“The year is looking to be studded with honors for Canton bluesman Grady Champion. ”

“2011 Blues Critic Awards Best Down Home Blues Song "Make That Monkey Jump" by Grady Champion Thanks in great part to Jackson, Mississippi's WMPR Grady Champion's fun "Make That Monkey Jump" has been voted "Best Down Home Blues Song" for 2011. It beat out heavy contenders like "Sniffers" by Bobby Rush, Travis Haddix' cheeky "Cialis Before I See Alice" and runnerup "I'm Your Maintenance Man" by Omar Cunningham. Other nominees were Nellie Tiger Travis for "I Ain't Gonna Raise No Grown Ass Man", "Love Monkey" by Donnie Ray, "Ex-Wife Blues" by Cherone Brown, "Jammin' On The Blues" by Chuck Roberson, "Don't Treat Me Like Stepchild" by TJ Hooker-Taylor, "Hungry Woman" by Pat Cooley and "Hey Baby" by Roy Roberts ”

“2011 Blues Critic Awards Best Soul Blues Album Runner Up While this genre ("Southern Soul Blues") is often referred to as either just "Soul Blues" or "Southern Soul" there is a difference between "Southern Soul" and actually "Soul Blues". For the second year in a row Bobby Rush gets the prize. This year for "Show You A Good Time". Other nominees were Grady Champion "Dreamin'" (Runnerup), Travis Haddix "Old Man In Love", Roy Roberts "Strange Love", Vernon Garrett "Don't Fall In Love With Me", Dr Feelgood Potts "Memphis Blues International", Johnnie Rawls "Memphis Still Got Soul", Little Phil "Never Gonna Give You Up", Maurice Davis "Play Boy" and Uvee Hayes "True Confessions". ”

“Blues singer Grady Champion is known for his high-energy performances, and his show Friday, Dec. 30 at Underground 119 lived up to his stellar reputation.”

“Champion demonstrates why the IBC was so swayed as to award him its 2010 belt, if you will. Blessed with a warm, seasoned voice (he has a Mellencamp grittiness at times) and impressive lung power, Champion knows how to express himself lyrically too—he wrote or co-wrote all but one of the album’s 10 tunes and, to add fuel to the fire, he also plays a forthright harmonica. With his band, his voice and his words, Champion makes an indelible impression as an artist with wit, conscience and a big heart who can no more be confined to the blues world than he can to the roots rock universe.”

“Grady Champion approaches the microphone like a gun fighter ready to take you out. His belt, laden with harmonicas in various keys, one for each of the keys he sings in, sits at his waist. "I come in strapped down just like one of those old Mississippi cowboys,” he says. To see Champion live isn’t a typical concert experience. For one, you cannot confine him to the stage. "I love people,” he says. "I want to be with the audience.” It’s the explosive energy Champion brings to each and every show that has catapulted the Canton native to mainstream success. His first single, "The Weight of the World,” from his new album, "Dreamin,” recently hit No. 1 on the American Blues Top 20 chart.”

“I think anything that Champion touches just glistens. He can do the Blues, he can sing like few can, and he also has quite the ability to score with a funk-style number. If you need proof on that, take a listen to “Same Train” and “Cross That Bridge,” and the old-school raunch funk of “Walk With Me Baby” is just pure fun! Dreamin’ should play well on the afore-mentioned Bourbon and Beale, but also down at the Crossroads, as well. For that matter, this record will play well anywhere from Seattle to Key West! He’s that good! ”