30th Blues Music Awards Nominees and Event Announced

December 16, 2008

MANNISH BOYS TOP NOMINATIONS WITH SIX; OTHERS NOMINATED INCLUDE BUDDY GUY, B.B. KING, ELVIN BISHOP, MAGIC SLIM

For a complete list of the 30th Blues Music Awards Nominees, see below.

WHAT: The Blues Music Awards
WHEN: Thursday, May 7, 2009
WHERE: Cook Convention Center, 255 N. Main, Memphis, TN
TICKETS: $125, available December 16, 2008 via http://www.blues.org or 901.527.2583 x10. (Tables of 10 are $1200.)

The Blues Foundation has confirmed the thirtieth annual Blues Music Awards, a seven-plus hour throw-down featuring dozens of incredible musicians and honoring the best of the blues world. Blues Foundation members will be able to vote starting today, through March 1, with the results determining the winners.

West coast-based group The Mannish Boys lead the pack this year with six nominations, including band, traditional album and album of the year in addition to individual nominations for band members Richard Innes (drums), Kid Ramos (guitar), and Larry Taylor (bass). Tied with four nominations each are slide guitar legend Elvin Bishop, pianist Eden Brent, songstress Janiva Magness, soul man Curtis Salgado, and former truck driver Watermelon Slim. Buddy Guy is nominated for three awards and B.B. King for two.

The Mississippi-based Homemade Jamz Blues Band are the youngest nominees at 9, 14, and 16 years of age. Sadly, Sean Costello received two posthumous nominations while Jeff Healey received one. Chicago elder statesman and torch bearer Magic Slim earned three nods. Lurrie Bell earned two nominations for an album he made while grieving the loss of his wife and his father, harp man Carrie Bell.

The Blues Foundation has added a Rock Blues category for the first time in 2009, with nominations going to Gary Moore, Jeff Healey, Michael Burks, Smokin' Joe Kubek & Bnois King, Sonny Landreth, and Walter Trout.

Performers have not yet been confirmed for the 2009 show but all nominees are invited to take the stage, showing a broad range of blues styles from solo resonator fingerpicking to soul-blues shouters. For the blues fan, it's the only way to see a lineup like this and it annually threatens to rage well into the night.

The awards ceremony and concert will be broadcast live by Sirius XM Satellite Radio's B.B. King's Bluesville channel. The Blues Music Awards will be shot in HD for a DVD to be released in by October, 2009.

The Blues Foundation has 3,000 individual dues-paying members around the world and 160 affiliated grassroots, member-based local blues societies in a dozen countries.

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. 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 and supports the medical needs of Blues musicians with its HART Fund.

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

2009 - 30th Blues Music Awards Nominees

Acoustic Album of the Year
Eden Brent - Mississippi Number One
Rory Block - Blues Walkin' Like a Man
Paul Rishell & Annie Raines - A Night in Woodstock
Hans Theessink & Terry Evans - Visions
Fiona Boyes, Mookie Brill & Rich Del Grosso - Live from Bluesville


Acoustic Artist of the Year
Doug MacLeod
Rory Block
Otis Taylor
Paul Rishell & Annie Raines
Eden Brent


Album of the Year
The Mannish Boys - Lowdown Feelin'
Curtis Salgado - Clean Getaway
Buddy Guy - Skin Deep
Janiva Magness - What Love Will Do
Elvin Bishop - The Blues Rolls On


B.B. King Entertainer of the Year
Janiva Magness
Watermelon Slim
Bobby Rush
Lil' Ed
Magic Slim


Band of the Year
Magic Slim & the Teardrops
Nick Moss & the Flip Tops
The Mannish Boys
Watermelon Slim & the Workers
Lil' Ed & the Blues Imperials


Best New Artist Debut
Chris James and Patrick Rynn - Stop and Think About It
Delta Highway - The Devil Had a Woman
Cedric Burnside & Lightnin' Malcolm - 2 Man Wrecking Crew
The Homemade Jamz Blues Band- Pay Me No Mind
Eden Brent - Mississippi Number One


Contemporary Blues Album of the Year
Elvin Bishop - The Blues Rolls On
Watermelon Slim & the Workers - No Paid Holidays
Janiva Magness - What Love Will Do
Sean Costello - We Can Get Together
Buddy Guy - Skin Deep


Contemporary Blues Female Artist of the Year
Gaye Adegbalola
Marcia Ball
Robin Rogers
Bettye LaVette
Janiva Magness


Contemporary Blues Male Artist of the Year
Michael Burks
Elvin Bishop
Sean Costello
Watermelon Slim
Buddy Guy


DVD
Broke & Hungry Records, Cathead Blues & Mudpuppy Recordings - M For Mississippi: A Road Trip Through The Birthplace of the Blues
Eagle Eye Media - Albert Collins Live at Montreaux 1992
Eagle Eye Media - Carlos Santana Plays Blues At Montreux 2004
Stony Plain Records - Ronnie Earl & Broadcasters - Hope Radio Sessions
Delmark Records - Little Arthur Duncan Live at Rosa's Blues Lounge


Historical Album of the Year
Eagle Records - Albert Collins Live At Montreaux 1992
Jamie Records - Barbara Lynn: The Jamie Singles 1962-1965
Delmark Records - On Highway 80 (Sleepy John Estes)
Ruf Records - Rich Man's War: New Blues & Roots Songs of Peace and Protest (Various Artists)
TopCat Records - Hollywood Fats & The Paladins Live 1985


Instrumentalist-Bass
Bob Stroger
Mookie Brill
Larry Taylor
Bill Stuve
Jeff Turmes


Instrumentalist-Drums
Cedric Burnside
Richard Innes
Jimi Bott
Tony Braunagel
Kenny Smith
Willie 'Big Eyes' Smith


Instrumentalist-Guitar
Sonny Landreth
Lurrie Bell
Michael Burks
Kid Ramos
Ronnie Earl


Instrumentalist-Harmonica
Steve Guyger
Billy Gibson
Mark Hummel
Jason Ricci
Rick Estrin
Willie 'Big Eyes' Smith


Instrumentalist-Horn
Deanna Bogart
Kaz Kazanoff
Terry Hanck
Keith Crossan
Doug James


Instrumentalist-Other
Johnny Sansone - Accordion
Bob Brozman - Mandolin, Ukulele
Otis Taylor - Banjo
Rich Del Grosso - Mandolin
Gerry Hundt - Mandolin


Pinetop Perkins Piano Player
Henry Butler
David Maxwell
Eden Brent
Bruce Katz
Marcia Ball


Rock Blues Album of the Year
Jeff Healey - Mess of Blues
Sonny Landreth - from the REACH
Michael Burks - Iron Man
Gary Moore - Bad for You Baby
Smokin' Joe Kubek & Bnois King - Blood Brothers
Walter Trout - The Outsider


Song of the Year
Dave Duncan & Curtis Salgado - 20 Years of B. B. King (Curtis Salgado)
Kenny Neal - Let Life Flow (Kenny Neal)
Elvin Bishop - The Blues Rolls On (Elvin Bishop)
Albert Castiglia - Bad Year Blues (Albert Castiglia)
Sonny Landreth - Blue Tarp Blues (Sonny Landreth)


Soul Blues Album of the Year
Irma Thomas - Simply Grand
Curtis Salgado - Clean Getaway
Jackie Payne Steve Edmondson Band- Overnight Sensation
Clarence Spady - Just Between Us
Johnny Rawls - Red Cadillac


Soul Blues Female Artist of the Year
Sharrie Williams
Irma Thomas
Jean Shy
Etta James
Denise LaSalle


Soul Blues Male Artist of the Year
Tad Robinson
Bobby Rush
Jackie Payne
Johnny Rawls
Curtis Salgado


Traditional Blues Album of the Year
Lil' Ed & the Blues Imperials - Full Tilt
B.B. King - One Kind Favor
Honeyboy Edwards - Roamin' and Ramblin'
Eddy 'The Chief' Clearwater - West Side Strut
The Mannish Boys - Lowdown Feelin'


Traditional Blues Female Artist of the Year
Koko Taylor
Maria Muldaur
Nora Jean Bruso
Diunna Greenleaf
Ruthie Foster


Traditional Blues Male Artist of the Year
B.B. King
Lurrie Bell
Magic Slim
Eddy 'The Chief' Clearwater
Honeyboy Edwards