2013 KBA Award winners anounced! 

The Blues Foundation will honor 15 individuals and organizations with its 2013 Keeping the Blues Alive (KBA) Awards during a recognition luncheon Friday, February 1, 2013, in Memphis, Tennessee. Each year, The Blues Foundation presents the KBA Awards to individuals and organizations that have made significant contributions to blues music.

The KBA ceremony will be held in conjunction with the 29th International Blues Challenge (IBC), which begins January 29 and features the final rounds of the world’s largest and most prestigious blues music competition, as well as seminars, showcases, and receptions for blues societies, fans, and professionals.
The KBAs are awarded on the basis of merit by a select panel of blues professionals to those working to actively promote and document the music. Committee chair Art Tipaldi (who is also the editor of Blues Revue Magazine) states “The fifteen recipients represent an outstanding cross-section of blues boosters. We are pleased to honor these people and organizations as a tribute to the years each has given to supporting the blues."

The 2013 Keeping the Blues Alive Awards recipients are:

Affiliate – Colorado Blues Society
Art – Stan Street, Clarksdale, Mississippi
Club – Boulder Outlook Hotel, Boulder, Colorado
Education – Nat Dove, Bakersfield, California

International – Vicente Zumel, Barcelona, Spain

Journalism – Bob Margolin, High Point, North Carolina

                                                 Vicente and Roser Zumel with Bob Margolin

Festival: International – Festival International du Blues De Tremblant, Mont Tremblant, Quebec, Canada

Festival: U.S. – Mount Baker Rhythm And Blues Festival, Bellingham, Washington

Historical – Shelley Ritter, Clarksdale, Mississippi

Literature – I Feel So Good: The Life and Times of Big Bill Broonzy by Bob Riesman, Chicago, Illinois
Manager – Marty Salzman, Chicago, Illinois
Print Media – Blues News, Oslo, Norway
Radio: Commercial – Gil Anthony, Dothan, Alabama
Radio: Public, Scott Mullins, Baltimore, Maryland
Record Label – Telarc, Cleveland, Ohio

Tickets to the KBA ceremony are available online at http://www.blues.org/ or by calling 901-527-2583.