Press Release tag NYC numberBMA logo
The Blues Foundation
Press Release

The Blues Foundation Announces
2011 Blues Music Award Nominations

Online Voting and Ticket Sales Open December 16

Awards to be held in Memphis on May 5th, 2010

[For Immediate Release December 15, 2010] Memphis, TN.

The Blues Foundation is pleased to announce the nominations for their annual Blues Music Awards, which the organization will present at the Cook Convention Center in Memphis, TN on May 5, 2011. Performers, industry representatives and fans from around the globe will have the chance to celebrate the best in Blues recording and performance from 2010.

2011 Blues Music AwardsAmong those heading the list of honorees for the 32nd Blues Music Awards is last year's Lifetime Achievement Award honoree Buddy Guy, with five nominations in such categories as B.B. King Entertainer of the Year, Album of the Year for Living Proof, and Song of the Year for its title track, a co-nomination (with Tom Hambridge). Charlie Musselwhite, a Blues Hall of Fame inductee last year, also garnered five nominations, in the categories of Album of the Year (for The Well) and Song of the Year (for "Sad and Beautiful World," from The Well), among others.

B.B. King Entertainer of the Year (2009) Janiva Magness garnered four nominations this year, and three nominations each went to Derek Trucks, Eden Brent, Joe Louis Walker, James Cotton, Nick Moss, Paul Oscher and The Mannish Boys. This year's nominations also celebrate Steve Miller's return to the blues - and his first-ever nomination - with the album Bingo, nominated for Best Rock Blues Album of the Year. (The full nominee list is below.)

"The ballot is balanced between familiar names nominated because of stellar releases and more than a dozen first-ever nominees," Jay Sieleman, The Blues Foundation's Executive Director said. "The nominations prove not only the sustaining power of Blues music, but also its ability to constantly evolve and remain relevant to today's fans."

Among the nominations are also two - for Soul Blues Album and Soul Blues Male Artist - given posthumously to the late Solomon Burke, who passed away in October at age 70.

December 16 is an early Christmas for Blues fans. Tickets for the May 5 Award show go on sale. The DVD memorializing the 2010 Blues Music Awards will be available for purchase. Online voting begins then too. Blues Foundation members are the only fans who vote to decide which nominees will actually take home the Blues Music Award. Members also receive seating preference at the Awards show.

Every year, the Blues Music Awards ceremony itself proves to be one of the best shows of the year. After all, almost every nominee not only attends, but also performs - creating a lineup comprised of the best of the best in blues all in one evening. A complete nominee list, as well as membership, DVD sales, voting, ticket sales and host hotel information can be found at The Blues Foundation's website www.blues.org. Hall of Fame honorees will be announced in mid-February.

For the fifth consecutive year, The Blues Music Awards will be broadcast live in their entirety on Sirius XM's B.B. King's Bluesville - the next best thing to being there. They will be subsequently broadcast on public television in the fall.

The Blues Music Awards are universally recognized as the highest honor given to Blues artists. The Presenting Sponsor for the 32nd Blues Music Awards in 2011 is once again The Gibson Foundation. BMI and I-55 Productions are the Blues Music Awards Sustaining Sponsor. Major funding is provided by ArtsMemphis and the Tennessee Arts Commission. The 32nd Blues Music Awards are also sponsored by Casey Family Programs/National Foster Care Month, Eagle Rock Entertainment, FedEx, Global Electronic Technology, Legendary Rhythm & Blues Cruise, Memphis Convention and Visitors Bureau, and the Sierra Nevada Brewing Company.

The Blues Music Awards are produced by The Blues Foundation, a non-profit organization established to preserve Blues history, celebrate Blues excellence, support Blues education and ensure the future of this uniquely American art form. The Foundation consists of a worldwide network of 190 affiliated Blues societies and has individual memberships spanning the globe. In addition to the Blues Music Awards, the Foundation also produces the Blues Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony, the International Blues Challenge and the Keeping the Blues Alive Awards. It fosters education through its Blues in the Schools programming, supports the medical needs of Blues musicians with its HART Fund, and offers health insurance access through its Sound Healthcare program. Throughout the year, the Foundation staff serves the worldwide Blues community with answers, contact information and news. For more information or to join The Blues Foundation, log onto www.blues.org


2011 Blues Music Awards

Presenting Sponsor: The Gibson Foundation

NOMINEES

Acoustic Album

Eric Bibb - Booker's Guitar

Lucky Peterson - You Can Always Turn Around

Paul Oscher - Bet on the Blues

South Memphis String Band - Home Sweet Home

The Nighthawks - Last Train to Bluesville

Acoustic Artist

Doug MacLeod

Eric Bibb

Guy Davis

John Hammond

Paul Oscher

Album

Buddy Guy - Living Proof

Charlie Musselwhite - The Well

Eden Brent - Ain't Got No Troubles

Janiva Magness - The Devil is an Angel Too

The Mannish Boys - Shake for Me

B.B. King Entertainer

Buddy Guy

Janiva Magness

Joe Louis Walker

Kenny Neal

Super Chikan

Band

Derek Trucks Band

Magic Slim & the Teardrops

Nick Moss Band

Rick Estrin & the Nightcats

The Holmes Brothers

The Kilborn Alley Blues Band

The Mannish Boys

Best New Artist Debut

Chris O'Leary Band - Mr. Used to Be

Claudette King - We're Onto Something

Matt Hill - On the Floor

Peter Parcek 3 - The Mathematics of Love

The Vincent Hayes Project - Reclamation

Contemporary Blues Album

Buddy Guy - Living Proof

Janiva Magness - The Devil is an Angel Too

John Nemeth - Name the Day!

Karen Lovely - Still the Rain

Smokin' Joe Kubek & Bnois King - Have Blues Will Travel

Contemporary Blues Female Artist

Candye Kane

Janiva Magness

Karen Lovely

Robin Rogers

Shemekia Copeland

Contemporary Blues Male Artist

Buddy Guy

Joe Louis Walker

John Nemeth

Kenny Neal

Nick Moss

DVD

Black Hen / Transgrease

The Mississippi Sheiks Tribute Concert

(Various Artists)


Delmark

Live at Rooster's Place (Tail Dragger)


NorthernBlues Music

Live at Ground Zero Blues Club

(Watermelon Slim & the Workers)


Ruf

Songs from the Road (Luther Allison)


Woodward Studio

Nothing to Prove (Mac Arnold)

Historical

Black Derby

Chicago Blues Buddies

(Little Smokey Smothers & Elvin Bishop)


Delmark

Jimmy Dawkins Presents the Leric Story

(Various Artists)


Delmark

Live in Boston 1966

(Junior Wells & the Aces)


Delta Groove

Harmonica Blues (Bob Corritore & Friends)


Ruf

Songs from the Road (Luther Allison)

Instrumentalist-Bass

Bill Stuve

Bob Stroger

Larry Taylor

Patrick Rynn

Steve Gomes

Instrumentalist-Drums

Cedric Burnside

Jimi Bott

Kenny Smith

Robb Stupka

Tony Braunagel

Instrumentalist-Guitar

Derek Trucks

Duke Robillard

Joe Louis Walker

Kirk Fletcher

Ronnie Earl

Instrumentalist-Harmonica

Bob Corritore

Charlie Musselwhite

James Cotton

Kim Wilson

Paul Oscher

Instrumentalist-Horn

Big James Montgomery

Doug James

Eddie Shaw

Keith Crossan

Terry Hanck

Instrumentalist-Other

Gerry Hundt (mandolin)

Johnny Sansone (accordion)

Otis Taylor (banjo)

Rich Del Grosso (mandolin)

Sonny Rhodes (lap steel guitar)

Pinetop Perkins Piano Player

David Maxwell

Dr. John

Eden Brent

Henry Butler

Mitch Woods

Rock Blues Album

Derek Trucks - Roadsongs

Kenny Wayne Shepherd - Live In Chicago

Nick Moss - Privileged

Steve Miller Band - Bingo

Walter Trout - Common Ground

Song

Tom Hambridge/Buddy Guy

"Living Proof" (Buddy Guy - Living Proof)


Charlie Musselwhite

"Sad and Beautiful World"

(Charlie Musselwhite - The Well)


Bruce Iglauer/Wyzard/David Kearney

"Please Mr. President"

(Guitar Shorty - Bare Knuckle)


Dennis Walker/Alan Mirikitani

"Still the Rain"

(Karen Lovely - Still the Rain)


Steve Gomes

"Rained All Night"

(Tad Robinson - Back in Style)

Soul Blues Album

Arthur Adams - Stomp the Floor

Denise LaSalle - 24 Hour Woman

Eugene "Hideaway" Bridges - Live In San Antonio

Solomon Burke - Nothing's Impossible

Tad Robinson - Back in Style

The Holmes Brothers - Feed My Soul

Soul Blues Female Artist

Barbara Carr

Claudette King

Denise LaSalle

Irma Thomas

Sista Monica Parker

Soul Blues Male Artist

Bobby Rush

Curtis Salgado

Eugene "Hideaway" Bridges

Solomon Burke

Tad Robinson

Traditional Blues Album

Charlie Musselwhite - The Well

Duke Robillard - Passport to the Blues

James Cotton - Giant

Pinetop Perkins & Willie "Big Eyes" Smith - Joined at the Hip

The Mannish Boys - Shake for Me

Koko Taylor Award-Traditional Blues Female

Eden Brent

Reba Russell

Ruthie Foster

Sue Foley

Teeny Tucker

Zora Young

Traditional Blues Male Artist

Alabama Mike

Charlie Musselwhite

James Cotton

Magic Slim

Super Chikan


For more information or interview requests, please contact:
Amanda Sweet
Bucklesweet Media
347-564-3371
amanda@bucklesweetmedia.com