The 2009 Blues Music Award winners

Here are the winners from last night's Blues Music Awards, held in Memphis. They used to be called the Handy Awards, and they honor blues musicians from all fields. I understand there was about six hours of great blues performances surrounding the event. Sounds like a heckuva night. You can find all the nominees here. And in case you've never paid attention, here's how the Blues Music Awards selection process works.

Here are the winners:

Acoustic Album of the Year: Mississippi Number One - Eden Brent

 Acoustic Artist of the Year: Eden Brent

 Album of the Year: Skin Deep - Buddy Guy

 Band of the Year: Lil' Ed & the Blues Imperials

 B.B. King Entertainer of the Year: Janiva Magness

Best New Artist Debut: 2 Man Wrecking Crew - Cedric Burnside & Lightnin' Malcolm

 Contemporary Blues Album of the Year: Skin Deep - Buddy Guy

 Contemporary Blues Male Artist of the Year: Buddy Guy

 Contemporary Blues Female Artist of the Year Janiva Magness

 DVD: M For Mississippi: A Road Trip Through the Birthplace of the Blues - Broke & Hungry Records, Cathead Blues & Mudpuppy Recordings

 Historical Album of the Year: Albert Collins Live at Montreux 1992 - Eagle Records

 Instrumentalist-Bass: Mookie Brill

 Instrumentalist-Drums: Willie "Big Eyes" Smith

 Instrumentalist-Guitar: Sonny Landreth

 Instrumentalist-Harmonica: Billy Gibson

 Instrumentalist-Horn: Deanna Bogart

 Instrumentalist-Banjo: Otis Taylor

 Pinetop Perkins Piano Player: Marcia Ball

 Rock Blues Album of the Year: Mess of Blues - Jeff Healey

 Song of the Year: "Let Life Flow" - Kenny Neal

 Soul Blues Album of the Year: Simply Grand - Irma Thomas

 Soul Blues Female Artist of the Year: Etta James

 Soul Blues Male Artist of the Year: Bobby Rush

 Traditional Blues Album of the Year: One Kind Favor - B.B. King

 Traditional Blues Male Artist of the Year: B.B. King

 Traditional Blues Female Artist of the Year Koko Taylor