I just found this great video on The Blues Foundation Channel on YouTube.
It’s Michael Burks’ performance from the 2009 Blues Music Awards in Memphis, TN.
Michael was nominated for Contemporary Blues Male, Instrumental-Guitar and Rock Blues Album of the Year in 2009. To-date he has been nominated for 8 BMAs and finished 3rd and received the Albert King Award for most promising guitar player in the 11th International Blues Challenge.
The 31st “Blues Music Awards” winners from last night:
1. Acoustic Album – You Got to Move David Maxwell & Louisiana Red
2. Acoustic Artist – Louisiana Red
3. Album of the Year – Between a Rock and the Blues, Joe Louis Walker
4. B.B. King Entertainer – Tommy Castro
5. Band of the Year – Tommy Castro Band
6. Best New Artist Debut – Tiger in Your Tank, Monkey Junk
7. Contemporary Blues Album – Hard Believer, Tommy Castro
8. Contemporary Blues Female Artist – Ruthie Foster
9. Contemporary Blues Male Artist – Tommy Castro
10. DVD – Delmark Records -It Ain’t Over! 55 Years of Blues, Live at Buddy Guy’s Legends
11. Historical Album – Chess – Authorized Bootleg -Muddy Waters Live
12. Bass – Bob Stroger
13. Drums – Cedric Burnside
14. Guitar – Derek Trucks
15. Harmonica – Jason Ricci
16. Horn – Deanna Bogart
17. Instrumentalist-Other – Buckwheat Zydeco (accordion)
18. Pinetop Perkins Piano Player – Eden Brent
19. Rock Blues Album – Already Free Derek Trucks Band
20. Song of the Year – “Pearl River” Cyril Neville & Mike Zito
21. Soul Blues Album – Ace of Spades – Johnny Rawls
22. Soul Blues Female Artist – Irma Thomas
23. Soul Blues Male Artist of the Year – Curtis Salgado
24. Traditional Blues Album – Chikadelic Super Chikan
25. Traditional Blues Female Artist – Debbie Davies
26. Traditional Blues Male Artist – Duke Robillard
Also, Buddy Guy received the “Lifetime Achievement Award”!
The Blues Foundation is Memphis-based, but world-renown as THE organization dedicated to preserving blues music history, celebrating recording and performance excellence, supporting blues education and ensuring the future of this American musical art form.
Founded in 1980, The Blues Foundation has over 3500 individual members and over 185 affiliated local blues societies representing an estimated 50,000 fans, musicians and other professionals around the world.
Its signature honors and events–the Blues Music Awards, Blues Hall of Fame, International Blues Challenge and Keeping the Blues Alive Awards–make it the international center of blues music.
The Blues Foundation’s 31st annual Blues Music Awards will be held Thursday, May 6th, 2010 at the Cook Convention Center in Memphis, TN.
The annual event is often a marathon, typically running 7+ hours including performances by the various nominees.
Here are some of the Blues Music Award nominations for 2010:
Best Instrumentalist – Guitar
Derek Trucks
Duke Robillard
Joe Louis Walker
Lurrie Bell
Ronnie Earl
Best New Artist Debut
Greg Nagy – Walk That Fine Thin Line (Big O Records)
Joanne Shaw Taylor – White Sugar (Ruf Records)
Marquise Knox – Man Child (APO Records)
Monkey Junk – Tiger in Your Tank (Beefy)
The California Honeydrops – Soul Tub! (Tub-Tone Records)
Contemporary Blues Album of the Year
Candye Kane – Superhero (Delta Groove)
Joe Louis Walker – Between a Rock and the Blues (Stony Plain Records)
Rick Estrin and the Nightcats – Twisted (Alligator Records)
Ronnie Earl and the Broadcasters – Living in the Light (Stony Plain Records)
Tommy Castro – Hard Believer (Alligator Records)
Historical Album of the Year
Freddie King – Taking Care of Business 1956-1973 (Bear Family Records)
Muddy Waters – Authorized Bootleg: Live at the Fillmore Auditorium (Geffen Records)
Gary Moore – Essential Montreux (Eagle Records)
Little Walter – The Complete Chess Masters 1950-1967 (Hip-O Select)
Sean Costello – Sean’s Blues (Landslide Records)
You can find the complete list of nominees and read more at THE BLUES FOUNDATION.
