'Blues on Beale', filmed entirely in the Blues clubs on famed Beale Street in Memphis, Tennessee, captures the people, the soul, and music of the 36th International Blues Challenge, an annual event organized and staged by The Blues Foundation. Starting in the early fall of 2019, Blues Societies from across the globe held local competitions for Blues bands and solo/duo acts. The winners of these competitions qualified to travel to Memphis to compete in the International Blues Challenge in late January 2020. 232 winners of these local contests brought their hopes and aspirations to Memphis to compete for medals, recognition and possible record contracts by performing in 20 clubs along renowned Beale Street, the most celebrated Blues location in the world. The 2020 IBC was perhaps the last major music event staged before Covid-19 put the world on "hold".
—Larry Lancit