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Band & BBQ at the Point

2011 champ ‘Blue Chip BBQ’
returns to defend KCBS title

Music, food, fun come
to Carrollton’s Point Park

By Helen E. McKinney
Contributing Writer

CARROLLTON, Ky. (September 2012) – Blue Chip BBQ’s bragging rights as Grand Champion of the 2011 Bands & BBQ at the Point event will soon be challenged. The team held off stiff competition last year and will soon give it another try before giving up its Grand Champion title to make another barbecuer’s dream come true.
“Barbecue is my passion,” said Blue Chip BBQ team member Charlie Jackey. “I take it very seriously. When I’m not competing I’m doing practice cooks and making adjustments to my rubs, sauces and timing. Barbecue has turned into a year-round hobby for me.”

Blues
Musical Lineup

Friday, Sept. 7
• 7 p.m.: Greg Schaber Band
• 9:30 p.m.: Inner City Blues Band
Saturday, Sept. 8
• 1 p.m.: Saloonatix
• 5 p.m.: Tattoo Babylon
• 7:30 p.m.: Pork Pie James Blues Band
• Information: (502) 732-7036

Competing is also a family affair for Jackey. His team members are comprised of himself (Pit Master), his wife, Rhonda, son, Jeremy, and brother-in-law, Dennis Cheatham.
“We started competing late in the 2009 season, doing only two competitions. To date, we have competed in 27 competitions,” said Jackey.
Last year, Blue Chip BBQ entered 12 competitions. The team finished in the top 10 overall 10 times and had 26 top-10 category finishes.
Jackey had been smoking barbecued meats for about 12 years when “I saw some of the results of the BBQ competitions on the Internet and wanted to try it. So when we saw the Franklin, Ky., competition, we jumped in.”
Blue Chip BBQ participates in six to eight competitions per year. According to Jackey, the best aspect is “meeting new friends and the challenge of cooking not only against good barbecue cooks, but also against the elements and having to make adjustments on the run so that you make your turn-ins on time.”
All members are from the Louisville area. They compete as a team part-time because each holds full-time jobs. They also handle some small catering and vending jobs.
They began the 2012 competition season in May in Liberty, Ind., at the Smoke on the Water event. The team finished eighth overall out of 31 teams and took first place in the Pork category.
Barbecuers from far and wide will converge on Carrollton on Sept. 7- 8 to take part in Bands & BBQ at the Point, an event sanctioned by the Kansas City Barbeque Society. It’s serious business for the competitors but also offers a fun time with lots of great food and music for everyone else.

Blue Chip BBQ Team

Photo provided

Blue Chip BBQ team consists of
(from left) Jeremy Jackey, Dennis
Cheatham and Charlie Jackey. 

“Last year, we had 17 competitors,” said Rhonda Riley, director of Carrollton-Carroll County Tourism. “We thought that was pretty good for a first-time event.”
Awards will be given out in four cooking categories: Chicken, Pork Ribs, Pork and Brisket. Prizes also include singling out Best Sauce and Anything Butt. Prize amounts total $7,500 and will be split out over 10 places with trophies and ribbons.
The BBQ competition is being sponsored by the Carroll County Tourism Commission. This will be the third year for the event but second year that it will be sanctioned by the KCBS.
“A lot of competitors do this on a regular basis and wanted it to be KCBS sanctioned so they can compete in bigger contests,” Riley said. “If they score so many points, they can move on in the competitions. They are big in Tennessee and areas like that. Barbecue competitions are really growing.”
As a state championship event, winners’ names go into a drawing for the chance to compete this fall in the Jack Daniels World Championship Invitational Barbeque Championship in Lynchburg, Tenn.
“There’s nothing like getting a call on a first place category win, which makes all the work and practice worth it,” said Jackey. Blue Chip BBQ will compete in the Jim Beam BBQ Classic in Springfield, Ky. in late August.
The barbeque competitors “really enjoy what they do,” Riley said. “They’re all great people.”
Riley said the Tourism Commission got a lot of ideas from the Madison Ribberfest barbecue competition, held Aug. 17-18 in nearby Madison, Ind. “Madison was very helpful in guiding us on how to go about this,” she said.
And just like Ribberfest, Bands & BBQ at the Point will include music. Entertainment will kick off on Friday at 7 p.m. with the Greg Schaber Band, who performed last year. Following Schaber will be the Inner City Blues Band from Columbus, Ind.
Due in part to the KCBS sanctioning, “We wanted to focus more on barbecue, but still have nice music, too,” said Riley.

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