A few tips for filling out your Muddy Award ballots:

1 – Do not select a person who has already been awarded a lifetime achievement award for this category. You can only win this once as you only have one life. Check the back of the ballot for the list.

2 – The categories that have artist names in front of them are honoring those individuals for the number of times they have received the award. In order to have one named after them, they must have received the award no less than 12 times and agree to no longer be eligible for that category. So, if the category is named after somebody (i.e. the “Duffy Bishop” Female Vocalist) please do not nominate that person.

3 – There is always confusion about Traditional and Contemporary. Traditional applies to acoustic blues or those performing in the classical electric styles of early regional styles like Chicago or Texas (i.e. Muddy Waters, Lightnin’ Hopkins, John Lee Hooker, etc.). Contemporary is modern electric blues that may encompass newer genres like rock, metal, hip hop, etc.

4 – A Performance is recognition of a single artist or band for a gig that they played; this can be a collaboration of musicians for a single performance.

5 – An Event refers to a setting with multiple artists playing individual sets. This would include festivals, fundraisers, benefits, tributes, etc.

6 – A Venue is a location be it a club, store, theater or wherever that holds regular shows. It is not a location that is holding an event or a one-time scheduled show.

7 – Regional acts refers to those artists outside of the Portland metro area within Oregon, Washington or Idaho – if an artist is from Louisiana, California, Europe or anywhere else outside of the described region they are not eligible for this category.

8 – If an act was previously nominated for New Act then they’re not really a new act, are they?

9 – Albums to be counted for the ballot, whether Northwest or National, must have been released during the time period between September 1, 2014 and August 31, 2015. We will check on release dates.

10 – Do not enter an act more than once in a category, it will still only count as one nomination. (Yes, we do have people send in their ballots like this).

11 – If you enter more than three nominations in any one category, all will be voided and not counted for that category.

12 – Do not write in comments or complaints on the ballots. They are not going to be considered or read, so don’t waste your time with them here. We’re only interested in who your selections are.

13 – Please use your best judgement on your selections. If you’re unsure, you’re not required to enter all categories or all three permitted spaces. If you don’t know the artists in the categories, don’t just look back on past nominees, we want everybody deserving to have a chance, which means many newer acts or long-time acts who have been overlooked deserve the opportunity, too.

14 – Please fill out your own ballot. This is a benefit of being a member, only members are supposed to be voting. Do not give them to a friend or team up with others to “stuff” the ballots. Let’s make them meaningful as they’re meant to be. And don’t ask us, we have no intention of telling you who you should nominate. Make it open and fair to all.

15 – Consider everybody. Please go out and check out different performers along with your favorites when you decide to spend time listening to music. There are a lot of musicians, recordings, venues out there that are deserving, but we’re limited to who we can place on a ballot. Remember, the final selections come from our members. This is your choices. If you do not take the time to nominate, or if you’re not a member, you cannot complain about the outcome.