The Kenny James Miller Band recently won the Spokane Semi-Final Competition in the 2023 International Blues Challenge, one of the world’s largest band, solo/duo contests with participants from around the world.
With the win on June 5, Kenny James Miller Band will compete as a finalist Aug. 27 at Magnuson Park in Seattle during a special edition of the Seattle Peace Concerts. The band’s competitors are the winners of two other semi-final rounds held in June in Snohomish and Centralia, WA.
The winner in Seattle will represent The Washington Blues Society (WBS) and advance to the 39th International Blues Challenge in Memphis in January 2023 for the world’s largest gathering of blues musicians on the city’s fabled Beale Street.
Kenny James Miller Band (KJMB) consists of three accomplished Flathead Valley musicians: founder Ken (Kenny) Sederdahl (guitar, vocals, lyrics), Mark Meznarich (bass, back-up vocals) and Gregg Sewell (drums, percussion, back-up vocals).
The Kenny James Miller Band has performed on two PBS shows, “11th & Grant with Eric Funk,” filmed at the Montana PBS studio in Bozeman and “Inland Sessions” with KSPS out of Spokane.
Funk, who hosts “11th and Grant,” describes the trio as “powerful, evocative, and a unique rock/blues band.”
Their most recent recording is Tear in My Eye, available from Amazon and on most streaming sites. One song off their current recording was chosen and spun on a nationally syndicated show, “Blues Deluxe” out of Austin, TX.
This Kalispell band competed with The Longnecks Band, Jan Harrison Band, Justyn Priest Band, DA Blues & The Blues Notes Band, Blues Kangaroos Band and John Firshi Band.
According to Sederdahl, his band loved sharing the stage with his competitors. “They were all great,” he said.
The acts competing in the semi-finals must come from Montana, Washington, Oregon, Idaho, British Columbia or Alberta. Each band plays a 25-minute timed set and the judges, who are not affiliated with the Washington Blues Society or any competitor, evaluate each act using the Blues Foundation scoring criteria and rules.