Nomination for

‘Contemporary Blues Album of the Year'

On Tuesday Dec 12th Fiona Boyes' ‘Lucky 13' was officially nominated by the Blues Foundation in Memphis, Tennessee, for the 2007 Blues Music Award , ‘Contemporary Blues Album of the Year'. Formerly known as the W C Handy Awards, the BMA's are the world's premier accolades for Blues Music. Often called ‘The Grammy's of the Blues', the BMA's past winners for ‘Blues Album of the Year' include B B King, Buddy Guy, Charlie Musselwhite, Shemekia Copeland, Marcia Ball, Albert King, and Stevie Ray Vaughan. The 2007 Blues Music Awards will be announced at a gala dinner on Thursday May 10, 2007 at the Cook Convention Centre in Memphis, Tennessee.

Fiona has once again achieved a unique honour as she is the first Australian artist to be nominated in the 27 year history of the Blues Music Awards.

The first 2 rounds of Blues Music Award nominations were decided by an international panel of reviewers, music and recording industry executives, radio hosts, and music critics. This final round of voting, which will determine the winners, is only open to members of the Blues Foundation.

To encourage Australian music lovers to vote in these awards, Maton Guitars , along with Fiona's Memphis record label, Yellow Dog Records , and her Australian distributor Only Blues Music , are promoting a special offer for all those who want to support Fiona's nomination. Maton Guitars will present a Maton Mastersound MS500LS electric guitar (valued at more than $1,500) autographed by Fiona and legendary guitarist Hubert Sumlin, to a lucky voter.

Fiona's relationship with Maton Guitars began more than 20 years ago when she won a Maton CW80 acoustic guitar for one of her first public performances. She recorded 2 award winning acoustic albums on her CW80, and then went on to record ‘Lucky 13' on her custom-shop Maton Mastersound, showcasing the incredible versatility of these unique Australian guitars. Fiona is now proudly Maton's premier Blues ambassador worldwide.

As well as the chance to win the Maton Mastersound MS500LS, everyone who registers with the Blues Foundation and votes will receive :

• a compilation album from Yellow Dog Records, showcasing their roster of Blues & Roots artists,
• a limited release, autographed CD entitled ‘Fiona Boyes - The Maton Sessions' , containing a previously unreleased track from the Lucky 13 sessions, and tracing the recording history of Fiona's award winning albums,
• a Maton DVD documenting the 60 year history of Maton's emergence as Australia's leading guitar manufacturer.

Once you have voted at www.blues.org/bluesmusicawards/vote.php4 and registered your details by emailing backporch@fionaboyes.com including your Blues Foundation membership number, name and contact details, you will be sent the 2 CD's and the Maton Guitars DVD, and you are in the draw for the autographed Mastersound MS500LS.

You simply have to go on-line www.blues.org/bluesmusicawards/vote.php4 - pay the $25.00 Blues Foundation membership fee, follow the voting prompts - you can vote for any of the nominees, but don't forget about Fiona – and then email backporch@fionaboyes.com with your Blues Foundation membership number, name and contact details, and you are in the draw. Voting closes on February 28 th 2007 and the winner will be announced during Fiona's performance at the Port Fairy Folk Festival in early March.

Once again, thank you for supporting Australian blues. Let's all get behind Fiona's nomination and see if together we can make musical history.

For all those still in Melbourne in the New Year you are welcome to come to a farewell party for Steve and Fiona at Nighthawk Blues in Mentone, on Sunday Jan 7 th starting at 4.00pm. Light food will be available from the kitchen, musicians are welcome to play, there will be a backline, and the bar will be open. Come and go as you can – Fiona and Steve would love to see you. Contact Bob Thomas at Nighthawks if you're coming so he knows what staff he'll need. His number is 9583 8511. 

PS  So much has been happening lately that it's hard to keep up with all the news.  Fiona is proud to announce that she has signed an endorsement contract with the US company DEAN MARKLEY STRINGS .  Dean Markley are one of the world's largest producers of high quality guitar strings and accessories and Fiona is proud to endorse their products.

For further details

http://www.blues.org/bluesmusicawards/nominees.php4
http://www.fionaboyes.com
http://www.DeanMarkley.com
http://www.myspace.com/fionaboyes
http://yellowdogrecords.com/fiona/fiona_boyes_press.html
http://www.piedmonttalent.com/news.cfm?ID=100

Contacts:
Management, Booking & Publicity
Steve Clarke
Piedmont Talent
sclarke@piedmonttalent.com
0418 320 103