The 41st annual Gospel Music Association Dove Awards showcased a segment of the music landscape clearly in transition, as relative newcomers and seeming outsiders picked up some of the night’s most high-profile honors.
However, top-selling Atlanta-based worship outfit Casting Crowns, a gospel mainstay, picked up its first artist of the year award, after multiple nominations and four consecutive wins (from 2005-08) as group of the year. For the second year in a row, fans were able to vote via text and e-mail for artist and new artist categories, with the latter going to four-piece pop band Sidewalk Prophets.
Rock unit NEEDTOBREATHE, which got its start on Christian label Sparrow Records but later migrated to mainstream label Atlantic Records for its last two full-length releases, picked up three trophies for group of the year, rock/contemporary song for “Lay ’Em Down” and rock/contemporary album for The Outsiders. NEEDTOBREATHE member Bear Rinehart picked up fourth a Dove for his work on the special event album of the year, and producer/songwriter Jason Ingram also took home four statuettes as producer of the year, co-writer and publisher on the song of the year, and co-writer on the inspirational song of the year.
Nashville native Brandon Heath picked up his second consecutive male vocalist award, while newcomer (and expectant mom) Francesca Battistelli won her first female vocalist Dove. Heath noted backstage that while new players are taking on new roles within the genre, it’s something even the longtime fan favorites appreciate.
“I think there is a changing of that guard, though I couldn’t tell you who that guard is,” Heath said. “I’d hope that there is, even Michael W. Smith would hope that there is.
“I think he did a fantastic job of pulling so many of us together for the Haiti song we did,” he said, speaking of the show-closing multi-artist song “Come Together Now.” Proceeds will help victims of the January earthquake in Haiti. “But I think more people like me should be doing the same thing. We have this unique opportunity to lead in unconventional ways. I’d like to be a cheerleader for the GMA and for our whole genre because I think we need to band together and be proud of what we do.”
'It exceeded my expectations'
Tenth Avenue North frontman Mike Donehey, whose band picked up the new artist award last year, picked up the award for song of the year for “By Your Side” from the band’s debut record, along with co-writers Philip LaRue and Jason Ingram. LaRue noted one very important factor for creating songs that can appeal to wider audiences.
“I think it’s important to write what we’d want to listen to, something that would speak to us,” LaRue said.
Other show highlights included the opener “Human” featuring co-host Natalie Grant and American Idol season six winner Jordin Sparks; the return to the Dove stage of seminal brother/sister act BeBe & CeCe Winans performing their new song “Grace”; aggressive-rock practitioners RED teaming with former Korn guitarist Brian “Head” Welch for “Fight Inside/Death of Me;” and a Southern gospel medley featuring the Blackwood Brothers, The Booth Brothers, The Perrys and a reunion of The Crabb Family.
The awards show, which will be broadcast on the Gospel Music Channel beginning Sunday, April 25, was the tentpole event of the week that took the place of Gospel Music Week, which was put on hiatus because of ongoing struggles in the music industry overall. GMA board chairman Ed Leonard praised the efforts of the volunteer crew of industry professionals that banded together to lend their talents to the event, as well as the other less structured, company-specific events that surrounded the Doves.
“It exceeded my expectations, and what was neat about it was that it was a real moment of community that we hadn’t had in a while,” said Leonard, who is also president of the label Daywind Records, about events that included the organization’s first nominee luncheon Tuesday. “It wasn’t a ‘come and get your nomination certificate,’ but we fed back into them from a development standpoint.”
The bulk of the evening’s awards were given out in the Opry complex’s Acuff Theater in what Leonard called “opening ceremonies” before the show was moved to the Opry House proper for the televised portion.
“We wanted to put a lot more emphasis on this, because we have more artists this year than ever, on stage and off, and we wanted to create an environment where they could be together as a community,” he said.
Watch:
- The Dove Awards will premiere Sunday, April 25 at 7 p.m. on the Gospel Music Channel.
41st ANNUAL GMA DOVE AWARDS RECIPIENTS
ARTIST OF THE YEAR
Casting Crowns
NEW ARTIST OF THE YEAR
Sidewalk Prophets
SONGWRITER OF THE YEAR
Jennie Lee Riddle
SONG OF THE YEAR
(song title; writer; publisher — award goes to the writer and publisher)
“By Your Side”; Mike Donehey, Philip LaRue, Jason Ingram; Essential Publishing
MALE VOCALIST OF THE YEAR
Brandon Heath
FEMALE VOCALIST OF THE YEAR
Francesca Battistelli
GROUP OF THE YEAR
NEEDTOBREATHE
PRODUCER OF THE YEAR
Jason Ingram, Rusty Varenkamp
(Dove Awards in recorded song categories are given to the artist and songwriter, if other than the artist. Listed: song, album, artist, writer, label.)
RAP/HIP HOP RECORDED SONG
“”Movin”; Ordinary Dreamers; Group 1 Crew; Group 1 Crew, Jeremy James, Byron Chambers, Christopher Stevens; Fervent Records
ROCK RECORDED SONG
“Mess Of Me”; Hello Hurricane; Switchfoot; Jonathan Foreman, Tim Foreman; Credential Recordings
ROCK/CONTEMPORARY RECORDED SONG
“Lay ‘Em Down”; The Outsiders; NEEDTOBREATHE; Bear Rinehart, Bo Rinehart; Atlantic Records
POP/CONTEMPORARY RECORDED SONG
“City On Our Knees”; Tonight; tobyMac; Toby McKeehan, Jamie Moore, Cary Barlowe; Forefront Records
INSPIRATIONAL RECORDED SONG
“The Only Hope”; Bebo Norman; Bebo Norman; Bebo Norman; BEC Recordings
SOUTHERN GOSPEL RECORDED SONG
“Born To Climb”; Expecting Good Things; Jeff & Sheri Easter; Wayne Haun, Joel Lindsey; She Loves Music
BLUEGRASS RECORDED SONG
“When We Fly”; Breaking Like Dawn; Little Roy Lewis & Lizzy Long; Joel Lindsay, Wayne Haun, Ty Herndon
COUNTRY RECORDED SONG
“Somebody Like Me”; Jason Crabb; Jason Crabb; Neil Thrasher, Michael Boggs; Spring Hill Music Group
URBAN RECORDED SONG (tie)
“Close To You”; Still; BeBe & CeCe Winans; BeBe Winans; B & C Records, Malaco
and
“Just Wanna Say”; The Power of One; Israel Houghton; Aaron Lindsey, Israel Houghton, Tommy Sims; Integrity
TRADITIONAL GOSPEL RECORDED SONG
“Justified”; Smokie Norful Live; Smokie Norful; Smokie Norful; EMI Gospel, TreMyles Music
CONTEMPORARY GOSPEL RECORDED SONG
“The Power of One”; The Power of One; Israel Houghton; Israel Houghton, Ricardo Sanchez; Integrity Music
WORSHIP SONG (award given to writer and publisher)
“Revelation Song”; Jennie Lee Riddle, Gateway Create Publishing, Integrity’s Praise Music
(Dove Awards in album categories are given to the artist and producer, if other than the artist. Listed: album, artist, producer, label.)
RAP/HIP HOP ALBUM
Five Two Television; KJ-52; KJ-52; BEC Recordings
ROCK ALBUM
Innocence and Instinct; Red; Rob Graves; Essential
ROCK/CONTEMPORARY ALBUM
The Outsiders; NEEDTOBREATHE; Rick Beato, NEEDTOBREATHE, Jim Scott, John Alagia; Atlantic Records
POP/CONTEMPORARY ALBUM
The Long Fall Back To Earth; Jars of Clay, Ron Aniello, Essential Records, Gray Matters
INSPIRATIONAL ALBUM
Fearless; Phillips, Craig & Dean; Bernie Herms; INO Records
SOUTHERN GOSPEL ALBUM
Gaither Vocal Band Reunited; Gaither Vocal Band; Bill Gaither, David Phelps; Gaither Music Group
BLUEGRASS ALBUM
The Isaacs…Naturally; The Isaacs; Bill Gaither, Ben Isaacs; Gaither Music Group
COUNTRY ALBUM
The Reason; Diamond Rio; Michael D. Clute, Jimmy Olander; Word Records
TRADITIONAL GOSPEL ALBUM
Shout! Live; Mike Farris & The Roseland Rhythm Revue; Mike Farris, Joe McMahan; INO Records
CONTEMPORARY GOSPEL ALBUM
Love Unstoppable; Fred Hammond; Fred Hammond; Verity
INSTRUMENTAL ALBUM
Joy Comes In The Morning; Stan Whitmire; Stan Whitmire; Spring Hill Music Group
CHILDREN’S MUSIC ALBUM
Veggie Tales: Here I Am To Worship; Featuring Natalie Grant & Aaron Shust; Steven V. Taylor; Big Idea
SPANISH LANGUAGE ALBUM
Le Canto; Kari Jobe; Ed Cash; Integrity Music Latin
SPECIAL EVENT ALBUM
Glory Revealed II: The Word of God In Worship; Mac Powell, Shane Everett, Jonathan Shelton, Brian Littrell, Trevor Morgan, Mark Hall, Jason Crabb, Bear Rinehart, Matt Maher, Amy Grant, Ed Cash, Geoff Moore, Natalie Grant, Laura Story, Brandon Heath, Mike Donehey, Aaron Shust, Shawn Lewis, Sara Evans, Bethany Dicks Olds, Shane & Shane, Bethany Dillon, Kari Jobe; Mac Powell, David Nasser; Reunion
CHRISTMAS ALBUM
Christ Has Come; Big Daddy Weave; Jeremy Redmond; Fervent Records
PRAISE & WORSHIP ALBUM
Church Music; David Crowder*Band; David Crowder*Band; Sparrow Records/sixsteps Records
(Dove Awards in musical categories are given to the creator. Listed: title, creator, publisher.)
MUSICAL
A Baby Changes Everything; Deborah Craig-Claar, David T. Clydesdale; Word Music
YOUTH/CHILDREN’S MUSICAL
Christmas Hang-ups; Dennis and Nan Allen; Brentwood-Benson Music Publishing
CHORAL COLLECTION
Travis Cottrell-Jesus Saves Live; Travis Cottrell; Brentwood-Benson Music Publishing
RECORDED MUSIC PACKAGING (product; art director; graphic artist; illustrator/photographer; label)
Long Fall Back To Earth (Limited Edition); Jars of Clay; Tim Parker, Jars of Clay; Tim Parker; Kharyn Hill; Gray Matters, Essential
SHORT FORM MUSIC VIDEO (title; artist; director; producer; production company; label)
“Free To Be Me”; Francesca Battistelli; Andy & John Erwin; Dan Atchison; Alabama Production Group; Fervent Records
LONG FORM MUSIC VIDEO (title; artist; director; producer; production company; label)
A Gospel Journey; Oak Ridge Boys; Doug Stuckey; Bill Gaither, Barry Jennings, Bill Carter; Gaither Television Productions; Gaither Music Group