Bobby Rush (left) shows off one of his new trophies with BMI's Thomas Cain (right).

Bobby Rush's wins for Acoustic Blues Artist and Album of the Year arrived on the strength of his 2007 release, Raw, while Irma Thomas earned the Soul Blues - Female Artist of the Year crown. Koko Taylor's slew of trophies underscored her continued relevance: Traditional Blues - Female Artist, Blues Song and Traditional Blues Album of the Year all went to the "Queen of the Blues."

BMI's Thomas Cain (far left) snaps a photo with winners The Holmes Brothers.

In addition to a Contemporary Blues Album of the Year win for Painkiller, acclaimed vocalist and guitarman Tommy Castro received the prestigious B.B. King Entertainer of the Year Award, while the coveted Pinetop Perkins Piano Player of the Year Award went to Honey Piazza. The Holmes Brothers' State of Grace also garnered Soul Blues Album of the Year honors for the beloved group, while musicians Robert Randolf, Bob Stroger, Kim Wilson, Bob Margolin and Deanna Bogart all took home awards touting mastery of their respective instruments.

Performer and nominee Ruthie Foster (left) pauses for a shot with BMI's Thomas Cain (right).

The night prior to the Blues Awards event, the Blues Foundation held its induction ceremony for the Blues Hall of Fame, honoring the individual achievements of guitarists Hubert Sumlin and Johnny "Guitar" Watson, pianist Jimmy McCracklin, singer Jimmy Weatherspoon, pre-WWII string band the Mississippi Sheiks, and country blues performer Peetie Wheatstraw.

BMI's Thomas Cain (left) and bassist of the year Bob Stroger (right) smile for the camera.

The Blues Foundation was formed in Memphis in 1980 as a non-profit organization to preserve the rich heritage of the blues and promote excellence in blues music. Consisting of over 160 affiliated organizations worldwide, The Blues Foundations sponsors the annual Blues Music Awards, The International Blues Challenge, and the organization's "Blues In The Schools" educational program. For more information on the foundation's programs and history, please visit www.blues.org.

Pictured are (l to r): the Kilborn Alley Blues Band's Chris Breen, Abraham Johnson, Blues Foundation's Jay Sieleman and BMI's Thomas Cain.

All BMI 2008 Blues Awards Winners

Individual Award Winners
Acoustic Blues - Artist of the Year
Bobby Rush

Contemporary Blues - Male Artist of the Year
Tab Benoit

Soul Blues - Male Artist of the Year
Bobby Rush

Soul Blues - Female Artist of the Year
Irma Thomas

Traditional Blues - Female Artist of the Year
Koko Taylor

Traditional Blues - Male Artist of the Year
Hubert Sumlin

Blues Instrumentalists
Best Instrumentalist - Bass
Bob Stroger

Best Instrumentalist - Guitar
Bob Margolin

Best Instrumentalist - Harmonica
Kim Wilson

Best Instrumentalist - Horn
Deanna Bogart

Best Instrumentalist - Pedal Steel
Robert Randolph

Award-Winning Recordings
Acoustic Blues Album of the Year
Bobby Rush - Raw (Deep Rush Records)

Blues Song of the Year
Koko Taylor - "Gonna Buy Me A Mule"

Blues DVD of the Year
Kenny Wayne Shepherd - 10 Days Out: Blues from the Backroads
(Reprise Records)

Contemporary Blues Album of the Year
Tommy Castro - Painkiller (Blind Pig Records)

Historical Album of the Year
Muddy Waters & Johnny Winter - Breakin' It UP, Breakin' it DOWN
(Epic/Legacy Recordings)

Soul Blues Album of the Year
The Holmes Brothers - State of Grace (Alligator Records)

Traditional Blues Album of the Year
Koko Taylor - Old School (Alligator Records)

Special Awards
Pinetop Perkins Piano Player of the Year Award
Honey Piazza

B.B. King Entertainer of the Year Award
Tommy Castro

John Hiatt's deep catalog includes many American staples. A true writer's writer, Hiatt has penned songs recorded by legends including Bob Dylan, Bonnie Raitt, Three Dog Night, Iggy Pop, Rosanne Cash, Eric Clapton, B.B. King and Willie Nelson. Hiatt has joined Guy Clark, Joe Ely and Lyle Lovett on an acoustic tour, and his upcoming album Same Old Man promises more signature Hiatt observations and inviting self-reflections.

The Americana Honors and Awards ceremony will toast the eclectic genre's best, feature live performances and serve as the resounding conclusion of the Americana Music Conference and Festival, September 17-20 in Nashville.

For more information on the Americana Music Association, please visit www.americanamusic.org.

The Americana Music Association is a professional trade organization whose mission is to provide a forum for the advocacy of Americana music and to promote public awareness of the genre. The Americana Music Association works closely with artists, labels, radio stations, retailers, print media, festivals, agents, publishers and more to help organize and build the infrastructure necessary for the Americana genre to achieve success both creatively and financially.

When pressed, Fats softly declares undying admiration for Presley. “I like Elvis myself,” Domino says over the phone from his New Orleans residence. “So does everybody.” With a humble air that warmly wraps around each of his concessions, Fats says he was simply “lucky” such songs as “I’m Walkin’” and “Blueberry Hill” allowed him to support his family.

The man’s authentic modesty is awe-inspiring, especially when Fats could argue he doesn’t get enough credit for creating the rock-&-roll sound. His induction into the 1986 inaugural Rock and Roll Hall of Fame class prompted more comparisons to the Memphis boy who would be king: The Hall notes that Fats Domino “sold more records (65 million) than any other Fifties-era rocker except Elvis Presley.”

In fact, any query about who “started” rock & roll could be answered by taking roll call of that class. In addition to Fats and Elvis, 1986 alumni include Buddy Holly, Chuck Berry, James Brown, Little Richard, Jerry Lee Lewis, Ray Charles, Sam Cooke and the Everly Brothers.

The man the musicians themselves look to as the architect of rock sounds is, perhaps, most telling. “Elvis called Fats the ‘King of Rock ‘n’ Roll.’ Bob Marley said reggae started with Fats Domino,” says r&b scholar Rick Coleman, author of the 2006 biography “Blue Monday: Fats Domino and the Lost Dawn of Rock ‘n’ Roll.”

Evidence of his importance can be found on Vanguard Records’ new double-CD set, Goin’ Home: a Tribute to Fats Domino, which benefits Tipitina’s Foundation, a non-profit foundation dedicated to musical rebirth in the Crescent City.

On the tribute album, Paul McCartney sings “I Want to Walk You Home” and his Beatles mate John Lennon sings “Ain’t That a Shame.” The Fab Four’s 1968 “Lady Madonna” is homage to Domino. That same year, Fats cut his own version, marking his last appearance in the Billboard Top 100 pop singles.

Other iconic contributors to Goin’ Home include Elton John performing “Blueberry Hill,” B.B. King’s “Goin’ Home,” Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers’ “I’m Walkin’,” Robert Plant’s “It Keeps Raining” and Willie Nelson’s “I Hear You Knockin’.”

The emotional peak comes with Neil Young’s “Walking to New Orleans,” which he sang at a Katrina fund-raising concert. Fats’s version, released June 1, 1960, was his last Top 10 pop hit. A potent string of wonder and musical history preceded that nostalgic song.

On Dec. 10, 1949, Fats Domino cut eight tracks at Cosimo Matassa’s J&M Studios. Among them: “The Fat Man,” often called “the first rock & roll song.”

Domino’s songbook also includes “All By Myself,” “Be My Guest,” “Bo Weevil,” “Don’t Blame It On Me,” “Every Night About This Time,” “Let the Four Winds Blow,” “Going to the River,” “My Girl Josephine,” “I’m in Love Again,” “Please Don’t Leave Me,” “Poor Me,” “So Long,” “Something’s Wrong,” “Three Nights a Week,” “Valley of Tears” and “Whole Lotta Loving.’’ In Fats’s fashion, the man is quick to share credit with co-writer and producer Dave Bartholomew.

While the music is universally present, Fats had settled in to a peaceful life with family and dear friends, flying contentedly below the world’s contemporary radar — until Katrina nearly killed him. The musician and his family chose to ride out the storm in their home in the Lower 9th Ward, the working-class neighborhood where he grew up. As helicopters plucked victims off roofs, there were media reports Fats was missing. That fear ended with the publication of a New Orleans Times-Picayune photo of Domino being helped off a boat after being rescued from his house.

Like almost everyone in the Lower 9th, he lost everything. But Fats says, “I ain’t missed nothing, to tell you the truth, and I was able to replace what I lost.” Today, he and his family live in a West Bank suburb, while their home is being rebuilt.

Thanks in large part to Tipitina’s Foundation, Fats Domino has become the quintessential face of New Orleans’ rebirth. The foundation is an offshoot of the New Orleans music venue. “Before the storm, our programs were designed to uplift the music culture of New Orleans,” says Bill Taylor, executive director. ”Since Katrina, it’s about saving that same culture.”

In May of 2007, Fats tore through an exhilarating 32-minute set at Tipitina’s. Proceeds benefited the foundation’s drive to provide musical instruments to New Orleans public schools, and to help musicians recover. Profits from the Goin’ Home tribute will also go to Tipitina’s Foundation. Twenty-five percent of monies earned at that red-letter show went toward the restoration of Fats’ Lower 9th home. In addition to helping Domino rebuild, funds will also fuel the construction of a Lower 9th community center and other programs aimed at lifting the neighborhood.

Haydee Ellis, the longtime family friend who helped orchestrate the concert and album, says her experiences recruiting talent for Goin’ Home demonstrate the appreciation artists have for Fats. “I talked to Randy Newman. . . . I said ‘we would enjoy your participation on this album’.” Newman, who performs “Blue Monday,” emphatically told her, “I’d love to. I’ve been stealing from Fats for years.”

• Who, in 1958 at the age of 14, joined the Royal Teens (Top Five hitmakers with "Short Shorts")?


• Who, in 1960, began his career as a BMI songwriter with a number called "My Kinda Love," which was recorded by Anastasia?


• Who has written hundreds of songs, all part of his BMI catalog?


• Who co-wrote "This Diamond Ring," the 1965 pop chart-topper for Gary Lewis and the Playboys? The song, incidentally, is approaching four million radio performances.


• Who, also in '65, helped create Bob Dylan's hard, radically new rock & roll sound (and, by extension, what came to be known as “folk rock") when he played the organ — for his very first time on a released recording — on Dylan's epochal single, "Like a Rolling Stone"?

• Who, in the mid-'60s, was a member of the Blues Project, the New York-based band that was among the first in this country to spread the joy (and pain) of black-influenced white electric blues?


• Who, in 1967, founded Blood, Sweat & Tears, the pioneering ensemble that melded rock with the hippest horn arrangements?


• Who, in 1968, came up with the concept of "Super Session," and produced the hit LP on which he co-starred with guitarists Michael Bloomfield and Stephen Stills?


• Who has recorded as a sideman with, among many others and in addition to Dylan ("Highway 61 Revisited" and "Blonde on Blonde"): the Rolling Stones (piano, organ and French horn on "You Can't Always Get What You Want"); Jimi Hendrix (piano on "Long, Hot Summer Night"; The Who (on the LP "The Who Sell Out"); George Harrison (arranged and played keys on the hit "All Those Years Ago"); Simon & Garfunkel; Alice Cooper; the Butterfield Blues Band; Moby Grape; Taj Mahal; B.B. King; Lynyrd Skynyrd; Judy Collins; Joan Baez; Phil Ochs; Roger McGuinn; Tom Petty; Joe Cocker; Betty Wright; Rita Coolidge; ex-Rolling Stone Bill Wyman; and Trisha Yearwood? In an issue devoted to the 500 Greatest Recordings of All Time, Rolling Stone magazine included 12 albums with serious participation by our mystery man.


• Who has produced commercially successful and publicly acclaimed discs by Bob Dylan, Lynyrd Skynyrd (he discovered them and produced their first three albums, which spawned the mega-hits "Sweet Home Alabama," "Free Bird," and "Saturday Night Special"), B.B. King, Rick Nelson, the Tubes (who gave the world the timeless "White Punks On Dope"), Shuggie Otis, Don Ellis, Nils Lofgren, and Joe Ely?


• Who has written original soundtrack music for films like Hal Ashby's The Landlord and John Waters's Cry Baby, as well as Michael Mann's television series Crime Story, and was music director for the 1991 cable TV special "Ray Charles: 50 Years in Music"?


• Whose songs have been recorded by a diverse roster of artists that includes Freddie Cannon; Lorraine Ellison; Keely Smith; "Gene Pitney ("I Must Be Seeing Things"); Bobby Vee; Lulu; Billy Fury; the Rockin' Berries; the Blues Project ("Flute Thing" and "Wake Me, Shake Me"); Ten Years After ("I Can't Keep from Cryin' Sometimes"); the Staple Singers and Rufus; Lynyrd Skynyrd ("Mississippi Kid" and "Cheatin' Woman"); Roger McGuinn; the Beastie Boys; Jay-Z; Alchemist; Dakota Staton; and Betty Wright? Then there is "I Love You More Than You'll Ever Know," the heart-tugging soul ballad that was recorded by more than 25 artists, including Donny Hathaway, Kenny Lattimore, and Carmen McRae).

Answer: Al Kooper.

Any way one looks at it, Brooklyn-born (in 1944) Al Kooper has had an unusually variegated, extraordinary career. He credits Bob Gaudio for giving him his start. Gaudio later found international fame as a member and chief songwriter for the Four Seasons before producing LPs (including Frank Sinatra's Watertown, the songs for which he also co-composed) and, more recently, for writing the music for the smash Broadway, multi-Tony-winning, Jersey Boys. "He was the Royal Teens," recalls Kooper of Gaudio, "and without him hiring me I never would have begun as early as I did."

In 2008, as he celebrates his first half-century in music, that career is still moving forward. Kooper is the consummately versatile music business pro. He is, of course, a singer/songwriter. He's a multi-instrumentalist (keyboards, guitars, mandolin, synthesizers, French horn), and a producer and an engineer. Kooper also has nearly 20 albums as leader to his credit, including the excellent two-disc retrospective from Sony Music, Rare and Well Done.

Further, he warrants induction into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame as a sideman, if only for the instantly recognizable approach to the organ he created during Dylan's paradigm-shattering work of the mid-1960s. And changing the subject slightly, he's hosted and imaginatively programmed his own spot on Britain's Radio Caroline.

Kooper continues to tour with two different bands, as well as presenting a one-man show that is by turns, affecting and witty, surveying his life in music through song and anecdote. First and foremost, though is the Funky Faculty, at which he's been at the helm for the past decade. The Faculty, a sextet, is made up of veteran instructors at the prestigious Berklee College of Music in Boston, and their specialty is an engaging mix of rock, blues and jazz. Kooper himself formerly taught at Berklee and in 2001 he received, along with the late, innovative drummer Elvin Jones, a Doctorate of Music. (He also holds a doctorate from Long Island's Five Towns College.) When in New York, he often fronts an all-star foursome that also features guitarist Jimmy Vivino and bassist Mike Merritt (both from Conan O'Brien's house band) and drummer Anton Fig, from Late Show with David Letterman.

Though a debilitating condition permanently robbed him in 2001 of two-thirds of his sight, it's not stopped Kooper from taking the Funky Faculty to Norway, Denmark, Italy, England, Spain and all sorts of faraway places; late in 2007 the Faculty played for enthusiastic audiences in the Czech Republic and Japan, and more travels are in the works. Also planned for 2008: an updated edition of Dr. Kooper's autobiography, "Backstage Passes and Backstabbing Bastards," which is a fresh, funny, and compelling read. Then there is his forthcoming disc, tentatively titled White Chocolate, due from A Minor Record Company, for which Kooper is CEO. The album is highlighted by two new songs on which he collaborated with the legendary lyricist Gerry Goffin.

During 2007 Kooper also garnered two individual honors: he was honored in New York by the Mix Foundation with the Les Paul Award, receiving an autographed Les Paul guitar from the great man, who was present for the ceremonies. Shortly thereafter, on the Sunset Strip in Los Angeles, Kooper dipped his hands in cement in the Rock Walk of Fame during festivities that also honored Otis Redding and the Mamas & the Papas.

Perhaps closest to Kooper's heart, however, is the scholarship that Berklee formed in his name: The Al Kooper It Can Happen Fund assists handicapped students in overcoming any difficulties that would prevent them from attending Berklee. "They do a great job," says Kooper, "and I'm very proud of what has been accomplished thus far."

As he prepares to embark on his sixth musical decade, Kooper reflects with typical straightforwardness, and speaks of BMI's significance in his career: "I've been ripped off voluminously by record companies, managers, etc. I always thought of BMI as the cavalry, coming to rescue me from a hand-to-mouth existence. When times were really tight, and it seemed as if the end might be around the corner, that BMI check would come crashing through the mail slot and bring me back to the real world. To this day, I could not exist without it."

Legend Bobby Rush earned four nominations this year, including Artist of the Year nods in both Acoustic and Soul Blues categories. Rush is the first artist to ever garner simultaneous Artist of the Year nominations in the two separate categories - a reflection of his distinct acoustic and soul revue performances witnessed throughout 2007. His aptly titled Raw album also snagged an Acoustic Album of the Year nod.

"Queen of the Blues" Koko Taylor also secured four nominations. The Grammy-award winning chanteuse recorded her 2007 release,Old School, after a seven year recording hiatus. Taylor's welcome return cured her aching absence and garnered the icon nods in Album, Song and Traditional Blues Female Artist of the Year categories.

Omar Kent Dykes & Jimmie Vaughan'sOn the Jimmy Reed Highway snagged three prestigious nominations, including Album of the Year. Singer Dykes, frontman of Omar & The Howlers, and guitarist Vaughn, co-founder of blues rockers The Fabulous Thunderbirds, collaborated to pay homage to revered bluesman Jimmy Reed.

Nick Moss & the Flip Tops also garnered three nods. Their project,Play It 'Til Tomorrow, earned an Album of the Year nomination, while the group itself is up for Band of the Year, and frontman Nick Moss received a Guitarist of the Year nod.

My Life, My Friends, My Music by Sugar Ray & the Bluetones also received an Album of the Year nomination, while frontman Sugar Ray Norcia snagged an Instrumentalist of the Year nod in the Harmonica category. The band's tune "The Last Words of A Fool" also numbers among the prestigious Song of the Year nominees.

Eclectic artist Lurrie Bell also earned three nominations. Bell received individual nods in the Guitarist and Traditional Blues Male Artist of the Year categories, while he also shares a nomination with his late father, legendary harpist Carey Bell, in the newly created DVD category. The DVD, entitledGettin' Up: Live at Buddy Guy's Legends, captures a stunning live performance by the father and son.

Online voting began December 13 for members. For voting, ticket and host hotel information, please visit blues.org.

The Blues Music Awards are universally recognized as the highest honor given to Blues artists.  The presenting sponsor will once again be The Gibson Foundation.  In 2008, the State of Mississippi, the Tunica Convention and Visitors Bureau and the Grand Casino and Resort are also sponsoring the Blues Music Awards.  The Blues Music Awards are also sponsored by BMI, Casey Family Programs, Eagle Rock Entertainment, FedEx and the Sierra Nevada Brewing Company.

ALL BMI 2008 BLUES MUSIC AWARDS NOMINEES

Acoustic Album of the Year
Bobby Rush -Raw
Dave Riley and Bob Corritore -Travelin' the Dirt Road
Fruteland Jackson -Tell Me What You Say
Jimmy "Duck" Holmes -Done Got Tired Of Tryin'

Acoustic Artist of the Year
Bobby Rush
Doug MacLeod
Eric Bibb
Fruteland Jackson
Guy Davis
Mary Flower

Album of the Year
Koko Taylor -Old School
Nick Moss & the Flip Tops -Play It 'Til Tomorrow
Omar Kent Dykes & Jimmie Vaughan -On the Jimmy Reed Highway
Sugar Ray & the Bluetones -My Life, My Friends, My Music

B.B. King Entertainer of the Year
Bobby Rush
Janiva Magness
Tommy Castro

Band of the Year
Lil' Ed & the Blues Imperials
Magic Slim & the Teardrops
Mannish Boys
Nick Moss & the Flip Tops

Best New Artist Debut
Gina Sicilia -Allow Me to Confess
John Nemeth -Magic Touch

Contemporary Blues Album of the Year
Bryan Lee -Katrina Was Her Name
Tommy Castro -Painkiller

Contemporary Blues Female Artist of the Year
Candye Kane
Debbie Davies

Contemporary Blues Male Artist of the Year
Kim Wilson
Ronnie Baker Brooks
Tab Benoit

DVD
Carey & Lurrie Bell -Gettin' Up: Live at Buddy Guy's Legends
Kenny Wayne Shepherd -10 Days Out: Blues from the Backroads
Pinetop Perkins -Born in the Honey
Son Seals -A Journey through the Blues - The Son Seals Story
Willie King -Down in the Woods

Historical Album of the Year
Blind Pig -The Essential Magic Slim - Magic Slim
Blue Witch -House Rockin' and Blues Shoutin' - Various Artists
Delmark -Kidney Stew Is Fine - Eddie "Cleanhead" Vinson
Delmark -Steady Rollin' Man - Robert Jr. Lockwood
Epic/Legacy -Breakin' It Up, Breakin' It Down - Muddy Waters, Johnny Winter

Instrumentalist-Bass
Bill Stuve
Bob Stroger
Calvin "Fuzz" Jones
Jeff Turmes
Larry Taylor
Michael "Mudcat" Ward

Instrumentalist-Drums
Jimi Bott
Richard Innes

Instrumentalist-Guitar
Bob Margolin
Duke Robillard
Kid Ramos
Lurrie Bell
Nick Moss

Instrumentalist-Harmonica
Carey Bell
Kim Wilson
Mark Hummel
Sugar Ray Norcia

Instrumentalist-Horn
Big James Montgomery
Calvin Owens
Deanna Bogart
Doug James
Kaz Kazanoff

Instrumentalist-Other
Gerry Hundt - Mandolin
Johnny Sansone - Accordion
Otis Taylor - Banjo
Robert Randolph - Pedal Steel
Sonny Rhodes - Lap Steel

Pinetop Perkins Piano Player of the Year
Ann Rabson
Bruce Katz
David Maxwell
Henry Butler
Honey Piazza

Song of the Year
'Gonna Buy Me a Mule' - Koko Taylor, Koko Taylor -Old School
'Jimmy Reed Highway' - Omar Kent Dykes & Steve Callif, Omar Dykes & Jimmie Vaughan -On the Jimmy Reed Highway
'Poor Man's Paradise' - Johnny Sansone, Johnny Sansone -Poor Man's Paradise
'The Last Words of A Fool' - Sugar Ray Norcia, Sugar Ray & the Bluetones -My Life, My Friends, My Music

Soul Blues Album of the Year
Eugene Hideaway Bridges -Eugene Hideaway Bridges
Holmes Brothers -State of Grace
Mem Shannon -A Night at Tipitina's
Root Doctor -Change Our Ways
Tad Robinson -A New Point of View

Soul Blues Female Artist of the Year
Denise LaSalle
Irma Thomas
Sharon Jones
Sista Monica Parker

Soul Blues Male Artist of the Year
Bobby Rush
Eugene Hideaway Bridges
Jackie Payne
Mem Shannon
Tad Robinson

Traditional Blues Female Artist of the Year
Koko Taylor
Ruthie Foster
Sharrie Williams

Traditional Blues Album of the Year
Big George Brock -Live at Seventy Five
Darrell Nulisch -Goin' Back to Dallas
Koko Taylor -Old School
Nappy Brown -Long Time Coming
Omar Kent Dykes & Jimmie Vaughan -On the Jimmy Reed Highway

Traditional Blues Male Artist of the Year
Bob Margolin
Hubert Sumlin
Lurrie Bell
Magic Slim
Nappy Brown
Phillip Walker

Turner, a BMI songwriter, was born November 5, 1931 in Clarksdale Mississippi where he received his first exposure to the music industry at local radio station WROX, assisting deejays. Growing up around Delta musicians inspired him to form a group called the Kings of Rhythm, which scored with their rhythm & blues hit “Rocket 88.” He later became a session guitarist, adding producer, songwriter, and talent scout to his resume during his employment at RPM/Modern Records. Turner worked with B.B. King, Bobby (Blue) Bland, and Otis Rush, among other blues and r&b musicians.

In 1958, while performing at a local nightclub in St. Louis, he discovered Anna Mae Bullock, who joined his group and became the focal point as Tina Turner. The Ike and Tina Turner Revue had a string of top 10 r&b hits with “A Fool in Love,” “It’s Gonna Work Out Fine” and “I Idolize You.” In 1971, they won a Grammy for Best R&B Vocal Performance by a Group for their cover of Creedence Clearwater Revival’s “Proud Mary.”

Ike and Tina’s well-documented personal and professional relationship ended in 1975, commencing a trend of public misfortunes for Ike. Turner’s luck changed with a career revival in 2001 coinciding with the release of his Grammy-nominated album Here and Now, the reformation of the Kings of Rhythm, and a 2006 Grammy for Best Traditional Blues Album for his last recording, Risin’ With the Blues. He was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 1991.

Turner is survived by five children: sons Ronald, Michael, and Ike Jr., and daughters Mia and Twanna.

A number of jazz masters were honored in various categories: Sonny Rollins (Tenor Saxophonist), Keith Jarrett (Pianist), Wayne Shorter (Soprano Saxophonist), Roy Haynes (Drummer), Joe Zawinul (Electric Keyboard & Synthesizer Player), Bobby Hutcherson (Vibist), James Moody (Flutist) and Toots Thielemans (Miscellaneous Instrumentalist). B.B. King was also honored as Blues Artist/Group of the Year.

Many of the most accomplished young lions received honors: Kurt Elling (Male Vocalist), Poncho Sanchez (Percussionist), Dave Douglas (Trumpeter), Steve Turre (Trombonist), Gary Smulyan (Baritone Saxophonist), Don Byron (Clarinetist), Joey DeFrancesco (Organist). The innovative blues performer Otis Taylor won Blues Album of the Year for Definition of a Circle.

For complete coverage of the awards, consult downbeat.com.

The event was held on May 10th at the Cook Convention Center in Memphis, Tennessee before an enthusiastic crowd. In addition to the awards ceremony, more than25 performances by leading blues musicians took place over nearly 8 hours of dynamic entertainment.

The evening’s top winner of the night was Memphis native son and harmonica wizard Charlie Musselwhite. His current release, Delta Hardware, won Album of the Year and Traditional Blues Album of the Year, while the track “Church Is Out” was named Song of the Year; Musselwhite won Best Instrumentalist –Harmonica as well.

Other multiple winners included two Louisiana leading lights: Big Easy vocalist Irma Thomas won Soul Blues Female Artist of the Year and Soul Blues Album of the Year for her current release, After the Rain. Guitarist Tab Benoit took home Contemporary Blues Artist of the Year and B.B. King was named Entertainer of the Year. Both Thomas and Benoit spoke of the on-going need for support of those in their home state, still devastated by the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.

The complete list of winners follows. For further information on the Blues Music Awards and the Blues Foundation consult http://www.blues.org

2007 Blues Music Awards Recipients

Charlie Musselwhite
Album of the Year: Delta Hardware
Traditional Blues Album of the Year: Delta Hardware
Song of the Year: “Church Is Out”
Instrumentalist: Harmonica

Irma Thomas
Soul Blues Album of the Year: After the Rain
Soul Blues Female Artist of the Year

Tab Benoit
B. B. King Entertainer of the Year
Contemporary Blues Male Artist of the Year

Jerry Lee Lewis
Comeback Album of the Year: Last Man Standing

Robert Lockwood, Jr.
Traditional Blues Male Artist of the Year

Etta James
Traditional Blues Female Artist of the Year

David “Honeyboy” Edwards
Acoustic Blues Artist of the Year

Rory Block
Acoustic Blues Album of the Year: The Lady and Mr. Johnson

Marcia Ball
Pinetop Perkins Piano Player of the Year

Bobby Rush
Soul Blues Male Artist of the Year

John Lee Hooker
Historical Album of the Year: Hooker

Guitar Shorty
Contemporary Blues Album of the Year: We The People

Janiva Magness
Contemporary Blues Female Artist of the Year

Hubert Sumlin
Instrumentalist: Guitar

Willie “Big Eyes” Smith
Instrumentalist: Drums

Eddie Shaw
Instrumentalist – Horn

Robert Randolph
Instrumentalist – Other

Slick Ballinger
Best New Artist Debut Album

Lil’ Ed & the Blues Imperials
Band of the Year

Frances W. Preston has come a long way since her position as receptionist at WSM radio station, which she left in 1958 to open a southern regional office of Broadcast Music, Inc. (BMI) in Nashville. There Preston issued performing rights licenses for songwriters and music publishers, and she quickly led BMI to a position of preeminence in the south. In 1964, the year the BMI building opened on Music Row, Preston became a Vice President. Quickly moving up the ranks, she served as President and CEO of BMI from 1986 to 2004, during which time the company’s revenue more than tripled to over $673 million. Under her leadership, BMI enjoyed a consistent record of increasing revenues and royalty distributions to its more than 300,000 songwriters, composers and music publishers. She has been inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame and the Gospel Music Hall of Fame and a Trustees Award for Lifetime Achievement by the Recording Academy, the President’s Award from the Nashville Songwriters Association International, the President's Award from the National Music Publishers' Association, and the City of Hope "Spirit of Life" Award. She has twice received a Humanitarian Award from the International Achievement in Arts Awards in New York. Photos highlighting Frances Preston’s prolific career can be enjoyed above.

In a career that has spanned nearly five decades, and with millions of records sold, The Crickets are unquestionably "The American Rock and Roll Band." The group was formed in 1957 in Lubbock, Texas by Buddy Holly, J. I. Allison, Niki Sullivan and Joe B. Mauldin. After Sullivan and Holly left the group, Sonny Curtis joined to form the ever-popular trio. Their hits "That’ll Be the Day," "Peggy Sue," "Maybe Baby" and "I Fought the Law" are rock classics considered by many to be primary lessons in how rock music should be written and played. In the mid '70s, the three moved to Tennessee where they continued their long association with Waylon Jennings and began touring and recording with him. Their latest release, The Crickets and Their Buddies, was partly recorded in Nashville and features Eric Clapton, Rodney Crowell, Nanci Griffith, Waylon Jennings and John Prine, to name a few. This induction is a fitting tribute to a band who literally defined rock and roll music, and who today, after 50 years, continues to set the standard of excellence by which it should be judged.

John Hiatt wrote his first top-40 hit, "Sure as I'm Sitting Here," while working as a songwriter for Tree Music Publishing in Nashville. The song was covered by Three Dog Night, and in 1974 the band took the song to No. 16 on the Billboard chart. Since then, Hiatt's songs have been recorded by a number of artists including Bob Dylan, Bonnie Raitt, Eric Clapton, B.B. King, Willie Nelson, Jimmy Buffet and Rosanne Cash, to name a few. Hiatt has released 18 studio albums and two live albums, and he has been nominated for 11 Grammy Awards. His 1987 hit "Have a Little Faith in Me" brought him national attention and was covered by several artists, with the most notable versions being recorded by Jewel, Mandy Moore and Joe Cocker. Hiatt has written and recorded duets with respected vocalists like Bonnie Raitt ("Thing Called Love"), Emmylou Harris ("Icy Blue Heart"), Rosanne Cash ("The Way We Make a Broken Heart"), Suzy Boggus ("Drive South") and B.B. King & Eric Clapton ("Riding with the King"). A musician's musician, Hiatt has proven to everyone that he has what it takes to be an all-around great singer/songwriter.

Created in the fall of 2006, the Music City Walk of Fame on Nashville's Music Mile will be a landmark tribute to those from all genres of music who have made significant contributions to preserving the musical heritage of Nashville and have contributed to the world through song or other industry collaboration.

Permanent sidewalk medallions made of stainless steel and terrazzo, with each honoree's name displayed in a star-and-guitar design, will be installed in the sidewalk along the Music Mile, the roughly one-mile stretch of Demonbreun Street from 4th Avenue South to the Music Row Roundabout at 16th Avenue South. The plaques for this class of inductees will be inlaid in Hall of Fame Park on Demonbreun, between 4th and 5th Avenues South.

About the Music City Walk of Fame The Music City Walk of Fame is an official project of Music City, Inc., the Nashville Convention & Visitors Bureau's 501(c)(3) foundation; Sandra Fulton, chair. The Music City Walk of Fame is produced with the support of Gibson Guitar, Great American Country, the City of Nashville and Metro Parks.

Charlie Musselwhite	Nick Moss	Guy Davis

Leading the list of BMI blues giants was harp player Charlie Musselwhite, who took home an impressive five nominations that included Album of the Year and Traditional Blues Album of the Year for his acclaimed Delta Hardware, as well as Song of the Year for "Church Is Out."

Irma Thomas	Big George Brock	Bobby Rush

Guitarist Nick Moss and his band the Flip Flops earned four nods, including Band of the Year and an individual mention for Moss in the instrumentalist catagory. Coming in with three nominations apiece were Guy Davis, Lil' Ed, Janiva Magness, Irma Thomas and Big George Brock, who is up for Traditional Blues Male Artist of the Year.

James Hunter	Marcia Ball	Kim Wilson

Double nominees included acoustic blues artist Rory Block, veteran harpist Bobby Rush, British newcomer James Hunter (PRS), singer/pianist Marcia Ball and harmonica master Kim Wilson.

R&B pioneer Ruth Brown, who died Nov. 17, 2006, was posthumously nominated for Traditional Blues Female Artist of the Year, along with singing legend Etta James and Chicago blues vocalist Zora Young.

BMI's 2007 Blues Music Award Nominees

Acoustic Album of the Year
Bob Brozman - Blues Reflex
Guy Davis - Skunkmello
Rory Block - The Lady and Mr. Johnson

Acoustic Artist of the Year
David "Honeyboy" Edwards
Paul Oscher
Rory Block
Guy Davis

Album of the Year
Charlie - Delta Hardware
Irma Thomas - After the Rain
Janiva Magness - Do I Move You?
Nick Moss & the Flip Tops - Live at Chan's

B.B. King Entertainer of the Year
Bobby Rush
Tab Benoit
Lil' Ed

Band of the Year
Lil' Ed & the Blues Imperials
Nick Moss & the Flip Tops
Magic Slim & the Teardrops

Best New Artist Debut
James Hunter (PRS) - People Gonna Talk
Slick Ballinger - Mississippi Soul

Comeback Album of the Year
Chicago Bob Nelson - Flyin' Too High
Jeremy Spencer - Precious Little
Jerry Lee Lewis - Last Man Standing

Contemporary Blues Female Artist of the Year
Marcia Ball
EG Kight
Barbara Blue
Janiva Magness
Shemekia Copeland

Contemporary Blues Album of the Year
Janiva Magness - Do I Move You?
Guitar Shorty - We the People
John Mooney - Big Ol' Fiya

Contemporary Blues Male Artist of the Year
Kim Wilson
Tab Benoit
Guitar Shorty
Ronnie Baker Brooks

Historical Album of the Year
Junior Wells - Live at Theresa's 1975
Hollywood Fats Band - Larger Than Life
Otis Rush - All Your Love I Miss Loving (Live at the Wise Fools Pub
Chicago)
Freddie King - Live at the Electric Ballroom 1974
John Lee Hooker - Hooker

Instrumentalist-Bass
Bob Stroger
Bill Stuve

Instrumentalist-Drums
Willie "Big Eyes" Smith
Richard Innes

Instrumentalist-Guitar
Duke Robillard
Kid Ramos
Lurrie Bell
Nick Moss
Guitar Shorty
Hubert Sumlin

Instrumentalist-Harmonica
Charlie Musselwhite
Kim Wilson
Mark Hummel
Billy Branch
Big George Brock
James Harman
Mitch Kashmar

Instrumentalist-Horn
Deanna Bogart
Kaz Kazanoff
Calvin Owens
Eddie Shaw
Doug James
Greg Piccolo

Instrumentalist-Other
Robert Randolph - Steel Guitar
Otis Taylor - Banjo
Guy Davis - Banjo

Pinetop Perkins Piano Player of the Year
Mitch Woods
Marcia Ball
Floyd Dixon
Henry Butler
Dr. John
Honey Piazza

Song of the Year
"Icicles in My Meat Loaf" - Ed Williams, Lil' Ed & the Blues Imperials
"Church is Out" - Charlie Musselwhite, Charlie Musselwhite
"Baptized in Dirty Water" - Chris Thomas King, Chris Thomas King

Soul Blues Album of the Year
Frankie Lee - Standing at the Crossroads
Irma Thomas - After the Rain
Jackie Payne & Steve Edmonson Band - Master of the Game
Johnny Rawls - Heart & Soul
Calvin Owens Blues Orchestra - I Ain't Gonna Be Your Dog No More
James Hunter (PRS) - People Gonna Talk
Trudy Lynn - I'm Still Here

Soul Blues Female Artist of the Year
Irma Thomas
Trudy Lynn
Sugar Pie DeSanto

Soul Blues Male Artist of the Year
Bobby Rush
Frankie Lee
Mighty Sam McClain
Solomon Burke
Jackie Payne

Traditional Blues Album of the Year
Charlie Musselwhite - Delta Hardware
Nick Moss & the Flip Tops - Live at Chan's
Big George Brock - Round Two

Traditional Blues Female Artist of the Year
Zora Young
Etta James
Ruth Brown

Traditional Blues Male Artist of the Year
Charlie Musselwhite
Robert Lockwood, Jr.
Big George Brock