Koko Taylor, Bob Stroger, Hubert Sumlin & More Receive Blues Music Awards

The Blues Foundation has announced the recipients of the 2008 Blues Music Award Winners. Several Chicago-area blues artists are among the winners. Here they are:

1. DVD - Kenny Wayne Shepherd – 10 Days Out: Blues from the Backroads

2. Traditional Blues Male Artist - Hubert Sumlin

3. Traditional Blues Female Artist - Koko Taylor

4. Acoustic Artist - Bobby Rush

5. Acoustic Album Bobby Rush - Raw (an excellent album; highly recommended)

6. Pinetop Perkins Piano Player - Honey Piazza

7. Instrumentalist-Guitar - Bob Margolin

8. Soul Blues Male Artist - Bobby Rush

9. Soul Blues Female Artist - Irma Thomas

10. Soul Blues Album - The Holmes Brothers – State of Grace

11. Historical Album - Epic/Legacy – Breakin’ It UP, Breakin’ it DOWN

12. Contemporary Blues Album - Tommy Castro - Painkiller

13. Contemporary Blues Female Artist - Bettye LaVette

14. Contemporary Blues Male Artist - Tab Benoit

15. Instrumentalist-Harmonica - Kim Wilson

16. Instrumentalist-Bass - Bob Stroger

17. Instrumentalist-Drums - Sam Lay

18. Instrumentalist-Horn - Deanna Bogart

19. Instrumentalist-Pedal Steel- Robert Randolph

20. Best New Artist Debut - Diunna Greenleaf & Blue Mercy – Cotton Field to Coffee House

21. Song - “Gonna Buy Me a Mule” – Koko Taylor

22. Traditional Blues Album - Koko Taylor – Old School

23. Album - Watermelon Slim & the Workers – The Wheel Man

24. Band - Watermelon Slim & the Workers

25. B.B. King Entertainer - Tommy Castro

*****

Interesting to note that Sam Lay's been playing guitar more often than drums these days.