With issue #197, now on the newsstand, Living Blues magazine has announced the winners of its 15th annual Living Blues Awards. The publication offers readers the results of two different votes, the first being its critics' poll and the second being a poll of the magazine's readers. Here's the list of this year's winners:
Blues Artist of the Year (Male)
Lurrie Bell
Blues Artist of the Year (Female)
Koko Taylor
Best Live Performer
Bobby Rush
Artist Deserving More Attention
Catherine Russell
Most Outstanding Blues Singer - Comeback Artist of the Year
Nappy Brown
Most Outstanding Musician (Guitar)
Lurrie Bell
Most Outstanding Musician (Keyboards)
Pinetop Perkins
Most Outstanding Musician (Harmonica)
James Cotton
Most Outstanding Musician (Bass)
Bob Stoger
Most Outstanding Musician (Drums)
Tie: Willie "Big Eyes" Smith & Kenny Smith
Most Outstanding Musician (Horns)
Big James Montgomery
Most Outstanding Musician (Other)
Aubrey Ghent - lap steel
Album of the Year
Nappy Brown - Long Time Coming (Blind Pig Records)
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Best New Recording - Southern Soul
Denise LaSalle - Pay Before You Pump (Ecko Records)
Best New Recording - Best Debut
Albert White - Soul of the Blues (Music Maker)
Best New Recording - Contemporary Blues
Phillip Walker - Going Back Home (Delta Groove)
Best New Recording - Traditional & Acoustic
Bobby Rush - Raw (Deep Rush Records)
Best Historical Reissue - Prewar
Various Artists - Desperate Man Blues soundtrack (Dust To Digital)
Best Historical Reissue - Post-War
Robert Lockwood, Jr. - Steady Rolling Man (Delmark Records)
DVD of the Year
Various Artists - The American Folk-Blues Festival: The British Tours 1963-'66 (Hip-O)
Producer of the Year - New Recording
Randy Chortkoff - Delta Groove Productions
Producer of the Year - Historical/Reissue
Lance Ledbetter - Dust To Digital
Lurrie Bell, Koko Taylor and Bobby Rush also fared well in Living Blues' annual Readers' Poll. Bell walked off with the "Blues Artist of the Year (Male)" awards, while Taylor pulled down the "Blues Artist of the Year (Female)" award.
Blues fans love watching Bobby Rush perform, as evidenced by his sweep of "Best Live Performer" in both the Critics' and Readers' Polls. R&B great Solomon Burke took the award for "Most Outstanding Blues Singer."
Living Blues readers paid their respects to several talented blues musicians as well, naming B.B. King (guitar), Marcia Ball (keyboards) and Charlie Musselwhite (harmonica) as the "Most Outstanding Musician" in their individual categories.
Koko Taylor's Old School was chosen as the "Best Blues Album of 2007 (New Release)" while Andrew Brown's Big Brown's Blues took "Best Blues Album of 2007 (Historical Recording)" honors. Otis Redding's Dreams To Remember: The Legacy of Otis Redding was named "Best Blues DVD of 2007."
There are other reasons to pick up this issue of Living Blues as well. Issue #197 includes what might be the last interview with Chicago blues great Little Arthur Duncan before his recent passing. A cover story on the Carolina Chocolate Drops is informative and entertaining, while a 1979 interview with Chicago blues pianist Blind John Davis provides a great retrospective of a long-lost era of the blues.
Finally, an article called "Presidential Blues" offers comments on this year's race from bluesmen like Billy Branch, Honeyboy Edwards, Bobby Rush, and Willie King, among others. Of course, the issue also features a slew of album reviews and other blues music news.
Pick up Living Blues on your local newsstand, or check out the publication's website to find details about subscribing or back issues.
