Juno Nominees for blues were just announced: The Blackburn Brothers, Brandon Isaak, Matt Andersen, Michael Jerome Browne and Blue Moon Marquee. Blue Moon Marquee were also nominated in the Indigenous Album category and TBS boarder Julian Taylor was nominated for Roots Album. The JUNOS will be presented in Halifax at the Scotiabank Centre Sunday, March 24 and broadcast on CBC. Tickets to Canada’s Biggest Night in Music on sale now at www.ticketmaster.ca/junos

Grammy winners: In a very successful Grammy telecast, the winners in the blues category were Blood Harmony by Larkin Poe for Best Contemporary Blues Album and All My Love For You by Bobby Rush for Best Traditional Blues Album.

More Kudos: Kitchener radio personality Willy A (aka Bill Alexander), host of The Old Chicago Blues Show on CKWR Waterloo since January 1997 is the recipient of the second annual Grand River Blues Award from the Grand River Blues Society. He has been spinning the Blues in the region for 27 years and still going strong! In 2003, when Willy became a founding member of the Grand River Blues Society, it proved to be the perfect vehicle to help extend the outreach of Blues music into the K-W community and beyond. It is planned for The Grand River Blues Award to be presented to Willy A in the Jazz Room after the Annual General Meeting which will held at The Huether Hotel Jazz Room in Waterloo on Sunday May 5.

Vocal Workshop: Bernadette Connors will be leading a vocal workshop on Sunday, Apr 7 at 1:30 PM at The Lancaster Smokehouse, 574 Lancaster Street West in Kitchener. It will focus on building healthy vocal habits, techniques for warming up and cooling down your voice and developing your breathing. Bernadette’s style is truly authentic and pays no attention to what conformities the industry demands. She had developed a dynamic and expressive vocal range, earnest and emotional lyrics, and playful interpretation of song-craft. The workshop will be followed at 4pm by a performance from The Trainwrecks, winners of the Kitchener Blues Festival’s ‘Youth Legacy’ contest and youth representatives of the Grand River Blues Society at the International Blues Challenge in Memphis. Tix at www.eventbrite.com