The Maple Blues Awards are Canada’s blues awards, "honouring the finest in Canadian blues". They are the only comprehensive national best in blues awards program. The program's goal is to promote blues music across Canada, and to recognize outstanding achievement. The Maple Blues Awards have been presented by the Toronto Blues Society since their inception in 1997.
The nominees are selected by a distinguished panel of some 50+ blues experts. The panel includes radio hosts, journalists, and festival organizers regionally distributed across Canada. Members of the Nominating Panel are not eligible for any of the awards.
Nominees are voted for by blues fans from across the country. In 2011, the voting process was altered, and the Instrument categories (guitar, harmonica, piano/keyboards, horn, drums & bass) were voted on by the Nominating Panel. The remainder of the categories were voted on by the public.
The winners of the Maple Blues Awards are announced at the Annual Maple Blues Awards Gala in Toronto. This evening is Canada's national annual celebration of homegrown blues talent. The evening also includes musical performances by the Maple Blues Band, composed entirely of Maple Blues Awards winners and nominees.
Read more about Maple Blues Awards: Current Award Categories
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Unloved, the sun-flower, shining fair,
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With summer spice the humming air;”
—Alfred Tennyson (1809–1892)
“It is from the blues that all that may be called American music derives its most distinctive character.”
—James Weldon Johnson (1871–1938)