Blue Empress Music Group

	Fiona Boyes, Australia’s most successful international blues artist, has been named in the final five nominees of US based Blues Music Awards (BMA), in the category *‘Traditional Female Blues Artist of the Year’. The Blues Music Awards, now in their 31st year, are the highest international accolades for blues artists. Chosen by an international panel of critics, reviewers, and industry leaders, Fiona joins previous nominees Koko Taylor, Aretha Franklin, Etta James, Ruth Brown, Big Mama Thornton, Alberta Hunter and Sippie Wallace in a rare place of recognition and honor. Fiona made her debut appearance on the international blues scene in 2003 when she became the first woman, and the first Australian, to win the International Blues Challenge*, in Memphis, Tennessee.
Having won multiple recording and performance awards in Australia and New Zealand, she released her debut US album, Lucky 13, in 2006. This CD went to the top of many of the major US Blues and Roots music charts, and was lauded by Grammy and Rock and Roll Hall of Fame nominator, Jeff Tamarkin, as ‘one of the best blues albums – by anyone – in years.’ It was nominated for ‘Contemporary Blues Album of the Year’ in the 2007 Blues Music Awards, again marking another milestone for Fiona, as the first Australian blues album to be nominated. Fiona was based in the US in 2008-09, and toured relentlessly. She was again nominated for a Blues Music Award in 2008, this time as ‘Contemporary Female Blues Artist of the Year’. In 2008 she released ‘Live From Bluesville’, which won the 2009 US Blues Critics Award for ‘Best Live Album’, and received a third consecutive Blues Music Award nomination, this time for ‘Acoustic Blues Album of the Year’. In August 2009 Fiona released her 3rd US album, Blues Woman, which has been on top of the charts for more than 4 months. On Wednesday Dec. 9, the Blues Foundation released the Blues Music Award nominations for 2010, and Fiona Boyes was named in the final five artists for ‘Traditional Female Blues Artist of the Year’, her fourth consecutive nomination and the first time any artist has been nominated consecutively in four distinct categories – Contemporary Blues Album, Contemporary Female Blues Artist, Acoustic Blues Album, and Traditional Female Artist. Voting for the Blues Music Awards follows an exhaustive process. In the first round, all current blues releases available worldwide may be submitted for consideration by a board of more than 120 nominators. The nominators are carefully-screened blues experts, consisting of radio programmers, print media representatives, retailers, reviewers, educators, photographers, festival presenters, and talent buyers. In round two, the albums that have garnered most nominations are considered again by the nominators, with a final list of five nominees in each category being put forward by the panel, for voting in the final round. The final five are then announced in December and are voted on by the public, with voting closed on March 1st. As an Aussie, Fiona is particularly asking the blues lovers of Australia to support her nomination by voting for her in the final round, which is decided by the voting public. To be eligible to vote, blues fans need to join the Blues Foundation. Their website can be found at www.blues.org/#ref=bluesmusicawards_vote. Simply follow the instructions on that page and cast your vote for Fiona.
	On Palm Sunday, April 5th, Blue Empress recording artist, Fiona Boyes, will be joined by fellow Australian blues artists, Lil Fi and Kelly Auty, along with Adelaide's Tutti Ensemble for a free All Star concert, Blessings and Blues, to celebrate the close of Lent and the beginning of Holy Week. Sponsored by the Anglican Diocese of Adelaide and Anglican Archbishop, Dr Jeffrey Driver, it will feature Afro-American spirituals, Southern gospel, and traditional blues.