Hector Anchondo Band

Hector Anchondo and his band are performing as part of the 2025 “In The Market for Blues”, Omaha’s blues festival (which he founded in 2015). The festival includes more than 30 bands performing at 10 venues in the Old Market and Capitol District area in downtown Omaha, Nebraska. For more information about the festival, click here: In the Market for Blues – 2025 For ticket information, please see: Get Your Tickets on Eventbrite!

For Héctor Anchondo, the third time really became the charmed one. Anchondo entered the 2020 International Blues Challenge in the solo/duo category and came away with the top prize: winning the solo/duo category. He also took home the Memphis Cigar Box Guitar Award for best guitarist in the solo/duo competition, where he performed representing the Blues Society of Omaha. Being a winner in the International Blues Challenge is a prestigious honor. For Anchondo, it was the culmination of over two decades of work. “Winning this feels like reward for having stuck with music for 24 years,” Anchondo says. “I had flashbacks of all the journeys, sleeping on floors, years of sleeping in the van, overnight drives, no pay, credit card debt for the cause, broken-down vans, the list goes on.”

He’s also the creative force behind his own festival, creating the In the Market for Blues Festival in 2015 with the help of local company E3 Music Management. His inspiration was the jam-packed Beale Street clubs with blues playing up and down the street during the IBC in Memphis. In the Market for Blues has grown exponentially each year with additional support from the BSO and other sponsors. The most recent event boasted over 30 local, regional and national bands at 10 downtown venues.