B.B. King, Susan Tedeschi, Keb Mo each win 2 Handy Blues Awards

The venerable B.B. King, newcomer Susan Tedeschi, and Keb Mo led a host of traditional and contemporary winners yesterday at the 20th annual W.C. Handy Blues Awards held at the Orpheum Theater in Memphis, Tennessee.

Gibson signature endorsee King won both Entertainer of the Year and Album of the Year for Blues On the Bayou. Ms. Tedeschi won Best Contemporary Female Artist of the Year and Best New Artist. Keb Mo was crowned Contemporary Blues Male Artist of the Year as well as Acoustic Blues Artist of the Year. For a complete list of nominees, winners, and more click here.

Joe Louis Walker hosted the award show along with Rufus Thomas. Ruth Brown was scheduled to host, but had to undergo surgery. She sent a humorous note honoring the winners and poking fun at herself. Joe Louis Walker was nominated for four Handy Awards and performed on stage with legendary rockabilly guitarist Scotty Moore.

Since its inception in 1980, the W.C. Handy Blues Awards have celebrated excellence in performance and recording in the Blues. The awards are named in honor of W.C. Handy, "Father of the Blues." The award ceremony officially opened the W.C. Handy Weekend (May 28-30) sponsored by Gibson Musical Instruments, Budweiser, BMI Music Publishing and Northwest Airlines, The Official Airline of The Blues Foundation.

Friday afternoon, May 28 kicks off with the Handy Winners Walk, as current and previous Handy winners stroll parade-style down Beale Street. The night continues with the Handy Awards festival in the clubs along Beale Street spotlighting Handy nominees. The all-Blues festival will continue Saturday evening with more top Blues talent. The Blues Symposium, the educational component of Handy Weekend is also on Saturday. It will feature panel discussions, a grant workshop and a children's workshop with storytelling and interactive Blues activities. The weekend wraps up on Sunday with the Keeping the Blues Alive Awards Banquet, honoring the non-performers of the Blues industry.

An international group of Blues industry experts, through two rounds of voting, choose the nominations for the W.C. Handy Blues Awards final ballot. Final Ballots are sent to over 26,000 Blues fans world-wide including members of The Blues Foundation and subscribers to Blues Access, Blues Revue and BluePrint (U.K.) magazines

For more information call The Blues Foundation at 901-527-2583 or visit www.blues.org.