It’s that time of year again—time for southern gospel fans to cast their votes at the Absolutely Gospel Awards. I’m reproducing the list of nominees along with my votes and some comments.
I noticed that there is no category for non-artist songwriters, and I thought it was particularly unfortunate this year since the most notable new songs came from the pens of Lee Black, Barbara Huffman, Dianne Wilkinson, etc. I wonder, would Wayne Haun be counted as an “artist” writer since he does tour and sing with the EHSS band? [Clarification: Chris Unthank has reminded me that there actually is a non-artist writer category, just not one voted on by the fans. Thanks Chris!]
Among the nominated songs, a couple seem a bit old—”Almost Home” and “Homecoming Day” were both big in 2011. For Tribute Quartet, I felt that “Good News From Jerusalem” or “The Song of Heaven” might be a more current choice. However, those songs haven’t had as much time to find success as “Homecoming Day.”
I must confess that I felt ill-informed in a few of these categories, particularly since there were some artists I didn’t recognize, and not just in the Breakthrough category. In the category for Female Group, I confess that I was unfamiliar with most of the names. I know Sisters and Red Roots. Can someone enlighten me about 2nd Generation, the McClennan Sisters, or Sweetwater Revival? (That’s funny, the first thing I typed from memory was “Cleerwater Revival.” Oldies on my mind.) Also, I noticed that The Williamsons were nominated both for Breakthrough Artist and Fan Favorite. A family group, I presume? I saw on their website that they’ve been singing since 1998. Was there a particular song of theirs that caught folks’ attention this past year? I also don’t recall running across Back Home before, also nominated for Fan Favorite.
Among special event projects, the Lari Goss tribute was a no-brainer. Easiest choice of them all. Go get it if you haven’t already—it’s a fantastic concert DVD.
Here is a full list, with my votes in bold:
| 1. SONG OF THE YEAR * |
|
Almost Home – Triumphant Quartet |
|
Blue Skies Coming – The Perrys |
|
Homecoming Day – Tribute Quartet |
|
I Want to Be that Man – Brian Free & Assurance |
|
I Want to Know – Mark Trammell Quartet |
|
Just Another Rainy Day – Collingsworth Family |
|
Lord of Life – Gold City |
|
Masterpiece of Mercy – Booth Brothers |
|
Mighty Big God – Karen Peck & New River |
|
Waiting In the Water – The Isaacs |
|
| 2. ALBUM OF THE YEAR * |
|
An A Cappella Collection – Sisters |
|
Eyes Wide Open – Jeff & Sheri Easter |
|
How You Walk the Miles – Karen Peck |
|
Lifetime – Mark Trammell Quartet |
|
Love Won – The Talleys |
|
Nothing But Love – Brian Free & Assurance |
|
Our Anthem – Tribute Quartet |
|
Through the Night – The Perrys |
|
Twelve – Three Bridges |
|
What the World Doesn’t Know – Soul’d Out Quartet |
|
| 3. BREAKTHROUGH ARTIST OF THE YEAR |
|
11th Hour |
|
Barry Rowland & Deliverance |
|
The Browders |
|
Canton Junction |
|
The Williamsons |
|
| 4. MALE GROUP OF THE YEAR * |
|
Booth Brothers |
|
Brian Free & Assurance |
|
Gaither Vocal Band |
|
Mark Trammell Quartet |
|
Tribute Quartet |
|
Triumphant Quartet |
|
| 5. FEMALE GROUP OF THE YEAR * |
|
2nd Generation |
|
McClellan Singing Sisters |
|
Red Roots |
|
Sisters |
|
Sweetwater Revival |
|
| 6. MIXED GROUP OF THE YEAR * |
|
Collingsworth Family |
|
The Isaacs |
|
Karen Peck & New River |
|
The Nelons |
|
The Perrys |
|
| 7. SONGWRITER OF THE YEAR (ARTIST) * |
|
Jim Brady (Booth Brothers) |
|
Melissa Brady (Jim & Melissa Brady) |
|
Joseph Habedank (The Perrys) |
|
Scott Inman (Triumphant Quartet) |
|
Jimmy Yeary (The Isaacs) |
|
| 8. PRODUCER OF THE YEAR (ARTIST) * |
|
Michael English (Gaither Vocal Band) |
|
Wayne Haun (Ernie Haase & Signature Sound) |
|
Ben Isaacs (The Isaacs) |
|
Michael Sykes (Canton Junction) |
|
Roger Talley (Talleys) |
|
| 9. MUSICIAN OF THE YEAR * |
|
Kim Collingsworth (Collingsworth Family) |
|
Madison Easter (Jeff & Sheri Easter) |
|
Channing Eleton |
|
Ben Isaacs (The Isaacs) |
|
Gordon Mote |
|
| 10. SPECIAL EVENT PROJECT OF THE YEAR * |
|
Celebrate Me Home – The Perrys |
|
Feels Like Christmas – Collingsworth Family |
|
Jubilee 3 – Booth Brothers, Greater Vision, Legacy Five |
|
Lari Goss: The Man Behind the Music – Various Artists |
|
Reunion: 50 Years of Influence – Dixie Melody Boys |
|
| 11. BEST LIVE PERFORMER * |
|
Booth Brothers |
|
Collingsworth Family |
|
Ernie Haase & Signature Sound |
|
The Isaacs |
|
Karen Peck & New River |
|
Sisters |
|
| 12. FAN FAVORITE ARTIST OF THE YEAR * |
|
Back Home |
|
Booth Brothers |
|
The Bowling Family |
|
The Browders |
|
Guy Penrod |
|
Jeff & Sheri Easter |
|
Karen Peck & New River |
|
Michael English |
|
Sisters |
|
Three Bridges |
|
The Williamsons |
|
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Here’s a clip of the McClellan Singing Sisters. I had the pleasure of meeting them and their mom Judy at the Steve Hurst School of Music last year. They’re very nice young ladies!
any update on Tracy?
He’s still making small movements on command, but his temp is rising again. Libbi says three steps forward, one step back, but this too shall pass!
YGG – There are actually 24 categories. The fans only decide the winners in 12 of the 24 categories. The winners in the other 12 categories (Male & Female Vocalist, Pacesetter, Songwriter (Professional), Producer (Professional), Engineer, Traditional Song & Album, Progressive Song & Album, and Country Song & Album) are decided by the staff and select media representatives.
A full list of nominees can be found here:
http://absolutelygospel.com/index.php?/content/articles/2013-absolutely-gospel-music-award-nominees-announced
Regarding a couple of your comments:
Female Group category – we have anywhere between 3 and 5 nominees in this category each year – depending on how many groups get a majority of the votes. This year, we had 5 groups earn enough of the majority votes to get in the category.
The Williamsons – national touring group that has a huge fan base in the Texas/Oklahoma region. Been doing NQC featured artist showcase for years. They used to tour as The Homesteaders until a couple years ago.
Fan Favorite Artist – this is the only category where the fans choose all of the nominees and the staff have no part in picking those nominees. The 10 artists (or 11 this year due to a tie) that get the most votes get the nomination. We always have a few underdogs that get in every year, and this year was no exception.
“Homecoming Day” – this was the big single from Tribute in 2012. We’ve only had one song in the history of the awards program (Booth Brothers’ “What About Now”) that wasn’t a radio single to end up with a nomination for Song of the Year.
Thanks Chris! Now it’s coming back to me that there were other categories voted on by professionals.
By the way, I had another question—how come Matthew Holt isn’t nominated in the Musician category? I would have voted for him in a heartbeat had his name been on the list.
Unfortunately he just didn’t get enough votes this year. Hopefully next year! I’m a big fan myself!
Matthew actually did the arrangement and played keys on the demo of my first song, so I have a personal reason to like him. But I also thought he just was the stand-out musician this year because of joining the Gaithers.
I also had never heard of the Williamsons or Back Home. They are represented by Absolutely Gospel Publicity.
No votes for EHSS, a vote for the Gaither Vocal Band and a vote for Michael English. Who are you and what have you done with YGG?
I decided to choose Booth Brothers over EHSS for live performer because even though I think both artists put on a great show, I think nobody can match the BB’s blend of talent, music and ministry in a concert.
You’re already starting to wise up. Before you know it you will say the Funderburk, Trammell, Bennett version of the Cathedrals is the best, English is a better lead, and the Oak Ridge Boys rule.