Billy Lee Riley got some good news in the mail in November. The Recording Acadamy notified him that his CD "Hot Damn!" has been selected for the nominating ballot for the 1998 Grammy Awards. The Grammy is the music industry's most prestigious award. The award is not based on sales or record charts but is given by artists and technical professionals in the industry. The 40th Grammy Awards will take place on February 25, 1998 at New York City's Radio City Music Hall.

"Hot Damn!" was released in early 1997 without a lot of hoopla or fanfare. The CD was produced by Riley who is as true a bluesman as you can find. Born to a sharecropper family in the 30's Riley grew up on Arkansas plantations. He spent his days chopping cotton and his nights playing music. His music reflects the sometimes hopeless feelings that are part of a sharecropper's experience and it also reflects a sheer gutsy zest for life. Seven of the 16 songs on the CD are original tunes and the rest were chosen by Riley because they took him back to the to the plantation where he learned to play.

Nobody can tell Billy Lee Riley's story better than the man himself so check out his autobiography on Delta Musicians Delta Boogie's Leon McEntire recently reviewed "Hot Damn" in his Delta Pickin's Column.

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