Review: UK Blues Awards 2026
The Stables, April 8th 2026
Reviewer / photographer – Paul Dubbelman
Time, once more, for the annual UK Blues Awards, not just an awards ceremony but also a gathering of the Blues clan, where everyone involved in promoting, playing, broadcasting, supporting, and enjoying good music comes together to celebrate that music and the community that it is built around. Hosted by the UK Blues Federation, and compered by Blues Icon Paul Jones, the evening was a seamless blend of awards, live performances, anecdotes, and tall tales all recognising the contribution of those that form the glue that bonds the UK Blues community. It is hard to imagine a more suitable venue for this joyous evening than The Stables, Wavendon. The Jim Marshall Auditorium is the perfect setting for the ceremony, with its clear sightlines, fine acoustics and staff that are so friendly, helpful, and accommodating.
Over the course of the evening the audience were treated to not only the giving of the awards, fifteen in total, but also some fine musical performances by nominees and winners of this year’s awards.
In a vintage year for the Blues, and a demonstration of the consistent quality in the UK Blues scene, four of the award recipients were inducted into the UK Blues Federation Hall of Fame. Federation rules state that an artist can only win an award three times, and once they have achieved that level of recognition, they are inducted into the hallowed Hall of Fame for that category. This year’s inductees were Mississippi MacDonald (Acoustic Blues Act of the Year), The Great British Rhythm & Blues Festival, Colne (Blues Based Festival of the Year), The Tuesday Night Music Club (UK Blues Club/Venue of the Year) and Alice Armstrong (Blues Vocalist of the Year). It is interesting that the nominees for the Blues Vocalist of the Year were all female – It shows the strength of the womenfolk in our community and an indication that the men really need to pull their socks up.
There is a full list of the award nominees and winners available on the UK Blues Federation website (See Link below), but a few that are worthy of special mention. A night like this is always going to have a high degree of emotion and none more so for the winner of the Blues album of the Year Category. It was no surprise to many that one album stood out above the other nominees in this category – The final Catfish album ‘Time To Fly‘ was produced following Matt Long’s passing in 2024 from scraps and notes found on his phone and in notebooks, and serves as a timeless testament to his prodigious talent.
Whilst most of the awards are open to a public vote, two in particular are in the gift of the UK Blues Federation committee. The Unsung Hero award is given to an individual recognised by the committee for being a tireless, and oft-unseen, supporter of the UK Blues scene who has given their time, their heart, and their soul to support and promote Music in the UK. There are many such souls and this year the award was presented to Jim Simpson, Founder of BigBear Records, Director of Birmingham International Jazz Festival and Organiser of Henry’s Blueshouse, putting on weekly shows by American and UK Blues artists since 1968. He also managed local Birmingham band Earth, changed their name to Black Sabbath and the rest, they say is history. Eric Clapton was honoured with the Lifetime Achievement award, but due to touring commitments, could not attend. The award was received on Eric’s behalf by Paul Jones who regaled us with the tale of how he inadvertently brought the band Cream into existence.
The UK Blues scene is generally regarded as an ageing scene, so it is important to recognise the up-and-coming youngsters than have been brought up on the blues and feel it deep in their souls, people like Zac Schulze (Jules Fothergill Young Blues Artist of the Year), The Whisky Flowers (Emerging Act of the Year), and Connor Selby (Traditional Blues Act of the Year). Connor is certainly no stranger to the Awards, having picked up a number of awards over the years but, in Zac and in The Whisky Flowers you have the energy and excitement that promises a strong long-term future for the Blues.
The highlight of the Evening, for many in the crowd, was the appearance of Mimmo Cinelli, accepting the award for Blues Band of the Year on behalf of his sons Marco and Alessandro of The Cinelli Brothers. The sheer joy in his voice and the pride in his eyes when he received the award sums up perfectly the love and support that we all feel in this precious community.
The awards speeches were interspersed with short live performances featuring nominees and winners of the various categories. Sean Taylor (nominated for Acoustic Blues Act of the Year) accompanied by Mike Seal on double-bass gave us a set of blistering acoustic blues, showing the power that this form of the blues still has. They were joined on their cover of Skip James’ ‘Hard Times Killing Floor Blues‘ by the UK Blues Awards Choir (aka the Audience).
Just before the Interval, it was the turn of Alice Armstrong to demonstrate why she is a consistent and frequent winner of these awards. Backed by her band of Kev Hickman on Drums, Josh Regal on Bass, and Olly Knight-Smith on Guitar, with Greg Coulson guesting in Keys, Alice gave us the full range and power of her incredible voice on new single ‘Blood in the Water‘, another original ‘B Side’ and a fine cover of Willie Dixon’s ‘Built For Comfort‘.
Deep into the second half of the evening, Caitlin Krisko and the Broadcast took to the stage as an acoustic duo, just Caitlin and Aaron Austin. The newly-weds have spent their honeymoon touring the UK, firstly as support to Elles Bailey on her recent UK tour and then touring in their own right, extending their stay to perform at the UK Blues Awards before heading back to the US. Such are the acoustics at The Stables that Caitlin’s voice was able to soar and fly freely on songs such as Ray Charles’ ‘Drown In My Own Tears‘ and the self-penned ‘Haunted By You‘ to every part of the Jim Marshall Auditorium and for us to see why Caitlin was nominated for vocalist of the year. She will be back in the UK in October with the full band promoting their album release.
The Final live act of the night was The Zac Schulze Gang. Hitting the stage like a freight train on a promise, Zac, brother Ben Schulze on Drums and Ant Greenwell (Bass), fired off a blisteringly-paced set that left everyone breathless. ‘Woman‘ and Dr Feelgood’s ‘She’s Got it Right‘ were delivered at incendiary speed before Nigel Feist was invited up to deliver some equally intense harmonica on ‘High Roller‘ and ‘Hellhounds on My Trail‘, a cover of the Tony Dowler track.
There is, of course, only one winner at an event like this, and that Winner is Music! Whether nominees walked away with some glassware, and a fast-beating heart, or not, being recognised by your peers and your fans is an important milestone in the journey and is certainly something to be cherished and celebrated in style.
If you missed the 2026 UK Blues Awards, or you simply want to relive that glorious evening, you can catch the recording of the whole event on YouTube – See Link below.
Full List of 2026 Winners: https://ukblues.org/finalists-2026/
YouTube Livestream – here
