Andrea Marr To Take Up Memphis Challenge
The Age
Tuesday October 25, 2005
SASSY Melbourne blues belter Andrea Marr is on her way to Memphis to sing in the land where the blues began.
Marr, 35, and her band - Brian Strafford (guitar), Cameron Scott (organ) and Les Oldman (drums) - are the 2005 winners of the Melbourne Blues Appreciation Society's blues performer of the year award, the finals of which were held at Manchester Lane on Sunday night. They will travel to Memphis to compete in the International Blues Challenge in January.Marr, who won over the judges with her powerful voice, commanding stage presence and strong "don't mess with this woman" songwriting, is thrilled with the win. Accepting her prize, she described her win and the five other finalists as "awesome".It was her third entry in the MBAS competition and she had not expected to win against such heavy-hitting competition as runners-up the Brian Fraser Trio (steel guitar, hand percussion and harmonica) and multi-instrumentalist Andrew Swann, who moved fluidly from drums to guitar, harmonica and piano."I was in Memphis in 1999," Marr says, "and I was so blown away by the place, and the music, and being such a big Elvis fan, that I thought I didn't want to come back unless I could play."Other finalists this year were the Jaimi Faulkner Band, Mike Elrington Band and Totoka Soul.MBAS president Sonia Meggs and mistress of ceremonies Helen Jennings, from sponsor radio station 3PBS, were impressed by the standard of performer, which they said had risen steadily throughout the 10 years of the competition.Meggs says: "We send artists to Memphis to further their career. Most of them have made the most of it. We aim to present Australian musicians to the rest of the world, and we are blessed, we have some of the best. Americans come here and are in awe of our musicians." Ken Williams was one of the five judges.
© 2005 The Age