Coast to Coast Maple Blues Awards, and Recognition of Toronto’s Downchild Blues Band, Paul Reddick

January 17th, 2006: Blues musicians from across Canada were honoured at the 9th annual Maple Blues Awards held in Toronto on January 16.

The thirty-seven year veteran Downchild Blues Band can now additionally celebrate for receiving three major Maple Blues Awards – Recording of the Year for their release ‘Come On In’, and both Electric Act and Entertainer of the Year for 2005.

The Downchild rhythm section was also honoured – drummer Mike Fitzpatrick, as well as bassist Gary Kendall, who also directed the dynamic 8-piece Maple Blues Band at the entertaining award show which was recorded and broadcast by CIUT-FM.

Toronto’s Paul Reddick took home honours in 2 categories – Songwriter of the Year, of which he has been a previous recipient, as well as Male Vocalist.   Reddick’s recording ‘Villanelle’ also won yet another Producer of the Year award for Juno and Grammy Award winning blues legend Colin Linden, who also hosted the gala event for wall-to wall crowd at the Phoenix Concert Theatre.

Halifax’s Garrett Mason, who provided an electrifying performance as one of the a special musical guests, won the New Artist of the Year Award, a companion for the Juno Award he also received in the past year.  Son of Canadian blues legend Dutch Mason, this second-generation bluesman continues to make an impression worthy of his lineage.

Canada’s west coast was represented by B.C.’s Harry Manx, who was honoured for Acoustic Act of the Year, and Kenny ‘Blues Boss’ Wayne, for the Keyboard Player award.  Both have previously been multiply awarded in these categories.

The warm gathering of the blues community was enthusiastic for the choice of Montreal  chanteuse Dawn Tyler Watson for Female Vocalist of the Year.

Other Toronto winners included veteran blues performers and previous award recipients Jack de Keyzer for Guitarist, multi-instrumentalist Chris Whiteley for Horn Player, and Carlos del Junco for Harmonica Player of the Year, his third consecutive win.

Danny Marks, a guitarist and broadcaster with a long history in Toronto, was honoured with the prestigious Blues With A Feeling award, the Toronto Blues Society’s lifetime achievement award for contribution to blues music in Canada.

The Blues Booster award, a special Maple Blues Award honouring outstanding contribution to the Canadian blues music industry, was awarded to Richard Flohil, for his more than 40 years as a promoter, publicist, journalist, and music-industry fixture.

The International Artist of the Year award went to the best-known blues artist of all, the unstoppable B.B. King, still touring internationally at 80 years of age.

The Maple Blues Awards are Canada’s national programme to promote and recognize outstanding achievement in blues music.  The nominees were chosen by a distinguished panel of blues experts from across Canada, and the winners were selected by the on-line votes of over 2,000 Canadian blues fans.

The Maple Blues Awards are generously supported by FACTOR and the Government of Canada through the Canadian Music Fund, the SOCAN Foundation, the Ontario Arts Council, the Ontario Ministry of Culture, the City of Toronto through the Toronto Arts Council, Cordova Bay Entertainment Group, SOCAN, Galaxie – CBC’s Continuous Music Network, Long & McQuade, Universal Music Canada/Sam the Record Man, Stony Plain Records, Steve’s Music Store, Pearl Drums, Lee Oskar Harmonicas, Fusion 3 Distribution / Justin Time Records, CBC Radio & Saturday Night Blues, St. John’s Music, Yamaha Music Canada, Live Tour Artists, and KMP Designs Inc.

2005 Maple Blues Award Winners:

Recording of the Year: Downchild Blues Band: Come On In (Downchild Music)

Producer of the Year: Colin Linden, for Paul Reddick: Villanelle (NorthernBlues)

Entertainer of the Year: Downchild Blues Band

Electric Act of the Year: Downchild Blues Band

Acoustic Act of the Year: Harry Manx

New Artist/Group of the Year: Garrett Mason

Songwriter of the Year: Paul Reddick

Male Vocalist of the Year: Paul Reddick

Female Vocalist of the Year: Dawn Tyler Watson

Guitarist of the Year: Jack de Keyzer

Harmonica Player of the Year: Carlos del Junco

Keyboard/Piano Player of the Year: Kenny ‘Blues Boss’ Wayne

Horn Player of the Year: Chris Whiteley

Drummer of the Year: Mike Fitzpatrick

Bass Player of the Year: Gary Kendall

Blues Booster of the Year: Richard Flohil

Blues with a Feeling Award: Danny Marks

International Artist of the Year: B.B. King

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For more information, photos, interviews, please contact:

Toronto Blues Society
(416) 538-3885
[email protected]