Bluesnews

"Entertainer Of The Year" og "Band Of The Year" er priser som henger høyt i bluesmiljøet, og er blant de åtte prisene som bandet og bandmedlemmene er nominert til. Rick Estrin & The Nightcats er dessuten nominert i kategoriene "Contemporary Blues Male Artist Of The Year" og "Contemporary Blues Album Of The Year", i tillegg til at Rick Estrin som låtskriver er nominert for "Resentment File" i klassen "Song Of The Year". Bandet stakk også i fjor av med tre priser, i kategoriene "Band of the Year", "Song of the Year" og "Traditional Blues Artist". 
Tre av bandmedlemmene er nominert som instrumentalister. I tillegg til Kid i gitarklassen er også Rick Estrin (i munnspill-klassen) og bandets nye trommeslager, Derrick D'Mar Martin, nominert.

Rick Estrin & The Nightcats, fra v. Rick Estrin, Kid Andersen, Derrick "D'Mar" Martin og Lorenzo Farrel.

Rick Estrin & the Nightcats er den klare "vinneren" blant de nominerte med sine åtte nominasjoner, men rett bak kommer Sugaray Rayford med sine seks. Forrige års "Soul Blues Male Artist" er ikke bare igjen nominert i denne kategorien, men også i "B.B. King Entertainer of the Year", "Soul Blues Album", "Instrumentalist: Vocals", og sammen med Sugaray Rayford Band i klassen "Band of the Year". Låten “Time To Get Movin’,” skrevet av produsenten Eric Corne, er nominert som "Song of the Year".

De andre nominerte i kategorien "Band of the Year" er The Cash Box Kings, Nick Moss Band featuring Dennis Gruenling, Southern Avenue og Sugaray Rayford Band.
I gitarklassen er Californiabosatte Kid Andersen i godt selskap med storheter som “Monster” Mike Welch, Junior Watson, Laura Chavez og Christone “Kingfish” Ingram. Vi krysser fingene for at Kid får sin svært fortjente anerkjennelse når prisene skal deles ut i Memphis 7. mai.

Her er alle nominerte i de 25 kategoriene:

Acoustic Blues Album
Catfish Crawl – Catfish Keith
Confessin’ My Dues – Terry Robb
Good as Your Last Dollar – Fruteland Jackson
Solo Ride – Bruce Katz
This Guitar and Tonight – Bob Margolin

Acoustic Blues Artist
Eric Bibb
Guy Davis
Rhiannon Giddens
Fruteland Jackson
Doug MacLeod

Album of the Year
Church of the Blues – Watermelon Slim
Hail to The Kings! – The Cash Box Kings
Kingfish – Christone “Kingfish” Ingram
The Preacher, The Politician or The Pimp – Toronzo Cannon
Roots and Branches: The Songs of Little Walter – Billy Branch & the Sons of Blues

B.B. King Entertainer of the Year
Billy Branch
Rick Estrin
Sugaray Rayford
Bobby Rush
Mavis Staples

Band of the Year
The Cash Box Kings
The Nick Moss Band featuring Dennis Gruenling
Rick Estrin and the Nightcats
Southern Avenue
Sugaray Rayford Band

Best Emerging Artist Album
Before Me – Ben Levin
Folie a deux – Hudspeth & Taylor
Kingfish – Christone “Kingfish” Ingram
Spectacular Class – Jontavious Willis
Through My Eyes – John “Blues” Boyd

Blues Rock Album
Killin’ It Live – Tommy Castro & The Painkillers
Masterpiece – Albert Castiglia
Reckless Heart – Joanne Shaw Taylor
Survivor Blues – Walter Trout
Up and Rolling – North Mississippi Allstars

Blues Rock Artist
Albert Castiglia
Tommy Castro
Tinsley Ellis
Eric Gales
Walter Trout

Contemporary Blues Album
Contemporary – Rick Estrin and The Nightcats
Don’t Pass Me By: A Tribute to Sean Costello – Various Artists
Kingfish – Christone “Kingfish” Ingram
The Preacher, The Politician or The Pimp – Toronzo Cannon
Venom & Faith – Larkin Poe

Contemporary Blues Female Artist
Diane Blue
Vanessa Collier
Shemekia Copeland
Samantha Fish
Janiva Magness

Contemporary Blues Male Artist
Toronzo Cannon
Gary Clark Jr.
Luther Dickinson
Rick Estrin
Christone “Kingfish” Ingram

Instrumentalist Bass
Willie J. Campbell
Patrick Rynn
Bill Stuve
Larry Taylor
Michael “Mudcat” Ward

Instrumentalist Drums
Tony Braunagel
Cedric Burnside
June Core
Derrick D’Mar Martin
Kenny “Beedy Eyes” Smith

Instrumentalist Guitar
Christoffer “Kid” Andersen
Laura Chavez
Christone “Kingfish” Ingram
Junior Watson
“Monster” Mike Welch

Instrumentalist Harmonica
Billy Branch
Rick Estrin
Dennis Gruenling
Brandon Santini
Kim Wilson

Instrumentalist Horn
Mindi Abair
Jimmy Carpenter
Vanessa Collier
Trombone Shorty
Nancy Wright

Instrumentalist Piano (Pinetop Perkins Piano Player)
Anthony Geraci
Bruce Katz
Dave Keyes
Jim Pugh
Victor Wainwright

Instrumentalist Vocals
Shemekia Copeland
Sugaray Rayford
Curtis Salgado
Mavis Staples
Dawn Tyler Watson

Song of the Year
“Bleach Blonde Bottle Blues,” written by Rebecca Lovell
“Lucky Guy,” written by Nick Moss
“Resentment File,” written by Rick Estrin, Joe Louis Walker, and JoJo Russo
“Time To Get Movin’,” written by Eric Corne
“The Wine Talkin’,” written by Joe Nosek, John Hahn, and Oscar Wilson

Soul Blues Album
Dog Eat Dog – Billy Price
Keep On – Southern Avenue
Real Street – Tad Robinson
Sitting on Top of the Blues – Bobby Rush
Somebody Save Me – Sugaray Rayford

Soul Blues Female Artist
Annika Chambers
Thornetta Davis
Bettye LaVette
Terrie Odabi
Vaneese Thomas

Soul Blues Male Artist
Billy Price
Sugaray Rayford
Tad Robinson
Curtis Salgado
Wee Willie Walker

Traditional Blues Album
Church of the Blues – Watermelon Slim
Hail to the Kings! – The Cash Box Kings
Lucky Guy! – The Nick Moss Band Featuring Dennis Gruenling
Roots and Branches – The Songs of Little Walter – Billy Branch & the Sons of Blues
Spectacular Class – Jontavious Willis

Traditional Blues Female Artist  (Koko Taylor Award)
Rory Block
Sue Foley
Mary Lane
Trudy Lynn
Teeny Tucker

Traditional Blues Male Artist
Lurrie Bell
Billy Branch
John Primer
Jimmie Vaughan
Jontavious Willis