Blues Music Awards 2017 Winners

The Blues Foundation held its annual Blues Music Awards ceremony in Memphis, Tennessee over the weekend. The event honors those talented bluesmen-and-women that are too often ignored by mainstream awards programs (cough *Grammys*) and if you’re a blues fan and you find yourself in the Bluff City in early May, it’s well worth your time to check out the BMAs ‘cause The Blues Foundation really knows how to throw a shindig!

Blues legend Bobby Rush deservedly earned a pair of Blues Music Awards for both his new album (Porcupine Meat) and his earlier work (the archival Chicken Heads: A 50 Year History of Bobby Rush). The Tedeschi Trucks Band were also big winners this year, winning BMAs for their album Let Me Get By as well as “Band of the Year” and “Contemporary Blues Female Artist of the Year” for Susan Tedeschi. Lest we forget, dynamite bluesman Kenny Neal won both “Contemporary Blues Male Artist of the Year” and “Contemporary Blues Album of the Year” for his fantastic Bloodline disc.

Blues-rock guitar prodigy Joe Bonamassa turned 40 years old this past week (he’s been performing since he was opening for B.B. King at the age of 13), and The Blues Foundation voters recognized the prolific, hard-touring bluesman’s contributions to the genre with the coveted B.B. King Entertainer of the Year Award.

We have a partial list of BMA winners below, with links to buy the winning albums from Amazon.com. Check out the full list of Blues Music Award winners on The Blues Foundation website!

BLUES MUSIC AWARDS 2017 WINNERS

Acoustic Album of the Year
Eric Bibb - The Happiest Man in the World (Stony Plain Records)

Acoustic Artist of the Year
Doug MacLeod

Album of the Year
Bobby Rush - Porcupine Meat (Rounder Records)


B.B. King Entertainer of the Year
Joe Bonamassa

Band of the Year
The Tedeschi Trucks Band

Best Emerging Artist Album of the Year
Jonn Del Toro Richardson - Tengo Blues (VizzTone Records)

Contemporary Blues Album of the Year
Kenny Neal - Bloodline (Cleopatra Records)

Contemporary Blues Female Artist of the Year
Susan Tedeschi

Contemporary Blues Male Artist of the Year
Kenny Neal

Historical Album of the Year
Bobby Rush - Chicken Heads: A 50-Year History of Bobby Rush (Omnivore Recordings)

Rock Blues Album of the Year
The Tedeschi Trucks Band - Let Me Get By (Fantasy Records)

Soul Blues Album of the Year
Curtis Salgado - The Beautiful Lowdown (Alligator Records)

Soul Blues Female Artist of the Year
Mavis Staples

Soul Blues Male Artist of the Year
Curtis Salgado

Traditional Blues Album of the Year
Lurrie Bell - Can’t Shake This Feeling (Delmark Records)

Traditional Blues Male Artist of the Year
Bob Margolin

Click on the album links to buy the CD from Amazon.com!