JESSICA FOXLEY STAGES’ EMERGING TALENT ANNOUNCED

Jessica Foxley Stages teamed up with us, The Great British Rhythm & Blues Festival, to offer young, under-the-radar acts the opportunity to play the main stages at the festival this summer… and the chosen bands are now revealed.

Paul Foxley, who administers the project for Jessica Foxley Stages said “The standard of entries this year has been exceptional. The bands which our judges have selected represent some of the best younger musicians in the UK. With this being the 10th year of the Jessica Foxley Stages project, we are particularly excited to be able to showcase such a wealth of talent.
The calibre of the artists is reflected in the fact that each year we see some of ‘our’ former bands re-appearing as mainline acts at the festival. This year is no exception… and we are delighted that Greg Coulson and Tom C Walker are performing on main stages“.

Following an overwhelming response to the call-out for bands, The Jessica Foxley judging panel had the difficult task of choosing just four finalists, from over 70 entries, to play the festival main stages this summer.

In alphabetical order the finalists are:

Charli White
Little Triggers
The Ashley Sherlock Band
Ronnie Cook & Friends

The judges were seeking outstanding, unsigned, young talent (solo artists or bands) to complement the line-up of main artists playing at this year’s festival. Their criteria was originality, creativity, technical ability, musical compatibility (with the contemporary Blues festival), plus entertainment value.

Margaret Foxley (chair of the Jessica Foxley Unsigned judges panel) explains further “Ten years ago we lost our daughter, who’s musical talents we will always be immensely proud of. Almost immediately, we became custodians of her legacy, which has grown into something very special indeed. The aim of Jessica Foxley Stages is to support the development of highly talented musicians under 25 years of age. The project goes from strength to strength. You only have to listen to any of this year’s bands to know that. If you want to discover fresh, new, Blues music, be sure to check them out!”

Robert J Hunter, who played the 2017 festival, explains how Jessica Foxley Projects helped him… “Jessica Foxley Stages kick-started our career. We had been under the radar on the blues scene until we were offered the chance to perform at The Great British Rhythm and Blues Festival 2017. We have achieved so much since then… young,​ exciting bands deserve to be discovered“.

​UK Blues Challenge​ & International Blues Challenge

​In addition to being chosen to play the Great British Rhythm and Blues Festival, there’s a chance for o​ne of the Jessica Foxley Stages’ four artists to represent the UK at the 2020 European and International Blues Challenges, as well as at the 2019 UK Blues Challenge. Many thanks to the UK Blues Federation for enabling this to happen.

The UK Blues Challenge is organised by the UK Blues Federation and will take place at Bluefunk Rhythm & Blues Club, at the Poynton Legion on 14th September 2019.

The winner of the (6th) UK Blues Challenge will be invited to represent the UK at the 36th International Blues Challenge in Memphis in January 2020, plus the​ 10th European Blues Challenge.

​Ashwyn Smyth – Chair of the UK Blues Federation said: “Four UK blues acts will be chosen by a panel of over 600 people, with the fifth act being chosen by the Jessica Foxley Project panel, from those acts appearing under the project’s banner at this year’s Great British Rhythm & Blues Festival at Colne. I’m hugely looking forward to welcoming a Jessica Foxley act to the UK Blues Challenge”.

Find out more about the UK Blues Federation
Find out more about Jessica Foxley Stages

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