Queer PEI musician Joce Reyome has won the Solo/Duo division of the International Blues Challenge held in Memphis, Tennessee January 7th to 11th, 2025.
“It feels like a surreal experience,” says Reyome. “Until fairly recently, I didn’t understand the blues and how it related to me! And retrospectively I’m kind of slapping my forehead saying “this runs in everything you do, ya silly goose”. As a performer, people ask me about the rasp in my voice and the stage presence I have. I always just chalked it up to loving what I did and having no other way to express it. I now I know that it’s been this kind of old inspiration.”
To get to the International Blues Challenge, Reyome had to first make their way through the Maritimes to Memphis competition in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia. The event was presented by the East Coast Blues Society in September of last year. Needless to say, Reyome won the Solo/Duo division and was off to compete in Memphis.
“In a professional sense,” explains Reyome, “this feels like such a step up in what I need to do to bring it all the time. I have this beautiful title now and I’m working on making sure I can hold up my end of the bargain after the challenge is over. So I’d say that in my life, this is a 180 degree change in how I’ll be moving forward.”
Established in 1984 and taking place on historic Beale Street, known as the “Home of the Blues”, the International Blues Challenge, according to its website, “represents the worldwide search for blues bands and solo/duo blues performers ready for the international stage, yet just needing that extra big break.” The site also notes that the event is “the world’s largest gathering of blues musicians”.
When questioned about their thoughts regarding this win in terms of their queer identity, Reyome responds, “I’ve said this before in casual conversation, I’ve said that I am an artist who is queer, not a queer artist. But outside of the Blues Challenge, I’ve been challenging myself to reexamine that! When I was younger, I thought that ‘queer artists’ were only pop stars, people who were intentionally bringing that part of their identity into their songs and writing. I now know that’s not true. I am a Queer Artist and I bring that with me wherever I go. Singing the blues is about sharing your stories and your feelings — those for me are always experienced through the lens of queerness. I won’t ever not be queer and I won’t ever not sing, they’ll be forever intertwined and I’m proud of that.”
As for what’s next, Reyome says, “One thing I can share is that I’m heading into the studio soon to record some new music. That will be expedited due to some new connections and wanting to have that to bolster myself up a bit.”
In the meantime, you can get more information about Reyome, keep up to date with them, and hear some of their tracks at jocereyome.com. Now's your opportunity to get in on the ground floor before Reyome’s career really takes off -- you can hear it coming.
