Bruce Iglauer to be presented with a Lifetime Achievement Award by A2IM

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Iglauer, founder of the  Alligator Record label, is due to receive his award  at the  American Association of Independent Music (A2IM)’s third annual Libera Awards celebration on June 19^th in New York.

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Bruce Iglauer, founder and  CEO of  the legendary blues label Alligator Records  has been awarded a Lifetime Achievement Award by  the American Association of Independent Music, not only for his considerable efforts in promoting blues music but also for his considerable acts of humanitarianism that he has displayed over the years towards members of the industry.

Presenting Bruce with his award,  will be another  independent music industry  entrepreneur, Tom Silverman, founder and CEO of the Tommy Boy record label,  winner of last year’s award.

Iglauer formed Alligator Records more than 40 years ago while still in his early twenties, as a solitary effort to reduce and  record  an album on behalf of “Hound Dog” Taylor, a well-known figure in the Chicago blues clubs where Iglauer  lived . The album under the title of Hound Dog Taylor & the House Rockers, proved to be a tremendous success and launched Alligator Records into what became known as the leading record label for the blues.

Today  Alligator Records boasts a catalog containing more than  300 titles, of which more than a third were either produced or co-produced by Iglaue, earning a total of three Grammy awards, 40 nominations, as well as 100 Blues Music Awards and more than 70 Living Blues Awards for alligator records and their artists. Among the blues legends that have recorded on the Alligator Records label are Albert Collins, Charlie Musselwhite,   Koko Taylor, Lonnie Brooks and Mavis Staples to name but a few

As well as being a talented producer with a keen eye for developing talent,  Bruce  Iglauer is well known for his generosity and kindness to blue musicians, over the years consistently  opening his home and his wallet to those  needing a helping hand during times of personal trouble.

To further the cause, Bruce was  responsible for the founding of the Blues Community Foundation, dedicated to supporting blues music education and is their current co-director.

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Bruce is 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), and currently sits on the Board and Executive Committee of the American Association of Independent Music (A2IM), which  represents the independent music industry in the US

Bruce Iglauer efforts in furthering the goals  of the blues music industry have been recognized consistently over the years,   being awarded the NARM 1996 Mickey Granberg Award for his  “sustained and unwavering commitment to independent music and the independent music community.”

Bruce Iglauer reportedly first became a fan of the blues  in its halcyon days during the mid-sixties. Iglauer’s entrepreneurial instincts came to the fore even then when he began hosting a college radio show later  moving on to promoting concerts for local bands in Chicago, including  Howlin’ Wolf and another yet to be discovered talent by the name of Luther Allison.

Bruce’s knowledge and enthusiasm for the blues soon came to the  attention of local record company owner  Bob Koester of Delmark Records, who invited him to join his label but in the totally unglamorous role of shipping clerk. When Koester failed to take Iglauer’s advice to sign Hound Dog Taylor & The House Rockers band to the label , it was there and then that he decided to produce and record the group himself, and in so doing created Alligator Records.

Bruce Iglauer’s service to the community has also been recognized, with him being  named a Chicagoan of the Year by the Chicago Magazine in 2001, while  ten years later  Bruce  was honored again by the Chicago Tribune, this time  as a Chicagoan of the Year in the Arts for his contributions to the local  music community over more than forty years.