The Nashville Blues & Roots Alliance (NBRA), the Middle Tennessee affiliate of The Blues Foundation, has announced that the finals for the Nashville round of the International Blues Challenge will take place on Monday, September 15, 2025, at Harken Hall in Nashville.
The event will feature the top five artists from the region competing for the chance to represent Middle Tennessee at the International Blues Challenge (IBC) in Memphis, January 2026. The finalists are Shantelle and the Juke Joint Band, Doc Downs and The Next Round, Los Swamp Monsters, The Moga Family Band and Jackie High and the Kites. Each performance will be judged by a panel of three celebrity judges from the blues community, following official IBC rules and scoring guidelines.
The NBRA made its mark in 2023, its inaugural year, by sending Piper and the Hard Times to the IBC. The group went on to win the international competition, and Revolution debuted at number one on the Billboard Magazine’s Top Blues Albums charts and earned The Blues Foundation’s Best Emerging Artist Album.
“After being involved with the design and build-out of this world-class music space, I’m very excited to have the opportunity to bring music like this to the venue,” said NBRA president and Nashville producer John Walker. “The acoustics for live music are second to none.”
Support for this event comes from Gibson Guitars. Full event details are posted at bluesandroots.org. For tickets, visit Harken Hall.com.
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