Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

John Kessler Wins 2018 Best Blues DJ Award

Courtesy of John Kessler

KNKX's long-time All Blues host, John Kessler was named Best Blues DJ at the 2018 Washington Blues Society "Best of the Blues" (B.B.) Awards on Sunday, April 15 at the Northwest Music Hall in Everett.  The awards show honored musicians, artists, events and venues nominated by Blues Society members in 32 award categories.  John was also nominated for this year's Keeping the Blues Alive Award. He won a national Keeping the Blues Alive Award from the Memphis-based Blues Foundation in 2009.

In addition to hosting 12 hours of blues weekly on All Blues (which includes the Blues Time Machine, where he plays three versions of the same song from different eras), John produces BirdNote, the popular public radio program heard on KNKX and over 200 stations nationwide.  He is also the recording engineer for KNKX's weekly live studio sessions.  Before John came to (then) KPLU in 1999, he was a Musical Director of Mountain Stage (a syndicated program produced and distributed by West Virginia Public Radio). 

John is a professional bassist who performs around Seattle as well as internationally, most often with the Dudley Taft Band.