20th Annual Maple Blues Awards

Nominees and Winners Event Details Nominating Panel

Nominees and Winners

Congratulations to everyone who won at this year’s Maple Blues Awards! Winner names are highlighted in *BOLD in the nominee list below.

Entertainer of the Year

Angel Forrest
Cécile Doo-Kingué
Matt Andersen
MonkeyJunk
*The Paul DesLauriers Band

Electric Act of the Year

David Gogo
MonkeyJunk
*The Paul DesLauriers Band
Steve Hill
The 24th Street Wailers

Acoustic Act of the Year

Al Lerman
*Big Dave McLean
Harrison Kennedy
Jimmy Bowskill & Carlos del Junco
Tim Williams

Male Vocalist of the Year

Duane Blackburn
Harpdog Brown
Harrison Kennedy
John Mays
*Matt Andersen

Female Vocalist of the Year

*Angel Forrest
Dawn Tyler Watson
Samantha Martin
Shakura S’Aida
Suzie Vinnick

New Artist of the Year

Andre Bisson
Blue Moon Marquee
Debra Power
Mark Crissinger
*Spencer MacKenzie

Recording/Producer of the Year

*Angel Forrest – Angel’s 11 (Morningstar); Producers: Angel Forrest & Denis Coulombe
David Gogo – Vicksburg Call (Cordova Bay); Producer: The Pérignon Partnership
David Vest – Devestatin’ Rhythm (Ark-O-Matic); Producers: David Vest & Gary Kendall
Dawn Tyler Watson – Jawbreaker! (Self); Producers: François Thiffault
Harpdog Brown – Travelin’ with the Blues (Dog House Records); Producer: Little Victor

International Artist of the Year

Beth Hart
*Joe Bonamassa
Shemekia Copeland
Tedeschi Trucks Band
Mavis Staples

Guitarist of the Year

Colin James
*David Gogo
Paul DesLauriers
Steve Hill
Tim Williams

Harmonica Player of the Year

Carlos del Junco
*Harpdog Brown
Jerome Godboo
Roly Platt
Steve Marriner

Piano/Keyboard Player of the Year

David Vest
Duane Blackburn
Jesse O’Brien
*Kenny “Blues Boss” Wayne
Michael Kaeshammer

Horn Player of the Year

Al Lerman
Chris Whiteley
*Frankie Thiffault (Ben Racine Band)
Jon Wong
Mat “Moose” Mousseau (Ben Racine Band)

Drummer of the Year

Chris Nordquist
Lindsay Beaver (The 24th Street Wailers)
Matt Sobb
*Sam Harrisson (The Paul DesLauriers Band)
Tom Bona

Bassist of the Year

Alan Duffy
Alec Fraser
Gary Kendall
*Greg Morency (The Paul DesLauriers Band)
John Dymond (Colin Linden)

Songwriter of the Year

*Angel Forrest & Denis Coulombe
Cécile Doo-Kingué
Paul Reddick & Colin Cripps
Ross Neilsen
Sugar Brown

Blues With A Feeling (Lifetime Achievement)

*Stephen Barry
Diana Braithwaite
Danny Brooks
Michael Jerome Browne
Michael Fonfara
Alec Fraser
Tom Lavin
Ellen McIlwaine
Joe Murphy
Brent Parkin
Ken Whiteley

Event Details

The 20th Annual Maple Blues Awards was held at the Royal Conservatory of Music’s Koerner Hall onMonday, January 23rd, 2017 at 7:00pm in Toronto.

Performers

Each year, attendees of the Maple Blues Awards Gala enjoy performances from a selection of current nominees, accompanied by the always popular Maple Blues Band. This year’s performers will be announced in November 2016 once the nominees have been determined.

Member Discount

TBS Charter/Family/Student/Benefactor Members can access best available seats for $35. Please contact us to retrieve the required promo code.

Media

For media inquiries, please download and fill in the Media Accreditation Request. Media requests must be submitted to Sarah French by January 9, 2017.

Attire

The Maple Blues Awards is a gala event. Formal attire is encouraged but not required.

2016 MAPLES BLUES AWARDS NOMINATING PANEL

The Nominating Panel consists of industry professionals from across Canada who volunteer their time to participate.

NAME	ORGANIZATION \| PROGRAM & STATION	CITY	PROV
Vince Almond	CFBX	Kamloops	BC
Brant Zwicker*	At the Crossroads (syndicated)	Kamloops	BC
William “Billieboy” Lucas	CHLY	Nanaimo	BC
Earl Krushelnicki	Blues Underground Network	Prince George	BC
Rod Dranfield	White Rock Blues Society	Surrey	BC
Brent Morrison	Rockin’ Blues (CJSF \| CJMP)	Vancouver	BC
Paul Norton	CFRO \| CiTR	Vancouver	BC
Ron Simmonds	CFRO	Vancouver	BC
Cindy McLeod	Calgary Blues Music Association \| The Blues Witness (CJSW)	Calgary	AB
Cam Hayden	The Friday Night Blues Party (CKUA)	Edmonton	AB
Chris Martin	Saturday Night Blues (CBC)	Edmonton	AB
Peter North	Dead Ends & Detours (CKUA)	Edmonton	AB
Grant Stovel	CJSR \| CKUA	Edmonton	AB
Jeff Corbett	Redbeard’s Blues (CJTR)	Regina	SK
Gord MacAulay	Canadian Blues Alliance	Saskatoon	SK
Al Wood	Saskatoon Blues Society	Saskatoon	SK
Ronnie Lindsay	Bluesday on Tuesday (CKUW)	Winnipeg	MB
Paul Panchezak	Breakfast of Champions (CFMU)	Hamilton	ON
Ken Wallis	Blues Blast (The HAWK)	Hamilton	ON
Claude Cloutier	Kitchener Blues Festival	Kitchener	ON
Bruce Hall	Grand River Blues Society	Kitchener	ON
Larry Kurtz	Orangeville Blues & Jazz Festival	Orangeville	ON
Liz Sykes	Ottawa Blues Society	Ottawa	ON
Deborah Cartmer	CFBU	St. Catharines	ON
Phil Hordy	Thunder Bay Blues Society	Thunder Bay	ON
Julie Hill	Blue Remedy (Radio Regent \| Blues and Roots Radio)	Toronto	ON
Eric Thom	Freelance Music Journalist	Toronto	ON
John Valenteyn*	John’s Blues Picks (Maple Blues) \| John Valenteyn’s Blues (CIUT)	Toronto	ON
Yannick Lambert	Donnacona Blues Festival	Donnacona	QC
Debra Thornington	Ottawa Blues Society \| Dawg’On Blues (DAWG)	Gatineau	QC
Alexandre Petit	Viree Blues Boreale	Hull	QC
John Detcheverry	Cha Cha In Blue (CKUT)	Montreal	QC
Daisy Hanna	Montreal Blues Society	Montreal	QC
Phil Brisse	Montreal Blues Society	Montreal	QC
Randy Renaud	The Black Cat Alley (CHOM)	Montreal	QC
Greg Torrington	The Blues (Stingray Music)	Montreal	QC
Michel Dubois	Rue D’Auteuil (CKRL)	Quebec	QC
Louis Brunet	CKMN	Rimouski	QC
Jean Sicotte	Les Productions Kazou	Sutton	QC
Bob Mersereau	CBC Radio One	Fredericton	NB
Roger Jean	Rosie’s Juke Joint (CHSR)	Fredericton	NB
Conrad Mead	95.7 The Wolf	Fredericton	NB
Yanick Theriault	Cigare & Whiskey (CFBO)	Grand Moncton	NB
Sandy MacDonald	Freelance Music Journalist	Halifax	NS
Gene Bellows	Blues in the Night (VOBB)	Bonne Bay	NL
Terry Parsons*	Blind Lemon Radio (CHMR)	St. John’s	NL

*The panel is lead by a steering committee consisting of John Valenteyn, Brant Zwicker and Terry Parsons.