The Long Island Music Hall of Fame will be honoring the late, legendary soul and blues guitarist Edward "Little Buster" Forehand with the Long Island Sound Award (LISA) on Wednesday, June 21 immediately prior to an 8 PM concert in memory of this giant of the area music scene by The Funk Filharmonik, Sam Taylor, Kerry Kearney Band and The Smoke Daddies, Richie Cannatta and many others at The High Note, 170 Post Avenue in Westbury, New York.

This concert is being presented in memory of Little Buster's life, music and legacy. The LISA award is being presented posthumously by the Long Island Music Hall of Fame in recognition of his more than 4 decades as a leading blues, R & B, jazz and soul performer on the Long Island and New York area music scene and his contributions to its arts community as both performer and mentor to younger players.

Buster was born in Hereford, North Carolina, where, at the age of 3, he developed glaucoma. As a young boy his musical career started as a vocalist and by the time he completely lost his eyesight, he had learned to play 6 instruments, including the guitar, which he mastered while attending the North Carolina School for the Blind.

As a teenager Buster relocated to Long Island, where in 1959 he began his professional career as a back-up guitarist in Alan Freed's Rock And Roll Shows at Brooklyn's Paramount Theater, the premier showcase for many future world class entertainers. In addition Buster was performing regularly in clubs on Long Island. In 1964 he won a talent contest at the world famous Apollo Theater, and signed with Jubilee/Josie Records, recording 'Looking For A Home', which became a radio hit on the East Coast.

In the 1970s Buster concentrated on live performances throughout New York. In 1996, Buster revived his recording career, with the release of 'Right on Time'. This CD of Buster's original compositions received worldwide acclaim, and resulted in a W.C. Handy Award and nomination for the Living Blues Magazine Critics Award. This and other recordings brought appearances on 'CBS This Morning', 'Late Night With Conan O'Brien',' The David Letterman Show', 'The Chris Rock Show', and 'Dan Ackroyd's House Of Blues Hour'. Buster was also featured in 'Juke Blues Magazine' and 20th Century Guitar and performed in concerts and music festivals in the United States, Canada, Europe and Japan.

Until his death in 2006, Buster played the New York and Long Island Club Circuit, winning an insider's reputation as one of "New York's Great Musical Treasures". Much more about him at http://www.little-buster-records.com/.

Previous recipients of the Long Island Sound Award include such important performers and Long Islanders as Melanie, Eddie Money, Blue Oyster Cult, Dee Snider, Billy Cobham, Gary U.S. Bonds, Richard Shindell, Pat Benatar, Neil Geraldo, Sam Taylor, Twisted Sister, Arlo Guthrie, Mountain's Leslie West and InterMedia Art Center Directors Michael Rothbard and Kathie Bodily.

The Long Island Music Hall of Fame is a 501(c)(3) membership organization dedicated to the idea that Long Island's musical heritage is an important resource to be celebrated and preserved for future generations. The organization, which defines Long Island geographically rather than politically, as Kings, Queens, Nassau and Suffolk counties, was created as a place to inspire in each person the desire to explore and celebrate music in all its forms and to be a place where the music community will find the support, resources and leadership necessary to aid them in that exploration. LIMHOF sponsors the Long Island Sound Award, traveling educational exhibits and is working to create a permanent home for the story of Long Island's musical heritage.

They will be presenting the First Annual Long Island Music Hall of Fame Induction Gala on October 15, 2006 at the Patchogue Theatre for the Performing Arts, 71 East Main Street in Patchogue. For more information about the Long Island Music Hall of Fame, please visit their website at http://limusichalloffame.org/. For press photos or other information, contact Jeffrey James Arts Consulting at 516-586-3433 or jamesarts@worldnet.att.net.