2018 Blues Music Award Winners

Keb' Mo', photo by Joseph A. Rosen, courtesy The Blues Foundation

The Blues Foundation held its 39th annual Blues Music Awards celebration on Friday, May 11th, 2018 in Memphis, Tennessee with the event hosted by the legendary ‘Little Steven’ Van Zandt. Legendary bluesmen Taj Mahal and Keb’ Mo’ were the night’s big winners, the duo’s critically-acclaimed musical collaboration, TajMo, winning both “Album of the Year” and “Contemporary Blues Album of the Year” awards. Additionally, Blues Hall of Fame 2009 inductee Taj Mahal walked off with the “Acoustic Artist of the Year” and the coveted “B.B. King Entertainer of the Year” awards while Keb’ Mo’ was named the “Contemporary Blues Male Artist of the Year.”

Taj Mahal and Keb’ Mo’ weren’t the only big winners on Friday night. Esteemed blues outfit Rick Estrin & the Nightcats celebrated ten years in the trenches by earning the “Band of the Year” honor while Estrin was named “Traditional Blues Male Artist of the Year” and his song “The Blues Ain’t Going Nowhere” was named “Song of the Year.” Dynamic young blues woman Samantha Fish was named “Contemporary Blues Female Artist of the Year,” her second BMA (she won “Best New Artist Debut” in 2012 for her album Runaway) of many I’m sure she’ll win in the years to come. The Blues Foundation added two new categories this year – Mike Zito won the new “Blues Rock Artist of the Year” award while Beth Hart earned the new BMA for “Instrumentalist of the Year, Vocals.”

Along with hosting the event, Little Steven was also among the presenters for the evening, joined by such talents as Janiva Magness, Ruthie Foster, Tony Joe White, Joe Louis Walker, and David Porter. Several of the BMA nominees also performed during the show, including Walter Trout, the North Mississippi Allstars, Keb’ Mo’, Guy Davis, Trudy Lynn, and Rick Estrin & the Nightcats, among others. For those naysayers claiming that the “blues is dead,” half the performances at this year’s event were by artists under the age of 45 years old, with many still in their 20s and 30s.

Of this young blood injecting new life and electricity into the genre, Blues Foundation President and CEO Barbara Newman states “we are watching the trends closely, and the blues, as a genre, is definitely on an uptick, with younger musicians being drawn to create and play this style of music and a continually growing following of the music on our social media outlets and beyond.”

Little Steven set the tone for the evening and beyond with his introductory speech, stating “at a time our country is more segregated than at any time in the past 100 years, music holds us together and touches all our souls.” You’ll find the complete list of 2018 Blues Music Award winners below.

Acoustic Album of the Year:
Doug MacLeod’s Break the Chain

Acoustic Artist of the Year:
Taj Mahal

Album of the Year:
Taj Mahal & Keb’ Mo’s TajMo

B.B. King Entertainer of the Year:
Taj Mahal

Band of the Year:
Rick Estrin & the Nightcats

Best Emerging Artist Album of the Year:
Southern Avenue’s Southern Avenue

Contemporary Blues Album of the Year:
Taj Mahal & Keb Mo’s TajMo

Contemporary Blues Female Artist of the Year:
Samantha Fish

Contemporary Blues Male Artist of the Year:
Keb’ Mo’

Song of the Year:
Rick Estrin’s “The Blues Ain’t Going Nowhere”

Historical Album of the Year:
Luther Allison’s A Legend Never Dies, Essential Recordings 1976-1997 (Ruf Recordings)

Rock Blues Album of the Year:
Walter Trout’s We’re All In This Together

Rock Blues Artist of the Year:
Mike Zito

Soul Blues Album of the Year:
Robert Cray & Hi Rhythm’s Robert Cray & Hi Rhythm

Soul Blues Female Artist of the Year:
Mavis Staples

Soul Blues Male Artist of the Year:
Curtis Salgado

Traditional Blues Album of the Year:
Mike Welch & Mike Ledbetter’s Right Place, Right Time

Traditional Blues Male Artist of the Year:
Rick Estrin

Koko Taylor Award (Tradition Blues Female Artist of the Year):
Ruthie Foster

Instrumentalist of the Year Awards:
Beth Hart, vocalist
Ronnie Earl, guitarist
Michael “Mudcat” Ward, bassist
Tony Braunagel, drums
Jason Ricci, harmonica
Trombone Shorty, horn

Pinetop Perkins Piano Player of the Year:
Victor Wainwright

Also on That Devil Music.com: 2017 Blues Music Award Winners

Links in album titles to Amazon.com...buy, Buy, BUY!!!

Thomas Ruf, Walter Trout & Mike Zito, photo by Jeff Fasano, courtesy The Blues Foundation

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!