ALLIGATOR ARTISTS RECEIVE 19 BLUES BLAST MUSIC AWARD NOMINATIONS
Chris Cain Leads With Three Nominations, Including Male Blues Artist Of The Year And Electric Guitarist Of The Year
Tommy Castro And The Painkillers and Southern Avenue Receive Nominations For Coveted Band Of The Year Award
Cain, Castro and Ronnie Baker Brooks All Nominated For Contemporary Blues Album Of The Year
Carolyn Wonderland, Shemekia Copeland And Southern Avenue's Tierinii Jackson All Nominated For Female Blues Artist Of The Year
D.K. Harrell (Male Blues Artist Of The Year), Rick Estrin (Harmonica Player Of The Year), Christoffer "Kid" Andersen and Derrick D'Mar Martin (both of Rick Estrin & The Nightcats) and members of The Nick Moss Band Featuring Dennis Gruenling and The Cash Box Kings All Recognized
Blues Blast magazine has announced the nominees for its 18th annual Blues Blast Music Awards. This year, Alligator Records artists received a total of 19 nominations.
Guitarist Chris Cain leads his label mates with three nominations, including Male Blues Artist Of The Year and Electric Guitarist Of The Year. Cain (Good Intentions Gone Bad) , Tommy Castro (Closer To The Bone) and Ronnie Baker Brooks (Blues In My DNA) were all recognized for their 2025 albums with nominations in the Contemporary Blues Album Of The Year category. Castro also received a nomination for Male Blues Artist Of The Year.
Tommy Castro And The Painkillers and Southern Avenue were both nominated for the coveted Band Of The Year Award, while Southern Avenune's lead singer Tierinii Jackson was nominated for Female Blues Artist Of The Year. Likewise, Carolyn Wonderland and Shemekia Copeland received nominations for Female Blues Artist Of The Year. D.K. Harrell was nominated for Male Blues Artist Of The Year.
Receiving individual nominations were Rick Estrin (for Harmonica Player Of The Year), Christoffer "Kid" Andersen and Derrick "D'Mar" Martin (both of Rick Estirn & The Nightcats), The Nick Moss Band's Dennis Gruenling (Harmonica) and Rodrigo Mantovani (bass), and The Cash Box Kings' Oscar Wilson (Vocals) and Kenny "Beedy Eyes" Smith (Percussion).
Fan voting begins July 14, 2025 at http://www.BluesBlastMagazine.com and ends at midnight on August 31, 2025 . Voting is free and open to all.
The Blues Blast Music Awards are presented by Blues Blast Magazine, the free weekly E-magazine.
Alligator artists and their nominations follow:
Chris Cain
Male Blues Artist Of The Year: Chris Cain
Electric Guitarist Of The Year: Chris Cain
Contemporary Blues Album Of The Year: Good Intentions Gone Bad 
Tommy Castro & The Painkillers
Band Of The Year: Tommy Castro And The Painkillers
Contemporary Blues Album Of The Year: Closer To The Bone
Southern Avenue
Band Of The Year: Southern Avenue
Female Blues Artist Of The Year: Tierinii Jackson
Ronnie Baker Brooks
Contemporary Blues Album Of The Year: Blues In My DNA 
D.K. Harrell
Male Blues Artist Of The Year: D.K. Harrell
Carolyn Wonderland
Female Blues Artist Of The Year: Carolyn Wonderland 
Shemekia Copeland
Female Blues Artist Of The Year: Shemekia Copeland 
Rick Estrin & The Nightcats
Harmonica Player Of The Year: Rick Estrin
Electric Guitarist Of The Year: Christoffer "Kid" Andersen
Producer Of The Year: Christoffer "Kid" Andersen
Percussionist Of The Year: Derrick D'Mar Martin 
The Nick Moss Band Featuring Dennis Gruenling
Harmonica Player Of The Year: Dennis Gruenling
Bass Guitarist Of The Year: Rodrigo Mantovani
The Cash Box Kings
Vocalist Of The Year: Oscar Wilson
Percussionist Of The Year: Kenny "Beedy Eyes" Smith
