Three Alligator Artists Receive Six Blues Music Award Nominations

On Tuesday, December 15, 2015, The Blues Foundation announced the nominees for the 2016 Blues Music Awards, the blues world's highest honors. Three Alligator recording artists received a total of six nominations.

Singing sensation Shemekia Copeland received three nominations, including Contemporary Blues Female Artist Of The Year, Contemporary Blues Album Of The Year (for her recently Grammy nominated Outskirts Of Love), and for the coveted B.B. King Entertainer Of The Year. Copeland has 31 previous nominations and has won a total of eight Blues Music Awards.

Harmonicist/vocalist/songwriter Rick Estrin, of Rick Estrin & The Nightcats, also received a nomination for B.B. King Entertainer Of The Year. Estrin and The Nightcats received a nomination for the prestigious Band Of The Year award. Estrin has been nominated 18 previous times and holds two Blues Music Awards. Rick Estrin & The Nightcats' most recent release is 2014's You Asked For It...Live!

Next generation blues star Jarekus Singleton received a nomination for Contemporary Blues Male Artist Of The Year, the second consecutive year he's been nominated in this category. He has three previous nominations. Singleton's Alligator debut, Refuse To Lose, was released in 2014.