Joe Rosen
New York-based photographer Joe Rosen does very well for himself as a commercial photographer shooting ads for American Express and Chase Bank. But his passion lies in photographing the Blues and Jazz musicians whose artistry [...]
Bob Santelli
Respected music writer Santelli (a regular contributor to Rolling Stone, among other publications) would deserve this award for his contributions to Blues literature alone (The Big Book of Blues, The Best of the Blues: The [...]
Leo ‘Tater Red’ Allred
This year’s honoree was born and raised in the Delta town of Ruleville, Mississippi. As a child in the farm fields, he was influenced by the rhythmic chants of the workers as they picked cotton. [...]
Winstar TV and Video
Winstar is a leading independent supplier, in all visual media, of best-of-class programming in three complementary niches: Cinema, Performance and the Arts and Holistic Living. The company distributed Robert Mugge’s pivotal Blues documentary “Deep Blues” [...]
Larry Monroe, Austin, TX
A fixture on Austin’s public radio station KUT FM for more than 20 years, Larry Monroe is the host of one of the longest-running Blues radio shows in the country. And it was all an [...]
Scott Billington
A mainstay at Rounder Records since the late '70s, Billington was originally employed as a graphic artist for the the Boston roots label. But Billington had studio ambitions, and in 1978 he produced Johnny Shines [...]
Blues on Grand
Blues on the Grand is the home of the blues in Des Moines, Iowa. It's a unique combination of location, staff, customers and great owners. The club stage motto is 'No 'Mustang Sally'' (no offense [...]
Revenant Records and John Fahey
Both Revenant, the Nashville reissue label, and the late Fahey, one of the key figures in the Blues revival of the ’60s and a talented musician in his own right, deserve this award for any [...]
Rick Ballew, WRFX, NC
Five years ago, faced with the morgue that is weekend classic rock radio programming, deejay Rick Ballew decided to try something different. On Christmas Day 1996, he took a bunch of Alligator records he just [...]
Monterey International
Monterrey International takes great pride on representing the very best the world has to offer in Rock, Blues, Jazz, Alternative, World, Folks and Roots Rock. The organization currently books such Blues mainstays as Jimmie Vaughan, [...]