BluesWax Artists & Album of the Year 2004

www.blueswax.com

You Have Spoken!
BluesWax Artist of the Year:
Joe Bonamassa!
BluesWax Blues Album of the Year:
Joe Bonamassa's Had To Cry Today

Blueswax.com
Thursday February 3, 2005

Yes, the readers of BluesWax, the largest subscribed Blues publication in the world, have selected their BluesWax Artist of the Year 2004 and BluesWax Album of the Year 2004. Through the month of December, through your nominations, you created a final ballot of five artists and five albums and then for the past few weeks you voted. As the largest subscribed Blues publication in the world, these awards are open to more fans than any other awards in the Blues. The final ballot for BluesWax Blues Artist of the Year 2004 was:

Reneé Austin
Joe Bonamassa
Eric Clapton
Anthony Gomes
Carl Weathersby

With record voting in both categories this year, you selected Joe Bonamassa as BluesWax Blues Artist of the Year 2004. Your notes to us over the past few weeks made it clear that it was those great high-energy rockin' performances and incredible work with the Blues in the Schools program that caused so many of you to vote for Joe as BluesWax Blues Artist of the Year 2004. The BluesWax staff was among you at some of those shows and we couldn't agree more. Joe Bonamassa is a true ambassador for the Blues and we wish him all the luck!
As with the Artist of the Year Award, the nominating process for BluesWax Album of the Year 2004 began back in the beginning of December when our readers began making nominations. The nominating process created the final ballot of:

Had To Cry Today-Joe Bonamassa
Hold On-Carl Weathersby
Ladies Man-Pinetop Perkins
Me and Mr. Johnson-Eric Clapton
That Represent Man-Mannish Boys

These were all great nominations and we loved every one of them! In the final voting, again, with record returns, you selected Joe Bonamassa's Had To Cry Today as BluesWax Album of the Year 2004.

Yesterday we caught up with Joe and told him about the awards that you, the readers, gave him. Here were some of the thoughts that Joe shared: "I would like to thank everybody at BluesWax for keeping the music I love alive. I am very honored by both of these awards. I would like to dedicate this to all my fans who voted and have supported me over the years. You all are the greatest. I was first introduced to the Blues at age four after hearing Eric Clapton's version of 'Further on Up the Road.' Twenty-three years later, Blues is the music that still inspires me everyday. It's a constantly changing medium and sometimes I know I think a little outside the box. Nevertheless I am and have always been a Blues guitar player. It's a feeling inside as much a part of me as love, sadness, and all other emotions. It's my life's calling, I could never do anything else. Thanks again to all of you. I am quite humbled by this..."

The staff of BluesWax congratulates Joe Bonamassa for sweeping the 2004 BluesWax Awards!

http://www.blueswax.com/

Band at Redwood Run
Photo By: Dennis Blanchard