapter in the IBC story from Nathan.
Hey Everyone,
Thanks for all your emails of support. Good to know we have people behind us at home.
The last night of the semi-finals was last night and I am sorry to say that we have joined the ranks of Boise contestants that were eliminated and aren’t going to the finals. Out of 100 bands playing only 10 make it to the finals so we always knew it would be a long shot but we gave it our best and played our best 2 nights in a row. I really believe we held our own with all the bands in our bar and made an impact on people down here and from around the world who laughed when we told them we were from Boise.
J.P. Soars and the Red Hots will be moving on to the finals from our bar.
Awesome band but I think there was a big element of shock in the club when this band was announced as the winner. All the bands were for the most part like us It was all heavy sounding trios playing modern blues music…..every band…. J.P. Soars made a big impression in the appearance category by all wearing red sport coats. He also was the only guitar player playing a hollow body guitar and this combination I think was very attractive to the Judges. He played a two string guitar that his brother made out of a cigar box as well. This was his bands second consecutive trip to this competition so I am glad they are going to the finals. Last year they didn’t but this year they did so good luck to him and I guess it shows perseverance pays off.
The QUARTERTONS were more than happy with our own performances and received a lot of praise from the Judges, Event Coordinator, and tons of people stopping us as we walked down the street to tell us how much they loved our sound. It was a great experience and we have done a lot of networking so far. I am sure this will get us a lot of out of town exposure and also be a new way to bring some new bands through Boise.
On a personal note, I have learned more from this trip than anything. I have learned that the QUARTERTONS was a good idea and that we are on the right path. However all the bands we competed against all came from preliminaries where they had to compete against 6, 8, or dozens of bands to even be here. There were two in Boise. All the bands we competed against just play blues and their own sound where they are from and where they tour. Unfortunately in Boise, there is not one blues club left. This has left the QUARTERTONS having to mix in blues with a rock and cover set just to be able to play it and keep gigs. Personally I don’t think I want to do that anymore.
I think to do anything right you have to be all in or not at all. This is why I want to do with the QUARTERTONS what I wanted to do from the beginning and bring it back to being all blues and originals. If this means I lose every gig I have in town, I’ll play out of town but at least I will know that I am putting all my efforts towards one thing and bringing the music quality to where it should be. I just hope that we can work with anybody playing blues in town and do shows together and help promote each other. This is the only way we are going to get any blues shows going in town. So lets reach out to each other and stay in contact. …….see what happens.
Anyway, thanks for getting us down here and we will make the most of the networking done down here. Thanks to the Boise Blues Society for getting behind us this year and for all of their help. And thanks to Eric Holm from the Blues Society who is down here helping us handing out cards and cd’s and just bein an all around good guy!! Oh yeah and for buyin a pretty lady breakfast! We are all off to watch the finals!!!!!
Thanks for all the support and we will see you soon!
Nathan Jay