Sue Foley, Colin James and Steve Marriner were the biggest winners of the 2022 Maple Blues Awards, with each of the Canadian blues musicians adding multiple trophies to their already extensive collection.
The 24th annual Maple Blues Awards took place at Koerner Hall in Toronto on Monday night.
Sue Foley won the Maple Blues Awards for guitarist of the year and entertainer of the year, following the release of her highly regarded album Pinky’s Blues. The Toronto-born, Texas-based artist has now won 19 Maple Blues Awards over the course of her career.
Colin James won the Maple Blues Awards for male vocalist of the year and electric act of the year. It follows the release of his 17th studio album Open Road. The Regina-born singer-songwriter has now won 29 Maple Blues Awards to go along with seven Juno Awards.
Steve Marriner won four Maple Blues Awards for acoustic act of the year (shared with David Gogo), harmonica player of the year, recording/producer of the year and songwriter of the year. The multi-instrumentalist and singer-songwriter was celebrated for his latest solo album Hope Dies Last. He has now won 10 Maple Blues Awards as a soloist and 10 more with MonkeyJunk, along with three Juno Awards with the Ottawa-based band.
All three of the Maple Blues Awards’ biggest winners were also nominated for the Juno Award for blues album of the year, with Colin James’s Open Road winning the prize.
Among the other winners, The Lowdown Dirty Mojos won the Maple Blues Award for new artist/group of the year, Allison Young won horn player of the year, and Shakura S’Aida won the lifetime achievement award.
The Maple Blues Awards gala on Monday night was hosted by Angelique Francis and included performances by Bobby Dean Blackburn, Kat Danser, Sue Foley, Angelique Francis, Crystal Shawanda and Colin Linden.