Grammy nominees Buddy Guy and Shemekia Copeland have both been nominated for Blues Music Awards.
The 37th annual shortlist has been published ahead of a gala ceremony in Memphis, Tennessee on May 5 next year.
James Harman has received five nominations while Anthony Geraci and Sugaray Rayford have four each.
Guy and Copeland are both listed in the Contemporary Blues Album category, while Guy’s Born To Play Guitar is up for Album Of The Year and Copeland is among the B.B. King Entertainer and Contemporary Blues Female Artist finalists.
She’s named alongside Beth Hart, Karen Lovely, Nikki Hill and Samantha Fish in that category, while the Male Artist list features Brandon Santini, Eugene Hideaway Bridges, Jarekus Singleton, Joe Louis Walker and Rayford.
Walker, Joe Bonamassa, Royal Southern Brotherhood, Tinsley Ellis and Walter Trout make up the Rock Blues Album category.
Organisers say: “The Blues Music Awards are universally recognised as the highest accolade afforded to blues music performers. The annual ceremony is to honour this rich cultural tradition by recognising the past year’s superior achievements in blues performance, songwriting and recording.”
Blues Music Awards 2016 nominees
Acoustic Album
Doug MacLeod: Exactly Like This
Duke Robillard: The Acoustic Blues & Roots Of Duke Robillard
Eric Bibb: Blues People
Guy Davis: Kokomo Kidd
The Ragpicker String Band: The Ragpicker String Band
Acoustic Artist
Doug MacLeod
Eric Bibb
Gaye Adegbalola
Guy Davis
Ian Siegal
Album
Anthony Geraci & The Boston Blues All-Stars: Fifty Shades Of Blue
Buddy Guy: Born To Play Guitar
James Harman: Bonetime
The Cash Box Kings: Holding Court
Wee Willie Walker: If Nothing Ever Changes
Band
Andy T Nick Nixon Band
Rick Estrin & The Nightcats
Sugar Ray & The Bluetones
The Cash Box Kings
Victor Wainwright & The Wild Roots
B.B. King Entertainer
John Nemeth
Rick Estrin
Shemekia Copeland
Sugaray Rayford
Victor Wainwright
Best New Artist Album
Eddie Cotton: One At A Time
Igor Prado Band: Way Down South
Mighty Mike Schermer: Blues In Good Hands
Mr Sipp: The Blues Child
Slam Allen: Feel These Blues
Contemporary Blues Album
Buddy Guy: Born To Play Guitar
Eugene Hideaway Bridges: Hold On A Little Bit Longer
Shemekia Copeland: Outskirts Of Love
Sonny Landreth: Bound By The Blues
Sugaray Rayford – Southside
Contemporary Blues Female Artist
Beth Hart
Karen Lovely
Nikki Hill
Samantha Fish
Shemekia Copeland
Contemporary Blues Male Artist
Brandon Santini
Eugene Hideaway Bridges
Jarekus Singleton
Joe Louis Walker
Sugaray Rayford
Historical Album
The Henry Gray/Bob Corritore Sessions, Vol. 1
Hawk Squat by J. B. Hutto & His Hawks
Southside Blues Jam by Junior Wells
Buzzin’ the Blues by Slim Harpo
Dynamite! The Unsung King Of The Blues by Tampa Red
Instrumentalist: Bass
Charlie Wooton
Lisa Mann
Michael ‘Mudcat’ Ward
Patrick Rynn
Willie J Campbell
Instrumentalist: Drums
Cedric Burnside
Jimi Bott
June Core
Tom Hambridge
Tony Braunagel
Instrumentalist: Guitar
Anson Funderburgh
Kid Andersen
Monster Mike Welch
Ronnie Earl
Sonny Landreth
Instrumentalist: Harmonica
Billy Branch
Brandon Santini
James Harman
Jason Ricci
Kim Wilson
Instrumentalist: Horn
Al Basile
Doug James
Kaz Kazanoff
Sax Gordon
Terry Hanck
Koko Taylor Award (Traditional Blues Female)
Diunna Greenleaf
Fiona Boyes
Ruthie Foster
Trudy Lynn
Zora Young
Pinetop Perkins Piano Player
Allen Toussaint
Anthony Geraci
Barrelhouse Chuck
John Ginty
Victor Wainwright
Rock Blues Album of the Year
Joe Bonamassa: Muddy Wolf At Red Rocks
Joe Louis Walker: Everybody Wants A Piece
Royal Southern Brotherhood: Don’t Look Back
Tinsley Ellis: Tough Love
Walter Trout: Battle Scars
Song
Bad Feet/Bad Hair – James Harman
Fifty Shades Of Blue – Anthony Geraci & The Boston Blues All-Stars
Gonna Live Again – Walter Trout
Southside Of Town – Sugaray Rayford
You Got It Good (And That Ain’t Bad) – Doug MacLeod
Soul Blues Album
Bey Paule Band: Not Goin’ Away
Billy Price & Otis Clay: This Time for Real
Jackie Payne: I Saw The Blues
Tad Robinson: Day Into Night
Wee Willie Walker: If Nothing Ever Changes
Soul Blues Female Artist
Bettye LaVette
Dorothy Moore
Missy Anderson
Toni Lynn Washington
Vaneese Thomas
Soul Blues Male Artist
Frank Bey
Jackie Payne
Johnny Rawls
Otis Clay
Wee Willie Walker
Traditional Blues Album
Andy T Nick Nixon Band: Numbers Man
Anthony Geraci & The Boston Blues All-Stars: Fifty Shades of Blue
Cedric Burnside Project: Descendants Of Hill Country
James Harman: Bonetime
The Cash Box Kings: Holding Court
Traditional Blues Male Artist
Cedric Burnside
Dave Alvin & Phil Alvin
James Harman
Jimmy Burns
John Primer
