2021 Blues Music Awards Nominees
The nominees for the 2021 Blues Music Awards have been announced! See who made the list and start making your predictions for the winners.
Best New Artist
The nominees for the 2021 Blues Music Awards were announced today, and we are so excited to see who takes home the trophy for Best New Artist! The nominees are:
Shemekia Copeland
Nominees for the 2021 Blues Music Awards were announced today, with Shemekia Copeland leading the pack with six nominations. Copeland is up for Contemporary Blues Female Artist, B.B. King Entertainer, Song of the Year (“Ghetto Child”), Album of the Year (The Soul Truth), and Band of the Year (The Shemekia Copeland Band). She’s also nominated for DVD of the Year for her concert film America’s Child.
Other nominees include Buddy Guy (five nominations), Bettye LaVette (five nominations), Samantha Fish (four nominations), and Jimmie Vaughan (four nominations). The complete list of nominees is available at www.bluesfoundation.org/blues-music-awards/.
The 2021 Blues Music Awards will be held Virtually on May 6, 2021.
Samantha Fish
Samantha Fish is a nominated artist for the 2021 Blues Music Awards. She is a contemporary blues singer, songwriter, and guitar player from Kansas City, Missouri, United States.
Samantha Fish released her debut album, “Bait & Switch,” in 2011. Since then, she has released five more studio albums and one live album. Her most recent album, “Belle of the West,” was released in 2017 and received critical acclaim.
Samantha Fish has won multiple awards throughout her career, including the Albert King Award for Emerging Artist of the Year at the Blues Music Awards in 2015.
Christone “Kingfish” Ingram
Christone “Kingfish” Ingram is an American blues musician from Clarksdale, Mississippi. He is best known for his debut album, Kingfish, which was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Blues Album. Ingram is a guitar virtuoso and has been compared to other blues guitarists such as Jimi Hendrix and B.B. King. He has toured with Buddy Guy, Charlie Musselwhite, and Jonny Lang, and has performed at the White House and the Kennedy Center.
Best Male Artist
The 2021 Blues Music Awards nominees have been announced and here are the contenders for Best Male Artist! The nominees are:
Buddy Guy
Buddy Guy (born July 30, 1936) is an American blues guitarist and singer. He is an innovator of Chicago’s West Side blues sound, and has influenced guitarists of various genres. His songs “Stone Crazy”, “Call It Stormy Monday”, and “First Time I Met the Blues” were inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2018, 2015, and 2012 respectively. In 2019, he received the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award. He was also ranked as number 23 on Rolling Stone magazine’s “100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time”.
Guy’s father was a sharecropper who owned a three-acre farm where Guy was raised with his 10 siblings. Most evenings after dinner, he would listen to his father play the guitar and sing nightfall blues songs like “Curfew Blues” and “Tomorrow Night”. His mother died when Guy was ten years old but he continued living with his father until he left to find work in Chicago in 1957.
William Bell
William Bell is an American soul singer and songwriter. He was born in Memphis, Tennessee, and began his career as a teenager in the late 1950s as a member of the group The Del-Rios. He subsequently launched a successful solo career, with hits such as “You Don’t Miss Your Water”, “I Forgot to Be Your Lover”, and “Tryin’ to Love Two”. In 2016, he was inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame.
Ronnie Earl
Ronnie Earl is an American blues and electric blues guitarist, record producer and radio host. In 2018, he was awarded the National Endowment for the Arts’ National Heritage Fellowship, which is the United States government’s highest honor in the folk and traditional arts. In 2019, he was inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame by The Blues Foundation. Prior to his solo career, he was a member of The Fabulous Thunderbirds.
Best Female Artist
The 2021 Blues Music Awards nominees for Best Female Artist are Shemekia Copeland, Toronzo Cannon, Kandace Springs, and Jontavious Willis. Shemekia Copeland is a Contemporary Blues Artist who has been nominated for nine Blues Music Awards.
Irma Thomas
Irma Thomas is a living legend and one of the most important voices in music today. A true icon, she has been rightly hailed as the “Soul Queen of New Orleans” and has released some of the most timeless and essential records of our time. Active for over six decades now, she has continued to evolve and grow as an artist, never content to rest on her laurels. Her latest album, simply titled “The Soul Queen of New Orleans” is a perfect example of her continued growth, offering up a fresh take on some classic material while still staying true to her roots. It’s an essential album for any music fan, and Thomas is rightfully nominated for Best Female Artist at the 2021 Blues Music Awards.
Mavis Staples
Mavis Staples (born July 10, 1939) is an American rhythm and blues and gospel singer, actress, and civil rights activist. She has recorded and performed with her family’s band The Staple Singers, and has also had a successful solo career. Her recordings include “The Weight”, “Respect Yourself”, “Will the Circle Be Unbroken”, and “Let It Be”.
Staples was born in Chicago, Illinois on July 10, 1939. When Mavis was young, The Staple Singers signed a record deal with Epic Records in 1955. From 1955 to 1975 they released twenty-six albums on Epic and Vee-Jay Records. In the 1970s Mavis began to release solo albums including her first self-titled album in 1969. Mavis continued touring and recording with The Staple Singers until the group disbanded in 1988.
In 1999, Mavis released her album Have a Little Faith which earned her a Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Blues Album. In 2005 she was awarded the National Medal of Arts by President George W. Bush and in 2007 she was inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame.
Koko Taylor
The late, great Koko Taylor was a force of nature who commanded attention whenever she stepped on stage. She was a true original who blended elements of gospel, R&B, and Chicago blues to create a sound that was all her own. Taylor was a career artist who released more than two dozen albums over the course of her 50-plus year career. Her signature song, “Wang Dang Doodle,” is a blues classic that has been covered by everyone from the Grateful Dead to George Thorogood. Taylor was a larger-than-life personality with a heart of gold, and she will be sorely missed by the blues community.
Best Band
We are excited to announce the nominees for the 2021 Blues Music Awards! This year’s nominees for Best Band are The Bronx Wanderers, The California Honeydrops, and The Dirty Dozen Brass Band. These bands have all released great music this year and we can’t wait to see who wins!
The Tedeschi Trucks Band
The Tedeschi Trucks Band is an American blues rock group formed in 2010 by husband-and-wife musicians Derek Trucks and Susan Tedeschi. Their debut album, Revelator, won the Grammy Award for Best Blues Album in 2012. The band has released six studio albums, and their live album Live at the Fox Oakland was nominated for the Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Blues Album at the 60th Annual Grammy Awards.
The Tedeschi Trucks Band is known for their blend of blues, rock, and soul music. They have toured extensively throughout the United States and Europe, and have performed at several major music festivals, including Bonnaroo, Coachella, and Lollapalooza.
The Fabulous Thunderbirds
The Fabulous Thunderbirds are an American blues rock band from Austin, Texas, United States, formed in 1974. The band initially featured Kim Wilson on vocals and harmonica and Jimmie Vaughan on guitar. The band has been through several personnel changes but still continues to record and perform today. They were nominated for a Grammy Award in 1985 and inducted into the Austin Music Hall of Fame in 2000.
The Nighthawks
The Nighthawks are an American blues band, formed in 1972 in Washington, D.C., United States. Of the band’s founder and original members, only Mark Wenner remains. He is joined by Jimmy Thackery (guitar), Mark Stutso (drums), and Paul Bell (bass guitar).
The Nighthawks began as a bar band, playing blues covers along with some original material. They recorded their first album, entitled The Nighthawks, in 1974; it was followed by Open All Night (1975), All You Gotta Do (1976), Rockin’ the Taverns (1977), and Take It to the Streets (1978). From 1979 to 1981, they were the opening act for The Rolling Stones on several occasions.
The Nighthawks toured Europe extensively in the 1980s and 1990s and released several live albums recorded in England and Germany, including Live at the Checkerboard Lounge (1981), Live at Prince Albert’s Room (1982), Live at Lambert’s riotous Southport Weekender (1985), Night Hawks Live! In Holland (1987) , At the Stone Pony with Clarence Clemons (1991) , Results May Vary (1994) , Rockin’ My Life Away withdave McKenna(1997) .
In 2001, The Nighthawks were inducted into the Maryland Music Hall of Fame. In 2013, they were nominated for a Grammy Award in the category of “Best Traditional Blues Album” for their album Roots Rock ‘N’ Roll.
Best Album
The 2021 Blues Music Awards nominees have been announced and the competition is stiff. This year’s nominees for Best Album are:
Shemekia Copeland – America’s Child
Shemekia Copeland’s album “America’s Child” is nominated for best album at the 2021 Blues Music Awards. Copeland is a talented blues singer and songwriter, and her album is a powerful collection of songs that explore the changing landscape of America. Copeland’s voice is soulful and emotive, and her lyrics are poignant and thought-provoking. “America’s Child” is a must-listen for any fan of blues music.
Samantha Fish – Belle of the West
Samantha Fish’s Belle of the West is one of the 2021 Blues Music Awards nominees for Best Album. Released in 2017, Belle of the West is Fish’s sixth studio album and her first to be nominated for a Blues Music Award.
Belle of the West was recorded in Nashville withFish’s road band, and features a mix of original songs and covers. The album’s lead single, “Caught Out in the Rain,” was a Top 10 hit on the Billboard Blues chart, and the album itself peaked at No. 2 on that chart.
In addition to Best Album, Belle of the West is also nominated for Best Contemporary Blues Album and Best Rock Blues Album at the 2021 Blues Music Awards. Fish is also nominated for Female Artist of the Year, Song of the Year (“Caught Out in the Rain”), and Guitar Player of the Year.
William Bell – This Is Where I Live
William Bell’s This Is Where I Live was nominated for Album of the Year at the 2021 Blues Music Awards. The album was released on Stax Records in 2016, fifty years after Bell first recorded for the label.
This Is Where I Live features twelve new original songs written by Bell, including the title track which he co-wrote with Grammy-winning songwriter Jonny Lang. The album is a return to Bell’s Southern soul roots and includes appearances by guests such as Booker T. Jones, Steve Cropper, Isaac Hayes, and Jackson Browne.
“I’m very excited and honored to be nominated for the Album of the Year,” said Bell in a statement. “It’s a great feeling to know that your work is being recognized and appreciated. I want to thank everyone who voted for me and I look forward to attending the awards ceremony.”
