The Blues Blast Music Awards honor contemporary Blues artists and their recordings. Artists with major labels and indie artists are eligible to be considered.
The eligibility period for specific recordings is music released from May 1, 2017 to April 30, 2018. Categories such as Male Blues Artist, Female Blues Artist, Blues Band and the Rising Star Award are not tied to these specific dates but instead are based on our nominators recent observations of performances of touring artists over the past year.
We are now accepting submissions from labels and artists until April 15, 2018. If the BBMA nominators do not know about your release, they can’t nominate it.
Artist do not necessarily have to submit their releases to be considered but any that do will have their recordings screened by the nominators. Our Nominators can’t nominate something they haven’t heard!
Nomination categories include: Contemporary Blues Album, Traditional Blues Album, Soul Blues Album, Rock Blues Album, Acoustic Blues Album, Live Recording of The Year, New Artist Debut Album, Historical or Vintage Recording, Male Blues Artist of The Year, Female Blues Artist of The Year, Blues Band of The Year, Sean Costello Rising Star Award.
We have 30 nominators so you need to send 30 individual copies to the address below before April 15th, 2018. Any received after that date may not get sent to the nominators.
For 2018, there is a $30 charge to have your music sent to the 30 nominators. This $30 charge is for each recording submitted, not for each copy of the recording! So, if a label sends in 30 copies for two of their artists releases, it would be $60. Please make checks payable to Blues Blast Magazine.
You must include one copy of the submission form for each recording or album submitted. Find and print a copy of the submission form here. Please fill out a separate copy of this submission form for each recording submitted. Only one copy is needed per submitted recording.
Fill in all the information and include one copy in the box with each submission. It is recommended that you send the submissions First Class Mail and include delivery confirmation in your mailing to be sure we receive your submission. CD’s received after April 15th, 2018 may not reach the nominators so hurry and get your submissions in today! Mailing address for submissions: 2018 Blues Blast Music Awards, P.O. Box 721, Pekin, Illinois 61555. Call (309) 267-4425 if you have questions.
Nominators begin returning their nominations May 1st and final nominations will be announced after June 1st, 2018. Fan voting Begins in July.
