The 44th Annual Blues Music Awards took place last week (May 11), in Memphis, Tennessee, and saw Buddy Guy, Tedeschi Trucks Band, Christone “Kingfish” Ingram, and Tommy Castro all take home top prizes.
Blues guitar legend Buddy Guy won Album of the Year and Best Contemporary Album for his 2022 full-length, The Blues Don’t Lie, while Tom Hambridge scored a hat-trick of awards for that same record, one of which was the Best Song Award (for writing the title track.)
Christone “Kingfish” Ingram, meanwhile, continued his hot streak, picking up Contemporary Blues Male Artist of the Year for the fourth year running.
Ruthie Foster won Contemporary Blues Female Artist of the Year. Her latest album, Healing Time, is certainly rooted in blues, but is also a life-affirming journey through gospel, Motown, and ballads such as 4am that are written around the acoustic guitar and are 100 percent soul.
Tommy Castro, bandleader and frontman of Tommy Castro and the Painkillers, picked up the prestigious B.B. King Entertainer of the Year Award, for the second year in a row.
The Tedeschi Trucks Band picked up the Band of the Year award, receiving recognition for their epic quadruple album I Am the Moon, on which Derek Trucks performed some of the most dynamic, vocal, and human slide playing in recent memory on his Gibson SG – the perfect foil for Susan Tedeschi’s peerless vocals.
It was also a big year for John Primer, who picked up an award for the ‘Traditional Blues’ male artist of the year – and was inducted to the Blues Hall of Fame.
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Speaking earlier this month to Guitar World, the 78-year-old Primer was tickled to be up for three awards as a solo artist after honing his reputation as one of the best side-men in the game, offering electric guitar support to the likes of Muddy Waters and Magic Slim. Primer was nominated for Album of the Year, Traditional Blues Album of the Year and Best Male Traditional Blues Artist.
“For Hard Times to be recognized by the Blues Foundation, to me, that's something right there. I ain't counting on any Grammy, no way, but I'll take the three awards I’ve been nominated for.
“It’s a sad thing, though – people these days don't know or maybe just don’t want to hear the real thing when it crops up. And when it comes to the blues, I am the real deal, I can tell you that.”
He’ll get no arguments here. Joining Primer on the trad blues podium was Sue Foley, who has amassed one serious band (featuring Chris "Whipper" Layton, of Stevie Ray Vaughan and Kenny Wayne Shepherd's respective groups, on drums) to join her as she takes a deep dive into Texas blues guitar history on her latest LP, Pinky’s Blues, which features covers of classic tracks by the likes of Clarence “Gatemouth” Brown, Lavelle White, Frankie Lee Sims, Angela Strehli, and Lillie Mae Donley, and three original compositions.
One of these, the title track, will be recognizable to seasoned blues fans. “It’s kind of my rewrite of Earl Hooker’s Blues in D Natural,” Foley told Guitar World last year. “Everybody who plays the blues has their own take on it.”
Other guitar-playing winners included Doug MacLeod for Acoustic Blues Artist, Albert Castiglia for Blues Rock Artist, Laura Chavez for Instrumentalist (Guitar), and Charlie Musselwhite, who picked up the award for best Acoustic Blues Album.
You can check out the full list of winners at The Blues Foundation's website.
