(CHICAGO, IL) – The American Association of Independent Music (A2IM) has announced that the third annual Libera Awards Lifetime Achievement Award will honor Bruce Iglauer, Founder and CEO of Alligator Records, for both his work as a leader in the music industry as well as his humanitarian efforts. Iglauer will be honored with the award on June 19 at New York City’s Highline Ballroom. In what has now become a Libera Awards tradition, 2013 Lifetime Achievement Award winner Tom Silverman, Founder of TommY BoY, will present the award.
Iglauer has always been a fierce supporter of Independent music. In 1971, he launched Alligator Records on his own, a label that would go on to become home to some of the world’s foremost blues and roots rock talent. What began as the dream of a twenty three-year-old shipping clerk who wanted to record and release an album with his favorite band, Hound Dog Taylor & The HouseRockers, has today grown into “the leading record label for the blues”, according to the New York Times. Alligator Records currently has a catalog of 300 critically lauded titles, over 130 produced or co-produced by Iglauer. Artists on the label have earned a total of three GRAMMY Awards, 40 GRAMMY nominations, over 100 Blues Music Awards and more than 70 Living Blues Awards.
A fixture on the Chicago blues scene, the Chicago Tribune calls Bruce a “do-everything-guy.” He’s spent his career championing blues and roots rock. Whether he’s jumpstarting the careers of new talent or renewing the careers of legends, artists including Koko Taylor, Albert Collins, Lonnie Brooks, Mavis Staples and Charlie Musselwhite, among many others, have found success with the label. Alligator Records’ current roster includes Marcia Ball, Selwyn Birchwood, Tommy Castro, James Cotton, Jesse Dee, Rick Estrin & the Nightcats, JJ Grey & Mofro, The Holmes Brothers, Lil’ Ed & the Blues Imperials, Anders Osborne, Roomful of Blues, Curtis Salgado, The Siegel-Schwall Band, Jarekus Singleton and Joe Louis Walker.
In addition to supporting artists’ musical ambitions, Bruce has always taken great pride in the deep relationships he has with the artists of Alligator. Over the years, Bruce has been known to open his home to musicians needing a place to live during times of personal trouble. He makes himself available to his artists day or night, working tirelessly to support struggling musicians. As part of his work outside the label, Bruce is the Founder and current Co-Director of the Blues Community Foundation, which is dedicated to supporting blues music education and assisting blues musicians and their families who are in need. Bruce was awarded the NARM 1996 Mickey Granberg Award for “sustained and unwavering commitment to independent music and the independent music community” and was named a Chicagoan of the Year by Chicago Magazine in 2001. In 2011, Bruce was honored as a Chicagoan of the Year in the Arts by Chicago Tribune for his contributions to the music community over the years. Bruce was also a founding member and 26-year board member of the first Independent music label organization National Association of Independent Record Distributors and Manufacturers (NAIRD), later the Association for Independent Music (AFIM), and is now on the Board and Executive Committee of the American Association of Independent Music (A2IM), representing the U.S. independent music industry.
Tom Silverman of TommY BoY Entertainment, the winner of the 2013 A2IM Libera Awards Lifetime Achievement Award and a long-time friend of Bruce’s, will present Bruce with the 2014 Lifetime Achievement Award. Tom is the founder of the independent record label TommY BoY. Silverman launched the careers of such early hip hop acts as De La Soul, Digital Underground, Queen Latifah, Naughty by Nature, House of Pain and Coolio. Silverman is a founding member of A2IM, and currently serves on the board of Merlin and SoundExchange.
In 2012 the inaugural winner of the A2IM Libera Awards Lifetime Achievement Award was Martin Mills of the Beggars Group. Nominations for the 2014 Libera Awards will be announced this Friday, April 25 and voting will open immediately to the A2IM independent music community. A2IM thanks the Libera Award Sponsors, Caroline, ADA, Beats Music, Ingrooves, The Orchard, YouTube, A to Z Media, Silva Screen Music Group, and Bandzoogle!
