Great to see such a strong showing from the Quebec where the blues is thriving and where a bluesman can make a living without ever leaving his province (and in some cases without ever leaving the city where he lives!)
Met and heard some amazing musicians at the Blues Summit and Brandon Isaac (Yukon Slim) was one. He won Acoustic Act of the Year. I was knocked out by him and saw a couple of other great guitarists at the Summit who I'm embarrassed to say I never heard live - Ross Neilson and Conor Gains.
Lots of words of wisdom from the podium this year (not to mention a great Keynote Address from Bruce Iglauer). The best was Raven from Digging Roots in accepting the Cobalt Prize: "Blues Music is like the vein of gold that's running through this mountain of music" I asked him where that came from and he just made it up on the spot!
The Maple Blues Band played great. Danny was a fabulous host - sometimes wandering into the audience with a wireless guitar.
Sorry for my friend Joel who arrived at the theatre thinking he'd be able to get a ticket but he was turned away because it was ...SOLD OUT!
Winners of the 18th Annual Maple Blues Awards
ENTERTAINER OF THE YEAR
Steve Hill
ELECTRIC ACT OF THE YEAR
Steve Hill
ACOUSTIC ACT OF THE YEAR
Brandon Isaak
MALE VOCALIST OF THE YEAR
Matt Andersen
FEMALE VOCALIST OF THE YEAR
Angel Forrest
NEW ARTIST OR GROUP OF THE YEAR
Wicked Grin
RECORDING OF THE YEAR
Steve Hill Solo Recordings Vol. 2 No Label Records; Producer: Steve Hill
BLUES WITH A FEELING AWARD (Lifetime Achievement)
Nanette Workman
BB KING INTERNATIONAL ARTIST OF THE YEAR
Johnny Winter
GUITAR PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Steve Hill
HARMONICA PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Tied: Guy Belanger and Harpdog Brown
PIANO/KEYBOARD PLAYER OF THE YEAR
David Vest
HORN PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Jon Wong
DRUMMER OF THE YEAR
Tom Bona
BASSIST OF THE YEAR
Greg Morency
SONGWRITER OF THE YEAR
Angel Forrest
BLUES BOOSTER OF THE YEAR
Peter North