Page 16 - BiTS_11_NOVEMBER_2024

bookers and venues take an interest and give me a chance. So I'm incredibly grateful

to Matt and will always be in debt to him for that.

BiTS: He was a virtuoso player and a really nice guy. I have never met him face to face,
but I did an interview with him some time ago. Like you, I guess, I'm so sorry he's passed

on.

AA: Yeah. It's been an intense week. A lot has happened this week and I am very much
cried out. I think I've come to the end of my well of tears for now and I'm focusing on

the positive memories right now. He was a remarkable man who was very funny, kind,
generous and incredibly talented. There aren't really enough words to cover what Matt
Long was and I'm just trying to remember all the times he made me laugh and there

were many of them
[chuckles].

BiTS: Well, that's a

wonderful tribute, Alice,
to say the least. Let's
move on. In the last
couple of years, there

have been a number of
events, let's call them
that, that you've
participated in. What's

been the most
outstanding for you?

AA: Gosh. I'm still
absolutely honoured
that I was awarded Contemporary Artist of the Year at the UK Blues Awards. I still am
just in awe of that even happening. I'm guilty of having the award sitting on a table at
the end of my bed in my bedroom [laughing]. I wake up every day and it kind of reminds

myself that it really happened. And I do have to say the UK Blues Challenge that
happened on Tuesday at the Tuesday Night Music Club, that was such an incredible
moment of community and love. Everyone there was very much doing it with Matt in

their hearts, and we all came together, and it was a very powerful evening. The other
artists were amazing, and it was an honour to be on a list next to their names.

Yeah, the UK Blues Challenge was a serious boon and a very meaningful event, I think.

It was so much more than just what it seems on the surface, which is a music
competition. It went so far beyond that, and it was a pleasure to be part of it and an
absolute honour to be next to those names, let alone come out sort of on top at the end.
So, that was wonderful.

BiTS: That's wonderful, thank you. Now tell me about your contact with Joe Bonamassa
and the Keeping the Blues Alive Mediterranean Cruise. How did that come about and
where did you go?