21st Annual Maple Blues Awards

Nominees and Winners Event Details Nominating Panel PHOTO GALLERY

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

Dawn Tyler Watson
*Paul DesLauriers Band
The Harpoonist & The Axe Murderer
Steve Hill
Angel Forrest

Electric Act of the Year

*Colin James
Steve Hill
Boogie Patrol
Paul DesLauriers Band
Dawn Tyler Watson

Acoustic Act of the Year

Harrison Kennedy
Michael Jerome Browne
*Big Dave McLean
Rob Lutes
Tim Williams

Male Vocalist of the Year

Harrison Kennedy
Duane Blackburn
*Matt Andersen
Donald Ray Johnson
Jon Knight (Soulstack)

Female Vocalist of the Year

Dawn Tyler Watson
*Angel Forrest
Shakura S’Aida
Samantha Martin
Cécile Doo-Kingué

New Artist of the Year

Bad Luck Woman & Her Misfortunes
Earle & Coffin
*Jason Buie
Justin Saladino Band
Lucas Haneman Express

Recording/Producer of the Year

*Blue Highways (True North)
ARTIST: Colin James
PRODUCERS: Colin James & Dave Meszaros

Who U Tellin’ (Electro-Fi)
ARTIST: Harrison Kennedy
PRODUCERS: Harrison Kennedy & Alec Fraser

Monarch (Self)
ARTIST: Chris Antonik
PRODUCERS: Chris Antonik & Ted Onyszczak

Apocalipstick (Self)
ARTIST: The Harpoonist & The Axe Murderer
PRODUCERS: Matthew Rogers, Shawn Hall & John Raham

High Temperature (Solid Blues)
ARTIST: JW-Jones
PRODUCERS: Colin Linden

International Artist of the Year

Rick Estrin & The Nightcats
Gregg Allman
Mavis Staples
Eric Bibb
*Joe Bonamassa

Guitarist of the Year

Cécile Doo-Kingué
*Colin James
Michael Jerome Browne
Paul DesLauriers
Steve Hill

Harmonica Player of the Year

*Guy Bélanger
Harpdog Brown
Jerome Godboo
Shawn Hall
Steve Marriner

Piano/Keyboard Player of the Year

*David Vest
Duane Blackburn
Julian Fauth
Kenny “Blues Boss” Wayne
Michael Kaeshammer

Horn Player of the Year

Chris Whiteley
Frankie Thiffault
*Jon Wong
Mat “Moose” Mousseau
Shirley Jackson

Drummer of the Year

Lindsay Beaver
*Matt Sobb
Nicky Estor
Sam Harrisson
Tom Bona

Bassist of the Year

Alec Fraser
Gary Kendall
Greg Morency
John Dymond
*Laura Greenberg

Songwriter of the Year

Cécile Doo-Kingué
Chris Antonik
Diteodoro, Marriner, Sobb
*Harrison Kennedy
Rob Lutes

Blues With A Feeling (Lifetime Achievement)

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

Event Details

The Maple Blues Awards took place on Monday, January 15th, 2018, at Koerner Hall in Toronto
Click here to see photos from the magical evening.

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
Grant Payne	Nanaimo Blues Society	Nanaimo	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
John Booth	CILU Radio	Thunder Bay	ON
Bob Halvorsen	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 led by a steering committee consisting of John Valenteyn, Brant Zwicker, Yanick Theriault and Terry Parsons.