Downchild Leads with Eight Nominations for Canada's Maple Leaf 11th Annual Maple Blues Awards

TORONTO - Seminal Canadian blues band Downchild, whose latest CD, Live at the Palais Royale, continues to generate extensive media acclaim and radio airplay, leads the pack with eight nominations for the 11th Annual Maple Blues Awards, including entertainer, electric act and recording of the year. The Maple Blues Awards are Canada's national blues awards program.

In addition to the band nominations, individual performance nods also went to the following Downchild band members: vocalist Chuck Jackson, keyboardist Michael Fonfara, horn player Pat Carey, drummer Mike Fitzpatrick and bassist Gary Kendall.

Nominees were selected by a panel of blues DJs and journalists from across Canada, with the winners to be announced at the Maple Blues Awards Gala in Toronto on January 21, 2008. Winners are selected by the online votes of Canadian fans at www.mapleblues.ca with the voting period from November 4th to December 8th.

Recorded at the historic Toronto lakefront dancehall before a sold-out crowd without overdubs or pitch correction, Live at the Palais Royale showcases what an exciting performing act Downchild continues to be, delivering a jump blues extravaganza.

Founded in 1969 by guitarist Donnie Walsh and his late brother Hock, Downchild is a Canadian blues institution. In the early 1970s, comedian/actor and fellow countryman Dan Aykroyd and many of his then-cast mates from Toronto's Second City comedy ensemble (which was the launching pad for him and many future members of “Saturday Night Live") became regulars at Downchild shows. Dan Aykroyd, in particular, became a huge fan of the band. The Downchild sound was the inspiration for Aykroyd when he and John Belushi formed the Blues Brothers and parlayed it into the best selling blues album of all time - Briefcase Full of Blues, which featured two Donnie Walsh songs.

Since then, Downchild has won 26 awards from Canadian media and blues organizations, including a 1991 Juno Award (Canada's equivalent to the GRAMMY) for Best Roots and Traditional Album.

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