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| Layla Zoe From Canada Wins International Blues Contest  Layla Zoe a 29 year old blues musician from Canada won the international Blues Heritage Contest organized by compo10.com in association with the Lakeside Blues Festival. The contest was this year organized in honor of the 30th anniversary of Finland's biggest blues festival, the Lakeside Blues Festival. The six finalists performed two songs in front of the festival audience and a 6 member jury on June 29th in the small beautiful city of Jarvenpaa, next to Lake Tuusula in southern Finland. The winner of the contest received 3000 USD in cash. Layla will also be performing at the Lakeside Blues Festival in 2008.29 year old Layla Zoe was raised up hearing old blues and 70's rock albums. At the tender age of 16 she sang her first gig in Vancouver at the Fairview Pub with her father's blues band. Layla Zoe has worked with west coast talent such as David Gogo, Ken Hamm and Vince R. Ditrich of Spirit of the West. Out east she has performed with Danny Marks, the Nationals, the Jeff Healey band, Amos Garrett and the Shuffle Demons. She has funded her own trips to Nashville and Toronto to song write and promote herself. She has released an EP and full length album. She donates partial proceeds from CD sales to charities she believes in. Layla has been seen on CHUM TV in the Speaker's corner booth and heard on CBC radio, as well as Toronto's Jazz.fm! Layla Zoe will be featured in Canadian Musician Magazine in March/07 as well as having received a stellar review from the Toronto Blues Society. Layla received the 2007 Female Vocalist of the Year award at the Vancouver Island Music Awards. The 2007 finalists were Gerard Maunick (Australia), Troels Skovgaard (Denmark), Bubs McKeg (USA), Layla Zoe (Canada), Thorbjørn Risager (Denmark) and Bryn Jones (Finland). The artists were backed by a local house band in the Finals consisting of Timo Pratskin (keys), Jarmo Hynninen (guitar), Mikko Vuorela (bass), Topi Kurki (drums), Jenni Suvanto and Tynde Mäkäräinen (backing vocals). The general public's favorite was also announced at the finals. The public's favorite was Gérard Maunick from Australia. The winner of the Blues Heritage Contest was chosen by a local jury consisting Erkki Kukkonen (mayor of Jarvenpaa), Erja Lyytinen (internationally acclaimed Finnish blues artist signed with RUF records), Ilkka Mattila (music journalist at Finland's biggest daily newspaper Helsingin Sanomat), Rea Hopea (from the Lakeside Blues festival organization) and Uuge Kojola from Radio Helsinki. As chairman of the jury acted Ande Paivalainen. The contest received entries from 23 different countries from 5 continents. The first part of the contest took place on the internet. The finalists were chosen by a local jury consisting of Eva Gronblad (Compo10.com), Eero Raittinen (musician), Sami Ruokangas (blues journalist), Lassi Markkanen (music teacher and member of the cultural board of the city of Jarvenpaa), Jani Saarinen (vice chairman of the Lakeside Blues Festival) and Teppo "Teddy Bear" Nattila (musician and radio journalist). Also the artists entering the contest ranked the songs in the contest - the mean of the artist votes counted as one jury member. The international Blues Heritage Contest was sponsored by F-musiikki Vantaanportti and AKTIA. The Blues Heritage contest is arranged by compo10.com, a Finland-based, independent, nonprofit organization that works to promote independent music worldwide. The Lakeside Blues Festival is a festival arranged entirely by a voluntary crew. The Lakeside Blues Festival has become one of Europe's biggest blues festivals. Performers on the main stage this year Johnny Winter, Keb Mo, Billy Boy Arnold & Jody Williams from USA and J. Karjalainen Lännen-Jukka and the Super Blues Band from Finland. write your comments about the article :: © 2007 Jazz News :: home page |