Chicago, IL — The Chicago Bluegrass & Blues Festival, a one-day music fest to be held this December 12th at the legendary Congress Theatre, is bringing the Battle of the Banjos to the Windy City. Organizers have announced the kickoff of “Last Banjo Standing,” an online contest that will scour the Chicagoland area to find the top bluegrass or blues inspired artist.

The winner, as voted on by fans, family, friends and music lovers around the city, will join a slew of national headliners – including Béla Fleck & the Flecktones and the Emmitt-Nershi Band – on stage this fall. 25 bands for a mere $35 bucks just got a whole lot sweeter, as one local band will get the chance to bring down the house, alongside: Béla Fleck & the Flecktones, Emmitt-Nershi Band, Dr. Dog, Eddy “The Chief” Clearwater, The Giving Tree Band, Van Ghost, Majors Junction, Chicago Farmer, Jaik Willis, Josh Phillips Folk Festival, Mike Mangione & The Band, Holy Ghost Tent Revival, Tangleweed, Environmental Encroachment, Squeeze-bot, GreenSugar, How Far to Austin, Liberty Bluegrass Band, The Right Now, Cobalt & the Hired Guns, The Shams Band, Goodbyehome, and the Junior League Band

How Bands/Artists can enter:
Between now and October 15th, bands can fill out an entry form and upload two of their original tracks to www.cbbfestival.com/contest. Keep in mind that artists do not have to be of the traditional bluegrass and blues persuasions to be considered.

Online voting:
The online voting period begins on October 15th, and concludes on October 31st, 2009. Each e-mail address will be allotted one vote per day, and as is the tradition in Chicago, encourage your supporters to vote early and often!

Winner will be announced:
After October 31st the votes will be tallied and Chicago Bluegrass & Blues Festival organizers will choose the winning artist amongst the top 5 vote-getters. The winner will be announced at 12:00 a.m. on October 16th, at www.cbbfestival.com.

“As we kick off the inaugural Chicago Bluegrass & Blues Festival, we launched the Last Banjo Standing contest to give every musician a shot at taking the stage. Chicago boasts a non-elitist reputation for recognizing good music, and we’re excited to give an up-and-coming, still-to-be-discovered musician the exposure they need to break through to the next level,” says Michael Raspatello, founder/organizer of the Chicago Bluegrass & Blues Festival.

A portion of each $35 ticket will also be donated to the Saving Tiny Hearts Society, a non-profit organization that raises money for life-saving research of congenital heart defects (CHD), and Prevent Child Abuse America.

For more information about the contest and for full lineup and ticket purchasing information, please visit: www.cbbfestival.com.