South Africa’s internationally acclaimed blues guitarist, singer and songwriter Dan Patlansky has been nominated in the UK Blues Awards for 2026!
South Africa (05 February 2026) – The UK Blues Awards for 2026 has revealed its nominees across 14 categories. South Africa’s blues maestro Dan Patlansky has earned a nomination!
Patlansky’s nomination falls under the awards category of International Artist of the Year. Dan’s fellow Top 20 nominees include global blues legends Buddy Guy, Beth Hart, Keb’ Mo’, Imelda May, Shemekia Copeland, Walter Trout, Bobby Rush and more.
The awards have been running for eight years now, allowing the industry and public to nominate and vote for those they believe, through their work in the previous year, deserve the recognition.
Nominees are chosen by a panel that comprises members of the UK Blues Federation, the European Blues Union as well as journalists, broadcasters, promoters, publishers, musicians, festival and club organisers, academics, publicists, agents, fans, blues supporters, and the like. Once the five finalists in each category are announced, the UK public are invited to vote for who they think should take home the award.
Dan Patlansky is one of South Africa’s most internationally recognised modern blues artists, with 11 studio albums and a decade of international acclaim behind him, having toured around the world alongside renowned artists.
He’s the only artist in the world (alongside Joe Bonamassa) to achieve two global #1 and two global #2 Blues Rock Albums via Blues Rock Review USA, winning top honours for Dear Silence Thieves (2014) and Introvertigo (2016), with further top rankings for Perfection Kills (2018), Shelter of Bones (2022), and Movin’ On (2024), the latter voted #3 Blues Rock Album of the Year.
Also, he opened for Bruce Springsteen in Johannesburg almost a decade ago!
The UK Blues Awards will be announcing its top 5 in each category on the 15th of February. Public voting (in the UK) will follow until the 1st of March. Winners will be announced on the 8th of April at the awards ceremony.
Good luck Dan!
by 