COAST TO COAST BLUES ARTISTS HONOURED WITH MAPLE BLUES AWARDS

Canadian Blues Artist from Coast-to-Coast were honoured by their peers  at the 15^th Annual Maple Blues Awards gala in Toronto last night as a crowd of blues lovers gathered to celebrate Canadian blues at Koerner Hall.

Long-time Toronto talent buyer Randy Charlton and blues scholar Rob Bowman presented the Blues With a Feeling (Lifetime Achievement Award) to veteran entertainer and guitarist Paul James. James has been performing for over four decades and is considered to be a Canadian music icon. Toronto Blues Society President Derek Andrews and Montreal Blues Society President Brian Slack presented the Blues Booster of the Year award, a very special Maple Blues Award honouring outstanding contribution to the Canadian blues music industry, to Liz Sykes, President of the Ottawa Blues Society.

Other highlights include British Columbia’s Sabrina Weeks & Swing Cat Bounce taking the New Artist of the Year Award, presented by performers and Maple Blues Award nominees Bill Johnson and Rita Chiarelli. Other notable presenters of Maple Blues Awards were Stony Plain Records Holger Petersen, Andrew Galloway of Electro-Fi Records, Borealis Records Grit Laskin, SOCAN CEO Eric Baptiste, and CRTC Vice-Chairman Tom Pentefountas.

Hosted by internationally recognized blues artists Shakura S’aida and Treasa Levasseur (both of whom gave stunning performances at the gala) the Maple Blues Awards included  outstanding  performances from Maple Blues Award nominees past and present, including Nova Scotia’s Joe Murphy, last year’s Blues With A Feeling Award winner Rita Chiarelli, Toronto’s Fathead, long time blues fixture Bill Johnson from Victoria, B.C., Ottawa’s MonkeyJunk, as well as the awards gala house band, The Maple Blues Band.

WINNERS OF THE 15TH ANNUAL MAPLE BLUES AWARDS

ENTERTAINER OF THE YEAR
Matt Andersen

ELECTRIC ACT OF THE YEAR
Monkey Junk

ACOUSTIC ACT OF THE YEAR
Matt Andersen

MALE VOCALIST OF THE YEAR
Matt Andersen

FEMALE VOCALIST OF THE YEAR
Suzie Vinnick

NEW ARTIST OR GROUP OF THE YEAR
Sabrina Weeks & Swing Cat Bounce

RECORDING OF THE YEAR
To Behold, MonkeyJunk

BLUES WITH A FEELING (Lifetime Achievement)
Paul James

BB KING INTERNATIONAL ARTIST OF THE YEAR
Gregg Allman

GUITAR PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Steve Strongman

HARMONICA PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Carlos del Junco

PIANO/KEYBOARD PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Kenny "Blues Boss" Wayne

HORN PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Chris Whiteley

DRUMMER OF THE YEAR
Matt Sobb

BASSIST OF THE YEAR
Alec Fraser

SONGWRITER OF THE YEAR
Suzie Vinnick

BLUES BOOSTER OF THE YEAR
Liz Sykes