News Release

2005 Handy winners to perform at Safeway Waterfront Blues Festival

PORTLAND , Ore. —What do Mavis Staples, Charlie Musselwhite, Shemekia Copeland and Kenny Neal & Billy Branch have in common? They all won 2005 Handy Awards at the prestigious 26 th annual W.C. Handy Ceremony in May. And they all will perform at the 2005 Safeway Waterfront Blues Festival in Portland in July.

Winning every category in which she was nominated, soul and gospel legend Mavis Staples took home three W.C. Handy Awards. She took home a Handy for best Female Soul Blues Artist. And she racked up two more Handys for best Blues Album and best Soul Blues Album for “Have a Little Faith. In addition, Staples’ “Have a Little Faith” won top Blues Song for writers Jim Tullio and Jim Weider.

Staples, presented by First Tech Credit Union, will headline the Safeway Waterfront Blues Festival on Sunday, July 3.

Chicago blues harmonica ace Charlie Musselwhite walked away with three Handys. He won for top Contemporary Male Blues Artist of the Year, best Blues Harmonica and best Contemporary Blues Album of the Year for “Sanctuary.”

Musselwhite, presented by First Tech Credit Union, will perform at the Safeway Waterfront Blues Festival on Friday, July 1.

Musselwhite told a packed house of 1,200 blues lovers at the ceremony that for him the blues are a reflection of life: “It’s music played from the heart,” he said. “It celebrates good times and gets you through the bad. I call it my comforter.”

Shemekia Copeland, presented by iQ Credit Union, received a Handy for best Contemporary Blues Female Artist. Copeland will perform at the festival on Sunday, July 3.

Kenny Neal & Billy Branch won top Acoustic Blues Album for “Double Take.” Neal and Branch will perform an acoustic set, Friday, July 1, on the A&E Front Porch Stage and an electric set with Neal’s Band on the main stage, Saturday, July 2.

The Blues Foundation of Memphis presents the awards, named for blues pioneer W.C. Handy and called “Handys,”

Handy, a bandleader who performed in clubs along the city’s famous Beale Street in the early 1900s, was the first musician to put blues music into written form. Before that, the distinctive American music that sprang from the songs of poor black residents of the Mississippi River Delta was passed along from one artist to another.

Five-time Grammy Award winner, Buddy Guy , who previously won 19 Handys and was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in March, will perform at the festival on Friday, July 1. CO-OP Network will present his performance.

Several Portland-based acts have been nominated previously for Handy Awards: Curtis Salgado, Paul deLay, Kelly Joe Phelps, Mark Lemhouse and Sheila Wilcoxson.

The Safeway Waterfront Blues Festival is the second largest blues festival in the country and the largest blues festival on the West Coast. More than 100 artists perform on four stages. Special features include workshops, films, children’s music lab, blues cruises and spectacular fireworks over the Willamette River .

All-day admission to the Safeway Waterfront Blues Festival is a donation of $5 and two cans of food per person per day. All donations benefit Oregon Food Bank.

The 2005 Safeway Waterfront Blues Festival is presented by First Tech Credit Union with major sponsorship by CO-OP Network, HSBC, KINK fm102, The Oregonian A&E, JetBlue Airways, Good Neighbor Pharmacy and Chipotle.

Supporting Sponsorship is provided by iQ Credit Union, Miller Genuine Draft, Pepsi, Snapple, Beringer Wine, Frito Lay Snacks, Dreyer's Ice Cream, Yoshida Sauce, Brown Cow Yogurt, Portland Oregon Visitors Association, Riverplace Hotel, Marriott Portland Downtown Waterfront, KBOO, KOIN TV6, OregonLive.com, Green Mountain Energy, NW Natural, Music Millennium, Guitar Center, Pearl Pharmacy, Beard’s Framing, Sprint PCS, Ethos, Inc., Cascade Zydeco Association, Cascade Blues Association, Oregon Potters Association, Northwest Film Center, Edge Design, Gary Houston Design and Pacific Northwest College of Art.

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