We were Off to MEMPHUS for the 2009 Jus Blues Awards Thangs have been so crazy here lately, Sapphire and I were excited about enjoying a few days of well deserved R&R and a chance to enjoy some great performances.

So Sapphire packed the bags . I loaded up the CD magazine so that we could listen to some new music I had received and we pointed the old truck North up 55 toward The Big Town.

About 30 minutes into our trip a Mississippi State trooper followed by a Big Black Limo passed us. Lemme tell you they were going so fast that they almost pulled us along in their wake My phone rang, It was Jackson Radio Legend Queen B Who was in that limo on her way to Memphus to cover the awards show for her Public access TV show which is aired on the PEG Network In Jackson.

Queen said" Come On Boogie Step on it the Trooper Gonna take us on to the state line". I told Queen yall go on I aint gonna blow my motor up tryin to keep up.

So We bidded the a fond howdy do and settled back with our cruise set on 65 and eased on into to town listening to the new Bertha Payne CD"Marvelous" ,I'm The One You Need By Ernie Johnson and Jody"s Got My problem by Luther Lackey.

Upon arrival we checked into the Holiday Inn Select Which was okay. Clean, Reasonable rate ,Good Location.

The First event was The Cocktail Party which proceeded the Night Of The Living Legends Big Thanks To Ms.Anna Coday who secured our table for us.

The Jus Blues Foundation had put together a Great Buffet Dinner On The Menu Bar B Q"Pork" and Chicken Hot Potato Salad Green Beans and Tossed Salad every thang was very tasty.

We were joined at our table by our good friend Johnnie Walker \Executive Director of the Memphis& Shelby County Music Commission,Charley Burch Of The Burch Entertainment Group and Willie Mitchell's Royal Studio. and Master Entertainers Tommy Brown and Lonnie Brooks

The Honorees For The Night

Dorothy Moore
Lonnie Brooks
Shirley Brown
Tommy Brown
Trudy Lynn
Otis Clay
Marvin Sease
Clarence Carter
J Blackfoot
Rip Daniels
Check Out Our Twitter Log and Pictures

On Friday The Gremlins Showed Up

The first thing that happened was due to some hacking Twitter went down early Friday morning and that really messed up my plan to twitter the entire event.

So we had to go to plan B.

The technology conference on Friday was well attended . The attendees were given information about the use of the latest technological advances that can be used in music marketing

SPECIAL MOMENTS
Our plan to continue our plan to get Grammy recognition for Southern Soul Blues did not materialize , however we did caucus with Otis Clay Lee Parker Dr. Love , Tommy Brown and a few others about The Past ,The Present and future development of Southern Soul Blues Music.

AWARDS SHOW NIGHT

Awards Night Was Great. At our table we were joined by Johnnie Walker,Toni St.James,Captain Curtis Lee, Otis Clay, Lonnie Brooks, Johnnie walker captain Curtis Lee and I worked together at The Old KRNB "magic 101" in Memphis and Toni St James Programmed the station after we left We had a great time joking about our ex bosses.

I'm am not a Big fan of track performances,but Thursday nights presentation were entertaining and gave the artist a chance to introduce themselves to a greater audience.
We were disappointed as time ran out before we got a chance to see Andre Lee and Theodis Ealey perform .
The Highlight Of The Night were the Live Performances By Kenny Neal, Lonnie Brooks,Tyree Neal Preston Shannon,Otis Clay and Tommy Brown.

Twitter was still problematic however we did manage to get a few tweets out

10:00PM Dense Lasalle Gets Soul Blues Woman Of The Year Awards
chuck d in the house
9:54 PM Aug 6th from web
sang karen sang man enough great song
9:48 PM Aug 6th from web
karen wolfe up next
9:46 PM Aug 6th from web
great track performance
9:38 PM Aug 6th from web
wilson meadows up next
9:35 PM Aug 6th from web
karen wolfe female artist of the year
9:32 PM Aug 6th from web
betty padget the female soul blues award
9:07 PM Aug 6th from web
zac harmon gets the little milton guitar award
9:03 PM Aug 6th from web
lil fally tonite got the house rockin 8:51 PM Aug 6th from web lil fallay up next
8:45 PM Aug 6th from web lady khandi ..another great track set
8:37 PM Aug 6th from web jus blues awards ..bobbye doll johnson...great track set

WINNERS

Traditional Male Blues Artist-John Lee Hooker Jr.
Traditional Female Blues Artist-Trudy Lynn.
Traditional Male Blues Song-Let Life Flow-Kenny Neal.
The Best Soul Blues Radio Show- Bobby Webb.
Little Milton Guitar Award - Zac Harmon.
Best Juke Joint- Po Boys.
Best Soul Blues Song-Lock My Door-Jeff Floyd.
Soul Blues Woman Of The Year-Denise Lasalle.
Soul Blues Man Of The Year-Latimore.
Jus Blues Legends Gregg A.Smith.
Jus Blues Legends Shirley Brown.
Record Lable of The Year-Ecko Records.
Female Song Of the Year-Man Enough Karen Wolfe.
Southern Soul Female Artist Karen Wolfe.
Southern Soul Male Artist Of The Year Omar Cunningham .
Southern Soul Male Song Of The Year-Playin With It OB .Buchana

PICTURES