Saturday, May 30, 2026

Vote for the Living Blues Awards! Deadline is June 15!


Living Blues Magazine has announced the nomineees for their 2026 awards. You can vote for your favourites (even write-ins). Deadline to vote is June 15, 2026.

Below is a complete list of nominees. Canadian acts are bolded.

* Signed to Waterdown's Stony Plain Records

Most Outstanding Musician (Keyboard)

Best Blues Album of 2025 (New Recordings)

  • Maria Muldaur: One Hour Mama: The Blues of Victoria Spivey *
  • Tommy Castro & the Painkillers: Closer to the Bone
  • Charlie Musselwhite: Lookout Highway
  • D. K. Harrell: Talkin' Heavy
  • Buddy Guy: Ain't Done with the Blues
  • Bobby Rush and Kenny Wayne Shepherd: Young Fashioned Ways
  • John Primer: Grown in Mississippi
  • Christone "Kingfish" Ingram: Hard Road
  • Candice Ivory: New Southern Vintage
  • Larry McCray: Heartbreak City
  • Southern Avenue: Family
  • Little Freddie King: I Use to Be Down
  • Bob Stroger & the Headcutters: Bob is Back!
  • Leonard "Lowdown" Brown: Lowdown Street Party
  • Jimi "Primetime" Smith: It's My Time
  • Kirk Fletcher: Keep on Pushing
  • Sean McDonald: Have Mercy!
  • Mavis Staples: Sad and Beautiful World
  • Jimmy Burns & Soul Message Band: Full Circle
  • Taj Mahal & Keb' Mo': Room on the Porch

Blues Artist of the Year (Female)

Most Outstanding Musician (Guitar)

  • Duke Robillard*
  • Christone "Kingfish" Ingram
  • Larry McCray
  • John Primer
  • Kid Andersen
  • Jimmy "Duck" Holmes
  • Tommy Castro
  • Anthony Paule
  • Kirk Fletcher
  • Eric Gales

Most Outstanding Musician (Harmonica)

  • Kim Wilson*
  • Charlie Musselwhite
  • Billy Branch
  • Bob Corritore
  • Wallace Coleman
  • Big Harp George
  • Brandon Santini
  • Rick Estrin
  • Jason Ricci
  • Omar Coleman
Best Blues Album of 2025 (Reissue Recordings)

  • Mississippi John Hurt: Today!
  • John Lee Hooker: It Serve You Right to Suffer
  • Otis Spann: Walking the Blues
  • Lightnin' Hopkins: Lightnin' Strikes
  • Buddy Guy: This is Buddy Guy
  • Various Artists: High Water Everywhere
  • Scrapper Blackwell: Mr. Scrapper's Blues
  • Muddy Waters: The Best of Muddy Waters
  • Clifton Chenier: King of Louisiana Blues & Zydeco
  • Howlin' Wolf: Moanin' in the Moonlight

Best Blues Book of 2025

  • Before Elvis: The African American Musicians Who Made the King By Preston Lauterbach
  • Mr. R&B and the Rhythm & Blues Revival: The Story of Jonas Bernholm Part 2 By Jonas Bernholm
  • The Life and Music of Booker "Bukka" White: Recalling the Blues By David W. Johnson
  • Go Back and Fetch It: Recovering Early Black Music in the Americas for Fiddle and Banjo By Kristina R. Gaddy and Rhiannon Giddens
  • Two Headed Doctor: Listening for Ghosts in Dr. John's Gris-gris By David Toop
  • Inside the Moment: Iconic Blues, Soul, Jazz, Rock, and R&B Images and History By Joseph A. Rosen
  • Fiddling is My Joy: The Fiddle in African American Culture By Jacqueline Cogdell DjeDje

Best Live Performer

  • John Primer
  • Bobby Rush
  • Shemekia Copeland
  • Christone "Kingfish" Ingram
  • Anne Harris
  • Mr. Sipp
  • Eric Gales
  • Southern Avenue
  • Ronnie Baker Brooks
  • Sean McDonald

Blues Artist of the Year (Male)

  • Christone "Kingfish" Ingram
  • John Primer
  • Bobby Rush
  • Mr. Sipp
  • Larry McCray
  • Taj Mahal
  • Bob Corritore
  • Ronnie Baker Brooks
  • Tommy Castro
  • Bob Stroger

Blues Band of the Year

  • Southern Avenue
  • The Anthony Paule Soul Orchestra
  • Rising Stars Fife and Drum Band
  • The Phantom Blues Band
  • Memphissippi Sounds
  • Mississippi Heat
  • Kid Andersen's Greaseland All Stars
  • The Nighthawks
  • Altered Five Blues Band
  • Billy Branch & the Sons of Blues

Most Outstanding Blues Singer

  • Taj Mahal
  • Shemekia Copeland
  • Valerie June
  • Sugaray Rayford
  • Mud Morganfield
  • Mavis Staples
  • Oscar Wilson
  • Candice Ivory
  • Thornetta Davis
  • Erica Falls
Posted by Hamilton Blues Lovers
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