17th Annual PBPS Talent Showcase

September 20 - 21, 2003

Waymon “Buttermilk” Meeks, from Hillsborough, NC, was named the winner of the 17th Annual PBPS Talent Showcase.  The event was held Saturday and Sunday, September 20-21 at the Lion’s Lair, 2107 Kirkwood Street, High Point.

Second place went to Russ Wilson and his Mighty Mighty Men from Hendersonville, NC.  Third place went to The Charlie Atwell Group, from Greensboro, NC.

The 38-year old Meeks is the third solo act in Talent Showcase history to win the top prize. The other two were Tad Walters (1994) and Abe Reid (1998).

Meeks accompanied himself on guitar and slide guitar in both his qualifying round Saturday night and the final round Sunday night.

He will represent the PBPS at the International Blues Challenge in February, 2004 in Memphis, TN.  Additionally, Meeks will perform at next year’s Carolina “Lite” Blues Festival and at the Everybody’s Day Festival on Saturday, September 27 (time and stage location TBA).

The highly competitive final round that featured the flash and sizzle of the 9-piece band Rebus Affair, the gut-bucket punch of The Other Blues Band, the hard-hitting guitar/vocal attack of The Charlie Atwell Group, the effervescent swing of Russ Wilson and his Mighty Mighty Men, and the stylishly risqué Robin Rogers and Her Hot Band.

But in the end, the five-judge panel went with traditional roots blues.  “I think that finally people are re-discovering traditional blues,” Meeks said after a three song victory set Sunday night. 

Meeks, a native of Fort Worth, Texas, is a graduate of the University of North Texas, where he earned degrees in chemistry and geography.  A computer programmer by day, Meeks also volunteers for the Hayti Heritage Center during their summer camps for children.  For more information on Waymon “Buttermilk” Meeks, visit his website at www.buttermilkmeeks.com.

As the highest placing North Carolina Band, Russ Wilson and his Mighty Mighty Men have earned a spot on the bill for next summer’s Bull Durham Blues Festival.  Wilson plays drums and sings, along with Calvin Johnson on bass, Marc Brookshire on guitar, Clark Stern on keyboards and Zip Irvan on saxophone.  To learn more about Russ Wilson and his Mighty Mighty men, visit their website at www.everswinging.com.

The Charlie Atwell Group finished third.  Their band consists of Charlie Atwell on lead guitar and vocals, Shiela Klinefelter on bass and vocals, Stan Atwell on rhythm guitar and vocals, and Chuck Cotton on drums and vocals.

Talent Showcase notes:  Waymon “Buttermilk” Meeks is the first solo artist to win the Talent Showcase since Abe Reid did it in 1998…Rebus Affair, a nine-piece band, marks the largest band ever to advance to the final round…three of the five bands in the final round featured horns (Rebus Affair, Russ Wilson and his Mighty Mighty Men and Robin Rogers and Her Hot Band)…in the audience for round two on Sunday afternoon was legendary blues drummer Willie “Big Eyes” Smith, of Muddy Waters fame.  “Big Eyes” had played the night before with Bob Margolin at the Danville Blues Festival and stopped in before flying back home to Chicago…the panel of judges for the final round included Bob Margolin, blues pianist and showman Rev. Billy C. Wirtz, and former Talent Showcase winner Allison King.