Reader’s Awards:
Blues Artist of the Year (Male):
B.B. King
Blues Artist of the Year (Female):
Etta James
Best Blues Album of 2004 (Historical Recording):
Percy Mayfield, His Tangerine And Atlantic Sides (Rhino Handmade)
Best Blues Album of 2004 (New Recording):
Bobby Rush, Folk Funk (Deep Rush Records)
Most Outstanding Musician (Harmonica):
Charlie Musselwhite
Best Live Performer:
Bobby Rush
Most Outstanding Musician (Guitar):
Alvin “Youngblood” Hart
Most Outstanding Blues Singer:
Ray Charles
Most Outstanding Musician (Keyboard):
Pinetop Perkins
Critic’s Awards:
Blues Artist of the Year (Male):
Robert Lockwood, Jr.
Blues Artist of the Year (Female):
Mavis Staples
Comeback Artist of the Year:
Mavis Staples
Most Outstanding Musician (Harmonica):
Carey Bell
Most Outstanding Blues Singer:
Etta James
Most Outstanding Musician (Keyboard):
Pinetop Perkins
Most Outstanding Musician (Guitar):
Jody Williams
Most Outstanding Musician (Horns):
Big James Montgomery
Most Outstanding Musician (Bass):
Willie Kent
Most Outstanding Musician (Drums):
Sam Carr
Most Outstanding Musician (other):
Chuck Campbell—Pedal Steel Guitar
Best Live Performer:
Bobby Rush
Artist Deserving More Attention:
Jimmy Burns
Best Blues Albums of 2004:
Album of the Year:
Gatemouth Brown, Timeless (Hightone)
New Recordings/Best Debut:
Michael Powers, Onyx Root (Baryon Records)
Historical Reissue/ Pre-War:
Lucille Bogan, Shave ‘Em Dry: The Best of Lucille Bogan (Columbia/Legacy)
Producer of the Year—New Recording:
Greg Preston, Bobby Rush’s Folk Funk (Deep Rush Records)
Producer of the Year—Historical Reissue:
Bob Koester, The United Records Series (Delmark)
Best Liner Notes:
Elijah Wald, Robert Pete Williams’ Poor Bob’s Blues (Arhoolie Records)
Best Song (original comp., rel. in 2004):
“We Meet, We Part, We Remember,” Wendell Holmes (Alligator Records)
Historical Reissue/ Post-war:
Percy Mayfield, His Tangerine And Atlantic Sides (Rhino Handmade)
New Recordings/ Soul-Blues:
Charles Wilson, If Heartaches Were Nickels (Delmark)
New Recordings/Contemporary:
Jody Williams, You Left Me in the Dark (Evidence Music)
New Recordings/ Trad. & Acoustic:
Robert Lockwood, Jr., The Legend Live (M.C. Records)
