BOBBLE TIKI: THE ANNUAL BLUES COMPETITION KICKS OFF TODAY >>>

It's Back to Beale Street time again - which for Bobble Tiki feels a little more like Back to back to back to back to Beale Street.

Every year the Back to Beale Street competition, which is sponsored by the South Sound Blues Association, is one of the highlights of Bobble Tiki's year. For blues fans not content to sit at home with Robert Johnson recordings, the yearly Back to Beale Street competition is just about as hot as it gets. Every year since the SSBA created the Back to Beale Street competition in 2005, Bobble Tiki has covered it like a moth to a flame - which makes this year's fifth annual event feel a little like déjà vu - in such a good way.

What is the Back to Beale Street blues competition, newbies may be wondering. Read the full story here.

[Jazzbones, Back to Beale Street Blues Competition,
featuring Malcolm Clark, Heather B Blues & Hurricane Andrew, JD
Hobson, Junkyard Duo, The Randy Oxford Band, Stacy Jones Band, The
Wright Brothers, The Mary McPage Band, Cold Shot, The Al Earick Band,
The Wired Band, Blues Redemption, The Cody Rentas Band, Sunday, June 7,
2 p.m., $10, 2803 Sixth Ave., Tacoma, 253.396.9169]

Photo: Randy Oxford Band/MySpace