News

LAWRENCE UNIVERSITY HONORS ALLIGATOR PRESIDENT BRUCE IGLAUER WITH DOCTOR OF MUSIC DEGREE
6/17/2003
Lawrence University, in Appleton, Wisconsin presented Bruce Iglauer, founder and president of Alligator Records, with the honorary degree of Doctor of Music on June 15, 2003. In conferring the degree upon their former student, University president Richard Warch said: “Bruce Iglauer, the United States Senate may not have had you in mind when it declared 2003 as the Year of the Blues, but it might well have, for you have done as much as anyone to protect and promote the great legacy of this distinctively American art form.”

LAWRENCE UNIVERSITY HONORS ALLIGATOR PRESIDENT BRUCE IGLAUER WITH DOCTOR OF MUSIC DEGREE

Iglauer, who graduated from Lawrence in 1969 with a degree in Theater (and never took a music course), formed Alligator Records at age 23, when he recorded and produced his favorite blues band, Hound Dog Taylor and the HouseRockers, and ran the company from a one-room Chicago apartment. Today, Alligator Records is the largest contemporary blues label in the world. Thirty-two albums in the catalog have been nominated for Grammy Awards, and eighteen have received Indie Awards from the Association for Independent Music. Alligator and its artists have earned sixty-four W.C. Handy Blues Awards, the blues community’s highest honor.

Lawrence University is not the first institution to recognize Iglauer for his many accomplishments. The Montreaux Jazz Festival honored him with its Lifetime Achievement Award, the Blues Hall of Fame inducted Iglauer in 1997, and Chicago Magazine named him a “Chicagoan of the Year” in 2002.

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FOUR ALLIGATOR ARTISTS RECEIVE SIX W.C. HANDY BLUES AWARDS!
5/23/2003
Singing sensation Shemekia Copeland won three Awards at last night’s 24th annual W.C. Handy Blues Awards ceremony at the Orpheum Theatre in Memphis, TN, taking more awards than any other nominee. Her win for Blues Album Of The Year for 2002’s Dr. John-produced TALKING TO STRANGERS marks the 2nd time Copeland has won the category. She won the same award for her 2001 album, WICKED. She also won for Contemporary Female Artist Of The Year and Contemporary Blues Album Of The Year for TALKING TO STRANGERS. At only 24-years-old, Copeland has won a total of seven awards.

FOUR ALLIGATOR ARTISTS RECEIVE SIX W.C. HANDY BLUES AWARDS!

“Queen Of The Blues” Koko Taylor won for Traditional Blues Artist Of The Year. This is her 23rd W.C. Handy Blues Award. She has received more awards than any other artist – male or female – in Handy history.

Austin, TX-based "Godfather of Austin Blues," W.C. Clark, won for Blues Song Of The Year for “Let It Rain” off of his album, FROM AUSTIN WITH SOUL. This is Clark’s third W.C. Handy Blues Award.

And the newest members of the Alligator family, Roomful of Blues, took the award for Blues Instrumentalist – Horns. This is the band’s third award.


SHEMEKIA COPELAND
Blues Album of the Year: TALKING TO STRANGERS
Contemporary Female Artist of the Year
Contemporary Blues Album of the Year: TALKING TO STRANGERS

KOKO TAYLOR
Traditional Female Artist of the Year

W.C. CLARK
Blues Song of the Year: "Let It Rain," W. C. Clark, Bobby Boyd, John Gray Gregson
from the release FROM AUSTIN WITH SOUL

ROOMFUL OF BLUES
Blues Instrumentalist Horns

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MARCIA BALL'S SO MANY RIVERS DEBUTS AT #2 ON THE BILLBOARD BLUES CHART!
4/30/2003
Pianist/vocalist/songwriter Marcia Ball's new Alligator CD, SO MANY RIVERS (produced by Stephen Bruton), debuted at #2 on the Billboard Blues Chart. Released on April 22, the album has quickly risen up the radio charts and has already received glowing reviews.

MARCIA BALL'S SO MANY RIVERS DEBUTS AT #2 ON THE BILLBOARD BLUES CHART!

Radio:
#24 Debut Americana Chart
#4 Most added Americana this week - #1 Most Added last week
#7 Most Increased Play on R&R's AAA Chart
#5 Most Added R&R AAA this week - #1 Most Added last week
#35 debut FMQB Non-Comm Chart

Ball is scheduled to co-host the W.C. Handy Blues Awards (along with Delbert McClinton and Bobby Rush) at the Orpheum Theatre in Memphis on May 22, 2003. Ball, who won the 2002 W.C. Handy Blues Award for Blues Album Of The Year for her Alligator Records debut, PRESUMED INNOCENT, is also nominated for two Awards this year (Contemporary Female Blues Artist of the Year and Blues Instrumentalist - Keyboards).

In other news, Ball will tape an appearance on World Café for a mid-June broadcast and an interview for The House Of Blues Radio Hour. Taped last month, E-Town will broadcast Ball's performance the week of May 28 - June 3.

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Marcia Ball's So Many Rivers reviewed in Billboard
4/30/2003
Marcia Ball's new cd, SO MANY RIVERS, received a glowing review in the 5/03 issue of Billboard. Writer Philip Van Vleck said SO MANY RIVERS is "the best album Ball has ever tracked."
Dave Hole's The Live One Reviewed in Rolling Stone
4/16/2003
Australian slide guitarist Dave Hole's new cd received a glowing review by writer David Fricke in the May 1, 2003 issue of Rolling Stone.
Marcia Ball Live in Austin, TX!
4/9/2003
Marcia Ball and her band will be performing an exclusive live set on her hometown radio station, KGSR, at Noon Central Time on Tuesday, April 22nd. The performance will coincide with the release of her new record, So Many Rivers. Catch Marcia and her band on KGSR's Whaddya Want For Lunch? Listen while it happens live on the web!
Shemekia Copeland on Mountain Stage
3/27/2003
Beginning the week of April 18th, Shemekia Copeland will be appearing on the nationally syndicated program, Mountain Stage! Mountain Stage is a two-hour radio program featuring performances by today's hottest musicians, recorded live and distributed by PRI. Host LARRY GROCE is joined by the Mountain Stage Band; vocalist, JULIE ADAMS; and keyboard artist, BOB THOMPSON. Via Voice of America, the program brings radio listeners around the world live performances of music from all genres each week.
HOLMES BROTHERS STUDIO NEWS!
2/26/2003
The Holmes Brothers, who have been nominated for a 2003 W.C. Handy Blues Award, have just completed recording two songs for the popular NBC-TV show, Crossing Jordan. They also made a guest appearance on the new album (Get Your Glow On) by Norah Jones' guitarist, Adam Levy. The Holmes Brothers are due to begin recording the follow-up to their 2001 Alligator Release, Speaking In Tongues, shortly.

HOLMES BROTHERS STUDIO NEWS!

The Holmes Brothers recorded versions of Trouble (Cat Stevens) and Need Somebody On Your Bond (Blind Wille Johnson) for the soundtrack for the popular television series, Crossing Jordan. The album will be released on DMZ Columbia and released in the spring of 2003. Other artists included Richard Thompson, Lucinda Williams, Joe Henry, and Alison Krauss.

Adam Levy's new cd, Get Your Glow On, will be released on April 8 on the Lost Wax label. Levy is the guitarist in Norah Jones' touring and recording band. He appears on Norah's multi-platinum Blue Note cd, Come Away With Me. Adam invited the Holmes Brothers to record the Gerry Goffin-Carole King penned No Easy Way Down.

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MARCIA BALL JOINS THE HACKBERRY RAMBLERS ON NBC'S TODAY SHOW!
2/20/2003
Alligator recording artist Marcia Ball joins her longtime friends The Hackberry Ramblers on NBC-TV's Today Show in a feature story to air on Friday, February 21. The Today Show story on The Hackberry Ramblers' 70th anniversary features a guest appearance by Ball, who joins in at a Sunday afternoon dance deep in bayou country. The feature was filmed both at McGee's Landing in Henderson, LA, and at the Rendez-vous des Cajuns radio show in Eunice, LA.
KOKO TAYLOR TO RECEIVE 2003 PIONEER AWARD
2/12/2003
The Rhythm & Blues Foundation will honor "Queen of the Blues" Koko Taylor with a coveted Pioneer Award on Thursday, February 20 at the Manhattan Center Grand Ballroom in New York City. The thirteenth annual awards ceremony will honor solo artists, vocal groups, songwriters and producers whose work has contributed to the rhythm and blues art form. Other 2003 honorees include The Del Vikings, The Supremes, George Clinton, Maceo Parker, Johnny Nash, Clarence "Frogman" Henry and The Dixie Cups. Taylor was recently nominated for a W.C. Handy Blues Award in the Contemporary Blues - Female Artist Of The Year category.

KOKO TAYLOR TO RECEIVE 2003 PIONEER AWARD

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SHEMEKIA COPELAND APPEARS ON "THE LATE SHOW WITH DAVID LETTERMAN"!
2/5/2003
Singing sensation Shemekia Copeland joined B.B. King in a duet performance of the blues classic, “Everyday I Have The Blues” on "The Late Show With David Letterman" on Wednesday, February 5, 2003.

SHEMEKIA COPELAND APPEARS ON "THE LATE SHOW WITH DAVID LETTERMAN"!

Copeland and King (along with many other blues and rock luminaries) will take part in the "Salute To The Blues" concert at Radio City Music Hall on Friday, February 7, 2003. The concert will also be filmed for theatrical distribution, and will be directed by Antoine Fuqua (Training Day) and executive produced by Martin Scorsese.
Copeland was born in Harlem in 1979 and began singing as a child, encouraged by her father, the late Texas blues guitar legend Johnny Clyde Copeland. She first appeared with her father at Harlem’s famed Cotton Club when she was just eight. When Johnny Copeland was diagnosed with a heart condition, he began taking Shemekia on the road with him to open his shows when she was just sixteen. She began appearing on her own at New York clubs a year later.

Signed to Alligator Records at the age of 18, Shemekia released her debut, TURN THE HEAT UP, in 1998 to massive popular and critical acclaim. In 2000 she returned with WICKED and received a Grammy nomination. Copeland's latest Alligator album, TALKING TO STRANGERS (produced by Dr. John), debuted at #1 on the Billboard blues chart and has been hailed by critics and fans as the best of her career. Copeland recently received five 2002 W.C. Handy Blues Award nominations, including Blues Album of the Year, Blues Entertainer of the Year, and Blues Band of the Year. TALKING TO STRANGERS has received glowing praise from USA Today, Vibe, The New York Times, The Washington Post, Ebony, The Chicago Tribune, Time Out New York, The Associated Press, Salon.com, Billboard, DownBeat, and many other national and regional publications.

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TEN ALLIGATOR ARTISTS RECEIVE 19 W.C. HANDY BLUES AWARD NOMINATIONS!
1/20/2003
SHEMEKIA COPELAND LEADS ALL NOMINEES WITH FIVE, W.C. CLARK FOLLOWS WITH FOUR! ------------ The Blues Foundation today announced the nominees for the 24th Annual W.C. Handy Blues Awards. Ten Alligator recording artists received a total of 19 nominations. Singing sensation Shemekia Copeland leads the field with five nominations, followed by the Austin, TX-based "Godfather of Austin Blues," W.C. Clark, with four. Other nominees include Little Charlie and the Nightcats, Marcia Ball, Koko Taylor, Cephas & Wiggins, Lil' Ed and the Blues Imperials, The Holmes Brothers, and the newest members of the Alligator family, Roomful of Blues. The Handy Awards ceremony and concert will be held May 22, 2003 in Memphis, TN, at the Orpheum Theatre.

TEN ALLIGATOR ARTISTS RECEIVE 19 W.C. HANDY BLUES AWARD NOMINATIONS!

Alligator artists and nominations are as follows:

SHEMEKIA COPELAND
Blues Album of the Year - TALKING TO STRANGERS
Blues Entertainer of the Year
Blues Band of the Year
Contemporary Female Blues Artist of the Year
Contemporary Blues Album of the Year - Talking To Strangers

W.C. CLARK
Blues Album of the Year - FROM AUSTIN WITH SOUL
Soul Blues Male Artist of the Year
Soul Blues Album of the Year - FROM AUSTIN WITH SOUL
Blues Song of the Year - "Let It Rain" (W.C. Clark)

MARCIA BALL
Contemporary Female Blues Artist of the Year
Blues Instrumentalist - Keyboards

CEPHAS & WIGGINS
Acoustic Blues Artist of the Year
Acoustic Blues Album - SOMEBODY TOLD THE TRUTH

LITTLE CHARLIE AND THE NIGHTCATS
Blues Band of the Year

KOKO TAYLOR
Traditional Female Blues Artist of the Year

ANN RABSON (of Saffire-The Uppity Blues Women)
Traditional Female Blues Artist of the Year

LIL' ED AND THE BLUES IMPERIALS
Traditional Blues Album of the Year - HEADS UP!

HOLMES BROTHERS
Historical Blues Album of the Year - Righteous (reissue on Rounder Records)

ROOMFUL OF BLUES
Blues Instrumentalist - Horns

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