Tom Hunter & Jon Gunvaldson

WIN BLUES DUO CATEGORY

at 13th Annual Sedalia Blues Festival

 in Sedalia, Virginia July 10th, 2010

NEWS & ADVANCE reports: Wailing harmonicas, thudding bass, melancholy guitar riffs and, of course, sunglasses.The Sedalia Blues Society’s 13th annual Blues Festival brought a few hundred spectators to Big Island on Saturday.

Some danced or swayed to the tunes as eight bands competed for two spots at the 2011 International Blues Challenge in Memphis, in February.

Tom Hunter, of Minneapolis, who played the event’s second set with his partner Jon Gunvaldson, said for him the festival was a way to get back on the road

after taking a break from touring while his kids were in school.

“I was talking with one of the organizers, and he said ‘Why don’t you come

 down and play this thing? It’ll be good for you." Hunter said win or lose the

 competition, just throwing himself into the music was the best part.

“I love the blues, so it’s nice … to go to a place where you can just play the blues.”

NEXT? MEMPHIS INTERNATIONAL BLUES CHALLENGE - FEB 2011