Spring is here again, and a young man’s fancy turns lightly to one thing: the W.C. Handy Awards. (Okay, bear with me.) It’s the blues industry’s most prestigious awards ceremony, and one that can single-handedly turn an unknown into a blues star overnight, if not necessarily a household word.

Unlike some roots-music awards that got in bed with pop and never climbed out (Country Music Association, howdy), the integrity of the Handys has remained absolutely intact during its 22 annual ceremonies. Let the dilettantes and the weekend warriors have their Grammys; the Handys are for folks who are obsessed with the blues and not ashamed to admit it. And given the cadre of regional backporch growlers and red-hot mamas in this year’s recently-announced nominations, we may have a little local pride to inject into the procedures, as well.

New Orleans and the surrounding areas are present from the podium down this year: Night-trippin’ legend Dr. John himself has been tapped to host the ceremonies on May 24th at the Orpheum Theatre in Memphis. He’s not up for anything, having been more interested lately in the Duke Ellington songbook, but Irma Thomas is back with a vengeance, scoring two well-deserved noms (Soul-Blues Album and Soul-Blues Artist – Female) for her excellent album My Heart’s In Memphis: The Songs Of Dan Penn. (She’s won the Soul-Blues Female Artist award twice, but never the album.) Henry Butler has never won a Handy, but then he’s only been at the blooze thang for a few years, having made his mark in jazz. His Vu-Du-Menz collaboration with young phenom Corey Harris, however, has emerged as the ’01 Handys’ major local attraction, being an odds-on favorite for Acoustic Blues Album and the bigtime Blues Album Of The Year category. (Oddly, Harris is up for Acoustic Blues Artist, while Butler is not, although he was thrown an Instrumental -Keyboards bone.) The other major local artists to be nominated this year are Keb’ Mo’ for Acoustic Blues Artist and Clarence “Gatemouth” Brown, up for his umpteenth (actually, tenth) award for Instrumentalist – Other, a.k.a. the Gates Plays One Hell Of A Fiddle Award.

The Delta wasn’t forgotten in this year’s noms, either: R.L. Burnside’s amazing bluesfunkhop fusion Wish I Was In Heaven Sitting Down garnered him simultaneous nods for Traditional Artist and Contemporary Blues Album—a combination that perfectly sums up Burnside’s place in music history. And Texas, while providing the usual bumper crop of potential winners, has also upended the national blues scene with the arrival of Shemekia Copeland and her hit album Wicked. Despite her explosive debut, Turn The Heat Up, she was shut out of the awards last year, but she’s since become too big a force to ignore, and you can look for her to snag at least one of her four noms: Contemporary Blues Artist – Female, Contemporary Blues Album, and, strikingly, both Artist and Song Of The Year.

Wicked is so strong that she has a real shot at winning that Artist award, too, even up against the likes of B.B. King, Taj Mahal, and her biggest competition this year, Little Milton. The Blues Band Of The Year is a complete toss-up, although it really should fall to Taj and his Phantom Blues Band. R.L. Burnside should have been nominated for Contemporary Blues Artist, but since he wasn’t, I put my money on Chicago’s Eddy “The Chief” Clearwater, who’s nominated in three other categories for his career-defining Reservation Blues – Blues Album (which he may lose to Vu-Du-Menz), Contemporary Blues Album (possibly the toughest category, with Burnside and Shemekia and B.B. in there with him), and Song Of The Year (“Winds Of Change,” which should and probably will prevail). Considering the Chief’s only Handy is a half-credit from way back in ’85, it’d be nice to see him grab at least one.

Other predictions: Johnnie Taylor may very well get a posthumous Soul-Blues Artist (Male) award, and Irma will probably win her Soul/Blues Album category, but this shuts Mighty Sam McClain out of some much-needed recognition for his brilliant Blues From The Soul CD. Harris and Butler’s Vu-Du-Menz will likely shut out all contenders, even for Blues Album Of The Year. Look for Willie Cobbs’ Jukin’ to win the Traditional Album award and Robert Nighthawk’s Live On Maxwell Street – 1964 to get the blue note for Historical Album. And while the North Mississippi Allstars will likely make the Magnolia State proud with a Best New Artist win, my vote goes to 20-year-old Atlantan Sean Costello for his amazing juke-joint clarity and integrity on the fabulous Cuttin’ In album. With Shemekia, Sean, and Corey on the scene, the blues has some young blood it desperately needs. Let’s hope it’s rewarded as such. (For awards news and a full list of nominees, visit handyawards.com or blues.org.)

Two other news items of note, before the major blues events swamp us all: Local blues mainstay Mem Shannon has Memphis In The Morning, his all-new album, set to drop on May 8th, and advance reports are that it’s his finest yet. Also enjoying salad days: Monroe native Mighty Sam McClain, one of the original soul-blues masters, has recently learned of his upcoming induction into the Louisiana Blues Hall of Fame! The ceremony will be held the second week of September. Stay tuned to this column for updates.

Back to spring. April is, of course, the traditional beginning of Jazz Fest and the attendant orgy of sun, food and music. But that doesn’t happen until late in the month, and if you want some early practice, there’s still a few things shaking. First of all, the Killer himself, Jerry Lee Lewis, appears at the Treasure Chest Casino in Kenner on the 6th and 7th, still pumping out the notorious boogie-woogie country that made him a legend. On the 25th, the Neville Brothers do their thing at House of Blues (and if you’re not sure what that thing is yet, you probably picked up this magazine by mistake). Finally, pay special attention to the night before the Fest (the 26th, that is), because you may be still be lucky enough to find tickets for Earl King at the Howlin’ Wolf. Not to mention Tip’s Uptown’s amazing Six String Showdown, featuring Kenny Neal, Tab Benoit, and John Mooney all cuttin’ heads on the same stage.

Finally, thejukejoint.com is the home to Louie’s Juke Joint, and also this column’s Blues Web Site Of The Month. It’s a blues/jazz/funk/R&B powerhouse of CDs and autographs for sale, but there’s much more than that here: a Blues MP3 jukebox, lots of vinyl, a voodoo shop, posters, books, videos, and the never-to-be-forgotten top ten lists of Things We Love In New Orleans and things That Suck In New Orleans. Damn accurate, too. (But I’ll have you know I was born and raised here, Junior, and I use MY turn signal.)