W.C. Handy Blues Awards Winners
Here are the 2003 winners of the W.C. Handy Blues Awards, handed out May 22 in Memphis.Blues Entertainer of the Year: B.B. King
Blues Band of the Year : Magic Slim & The Teardrops
Blues Album of the Year: Shemekia Copeland, "Talking to Strangers"
Best New Artist Debut: Robert Randolph, "Live at the Wetlands"
Contemporary Male Artist of the Year: Charlie Musselwhite
Contemporary Female Artist of the Year: Shemekia Copeland
Soul Male Artist of the Year: Solomon Burke
Soul Female Artist of the Year: Etta James
Traditional Male Artist of the Year: R.L. Burnside
Traditional Female Artist of the Year: Koko Taylor
Acoustic Blues Artist of the Year: John Hammond
Blues Instrumentalist Guitar: Duke Robillard:
Blues Instrumentalist Keyboards: Pinetop Perkins
Blues Instrumentalist Harmonica: Charlie Musselwhite
Blues Instrumentalist Bass: Willie Kent
Blues Instrumentalist Drums: Willie "Big Eyes" Smith
Blues Instrumentalist Horns: Roomful of Blues Horns
Blues Instrumentalist Other: Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown (fiddle)
Soul Blues Album of the Year: Solomon Burke, "Don't Give Up on Me"
Acoustic Blues Album of the Year: Big Jack Johnson, "Memphis Bar-B-Que Sessions"
Contemporary Blues Album of the Year: Shemekia Copeland, "Talking to Strangers"
Comeback Blues Album of the Year: Jody Williams, "Return of a Legend"
Traditional Blues Album of the Year: James Cotton, "35th Anniversary Jam"
Historical Blues Album of the Year: Albert King, "Born Under a Bad Sign"
Blues Song of the Year: "Let It Rain," W. C. Clark, Bobby Boyd, John Gray Gregson