Marshfield keyboard player named instrumentalist of the year at Blues Music Awards

The 44th annual Blues Music Awards took place Thursday night in Memphis and Marshfield keyboardist Anthony Geraci again was named the instrumentalist of the year, aka The Pinetop Perkins Piano Player Award.

Geraci performs with several groups and leads his own Boston Blues All Stars, which also played at the awards event. He won the award in 2021 and has been nominated 17 times over the years. Geraci also devotes time each year to teaching and conducting clinics for young musicians through the Pinetop Perkins Foundation in Clarksdale, Mississippi.

The Blues Music Awards were formerly called The W.C. Handy Awards, in honor of the famed composer of "St. Louis Blues," and they are frequently referred to as the equivalent of the Grammys for the wide-ranging blues genre.

Geraci is a New Haven, Connecticut, native who graduated from Berklee College of Music and later obtained a master's degree from Skidmore College.  During the 1980s, he led his own rock and soul band, Little Anthony and the Locomotives, playing all over New England.  Later he was a key member of guitarist Ronnie Earl's band, The Broadcasters, and a founding member of Sugar Ray Norcia and the Bluetones.

In more recent years, Geraci's solo career has really taken off, with his last two albums debuting at the top spot on the blues charts, including last year's "Blues Called My Name." That 2022 album was recorded during the pandemic, with much of the work done at South Shore Conservatory in Duxbury.

Geraci plays around the Boston area whenever he's not on tour, and he'll be bringing the Boston Blues All Stars to the Bull Run restaurant in Shirley on Saturday, May 20.  When he's able to spend time at his Marshfield home with his wife, Andrea, Geraci likes trying his hand at gourmet cooking, often with home-grown vegetables from his beloved garden.

Another big winner with local ties was The Tedeschi Trucks Band, which garnered the award for band of the year.  The TTB features Norwell native Susan Tedeschi and her husband, Derek Trucks, and while they have made their annual November multinight runs at Boston's Orpheum Theatre a tradition, this year they'll be performing at the TD Garden on Sept. 27.

The winner for best vocalist was Shemekia Copeland, a familiar face in these parts who played at The Spire Center in Plymouth this winter and is scheduled to headline The Narrows Center in Fall River on June 10.  Copeland, the daughter of the late bluesman Johnny Copeland, has been nominated for 40 different Blues Music Awards over the years and this is her 15th win.

Other award winners include many acts that have played the South Shore area, whether at The Spire Center, The Narrows Center, The C-Note in Hull, or any of Marshfield promoter John Hall's various events, most notably the annual North River Blues Festival.

Most notable might be singer/guitarist Albert Castiglia, who has played the North River Blues Festival, as well as Hall's Rhythm Room Afternoons at the John Alden Sportsman's Club in Plymouth, and The C-Note.  Castiglia was named blues rock artist of the year, and his latest album, "I Got Love," was named blues rock album of the year.

The B.B. King Entertainer of the Year award went to Tommy Castro, who also won that award last year. Castro has played at the North River Blues Festival, The Spire Center and The Narrows Center over the years, and has many local fans. The award for soul blues album of the y went to Sugar Ray Rayford's "In Too Deep," and fans know Rayford for his shows at the North River Blues Festival and The C-Note.

In the best guitarist category, Lauren Chavez won, and while she may not be well known on the East Coast, Hall has Chavez appearing as a special guest at this year's North River Blues Festival on Aug. 27.

Some other awards went to artists with local ties from the past.  Curtis Salgado repeated as soul blues male artist of the year, and fans will remember his years as Roomful of Blues vocalist when he lived in Cambridge, before returning to his Pacific Northwest roots. And Tommy Hambridge, who led his T.H. and the Wreckage rock band in Boston in the 1980s, has found success as a blues songwriter and producer. Hambridge's song "The Blues Don't Lie" was cited as song of the year, and Buddy Guy's album of the same name (which Hambridge produced) won for overall album of the year.

In other categories, 22-year-old Mississippi guitarist Christone "Kingfish" Ingram continued to dazzle blues fans, winning another award as contemporary male blues artist of the year.  And long-acclaimed harmonica ace Charlie Musselwhite won the award for best acoustic blues album for his "Mississippi Son," an album on which he showcases his guitar skills.

(Full disclosure: we were honored to receive a 2017 Keeping the Blues Alive award from the Blues Music Awards, an award typically given to journalists, educators, promoters or producers whose work helps preserve and promote the genre.) 

This article originally appeared on The Patriot Ledger: Marshfield's Geraci wins instrumentalist honor at Blues Music Awards