About Maple Blues Awards

 

25th Annual Maple Blues Awards

Monday June 20th, 2022   7pm

Koerner Hall
273 Bloor St W, Toronto
Tickets start at $35

BUY TICKETS HERE 

 

Koerner Hall Hosts 25th Annual Edition with Sue Foley, Crystal Shawanda, Kat Danser, Colin Linden, and Bobby Dean Blackburn Toronto Blues Society is announcing a stellar line-up of blues artists from across Canada as the 25th Maple Blues Awards return to Koerner Hall in Toronto  Hosted by Ottawa’s Angelique Francis, Canada’s biggest night in blues music will feature performances from five Maple Blues Award nominees including Bobby Dean Blackburn, who is nominated for the Blues With A Feeling (Lifetime Achievement) award, multiple nominee Sue Foley, who is up for Entertainer of the Year, Electric Act of the Year, Songwriter of the Year, Recording/Producer of the Year, and Guitarist of the Year. Also set to grace the stage are Female Vocalist of the Year nominee Crystal Shawanda, Songwriter of the Year nominee Kat Danser, and Colin Linden, who is nominated for Recording/Producer of the Year and Songwriter of the Year. These incredible blues artists will be supported by the award gala’s house band, The Maple Blues Band, who have been a cornerstone of the annual Maple Blues Awards Ceremony since 1999. The Maple Blues Band features a who’s who of musicians including the ceremony’s musical director and bandleader Gary Kendall on bass, Teddy Leonard on lead guitar, Al Lerman on harmonica & acoustic guitar, Howard Moore on trumpet, Jim Casson on drums, Lance Anderson on piano & organ, Alison Young on tenor saxophone, Mei Kelly on trombone. At the 25th annual Maple Blues Awards, The Maple Blues Band will debut a mentorship program by adding a third-year Humber College music student to the group. Roshane Wright, from Kingston, Jamaica will join the rhythm section as a percussionist. Following the gala, the popular after-party and nominee jam will be hosted by Miss Emily and will reunite blues fans and friends after the long months apart.

COVID protocols are strictly in place, with proof of vaccination and valid ID required, with mandatory masks everywhere in the building, including during concerts.

Detailed information will be provided to ticket purchasers prior to the concert dates. Please visit rcmusic.com/performance/covid-19-update for the most up to date information.

Voting for the MAPLE BLUES AWARDS is Now Closed

To see the full list of nominees Click here

www.mapleblues.ca

 

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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. Winners in all categories (excluding the instrumental categories*) are decided by blues fans across Canada. Voting occurs online each November.

Nominating Panel & Steering Committee.  The nominees are selected by a distinguished panel of some 53 blues experts who form the MBA Nominating Panel. Co-chaired by the steering committee consisting of Cindy McLeod, Terry Parsons, Yanick Theriault, 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.

The Maple Blues Award winners will be announced on January 31, 2022 at the LIVE Maple Blues Award Show to be held at Koerner Hall in Toronto. Tickets are on sale now at https://www.rcmusic.com/events-and-performances .

*Instrumental Categories.  Winners in the guitar, harmonica, piano/keyboards, horn, drum, and bass categories are not open for public vote. Instrumental or “craft” categories are determined by a panel of experts drawn from the nominating panel.

The Maple Blues Awards program is proudly organized by the Toronto Blues Society. 

MAPLE BLUES AWARDS CHANGES

Toronto Blues Society has received valuable input from the members of the Canadian blues community regarding the Maple Blues Awards procedures and voting process – and have developed policies and protocol to ensure the Maple Blues Award system is responsive and evolving. Please note the following rules:

• Songwriter Of The Year Category: Changes to this category have been made to ensure that the nominated artist(s) has contributed 50% or more towards the song writing on the recent album to be eligible in this category.
• Social Media Advertising Banned: While getting nominated for a Maple Blues Award is a wonderful achievement and excitement, not all of the nominees are regular users of social media or some may not have the budgets to execute a successful advertising campaign to solicit votes. In the pursuit of fairness for all of the nominees and transparency,

• PAID social media advertising by the MBA nominees is BANNED during the public voting period.  Anyone who breaches this rule will be disqualified!

• Regular “thank-you” posts by the nominees as well as reminders to fans for the voting deadline on social media are all still good and will also help us promote the Maple Blues Awards more! Our aim is to prevent manipulation on public voting through sponsored posts (specifically asking for votes) which may cause an inequity as we realize not all the artists may have the same budget.

 

MAPLE BLUES AWARDS APPLICATION PROCESS

There is no application process for the Maple Blues Awards. Nominations are drawn from the expertise of the MBA Nominating Panel. Members of the nominating panel are required to be familiar with Canadian blues artist activity and CD releases. Artists are encouraged to service new releases to all blues radio DJs, journalists and industry professionals across Canada to increase their national profile. The list of the Panel members can be found on our website (bottom of this page) with a link to their organizations.

Recording/Producer Of The Year. Nominated recordings in this category must be released during the eligibility period: September 1, 2020 to September 30, 2021.

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 over the previous year. 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.

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MAPLES BLUES AWARDS NOMINATING PANEL

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

Click here to download the communication sheet for the Panel.

*The panel is led by a steering committee consisting of Cindy McLeod, Brant Zwicker, Yanick Theriault and Terry Parsons.