The five finalists were painstakingly selected from an avalanche of entries for the opportunity to battle it out at The Big Easy Bar.B.Q and Lobstershack to win a record deal with the Mascot Label Group.
And we want you to win too. So, enter our contest to win:
- A pair of tickets to The Future Of The Blues Final * One year’s subscription to The Blues Magazine * Dinner for two at The Big Easy Bar.B.Q. and Lobstershack * A Mascot Label Group goodie bag
Ten runners up will each receive a pair of tickets to the final.
The Finalists
**Henry’s Funeral Shoe **A favourite of The Blues Magazine since the release of their 2014 Comfortable Skin EP, guitarist/vocalist Aled Clifford and his drumming brother Brennig dish out some of the greatest blues-drenched rock’n’roll we’ve ever heard.
**Kaz Hawkins **The Belfast blues powerhouse released her ecstatically-received debut album Get Ready in 2014. A seasoned songwriter and live performer, Hawkins is often compared to legends like Etta James, Mavis Staples and Janis Joplin. You can’t get a better endorsement than that.
**Matthew Douglas **The 25 year old singer-songwriter and guitarist has been playing guitar for 12 years and has picked up some impeccable influences along the way including Buddy Guy, B.B. King, Freddie King, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Jimi Hendrix, Eric Clapton, Albert Collins, and Ray Charles.
**The Black Circles **Lead guitarist and vocalist Sam Bratley and bassist and vocalist Martin Saunders joined forces in Warrington back in 2008. Influenced by Hendrix, Stevie Ray Vaughan and The Hoax the band nevertheless have their own unique heavy blues thing going on.
Charlotte Marshall & The 45s The Australian native, now based in Scotland with the seven-piece 45s, applies her stunning vocals to a backdrop of New Orleans funk, Mississippi blues, 60s-style soul and R&B with echoes of Aretha, Etta James and Bessie Smith in her delivery.
