Blues Music Awards 2011

The Blues Foundation, based in Memphis, has announced the winners for the organization's 32nd annual Blues Music Awards after holding an awards ceremony on Thursday, May 5th, 2011 at the Cook Convention Center in Memphis. This year's event was a real houserockin' blow-out, running better than seven hours and featuring performances by dozens of deserving nominees. Like last year, the awards ceremony was broadcast live on XM Sirius satellite radio, on B.B. King's Bluesville channel.

There were few real surprises among this year's group of Blues Music Award nominees. There were a number of landmark albums in the blues released during 2010, among them Charlie Musselwhite's excellent The Well, Janiva Magness's The Devil Is An Angel Too, Eden Brent's Ain't Got No Troubles, and Buddy Guy's Living Proof, among others, and the aforementioned artists received multiple nominations apiece. Several artists, including Robin Rogers, John Nemeth, Tad Robinson, and Shemekia Copeland, all received one or more well-deserved nominations, and overall this year's crop of talent is pretty dang impressive. Winners are listed in bold type.

Blues Music Award nominees and winnters for 2011:

Acoustic Album of the Year
The Nighthawks - Last Train to Bluesville
Paul Oscher - Bet On The Blues
Eric Bibb - Booker's Guitar
South Memphis String Band - Home Sweet Home
Lucky Peterson - You Can Always Turn Around

Acoustic Artist of the Year
John Hammond
Doug MacLeod
Eric Bibb
Guy Davis
Paul Oscher


Album of the Year
Buddy Guy - Living Proof
Eden Brent - Ain't Got No Troubles
The Mannish Boys - Shake for Me
Janiva Magness - The Devil is an Angel Too
Charlie Musselwhite - The Well

B.B King Entertainer of the Year
Buddy Guy
Janiva Magness
Joe Louis Walker
Kenny Neal
Super Chikan

Band of the Year
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
Matt Hill - On the Floor
Chris O'Leary Band - Mr. Used to Be
Claudette King - We're Onto Something
Peter Parcek 3 - The Mathematics of Love
The Vincent Hayes Project - Reclamation

Contemporary Blues Album of the Year
Buddy Guy - Living Proof
Smokin' Joe Kubek & Bnois King - Have Blues Will Travel
John Nemeth - Name The Day!
Karen Lovely - Still The Rain
Janiva Magness - The Devil Is An Angel Too

Contemporary Blues - Female Artist of the Year
Robin Rogers
Candye Kane
Janiva Magness
Karen Lovely
Shemekia Copeland

Contemporary Blues - Male Artist of the Year
Buddy Guy
Joe Louis Walker
John Nemeth
Kenny Neal
Nick Moss

DVD of the Year
Luther Allison - Songs From The Road
Various Artists - The Mississippi Sheiks Tribute Concert
Tail Dragger - Live at Rooster's Place
Watermelon Slim & the Workers - Live at Ground Zero Blues Club
Mac Arnold - Nothing to Prove

Historical Album of the Year
Bob Corritore & Friends - Harmonica Blues
Little Smokey Smothers & Elvin Bishop - Chicago Blues Buddies
Various Artists - Jimmy Dawkins Presents the Leric Story
Junior Wells & the Aces - Live in Boston 1966
Luther Allison - Songs From The Road

Best Instrumentalist - Bass
Bob Stroger
Bill Stuve
Larry Taylor
Patrick Rynn
Steve Gomes

Best Instrumentalist - Drums
Cedric Burnside
Jimi Bott
Kenny "Beedy Eyes" Smith
Robb Stupka
Tony Braunagel

Best Instrumentalist - Guitar
Derek Trucks
Duke Robillard
Joe Louis Walker
Kirk Fletcher
Ronnie Earl

Best Instrumentalist - Harmonica
Charlie Musselwhite
Bob Corritore
James Cotton
Kim Wilson
Paul Oscher

Best Instrumentalist - Horn
Eddie Shaw
Big James Montgomery
Doug James
Keith Crossan
Terry Hanck

Best Instrumentalist - Other
Sonny Rhodes - lap steel guitar
Gerry Hundt - mandolin
Johnny Sansone - accordion
Otis Taylor - banjo
Rich Del Grosso - mandolin

Pinetop Perkins Piano Player
Dr. John
David Maxwell
Eden Brent
Henry Butler
Mitch Woods

Rock Blues Album of the Year
Kenny Wayne Shepherd Band – Live! In Chicago
Steve Miller Band - Bingo
Walter Trout - Common Ground
Nick Moss - Privileged
Derek Trucks - Roadsongs

Song of the Year
Tom Hambridge & Buddy Guy - "Living Proof" (Buddy Guy - Living Proof)
Bruce Iglauer, Wyzard & David Kearney – "Please Mr. President" (Guitar Shorty - Bare Knuckle)
Steve Gomes - "Rained All Night" (Tad Robinson - Back In Style)
Charlie Musselwhite - "Sad and Beautiful World" (Charlie Musselwhite - The Well)
Dennis Walker & Alan Mirikitani - "Still the Rain" (Karen Lovely - Still The Rain)

Soul Blues Album of the Year
Solomon Burke - Nothing's Impossible
Denise LaSalle - 24 Hour Woman
Tad Robinson - Back in Style
The Holmes Brothers - Feed My Soul
Eugene "Hideaway" Bridges - Live In San Antonio
Arthur Adams - Stomp the Floor

Soul Blues - Female Artist of the Year
Irma Thomas
Barbara Carr
Claudette King
Denise LaSalle
Sista Monica Parker

Soul Blues - Male Artist of the Year
Solomon Burke
Bobby Rush
Curtis Salgado
Eugene 'Hideaway' Bridges
Tad Robinson

Traditional Blues Album of the Year
Pinetop Perkins & Willie "Big Eyes" Smith - Joined At The Hip
James Cotton - Giant
Duke Robillard - Passport To The Blues
The Mannish Boys - Shake For Me
Charlie Musselwhite - The Well

Traditional Blues - Male Artist of the Year
Charlie Musselwhite
Alabama Mike
James Cotton
Magic Slim
Super Chikan

Koko Taylor Award (Traditional Blues – Female Artist of the Year)
Ruthie Foster
Eden Brent
Reba Russell
Sue Foley
Teeny Tucker
Zora Young