Each year, The Blues Foundation presents the Keeping the Blues Alive (KBA) Awards to individuals and organizations that have made significant contributions to the Blues world.
The Blues Foundation will present the 2009 KBA Awards during a recognition brunch Saturday, February 7, 2009, at the Doubletree Hotel in downtown Memphis, Tennessee. The KBA ceremony will be part of the International Blues Challenge (IBC) weekend of events. For complete information about the 2009 International Blues Challenge weekend click here and to see the weekend schedule click here.
Unlike the Blues Music Awards, the highest award in the Blues voted on by the thousands of members of The Blues Foundation, the KBAs are awarded to non-performers strictly on the basis of merit by a select panel of Blues professionals. Noted educator, author, journalist, and KBA Chairman Art Tipaldi notes “The KBA is awarded for the recipient's lifetime body of work; we don’t view the recipient as the winner of a ‘best of the year’ category. Consistent with this philosophy, the committee generally refrains from awarding the KBA to an individual or organization more than once. Rather, we select a new deserving winner each year, except in rare cases when a significant period of time has elapsed since the first award.”
Affiliated organizations, past KBA recipients and members of The Blues Foundation's Board of Directors are eligible to submit nominations. Submit 6 copies of your nomination and documentation supporting your nominations to The Blues Foundation's offices by September 28, 2008. The form will be e-mailed to eligible nominators in July.
