New York, NY (Top40 Charts) Among the nominees for the 44th annual Blues
Music Awards hosted by The Blues Foundation is Grammy-winning and Nashville native the 21-year-old Yates McKendree, who released his debut album Buchanan Lane this fall to critical acclaim around the globe on the indie label Qualified Records. The LP is currently #1 on the Classic Blues Chart for the
Roots Music Report and is charting at #5 Top Blues LP's by the organization.
The album is nominated under the Best Emerging Artist Album category. He is dedicated to the music he loves best: straight-up Traditional Blues.
Raised in the studio alongside his father the multi-Grammy® winner
Kevin McKendree, Yates gained acclaim for his talent as a guitarist, keyboardist and drummer at an early age. In addition to his work with blues icon Delbert McClinton's hit "Tall Dark and Handsome", for which Yates received his first Grammy® award, John Hiatt, one of Americana's premier artists referred to him as his "secret weapon" in a Rolling Stone article.
Notable Nashville Songwriter Hall of Fame 2022 inductee, Grammy winner, and Yates's co-writer on two songs on the LP Gary Nicholson said "Yes, he's been around plenty before, and he's giving it to this world again, just getting started being timeless."
McKendree believes that "his music should do the speaking," but in this rare case he said: "I'm honored to be recognized by the Blues Foundation for my album Buchanan Lane as I've always admired their focus and dedication to the Blues. I wish my fellow nominees the best of luck and look forward to the big event in May."
Voting is open until March 20th to The Blues Foundation members at https://blues.org and if you're not a member, please consider joining. It's just $25 and the Foundation works tirelessly to keep the Blues alive.
About The Blues Foundation: Founded in 1980 in Memphis, The Blues Foundation is committed to honoring the heritage and promoting the talent of the blues genre. The Blues
Music Awards are an annual event to honor the best blues talent of the year. The 44th annual Blues
Music Awards will be held on May 11, 2023 in Memphis, Tennessee. Learn more at www.blues.org.
