The Maple Blues Awards
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Winners for The 18th Annual Maple Blues Awards have been announced! | View Winners
ABOUT THE MAPLE BLUES AWARDS
The Maple Blues Awards is Canada’s national blues awards program. Its goal is to promote blues music across Canada, and to recognize outstanding achievement in the field.
The awards program is proudly organized by the Toronto Blues Society.
Steering Committee. The nominees are selected by a distinguished panel of approximately 50 blues experts who form the MBA Nominating Panel. Co-Chaired by the steering committee consisting of Terry Parsons, Yves Trottier, John Valenteyn and Brant Zwicker, the panel includes radio hosts, journalists, and festival organizers regionally distributed across Canada. Members of the Nominating Panel are not eligible for any of the awards.
Instrumental Categories. Winners in all categories, except the instrumental categories, will be selected by blues fans across Canada. Winners in the guitar, harmonica, piano/keyboards, horn, drum, and bass categories will be determined by the Nominating Panel.
APPLICATION PROCESS
There is no “application” for the Maple Blues Awards. Nominations are drawn from the expertise of the nominating panel suggestions. Members of the nominating panel are required to be familiar with Canadian blues artist activity and CD releases. Artists are encouraged to service CDs to all blues radio djs, journalists and industry professional to increase their national profile.
Entertainer Of The Year. Group or artist who showed the most overall success in the previous year. This could include a combination of live performances, touring, airplay, media coverage, and public acceptance.
New Artist Or Group Of The Year. Group or individual, new to the national blues scene, who has made considerable advances artistically and/or commercially during the eligibility period. The nominee should be performing under its/his/her name on a regular basis and must not have been nominated in any Maple Blues Awards category previously. The award recognizes the group or individual.
The Nominating Panel reviews a list of CD releases at the beginning of September which leads to the creation of a ballot published at the beginning of October for public voting.
THE NOMINATING PANEL
The Nominating Panel consists of industry professionals from across Canada:
| NAME | ORGANIZATION | PROGRAM, STATION | CITY |
| Brant Zwicker* | At the Crossroads, syndicated | Kamloops, BC |
| Vince Almond | CFBX | Kamloops, BC |
| William “Billieboy” Lucas | CHLY | Nanaimo, BC |
| Earl Krushelnicki | Blues Underground Network | Prince George, BC |
| Rod Dranfield | White Rock Blues Society | Surrey, BC |
| Ron Simmonds | CFRO | Vancouver, BC |
| Paul Norton | CFRO, CiTR | Vancouver, BC |
| Jim Burnett | Code Blue, CiTR | Vancouver, BC |
| Brent Morrison | Rockin’ Blues, CJSF | Vancouver, BC |
| Cindy McLeod | Calgary Blues Music Association | Calgary, AB |
| Chris Martin | CBC Saturday Night Blues | Edmonton, AB |
| Grant Stovel | CJSR/CKUA | Edmonton, AB |
| Peter North | Dead Ends & Detours, CKUA | Edmonton, AB |
| Gord MacAulay | Canadian Blues Alliance | Saskatoon, SK |
| Al Wood | Saskatoon Blues Society | Saskatoon,SK |
| Ronnie Lindsay | Bluesday on Tuesday, CKUW | Winnipeg, MB |
| Ken Wallis | Blues Blast, The HAWK | Hamilton, ON |
| Paul Panchezak | Breakfast of Champions, CFMU | Hamilton, ON |
| James Doran | Choose The Blues Productions | Kenmore, ON |
| Bruce Hall | Grand River Blues Society | Kitchener, ON |
| Claude Cloutier | Kitchener Blues Festival | Kitchener, ON |
| Vince Vitacco | Everyday I Have the Blues, CHRY | North York, ON |
| Larry Kurtz | Orangeville Blues & Jazz Festival | Orangeville, ON |
| Liz Sykes | Ottawa Blues Society | Ottawa ON |
| Deborah Cartmer | CFBU | St. Catharines, ON |
| Stew Laing | Stew’s Blues | Stratford, ON |
| Phil Hordy | Thunder Bay Blues Society | Thunder Bay, ON |
| Danny Marks | BLUZ-FM, JAZZ.FM | Toronto, ON |
| John Valenteyn* | John Valenteyn’s Blues, CIUT | Toronto, ON |
| Patricia Lever | Midday and Howlin’ Blues (synd), DAWG | Toronto, ON |
| Eric Thom | Music Writer | Toronto, ON |
| Julie Hill | Radio Regent | Toronto, ON |
| Yannick Lambert | Donnacona Blues Festival | Donnacona, QC |
| Yves Trottier* | DAWG | Gatineau, QC |
| Debra Thornington | Ottawa Blues Society | Gatineau, QC |
| John Detcheverry | Cha Cha Cha In Blue, CKUT | Montreal, QC |
| Jean-Pierre Petit | L’Hôtel Du Blues | Montreal, QC |
| Daisy Hanna | Montreal Blues Society | Montreal, QC |
| Randy Renaud | The Black Cat Alley, CHOM | Montreal, QC |
| Greg Torrington | The Blues, Stingray Music | Montreal, QC |
| Michel Dubois | CKRL | Quebec City, QC |
| Louis Brunet | CKMN | Rimouski, QC |
| Jean Sicotte | Les Productions Kazou | Sutton, QC |
| Christian Gamache | Trois Rivieres en Blues | Trois Rivieres, QC |
| Bob Mersereau | CBC Radio One | Fredericton NB |
| Sandy MacDonald | Freelance Music Writer | Halifax, NS |
| Terry Parsons* | Blind Lemon Radio, CHMR | St. John’s, NL |
| Steve Hussey | Fred’s Records | St. John’s, NL |
