Eric Gales, Shemekia Copeland nominated for Blues Music Awards

The 44th installment of the ceremony is scheduled for May 11 in Memphis, Tennessee.

Jan 11, 2023

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) — Singer and harmonica player John Nemeth, vocalist Shemekia Copeland, country blues artist Rory Block and guitarist Eric Gales are among the top nominees for this year’s Blues Music Awards.

The Blues Foundation on Tuesday released the list of nominees for the 44th installment of the awards, which is scheduled for May 11 in Memphis, Tennessee.

Nemeth leads the way with five nominations, including song of the year, band of the year and best traditional blues album.

Eric Gales performs at the Bourbon and Beyond Music Festival on Sept. 16, 2022 in Louisville, Kentucky. The guitarist is nominated for three Blues Music Awards. (Photo by Amy Harris/Invision/AP, File)

Block, Copeland and Gales are each nominated for three awards. Block is up for two awards in acoustic music categories, while Copeland and Gales are in the running for song of the year.

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Gales is also nominated for the B.B. King Entertainer of the Year Award, along with Sugaray Rayford, Tommy Castro, Bobby Rush and Castro Coleman aka Mr. Sipp.

Willie J. Campbell was posthumously nominated in the instrumentalist-bass category. He died in December.

Members of the Memphis-based Blues Foundation vote on the awards.

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