Last month, we told you about this year’s nominees for the British Blues Awards, for which you can still cast a ballot through the end of this month. Here are a few nominees in a couple of other major blues awards currently open for voting, but hurry, your chance to vote in the Living Blues Reader Awards ends this week!
Living Blues Reader Awards; voting closes July 15
Blues Artist of the Year (Male)
Eddie C. Campbell
Willie Clayton
Buddy Guy
John Primer
Lil’ Ed Williams
Blues Artist of the Year (Female)
Shirley Brown
Shemekia Copeland
Ruthie Foster
Shirley Johnson
Irma Thomas
Most Outstanding Blues Singer
Shirley Brown
Shemekia Copeland
Bobby Jones
Bettye LaVette
John Nemeth
Best Live Performer
Shemekia Copeland
Lil’ Ed and the Blues Imperials
Buddy Guy
Bobby Rush
Joe Louis Walker
Best Blues Album of 2009 (New Recordings)
Arthur Adams – Stomp The Floor – Delta Groove
Eddie C. Campbell – Tear This World Up – Delmark
Tommy Castro – Hard Believer – Alligator
Shemekia Copeland – Never Going Back – Telarc
Robert Cray – This Time – Nozzle
Bobby Jones – Comin’ Back Hard – Delta Groove
Cyril Neville – Brand New Blues – M.C. Records
John Primer – All Original – Blues House
Johnny Rawls – Ace of Spades – Catfood Records
Joe Louis Walker – Between A Rock And The Blues – Stony Plain Records
Best Blues Album of 2009 (Historical Recordings)
Buddy Guy – The Definitive Buddy Guy – Shout! Factory
John Lee Hooker – 50 Years: The John Lee Hooker Anthology – Shout! Factory
Roy Lee Johnson – When A Guitar Plays The Blues – Bear Family
Various Artists – Take Me To The Water – Dust To Digital
Little Walter – The Complete Chess Masters – Hip-O Select
Shemekia Copeland and Buddy Guy lead the field of nominees within this group, with four nominations apiece. Both are nominated for Blues Artist of the Year and Best Live Performer, while Copeland also finds herself among the contenders for Most Outstanding Blues Singer and Album of the Year (Never Going Back) among new recordings. Buddy of course is a nominee in the Outstanding Guitar category, as well as in the historical recording group for his The Definitive Buddy Guy. Shirley Brown, Joe Louis Walker, John Primer, Robert Cray, Bobby Jones and Lil’ Ed also all received multiple nominations.
Blues Blast Music Awards; voting ends August 31
Best Male Blues Artist
Bobby Rush
Joe Bonamassa
John Németh
Magic Slim
Nick Moss
Tommy Castro
Best Female Blues Artist
Candye Kane
Fiona Boyes
Janiva Magness
Ruthie Foster
Shemekia Copeland
Zora Young
Best Blues Band
Magic Slim & The Teardrops
Nick Moss & The Flip Tops
Rick Estrin & The Night Cats
The Holmes Brothers
The Mannish Boys
Tommy Castro Band
Best Blues Song
Jackie Scott & The Housewreckers – How Much Woman Can You Stand?
Joe Louis Walker – I’m Tide
Mike Zito & Cyril Neville – Pearl River
Pete Anderson – Still In Love
Quintus McCormick – Hey Jodie!
The Kilborn Alley Blues Band- Better Off Now
Best Contemporary Blues CD
Joe Louis Walker – Between A Rock And the Blues
Mike Zito – Pearl River
Nick Moss – Privileged
Sean Costello – Sean’s Blues
The Holmes Brothers – Feed My Soul
Tommy Castro – Hard Believer
Best Traditional Blues CD
Dave Riley & Bob Corritore – Lucky To Be Living
David Maxwell & Louisiana Red – You Got To Move
Eddie C. Campbell – Tear This World Up
Fiona Boyes – Blues Woman
The Kilborn Alley Blues Band – Better Off Now
Mississippi Heat – Let’s Live It Up
Although quite a different list from the Living Blues ballot in both categories and nominees (only a handful of artists are nominated in the same categories of both awards: Joe Louis Walker, Tommy Castro and Eddie C. Campbell all for Album of the Year, and Ruthie Foster and Shemekia Copeland for Female Artist), one of the nice things about the Blues Blast ballot is that they provide a link to samples of the nominees’ music to allow voters to give them a listen before casting their votes.
Nick Moss, Tommy Castro and Jackie Scott & the Housewreckers are tied for most nominations with three each, with Moss and Castro sharing nominations for the Best Male Blues Artist, Best Blues Band and Best Contemporary Blues CD categories, and Jackie Scott & co. receiving nods for Best Blues Song, Best New Blues Artist Debut Record for their How Much Woman Can You Stand? and the Sean Costello Rising Star Award. Other artists receiving multiple Blues Blast nominations were the Holmes Brothers, Magic Slim, Fiona Boyes, Joe Louis Walker, Mike Zito, Quintus McCormick and Marquise Knox.
Okay, it may not exactly be voting for change, but do your part to support the blues by voting for your favorite artists today (or while voting is still open)!