"Back To Beale Street" is a competition put on by South Sound Blues (SSBA) to pick the best blues band in Washington State to represent SSBA in this international competition put on by the Blues Foundation's International Blues Challenge (IBC) in Memphis, TN. once a year. The IBC is the largest gathering of Blues Bands in the world in one weekend. Bands from around the globe are chosen to represent their states and countries to compete in the only International event of it's kind. Each band plays in front of an international panel of music industry professionals who judge the event over 3 days. See Scoring Criteria and Official Rules

Every band in this competition gets national attention and the ones who do very well have the chance to advance their music careers on a national level with appearances all around the country at major Blues Festivals, Blues cruises and venues.

In order to take the whole band, it's equipment to Memphis the South Sound Blues Association and the winning band each year helps raise money to help with their travel and lodging.