The 2012 International Blues Challenge takes place in Memphis, Tennessee beginning Tuesday, January 31 and will continue through Saturday, February 4, 2012. The event will take place in 20 venues in and around Beale Street Historic District. Musicians and bands from around the globe will compete to win cash, prizes, and recognition from the music industry.

Spa City Blues Society’s own representatives CloverBlue and Ben “Swamp Donkey” Brenner will head on to compete at the International Blues Challenge in Memphis, Tennessee. Featuring Shelly Wier, Rachel McBride, John Roach, Mark Lovell, and David Settlemoir, CloverBlue have quickly become a staple across the Blues music scene. After competing and advancing to the semi-finals in last year’s International Blues Challenge, the members of CloverBlue maintained a busy performance schedule, performing at venues and festivals in and around the area including 2011’s King Biscuit Festival and the Arlington Hotel of Hot Springs, Arkansas. Also, the band have been hard at work preparing for the release of their EP project which will be sold at the 2012 International Blues Challenge along with releasing the album through their online music store.

Ben “Swamp Donkey” Brenner, Spa City Blues Society’s solo artist representative, is an American original from Little Rock, Arkansas. Brenner’s original works include songs describing “the low side of the road” as his guitar notes “float off into the fading light of a lost day”. This will also be Brenner’s second time performing at the International Blues Challenge in Memphis. Brenner has performed at venues in and around the state of Arkansas including the King Biscuit Festival in 2011.

For more information about the 2012 International Blues Challenge, please visit http://www.blues.org , CloverBlue at http://cloverblue.com , and Ben “Swamp Donkey” Brenner at http://www.swampyd.blogspot.com .