Winners will be honored with The Blues Foundation's 2010 Keeping the Blues Alive (KBA) Award during a recognition brunch at the Downtown Doubletree Hotel Saturday, January 23rd, 2010, in Memphis, Tennessee. The KBA ceremony begins at 10:00 a.m. and will be held in conjunction with the 26th International Blues Challenge (IBC) weekend of events that will feature the semifinals and finals of the world's largest gathering of Blues bands, as well as seminars, showcases, and receptions for blues societies, fans, and professionals.

The Keeping the Blues Alive Awards recognize the significant contributions to Blues music made by the people behind the scenes. Each is selected on the basis of merit by a panel of blues professionals. KBA Chairman Art Tipaldi notes with respect to this year's recipients: "We are very pleased to bestow this recognition on people and organizations who have promoted Blues music for many, many years. Increasingly, this is an international effort, and this year's recipients reflect the worldwide impact of Blues music."

Rick Galusha created and has hosted for the past 20 years Pacific Street Blues on Sundays in eastern Nebraska and western Iowa. Pacific Street Blues is a long-running radio program that focuses on Blues and Americana music and airs every Sunday from 9 a.m. to noon on 89.7 The River. In addition to programming a wide spectrum of Blues, Galusha has hosted many legends such as B.B. King, Johnny Winter, Dr. John, Luther Allison, and others in the studio. He's a major supporter of the Omaha Blues Society and its Kids Ed program. In addition to his work on radio, Galusha is instrumental in booking and promoting shows including artists like Rod Piazza, Sue Foley, Coco Montoya, Indigenous, Bernard Allison, and many other household Blues names. As the former president of Homer's Music Stores, Galusha supported Blues in retail.

The 2010 Keeping the Blues Alive Award recipients are:
1. Art and Photography: Michael Maness, Memphis, Tennessee
2. Blues Club: Bradfordville Blues Club, Tallahassee, Florida
3. Blues Organization: Connecticut Blues Society
4. Education: Spencer Bohren, New Orleans, Louisiana
5. Festival: Heritage Music Blues Festival, Wheeling, West Virginia
6. Festival International: Piazza Blues, Bellinzona, Switzerland
7. Historical Preservation: Eric Leblanc, Victoria, British Columbia, Canada
8. International: Finnish Blues Association, Helsinki, Finland
9. Journalism: David Fricke, Rolling Stone, New York, New York
10. Literature: Crossroads: The Life and Afterlife of Blues Legend Robert Johnson, Tom Graves, Memphis, Tennessee
11. Manager/Agent: Pat Morgan, Kailua-Kona, Hawaii
12. Print Media: Block, Almelo, Netherlands
13. Producer: Andy McKaie, Universal Music Enterprises,Santa Monica, California
14. Promoter: Pozitif Productions, Istanbul, Turkey
15. Publicist: Richard Flohil, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
16. Radio Commercial: Charles Evers, Jackson, Mississippi
17. Radio Public: Rick Galusha, Omaha, Nebraska
18. Record Label: Crosscut Records, Bremen, Germany
19. Visual Broadcast: Film, Television and Video: Pocket Full of Soul, Houston, Texas

Tickets to the KBA ceremony are sold only as part of the IBC Big Blue ticket package, available online at www.Blues.org or by calling 901.527.2583. The IBC weekend, commencing Wednesday, January 20, 2010, is sponsored in significant part by ArtsMemphis, bandVillage, Beale Street Merchants Association, Budweiser and its local distributor D. Canale Beverages, FedEx, Gibson Guitars, Legendary Rhythm & Blues Cruise, Memphis Convention & Visitors Bureau, Smokin Bluz, Tennessee Arts Commission, and Tennessee Film, Entertainment Commission.

Media sponsors include Beale Street Caravan, Big City Rhythm and Blues, Blues Festival Guide, Blues Revue, BluesWax, Downtowner, House of Blues Radio Hour, Living Blues, Memphis Flyer, WREG-TV, and Sirius XM Satellite Radio B.B. King's Bluesville.