Blues Blast Magazine is a weekly online magazine dedicated to the Blues genre. The magazine provides artist interviews, album reviews, and news. It is the presenter of the annual Blues Blast Music Awards. In 2025, Blues Blast Magazine was honored by The Blues Foundation with a Keeping the Blues Alive Award for its contributions to the genre.
History In 2007, publisher and editor Bob Kieser launched Illinois Blues Blast. The publication began with an email list of approximately 1,000 subscribers. The initial focus was on album reviews and performance schedules for artists in Illinois and the surrounding Midwest. In 2008, the publication was rebranded as Blues Blast Magazine. The shift coincided with the establishment of the annual Blues Blast Music Awards. In 2013, the publication was inducted into the Chicago Blues Hall of Fame.
The magazine is a digital publication distributed weekly. Its editorial content focuses on the contemporary Blues scene and its history. The magazine operates with a staff of over 20 writers and photographers, and has published over 900 consecutive weekly issues, which includes over 5,500 music reviews and 670 artist interviews. The publications is the largest publicly available online repository of Blues information.
Blues Blast Music Awards The Blues Blast Music Awards are an annual set of awards presented by the magazine since 2008. Although the Awards are noted for being the largest fan-voted awards in the Blues genre, its nominees are determined solely by a group of Blues music industry professionals, including music critics, journalists, festival promoters, music venue managers, producers, and musicians.
According to the magazine, the Awards results in two forms of recognition for artists. First, since award nominees represent the "best of" choices from Blues critics, an artist is recognized as having earned the equivalent of a "critics' award" honor by being nominated. Second, because the award winners are determined by the votes of Blues fans, an artist is recognized as having won the equivalent of a "people's choice award" honor in the category they were nominated.
The Awards are hosted at a live ceremony featuring performances from the nominated artists. For its first several years, the ceremony was held at Buddy Guy's Legends in Chicago. In 2023, the 16th annual awards were held for the first time in Peoria, Illinois, at the 3300 Event Center, and served as a fundraising benefit for the Sean Costello Memorial Fund for Bipolar Research. The Awards has also presented the Sean Costello Rising Star Award, which was named in honor of blues musician Sean Costello.
The Awards recognize artists across a wide spectrum of blues sub-genres. In 2024, Rick Estrin & The Nightcats won Contemporary Blues Album for The Hits Keep Coming, in a category that also included nominees Selwyn Birchwood and Anthony Geraci. The award for Traditional Blues Album went to John Primer & Bob Corritore for Crawlin' Kingsnake, with other nominees including Nick Moss and Monster Mike Welch. Christone "Kingfish" Ingram was named Male Blues Artist, and Sue Foley was named Female Blues Artist. Other nominees have include Shemekia Copeland, Bobby Rush, Bai Kamara and Elvin Bishop.
The Awards recognize achievement in the following categories:
Album:
Contemporary Blues Album Traditional Blues Album Soul Blues Album Rock Blues Album Acoustic Blues Album Live Blues Album Historical or Vintage Recording New Artist Debut Album
Artist:
Blues Band of the Year Male Blues Artist Female Blues Artist Sean Costello Rising Star Award
Producer of the Year
Performance:
Electric Guitar Player of the Year Acoustic Guitar Player of the Year Slide Guitar Player of the Year Bass Guitar Player of the Year Keyboard Player of the Year Drummer of the Year Harmonica Player of the Year Horn Player of the Year Vocalist of the Year
Video:
Blues Music Video of the Year
2025 Blues Blast Music Awards On September 20, 2025, Blues Blast announced the following winners of the 2025 Blues Blast Music Awards: Contemporary Blues AlbumTraditional Blues AlbumTommy Castro & The Painkillers – Closer To The Bone Andrew Duncanson – California Trap (feat. Michael Peloquin) Chris Cain – Good Intentions Gone Bad Ronnie Baker Brooks – Blues In My DNA Kid Ramos feat. Brian Templeton and Johnny Ramos – Strange Things Happening Tony Holiday – Keep Your Head UpBobby Rush & Kenny Wayne Shepherd – Young Fashioned Ways Eden Brent – Getaway Blues John Primer – Grown in Mississippi Bob Corritore & Friends – Doin' The Shout Frank Catalano and Lurrie Bell – Set Me Free Bob Stroger & The Headcutters – Bob Is BackSoul Blues AlbumRock Blues AlbumCurtis Salgado – Fine By Me Billy Price – Person Of Interest Tad Robinson – Soul In Blue Sugaray Rayford – Human Decency The Anthony Paule Soul Orchestra – What Are You Waiting For? Johnny Rawls – Make Them DanceTab Benoit – I Hear Thunder Albert Castiglia – Righteous Souls Ian Siegal Meets Johnny Mastro – Easy Tiger Mike Farris – The Sound of Muscle Shoals Brody Buster – Redemption Matt "The Rattlesnake" Lesch – Blues Cut Like GlassAcoustic Blues AlbumLive Blues AlbumGiles Robson & John Primer – Ten Chicago Blues Classics Johnny Iguana – At Delmark Prakash Slim – 8000 Miles To The Crossroads Eva Rose & David Pippin – Black Water Blues Catfish Keith – Shake Me Up Guy Davis – The Legend of Sugarbelly Lee Kanehira – The Chicago Blues Piano Trio!!Willie Buck – Live at Buddy Guy's Legends The Blues Giants – Live at Groove Now Eric Johanson – Live In Mississippi Tas Cru – Tas Cru Band LIVE Sean Chambers – Live From Daryl's House Club Bruce Katz Band – Back In Boston LiveHistorical or Vintage RecordingNew Artist Debut AlbumDuke Robillard – Roll With Me Frank Bey – Peace Jim Brewer and Dan Smith – Take It Easy Greasy Terry Blade – Chicago Kinfolk: The Juke Joint Blues Bernard Allison – Chills & ThrillsChristopher Wyze & the Tellers – Stuck in the Mud Jad Tariq – Jad Tariq Sings Jovin Webb – Drifter Jubu Smith – JUBU Fran Drew and the Lucky Strikes – Trial by Fire Jantso Jokelin – Spark of LuckBlues Band Of The YearMale Blues ArtistTab Benoit Band Southern Avenue The Anthony Paule Soul Orchestra Tommy Castro & The Painkillers The Blood BrothersTab Benoit John Primer Andrew Duncanson Chris Cain D.K. Harrell Curtis SalgadoFemale Blues ArtistSean Costello Rising Star AwardShemekia Copeland Carolyn Wonderland Eden Brent Tierinii Jackson Ruthie Foster
Sue FoleyMatt "The Rattlesnake" Lesch Tony Holiday Jad Tariq Stephen Hull Jovin Webb Harrell "Young Rell" DavenportProducer Of The YearElectric Guitarist Of The YearMike Zito Tom Hambridge Kid Andersen Jim Gaines Bob Corritore Tony BraunagelTab Benoit Duke Robillard Chris Cain Kid Andersen
Laura Chavez Kid RamosAcoustic Guitarist Of The YearSlide Guitarist Of The YearKeb' Mo' Catfish Keith Kevin Burt Guy Davis Doug MacLeodDerek Trucks Robert Randolph Sonny Landreth Sean Chambers John Primer Joanna ConnorBass Guitarist Of The YearKeyboard Player Of The YearDanielle Nicole Bob Stroger Rodrigo Mantovani Benny Turner Scot Sutherland Jerry JemmottKenny "Blues Boss" Wayne Jim Pugh Johnny Iguana
Bruce Katz Ben Levin Eden BrentPercussionist Of The YearHarmonica Player Of The YearKenny "Beedy Eyes" Smith Derrick D'mar Martin Tony Braunagel June Core Terrence Higgins Tom HambridgeCharlie Musselwhite Rick Estrin Jason Ricci Kim Wilson Bob Corritore Dennis Gruenling Kim WilsonHorn Player Of The YearVocalist Of The YearVanessa Collier Terry Hanck Doug Woolverton Jimmy Carpenter Sax Gordon Beadle Deanna BogartBobby Rush Curtis Salgado Oscar Wilson Andrew Duncanson Tad Robinson Billy PriceBlues Video Of The YearBobby Rush & Kenny Wayne Shepherd – "Uncle Esau" Tomislav Goluban with Crooked Eye Tommy – "There Is A Train" Peacock & the Surfarians – "Dead Mans Blues" Kid Ramos – "Strange Things Happening" Billy Price – "Inside That Box"
Recognition In 2025, the Blues Foundation honored Blues Blast Magazine with a Keeping the Blues Alive Award. The award is presented to non-performing individuals and organizations for "significant contributions to the Blues world" and are determined by a panel of blues professionals based on merit. The official citation recognized the magazine as a "dedicated voice for the blues community" and an "indispensable resource for blues fans".
See also The Blues Foundation Blues Music Award Living Blues Cadence
References