NASHVILLE MUSIC CITY – March 16, 2006 – The GMA Music Awards will showcase 16 Dove-nominated artists in performances that will range stylistically from rousing soulful gospel to infectious guitar-driven pop to powerful quartet harmonizing to rootsy rock n’ roll to inspiring modern worship, today announced John W. Styll, president of the GMA and executive producer of the 37th annual GMA Music Awards. The gospel music industry’s premier event will be held Wednesday, April 5 at the Grand Ole Opry House in Nashville and will be broadcast in national syndication later in the month.
Confirmed performers for the GMA Music Awards include leading Dove Award nominees Chris Tomlin, Israel & New Breed, Kutless and Third Day. Joining them in performances will be BarlowGirl, Ernie Haase & Signature Sound, Mark Schultz, Martha Munizzi, Natalie Grant, Sawyer Brown and The Brooklyn Tabernacle Choir. Jeremy Camp, David Crowder of David Crowder Band, Casting Crowns’ Mark Hall and Third Day’s Mac Powell will join together for a special acoustic performance. Additionally, Kirk Franklin and Rebecca St. James, who were previously announced as hosts for the 37th Annual GMA Music Awards, will perform during the show.
“The heart of gospel music may be in the lyrics, but the soul is in the passion with which these artists perform, and I’m excited for another diverse and entertaining awards show,” said Styll. “No matter what artist or style of music that a person buys their ticket to come see, it is certain that the rock music fanatics will respond to the Southern gospel performance and the urban gospel fans will be moved by the convicting vocals of the singer-songwriter. For me, that’s what makes the Dove Awards a must-see event.”
The 37th Annual GMA Music Awards will be produced by Steve Gilreath for SGTV, Inc. Tickets are now on sale for the awards and can be purchased at www.gmamusicawards.com or by calling the GMA office at 615-242-0303. Ticket prices range from $55 to $200.
Walgreens has signed on as a sponsor for the 37th Annual GMA Music Awards television broadcast. The American Bible Society has signed on as the show's "designated charity." The awards will be televised in national syndication starting on Easter weekend April 15 through May 21. Central City Productions of Chicago, Ill., is handling first run syndication through network affiliates and independent stations nationwide, with an expected audience reach of at least 75 percent of U.S. television households. Among the major markets already cleared for broadcast are New York (WABC/ABC), Chicago (WLS/ABC), Atlanta (WATL/WB), Washington DC (WBCD/WB), Philadelphia (WPHL/WB), Detroit (WWJ/CBS) and Nashville (WTVF/CBS).
Founded in 1964, the 4,000-member Gospel Music Association (www.gospelmusic.org) is dedicated to exposing, promoting and celebrating the gospel through music. The GMA represents all styles of gospel music including contemporary pop, rock, urban gospel, praise & worship, Southern gospel, country and children’s gospel music. The GMA produces the GMA Music Awards, which recognizes achievement in all genres of gospel music and are voted on by members of the GMA.
# # #
More about the performers:
BarlowGirl: Sisters Rebecca, Alyssa and Lauren Barlow are not just another girl band. The girls, who write their own music and perform their own instruments when creating their melodic blend of modern pop and heavier rock, have earned real musicians’ “cred” and their sophomore effort Another Journal Entry has received critical acclaim, sales success and five Dove Award nominations including Group of the Year. (www.barlowgirl.com)
Chris Tomlin: Nominated for 10 Dove Awards including Artist, Male Vocalist and Song and Songwriter of the Year. Tomlin has become one of today’s most prolific modern worship songwriters and is one of the key worship leaders of the Passion movement. (www.christomlin.com)
David Crowder’s David Crowder Band is nominated for six Doves including Group of the Year and Crowder himself is nominated for four individual honors. The band shares the Passion stage with fellow sixstepsrecords’ Tomlin, but offers a harder edge to their take on worship music. (www.davidcrowderband.com)
Ernie Haase & Signature Sound is a Southern gospel quartet that considers itself relevant today in image and attitude but whose music and stage performance pays homage to the great quartets from the past such as the legendary Statesmen and the Cathedrals (of which Haase is the tenor vocalist). The group is nominated for Southern Gospel Album of the Year for their self-titled recording. (www.erniehaase.com)
Israel & New Breed has broken cultural and musical barriers as the worship band for Joel Osteen’s Lakewood Church in Houston, one of the most racially diverse and largest churches in the country. Israel & New Breed has earned multiple nominations for both the group and its leader thanks to its infectious praise-and-worship that knows no stylistic boundaries, embracing gospel, funk, rock, pop, R&B, and world music. (www.newbreedmusic.com)
Jeremy Camp is the reigning two-time Male Vocalist of the Year and is nominated in that category again as well as in the Artist of the Year category. His classic pop-rock vocals have earned him nine #1 singles at Christian radio. (www.jeremycamp.com)
Kirk Franklin is one of gospel music’s best selling artists of all time and his latest CD, Hero, is a signature Franklin – an eclectic and energetic mix of R&B, modern rock, hip-hop, pop, jazz, gospel. In addition to hosting the GMA Music Awards and performing on the show, Franklin will be contending for three Dove Awards, including for Urban Album of the Year for Hero. (www.kirkfranklin.us)
Kutless is one of the hardest working touring bands in gospel music, engaging young people nationwide with their melodic hard rock. They receive their first Group of the Year nomination this year along with a nomination for Praise & Worship Album of the year for their rock-infused Strong Tower. (www.kutless.com)
Mark Hall, the lead singer of Casting Crowns, distinguished himself last year after being awarded the Doves for Song of the Year and Songwriter of the Year, but he has also been singled out for his own vocal talent with back-to-back nominations as Male Vocalist of the Year. (www.castingcrowns.com)
Mark Schultz blasted on to the contemporary Christian music scene in 2001 with an astounding five nominations including New Artist of the Year. It was his gift as a storyteller that touched the hearts of fans and still does with his latest live DVD effort “A Night of Stories and Songs”, which has earned him a Dove nomination in Long Form Video of the Year. (www.markschultzmusic.com)
Martha Munizzi became the first non-African American to win the New Artist of the Year at the Stellar Awards in 2004 and in 2005 she’s nominated for a Dove Award for her independent record When He Came. Like the title of her newly released CD No Limits says, the fair-haired Munizzi’s music has no limits when it comes her commanding presentation of contemporary gospel music. (www.marthamunizzi.com)
Natalie Grant, one of Christian music’s biggest pop voices, is the most nominated female for this year’s Doves, including nods for Artist and Female Vocalist of the Year. The success of the critically-acclaimed watershed release Awaken, one of 2005’s best selling records, and her first Christmas album, Believe, has firmly placed Grant among the premier female artists in Christian music. (www.nataliegrant.com)
Rebecca St. James is one of Christian music’s most beloved and admired female artists as evidenced by her honors as Best Female Artist in several Christian music fan media, including CCM Magazine and Christianity Today’s online music channel. The versatile performer’s newest record, If I Had One Chance to Tell You Something, showcases her new rockier edge and trademark unabashed bold lyrics. While that album released after this year’s Dove nominations deadline, St. James still earned two Dove Award nominations for Special Event Albums. (www.rsjames.com)
Sawyer Brown, after nearly a quarter of a century as one of country music’s most popular artists, makes its debut on the GMA Music Awards stage, thanks to its nomination in the Country Recorded Song category and for one of the year’s most uniquely titled albums, Mission Temple Fireworks Stand. Sawyer Brown is also known to many Christian music fans because of lead singer Mark Miller’s involvement as producer for Casting Crowns. (www.sawyerbrown.com)
The Brooklyn Tabernacle Choir (which will perform via satellite from NYC), one of gospel music’s most acclaimed choirs, has previously earned five Dove Awards and is again nominated for several this year. Known for its diverse styles of music, the 275-voice Brooklyn Tab choir, made up of predominantly untrained singers, added Southern gospel to its repertoire this year along with one of its Dove nominations for Southern Gospel Song of the Year for “Through the Fire,” a collaboration with the popular Crabb Family. (www.brooklyntabernacle.org)
Third Day is a three-time Group of the Year and one-time Artist of the Year. This year, the southern roots rock band adds five more Dove nominations to its accomplishments, several for its current release Wherever You Are. Lead singer Mac Powell, whose distinctive gritty vocals have previously earned him Dove honors for Male Vocalist of the Year, will also perform solo on this year’s show. (www.thirdday.com)