Music Awards Honor Blues Artists

May 26, 2011

The 32nd Annual Blues Music Awards were handed out in Memphis, Tennessee on May 5. The evening had some big winners while the Blues Hall of Fame gained some new members

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Guitar master Buddy Guy took home five Blues Music Awards, including Song of the Year and Album of the Year, “Living Proof.” He also won for Contemporary Blues Album, Contemporary Blues Artist and Entertainer of the Year.

This year’s inductees into the Blues Hall of Fame, honored during a ceremony on May 4, included Robert Cray, John Hammond, Big Maybelle, Alberta Hunter, J.B. Lenoir, and singer-songwriter Denise LaSalle.

LaSalle, 71, says her sound has always been a mix of blues, soul and R&B, which made her difficult to categorize at the beginning of her career.

“I used to be called an R&B singer and we then we got pushed into a category of blues singer," she said. "And then the blues people didn’t really want to accept my music as blues. I said, ‘What am I then?’ So, we got the title ‘soul blues’ and we went ahead with soul blues. And then I started doing more and more blues, and everybody started saying, ‘Hey, you’re a blues singer.’ I said, ‘Well, I’ll be a blues singer. It’s alright with me.’”

Denise LaSalle is best-remembered for her 1971 million-selling single, “Trapped By A Thing Called Love,” a hit, she says, because of some last minute advice in the studio from legendary producer Willie Mitchell.