Up-and-coming White Rock youth band Sam and Luke were grand prize winners of White Rock Blues Society’s Roots and Blues Talent Search Wednesday night (July 30) at The Sandpiper Pub.

Brothers Sam Remedios and Luke Remedios whose guitars and vocals are backed by bassist John Nicholson and drummer Fran Lee were chosen after performances by themselves and fellow finalists the James Shepard Band, Tales From Abott and the Compound Blues Band.

The quartet claims the top prize of 10 hours of recording or rehearsal time at a professional studio, plus a date playing one of the upcoming Blues Society events.

“It was surreal,” said Sam of the announcement of their win, which concluded the three-week contest which began on July 9.

“It was kind of cool, kind of an honour,” said Luke, like his brother, an Earl Marriott Secondary student.

Sam said that playing a short set for the finals was less like a competition than simply concentrating on playing a good show.

“The judges commented that they were impressed with our stage presence and that we made it a show that was enjoyable for the audience,” he said.

Luke noted that while the band has been rehearsing every two days for the last month, the contest represented the first time they have played together on stage. Nicholson, a Semiahmoo Secondary student, is a longtime family friend who has been playing bass for the last year, while Lee, a former Semiahmoo student before his family moved to Vancouver, is the brother of one of Sam’s friends.

“It’s kind of like fate for it to work together so well,” Luke said.

Opportunities are increasingly rapidly for the band – known for its trademark of black shirts and white ties and a bluesy ‘soul pop’ sound including a number of original songs.This year, Sam and Luke have gone from coffee house performers to being finalists in the B.C. Junior Talent Contest in May.

They were also among performers in Saturday’s Spirit Of The Sea Festival line-up and will appear in the Live At The Yale in Vancouver on Aug. 12 (7-8 p.m.). As well, they’ll be competing in the PNE’s Red Robinson Talent Showdown, 3:30-4:30 p.m. on Aug. 18.