Accepting the Blues Music Award for "Last Train to Bluesville"

Yes, you did it. Got us to the stage in Memphis. What a night, what a night.

None of us thought we’d actually win, not with the caliber of talent in the Acoustic Album category–heck, in any other category, for that matter. It’s pretty hard to describe what it felt like as we saw (on the big screen, a nanosecond before we heard it) our name read as the winners.

What a rush.

And then we had to calm down, sort of, and get ready to play for that big room full of legendary and becoming-legendary talent. Not to mention for everyone listening live on Sirius XM, like Elaine Stutso, who heard it in the driveway on the car radio. We believe her when she says it sounded awesome.

Johnny's award statue

We missed having Elaine, Holly and Jana there. Johnny took this photo of his award–after he called Jana. It was a moment of deep connection, to families, friends and fans.

We felt the love!

In the 32 years since the inception of the Blues Music Awards (formerly known as the W.C. Handy Awards), legendary Washington, D.C., band The Nighthawks had never even been nominated before in any category. That all changed when the 2011 nominations were announced late last year, as the group’s Last Train to Bluesville album, released in February 2010, was nominated for “Acoustic Album of the Year.” And on May 5 in Memphis at the annual Blues Foundation awards presentation, The Nighthawks heard their name read as the winner. Amid whoops and hollers from the packed audience at the Cook Convention Center, Mark Wenner, Paul Bell, Johnny Castle and Mark Stutso proudly bounded to the stage to accept their first-ever Blues Music Award. Later that night, The Nighthawks performed two songs from the album to the Convention Center audience and to listeners of the live broadcast on Sirius XM’s B.B. King’s Bluesville channel. (See press page for full release)