By NEAL WAGNER / Managing Editor

ALABASTER – Bruce Andrews is no stranger to spending time on the stage, as he has performed extensively solo and with his band, 2Blu and the Lucky Stiffs, for years. But in October, Andrews earned the spotlight for a much bigger reason.

On Oct. 15, Andrews, an Alabaster resident who also serves as the executive director of the Shelby County Arts Council, was inducted into the Alabama Blues Hall of Fame during a ceremony at the antebellum Drish House in Tuscaloosa.

Andrews was one of only 16 people from across the state to be inducted into the Hall of Fame this year.

He has been writing and performing blues music for more than 40 years, and has earned many accolades with his band, including six-time winners of the Magic City Blues Society Blues Challenge and appearances in the International Blues Challenge in Memphis, Tennessee, where the band has finished in the semifinals five times and in the finals once.

The band’s original songs have been nationally and internationally recognized, and include “Must be Love,” which made the BBC Radio Top 20 and carried a good spot in the Cash-Box Blues and Boogie charts for the entire year of 2009, and “Going Fishing,” which maintained a top 10 rating for nine straight weeks on the Blues Power Charts in 2010.

2Blu’s music video “Dead Man’s Blues” was a semifinalist in the Southern Alabama Film Festival in 2012.

In his solo career, Andrews has performed in the Black Jacket Symphony and has written music for feature-length films, including “Dead in Five Heartbeats,” and “Company M: A Mob of Soldiers.”

As a result of his achievements, Andrews earned a proclamation in his honor from Alabaster Mayor Marty Handlon during a Dec. 12 meeting.

“I congratulate Bruce Andrews on his stellar career with the blues industry, thank him for bringing jazz to the park and wish him success in all his endeavors,” Handlon said. “Bruce is the true music professional who gives back to his community as he advocates for education in the arts.”