Blues Music Awards 2021

42nd Blues Music Awards nominees

The nominees for the 42nd Blues Music Awards were announced recently and include many Proper distributed artists. These include Shemekia Copeland, who is nominated in five categories including BB King Entertainer of the Year and Album of The Year, Rick Estrin, Sugaray Rayford, Southern Avenue, Rory Block, Savoy Brown, Tinsley Ellis, Kat Riggins, Dom Flemons, Keb’ Mo’, Samantha Fish, Selwyn Birchwood, Chris Cain, Christone “Kingfish” Ingram and many more. Congratulations to all of this year’s nominees which you can find below.

About the Blues Music Awards
This event brings together Blues performers, industry representatives, and fans from all over the world to celebrate the best in Blues recordings and performances from the previous year. The BMAs are generally recognized as the highest honor given to blues musicians and are awarded by vote of Blues Foundation members.

BB King Entertainer of the Year

  • Shemekia Copeland
  • Rick Estrin
  • John Németh
  • Sugaray Rayford
  • Lil’ Ed Williams

Album of the Year

  • 100 Years of Blues, Elvin Bishop and Charlie Musselwhite
  • Rawer Than Raw, Bobby Rush
  • Rise Up, Ronnie Earl & The Broadcaster
  • Too Far From the Bar, Sugar Ray & The Bluetones featuring Little Charlie
  • Uncivil War, Shemekia Copeland

Band of the Year

  • Anthony Geraci & The Boston Blues Allstars
  • John Németh & The Blue Dreamers
  • Rick Estrin & The Nightcats
  • Southern Avenue
  • Sugar Ray & The Bluetones

Song of the Year

  • “All My Dues Are Paid” – written by Kathy Murray, Rick Estrin, Frank Bey, Kid Andersen (performed by Frank Bey)
  • “All Out of Tears” – written by Walter Trout (performed by Walter Trout)
  • “Blues Comin’ On” – written by Dion DiMucci and Mike Aquilina (performed by Dion Feat. Joe Bonamassa)
  • “Is It Over” – written by Don Bryant and Scott Bomar (performed by Don Bryant)
  • “Uncivil War” – written by John Hahn and Will Kimbrough (performed by Shemekia Copeland)

Best Emerging Artist Album

  • Hard Workin’ Man, Andrew Alli
  • Harlem, King Solomon Hicks
  • Here I Come, Jose Ramirez
  • High Risk Low Reward, Ryan Perry
  • Peace In Pieces, Betty Fox Band

Acoustic Blues Album

  • Dustin Arbuckle & Matt Woods, Dustin Arbuckle & Matt Woods
  • Prove It On Me, Rory Block
  • Rawer Than Raw, Bobby Rush
  • Three Pints of Gin, Richard Ray Farrell
  • Traveling Man – Live, Watermelon Slim

Blues Rock Album

  • Ain’t Done Yet, Savoy Brown
  • Ice Cream In Hell, Tinsley Ellis
  • Mike Zito and Friends – Rock ‘n’ Roll: A Tribute to Chuck Berry, Mike Zito
  • Mississippi Suitcase, Peter Parcek
  • Ordinary Madness, Walter Trout

Contemporary Blues Album

  • Cry Out, Kat Riggins
  • My Blues Pathway, Kirk Fletcher
  • Self-Made Man, Larkin Poe
  • Stronger Than Strong, John Németh
  • Uncivil War, Shemekia Copeland

Soul Blues Album

  • All My Dues Are Paid, Frank Bey
  • Found! One Soul Singer, Sonny Green
  • That’s What I Heard, Robert Cray Band
  • Where Have All The Soul Men Gone, Johnny Rawls
  • You Make Me Feel, Don Bryant

Traditional Blues Album

  • 100 Years of Blues, Elvin Bishop and Charlie Musselwhite
  • Blueswoman, Nora Jean Wallace
  • Every Day of Your Life, Jimmy Johnson
  • Rise Up, Ronnie Earl & The Broadcasters
  • Too Far From the Bar, Sugar Ray & The Bluetones featuring Little Charlie

Acoustic Blues Artist

  • Dom Flemons
  • Catfish Keith
  • Harrison Kennedy
  • Doug MacLeod
  • Keb’ Mo’

Blues Rock Artist

  • Tinsley Ellis
  • Reverend Peyton
  • Ana Popovic
  • Kenny Wayne Shepherd
  • Mike Zito

Contemporary Blues Female Artist

  • Shemekia Copeland
  • Samantha Fish
  • Sue Foley
  • Ruthie Foster
  • Shaun Murphy

Contemporary Blues Male Artist

  • Selwyn Birchwood
  • Chris Cain
  • Rick Estrin
  • Christone “Kingfish” Ingram
  • J.P. Soars

Soul Blues Female Artist

  • Annika Chambers
  • Thornetta Davis
  • Bettye LaVette
  • Dorothy Moore
  • Terrie Odabi

Soul Blues Male Artist

  • William Bell
  • Don Bryant
  • John Németh
  • Johnny Rawls
  • Curtis Salgado

Traditional Blues Female Artist (Koko Taylor Award)

  • Rory Block
  • Rhiannon Giddens
  • Diunna Greenleaf
  • Trudy Lynn
  • Teeny Tucker

Traditional Blues Male Artist

  • Billy Branch
  • Sugar Ray Norcia
  • John Primer
  • Jontavious Willis
  • Kim Wilson

Instrumentalist Bass

  • Willie J. Campbell
  • Larry Fulcher
  • Danielle Nicole
  • Patrick Rynn
  • Michael “Mudcat” Ward

Instrumentalist Drums

  • Tony Braunagel
  • June Core
  • Derrick “D’Mar” Martin
  • Bernard Purdie
  • Kenny “Beedy Eyes” Smith

Instrumentalist Guitar

  • Christoffer “Kid” Andersen
  • Chris Cain
  • Laura Chavez
  • Kirk Fletcher
  • Christone “Kingfish” Ingram

Instrumentalist Harmonica

  • Billy Branch
  • Rick Estrin
  • Dennis Gruenling
  • Jason Ricci
  • Kim Wilson

Instrumentalist Horn

  • Mindi Abair
  • Jimmy Carpenter
  • Doug James
  • Mark “Kaz” Kazanoff
  • Nancy Wright

Instrumentalist Piano (Pinetop Perkins Piano Player Award)

  • Mike Finnigan
  • Anthony Geraci
  • Johnny Iguana
  • Bruce Katz
  • Jim Pugh

Instrumentalist Vocals

  • Thornetta Davis
  • Ruthie Foster
  • John Németh
  • Sugar Ray Norica
  • Sugaray Rayford
  1. Bones Of Gilead Richard Thompson 0:43

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  1. Chasing Shadows Sam Kelly & The Lost Boys 0:35

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  1. Fade & Fall (Love Not) Eliza Carthy & The Wayward Band 0:30

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  1. Lost Show of Hands 0:51

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  1. Some Dreams Do Amy Speace 1:05

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  1. Kindness Ben Glover 1:00

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  1. Man, Friendship Kitty Macfarlane 0:37

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  1. Blues Run The Game Martin Simpson 0:30

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