This years Blues Music Awards by the Blues Foundation in Memphis was proof of the high quality of Music in the genre that we’ve been fortunate to see on Bonn stages in recent years.
Award winners Derek Trucks, Susan Tedeschi, Joe Bonamassa and Samantha Fish have all played at the Harmonie or the sadly now defunct Museumsplatz in the last eighteen months.
Amongst the biggest winners at the 33rd Blues Music Awards in Memphis were Susan Tedeschi and husband Derek Trucks who combined for five awards. The Tedeschi Trucks Band took both Band and Album of the Year Awards, while Tedeschi was top Contemporary Female Artist and Trucks the Gibson Guitarist of the Year winner. Joe Bonamassa is no stranger to awards and his ‘Dustbowl’ was a deserved if not surprise Best Rock/Blues Album.
Well known in Bonn for her appearances with the RUF Blues Caravan Tours in recent years, Samantha Fish took home the award for Best New Artist with her album ‘Runaway’. Another winner on the night is actually Bonn bound later in the year – Eric Bibb who was voted Best Acoustic Artist will be at the Harmonie in Endenich on 11 November with the highly rated West African musician Habib Koité .
The Award Winners:
Acoustic Album: Conversations in Blue – David Maxwell & Otis Spann
Acoustic Artist: Eric Bibb
Album: Revelator – Tedeschi Trucks Band
B.B. King Entertainer: Tab Benoit
Band: Tedeschi Trucks Band
Best New Artist Debut: Runaway – Samantha Fish
Contemporary Blues Album: Medicine – Tab Benoit
Contemporary Blues Female Artist: Susan Tedeschi
Contemporary Blues Male Artist: Tab Benoit
DVD: Live at Antone’s – Ruthie Foster (Blue Corn)
Gibson Guitar Award: Derek Trucks
Historical Album: Chess Records – Smokestack Lightning/The Complete Chess Masters 1951-1960 (Howlin’ Wolf)
Instrumentalist-Bass: Biscuit Miller
Instrumentalist-Drums: Chris Layton
Instrumentalist-Harmonica:
Instrumentalist-Horn: Terry Hanck
Instrumentalist-Other: Sonny Rhodes, lap steel guitar
Koko Taylor Award (Traditional Blues Female): Ruthie Foster
Pinetop Perkins Piano Player: Marcia Ball
Rock Blues Album: Dust Bowl – Joe Bonamassa
Song: “The Lord is Waiting, the Devil is Too” – Johnny Sansone
Soul Blues Album: Show You a Good Time Bobby Rush
Soul Blues Female Artist: Denise LaSalle
Soul Blues Male Artist: Curtis Salgado
Traditional Blues Album: Chicago Blues A Living History the (R)evolution Continues – Billy Boy Arnold, John Primer, Billy Branch, Lurrie Bell, Carlos Johnson
Traditional Blues Male Artist: Charlie Musselwhite