in the W.C.Handy Awards for 2005
It seems like Have a Little Faith could have been the theme for the 26th annual W.C.Handy Awards. The years Blues Song award went to the tune penned by Jim Tullio and Jim Weider. Have A Little Faith was also the title track of both the Soul Blues Album and Blues Album wins for Mavis Staples. Staples went on to win the Soul Blues Artist award for 2005, shows what having a little faith can get you! Bobby Rush also won the Soul Blues Artist W.C.Handy award.
Charlie Musselwhite took home the Blues Harmonica award and his Sanctuary release got the Contemporary Blues Album award. Charlie Musselwhite also received honors for Contemporary Blues Artist, as did Shemekia Copeland.
Pinetop Perkins won Traditional Blues Album for his Ladies Man release. Koko Taylor and Pinetop Perkins each got the W.C.Handy award for Traditional Blues Artist. The Historical Blues Album honors went to Release the Hound for Hound Dog Taylor. The best Acoustic Blues Album was Kenny Neal and Billy Branch Double Take. David 'Honeyboy' Edwards carried the Acoustic Blues Artist category.
The Blues Entertainer yet again is the venerable B.B.King. This is Kings seventh win in this category, straight in a row, leaving little doubt of his royal standing in the blues community. The Holmes Brothers got the coveted W.C. Handy Blues Band win. Many Bellingham, WA blues fans had a chance at the Wild Buffalo last fall to catch a live performance of the New Artist Debut recipient John Lee Hooker, Jr (for his Blues With a Vengence release). The Comeback Blues Album for 2005 went to Gary U.S. Bonds for his CD, Back in 20.
The instrumental awards for 2005 went to: Willie Kent, Blues Bass; Willie 'Big Eyes' Smith, Blues Drums; Bob Margolin, Blues Guitar; Roomful of Blues horn section, Blues Horns; Marcia Ball, Blues Keyboards and the Blues Instrumentalist 2005 W.C. Award went to Robert Randolph.
The participating voters in the W.C.Handy Awards are members of The Blues Foundation, dedicated to the preservation and recognition of the blues. If you want to vote in the 27th annual W.C.Handy Awards, you'll need to join the Blues Foundation, found at www.blues.org on the internet. The awards are named for the Beale Street musician, W.C. Handy, recognized as setting blues on the path from an oral tradition (though many would argue it is still primarily an oral tradition) to a written manuscript form in the early 1900's. It was an innovative concept at that time and led to a wider appreciation of the music genre, taking it from the streets, house parties and venues and placing it squarely in America's middle class parlour.
A complete list of all the nominees in the various blues categories was posted at the Northwest Washington Blues Group (http://groups.yahoo.com/group/nw_wablues) at Yahoo Groups last week.
