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 MOJO WEBB has been playing blues in and around Queensland (and Australia) for so long that he is part of the proverbial furniture. Now KRISSI WEISS finds out he has his sights set on the Memphis Blues Society’s International Blues Challenge.
The Blues Association of South East Queensland (BASEQ) ran a competition in August last year to find an act skilled and mature enough to represent local blues internationally. The winner? Mr Mojo Webb. The reward? A chance to play at the Memphis Blues Society’s International Blues Challenge in Memphis, Tennessee in early February. With literally hundreds of gigs behind him, Mojo Webb and his band are in a solid position to do well, but as he explains, the competition is tough in relation to both the quality and quantity of entrants. “There are two sections and we are competing in the band section,” Webb explains when I ask for the specifics of the competition. “It is the largest ever gathering of blues bands anywhere in the world. So you play in the heat, a 25-minute set, then the semi-final and then you go on into the final. It all happens in four days.”
Due to the frenzy of organising both this trip and the launch of his band’s debut album, The Cat, Webb has had little time to ponder the possibilities of competing in Memphis. “I haven’t had any time to think about any of it really,” he says. “I have no expectations. It is a massive competition all over the world and we are relatively unknown so we are going in as underdogs.”
The Cat seems to have taken a long time to eventuate with Webb amassing songs for the past 13 or so years. I ask why he has taken so much time to record and release an album with the band. “I dunno, maybe laziness,” he says, laughing. “I did my own album about five or six years ago that I did entirely on my own and played everything on. But with the band, it just hasn’t really happened and it is hard to pin down why. We have so many songs we could have done a lot of albums, but it’s just been one of those things. I am a bit of a perfectionist I suppose, and I wanted to wait for when the time was right for everything to be how I wanted it.”
For someone who is so accustomed to steering every part of his art, I ask Webb how he handled the fact that he was recording this as a band and not simply as a solo project. “I get accused of being a bit of a control freak at times,” he says laughing again. “It was awesome because I didn’t have to worry about bass and drums and the guys that I play with are just so awesome on their instruments. The time frame sums it up. When I did my album, it took three months, and when I did it with the band, it took three days.”
THE MOJO WEBB BAND will be launching their debut album THE CAT at Burleigh Underground Drummers on Friday Jan 27, supported by the Andrew Baxter Band, and The Press Club on Saturday Jan 28, supported by The Walters. www.mojowebb.com
1. Written by Paulette, on 24-01-2012 14:36
The Mojo Webb band will definitely make the IBC judges in Memphis sit up and take notice of him. They are fabulous and with the tracks I've heard from this new albun The Cat, I can't wait to get a copy of it to play. |
2. Written by Dog, on 24-01-2012 15:53
It's great to our top shelf blues artists heading to Memphis, mixing it up with many of the best blues acts in the world. The Mojo Webb band is the genuine article and are certain to be well-received at the IBC. Best wishes to Mojo, Coogee, and J.B.
*Thanks RAVE for continuing to support our local blues scene. |
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