Winners Announced For Downtown Albany Blues Music Competition

ALBANY, NY (05/04/2013)(readMedia)-- The City of Albany and the Downtown Albany Business Improvement District (BID) announce the two winners of the Downtown Albany Blues Music Competition held on Friday, May 3, 2013 from 5:00 PM to 9:00 PM. Blues Sanctuary who performed at The Hollow Bar + Kitchen and Tom Healy Band who performed at Franklin's Tower will play Alive @ 5 this summer on July 25, 2013. The Blues Music Competition consisted of ten acts playing in nine different venues throughout downtown Albany. Those in attendance were free to tour the venues and vote for their favorite acts.

This year's competition included a new scoring method where 50% of the vote was calculated by popular vote, with the other 50% pulled from music contest judge, Steve Daub, a 2012 inductee into New York State's Blues Hall of Fame. Daub has been the radio host of WRPI's Stormy Monday Blues for the past 13 years.

"Sanctuary Blues was right on the money tonight," expressed Daub, "original tunes and soaring solos. Tom Healy Band was also very tight. The drummer and bassist had the groove while Matt was able to hammer it out and Tom has such a great blues voice."

The ten blues music acts competing included:

• Joe Lowry and the Second Mile Blues Band | 74 State Hotel

• J.V. & the Cutters | Blue 82

• Tom Healey Band | Franklin's Tower

• Sly Fox and the Hustlers | The Hollow Bar + Kitchen (formerly Bayou Café)

• The Hallertau Band | Legends on Pearl

• Blues Sanctuary | The Hollow Bar + Kitchen (formerly Bayou Café)

• Nite Train | The Merry Monk

• Soul Sky | Olde English Pub and Pantry

• Kylie and the Sympathetic Strangers | Pearl Street Pub

• Holly & Evan | Taste

"Close to a thousand people came Downtown to see and vote for their favorite blues band on Friday night," explained Georgette Steffens, Executive Director, Downtown Albany BID, "We were flooded with comments during the evening about how Downtown felt like Bourbon Street and how much fun people were having enjoying the music at all the different venues.

Put on by the Special Event division of the City of Albany, Alive @ 5 occurs each Thursday from early June to late August at the Albany Riverfront Park at the Corning Preserve, offering free entertainment and recreation during the hours of 5:00 PM to 8:00 PM. For more information about Alive @ 5 visit albanyevents.org or call 518.434.2032.

The Downtown Albany Business Improvement District (BID) is an organization dedicated to the preservation and promotion of the character, vitality, and possibility of downtown Albany. Through its many programs and events, the Downtown Albany BID works to enhance the image of Albany and further its reputation as a prosperous and exciting city to live, work, and visit. For more information on the BID please visit downtownalbany.org.