Blues Music Awards Switzerland 2025 - the die is cast!

On 8 February 2025, the Mühle Hunziken in Rubigen proved to be the ideal location for the Blues Music Awards Switzerland, organised by the Swiss Blues Society and hosted by Ray Fein and Larissa Baumann. In front of a full house, 10 winners were delighted to receive their awards in the following categories (see image).

Federico Albertoni: Blues Artist of the Year 2025

In 2018, the time was ripe for Ticino bassist and singer Federico Albertoni to realise the idea of a rhythm'n'blues band with a brass section. His vision was a complete success: In 2021, Freddie & The Cannonballs won the Swiss Blues Challenge. In 2022, the band wowed an American audience at the International Blues Challenge in Memphis and advanced to the semi-finals of the competition. In the same year, bandleader Albertoni and his fellow musicians released the live double CD ‘Two Sides Of The Same Coin’. In June 2023, Freddie & The Cannonballs successfully represented our country at the European Blues Challenge in Chorzow, Poland, and the new vinyl single ‘Hold On/Look Back’ is now spinning on the turntable. As a freelancer for the Ticino radio station RSI, Federico Albertoni also spreads his knowledge and enthusiasm for African-American music over the airwaves. www.freddieandthecannonballs.com 

Cla Nett: Lifetime Achievement 2025

The jury of the Swiss Blues Award and the Swiss Blues Society are honouring the musician, lawyer and journalist Cla Nett, who died far too young, with a Lifetime Achievement Award.

Cla Nett played a key role in shaping the Swiss blues and roots scene for decades. With the Lazy Poker Blues Band, Blues Nettwork and the Second Cousins, the guitarist and bandleader enjoyed great success at home and abroad. In 2004, the Basel native with Grisons roots deservedly became the first musician in our country to receive the Swiss Blues Award.

As a lawyer, Cla Nett supported the local music scene in his roles as President of the Swissperformers‘ section at Swissperform and as Managing Director of the Swiss Performers’ Association SIG.

As a journalist, Cla Nett was keen to bring the national and international blues world closer to the readership with pointed articles in the magazine JAZZ'N'MORE.

Cla Nett left us on 27 September 2021 after a serious illness. But his music and his influence on Swiss blues will live on.

Andy Brooks: Behind the Scene 2025

When the singers take to the microphone on stage and the musicians dedicate themselves to their strings, keys or drums, the sound engineer's hour has come. He is responsible for ensuring that the concert is a pleasure for the audience. Andy Brooks has been one of the most sought-after sound engineers in our country for decades.

Even as a teenager, the Brit was hauling amplifiers for Rory Gallagher and Ozzy Osbourne, was interested in sound and built his own P.A. speakers. Andy Brooks came to Switzerland with the Climax Blues Band in the 1990s, worked at venues including the Kaserne Basel and the Z7 in Pratteln, and eventually set up his own business as a sound engineer, stage and production manager. Andy Brooks' credentials include Dr Feelgood, Steve Gibbons, Hawkwind, Steve Marriott, Cassandra Wilson, Uriah Heep, WASP and Destruction. The Montreux Festival has long counted on his skills. His skills, knowledge and feel for the right sound have also been indispensable at the Blues Festival Basel since 2008 and his responsibility for the backline/stage at the Lucerne Blues Festival since 2015.

For Andy Brooks, this is much more than just a job. The profession still inspires him even after more than 40 years in the business. It is his life. And an audience can hear that! 

LL & The Shuffle Kings provided the musical backdrop for the evening with guests Dinu Logoz, Ray Fein and Larissa Baumann. The prizewinners Justina Lee Brown, Dan Mudd feat bearbeat, The Two, Federico Albertoni, Philipp Bluedög Gerber and Lucky Wüthrich also offered a taste of their skills. A big thank you to everyone involved.

The Blues Music Awards Switzerland were created to recognise outstanding achievements by artists, promoters and supporters of the local blues scene on a wider scale. The well-established Swiss Blues Award, which was launched years ago under the patronage of the Blues Festival Basel, has also been integrated, so that in future the highest blues honours in our country will be united under the umbrella of the Swiss Blues Society.

SAVE THE DATE: Blues Music Awards Switzerland 2026: Saturday, 31.01.2026