Australia’s first lady of blues and proud Maton artist Fiona Boyes has been nominated for two U.S.A Blues Music Awards, Acoustic Artist of the year and Acoustic Album of the Year, for her chart-topping album professing the blues.

Fiona Boyes is unquestionably Australia’s most internationally successful and awarded Blues Artist.  Based in Yamba, Nth NSW, Fiona travels throughout the world playing Festivals, Theatres, and Blues venues, performing as a solo acoustic artist or with her electric band, The Fortune Tellers.  She has released 15 award winning albums, with numerous #1 hits, received more than 30 performance and recording awards, and a slew of rave reviews from music critics across the globe.

Often called ‘The Grammies of the Blues’, the Blues Music Awards are recognised as the highest international accolade in the Blues World.  Blues performers, industry representatives, and fans from all over the world will gather in Memphis this May to celebrate the best in Blues recordings and performances from the previous year and honor the winners. 

As the only Australian ever to be nominated for these prestigious awards, Fiona is truly honored to represent Australian blues fans and her family and friends, along with her supporters at Reference Recordings, Maton Guitars, Elixir Strings, Fishman Acoustic Amps and Pick Ups, National Resophonic Guitars, and Shane Soall’s Cigar Box Emporium.  Fiona joins an elite group of musicians who have previously been nominated in these categories, including John Hammond, Rory Block, Maria Muldaur, Buddy Guy, and Robert Jnr Lockwood

The Blues Foundation enlists a group of approximately 100 blues experts as nominators.  All have worked extensively in all areas of the blues industry.  This includes individuals with blues expertise as producers, engineers, radio DJs, journalists, academics, club owners, promoters and others with a deep knowledge of blues music. 

The nominators work through two rounds in order to come up with five final nominees in each category. The nominators then vote for the second round nominations and the 5 artists receiving the most votes in each category become the final Nominees for the Blues Music Award.  The final winners are decided by popular vote from members of the Blues Foundation.

Only members of the Blues Foundation can vote in the final round and we’re asking Australian blues fans to get behind her nomination and vote for her.  To vote for Fiona follow this link to Fiona’s website for details on how to join the Blues Foundation and you can also receive a free download of Fiona’s CD ‘Blues in My Heart’, the recording that brought her to international attention when she won the 2003 International Blues Challenge in Memphis, as well as multiple Australian awards.

‘… a world-class performer. This Australian’s voice is a subtly remarkable instrument, combining her natural understanding of country blues with a finely judged sense of drama to produce music of emotional breadth.  With offhand ease, she makes her acoustic, metal-body resonator and cigar-box guitars spring forward as commentators on cheating, rootlessness and other topics broached in the lyrics to 14 of her own warm, humane songs.’  (DOWNBEAT: BEST ALBUMS OF 2016)