Category: awards

Academy of Country Music honor Gordon Mote with 2011 ACM Award

Post author By mitchmuse
Post date October 20, 2011

Gordon Mote accepts his second Academy of Country Music Honor for Piano/Keyboard Player of the Year with wife Kimberly. (Photo courtesy of ACM)

Gordon Mote was honored with the 2011 Academy of Country Music’s Piano/Keyboard Player of the Year Award at the recent annual ACM Honors ceremony held at Nashville’s historic Ryman Auditorium. Gordon, a seven-time nominee, was also honored with the coveted award in 2009.
Long recognized by the industry as one of Nashville’s most talented studio musicians who seemingly knows no limits in effortlessly crossing musical styles and genres, Mote’s talents can be heard on the recordings of some of the nation’s premier performers, including Bill & Gloria Gaither and the Homecoming Friends, Billy Ray Cyrus, Blake Shelton, Scotty McCreery, Elvis Presley, The Hoppers,Brad Paisley, Ernie Haase & Signature Sound, George Jones, The Isaacs, Josh Turner, Alan Jackson,Keith Urban, Luke Bryan, Jason Crabb, Martina McBride, Reba McEntire, Rascal Flatts and Alison Krauss, just to name a few.
Since releasing his debut Southern gospel recording in 2004, the talented singer and musician has enjoyed much success, including numerous Top 40 hits in multiple music genres and numerous Fan Award nominations. Mote’s video release, “The Best of Gordon Mote,” made its debut at No. 7 on the Billboard Music Video Chart in 2008. Mote’s travels on tour are global – include stops in the United States, Canada and Europe. He is a featured artist on the stage sharing his vocal and keyboard performances with music legend Bill Gaither and his Grammy Award winning Gaither Vocal Band and the Homecoming Friends.
The fifth annual ACM Honors represents an evening of musical tribute performances and special presentations celebrating the special honorees and non-televised category winners from the 46th annual Academy of Country Music Awards, held earlier this year.

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Brown Sisters named Best Gospel Entertainer of Year at Chicago Music Awards

Post author By mitchmuse
Post date February 3, 2010

Gospel group The Brown Sisters (consisting of Vanessa, Phyllis, Lavette,
Adrienne & Andrea Brown) continue to win new fans and accolades with their debut CD “The Brown Sisters Live in Chicago” on Kingdom Records. According to a news release, the group recently won Best Gospel Entertainer of the Year and Best Gospel Album of the Year Awards at the 29th Annual Chicago Music Awards (CMA) that took place at the Windy City’s Alhambra Palace.

Other winners included Jennifer Hudson, Jeremih, R. Kelly, jazz great Ramsey Lewis, rapper Common, classic soul legends The Chi-Lites, blues star Buddy Guy and rock band Smashing Pumpkins.

The Brown Sisters have developed a sterling reputation in the Chicago for their riveting gospel stage performances that date back to the early 1990s. They have appeared onstage with stellar acts as Aretha Franklin, Bobby McFerrin and Mavis Staples, among others. They have performed in Europe for a decade (and recorded
a successful traditional gospel CD of hymns and church standards for the European market) and have appeared at the prestigious Montreux Jazz and New Orleans Jazz Festivals. They also spent a decade as the house background vocal group for the nationally syndicated “Testify” television program.

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Gospel artist Marvin Winans wins GMC award for Best Video of 2009

Post author By mitchmuse
Post date February 1, 2010

Marvin Winans Jr. has won a Gospel Music Channel Music Video Award as Best Soul Video of 2009 for the concept clip of his radio hit “You Never Let Me Down” from his latest CD “Image of a Man.” Thousands of fans voted in a
people’s choice sort of procedure where the fans decided the winner.
Other nominees included other Christian artists such as Mary Mary and Kirk Franklin to Skillet and tobyMac.
Rodney Jerkins (Brandy, Jennifer Lopez, Backstreet Boys) produced the Caribbean-styled radio single “You Never Let Me Down.”
“It’s the joy you feel when you know that you have someone with you that will never fail you, never let you fall, never let you down,” Winans said in a news release.

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Songwriter Derrick Stark receives BMI award for most performed gospel song of year

Post author By mitchmuse
Post date January 26, 2010

Photo caption: BMI Senior Director, Writer/Publisher Relations Wardell Malloy; BMI Vice President, Writer/Publisher Relations Catherine Brewton; 2010 Most Performed Gospel Song of the Year writer Derrick Starks; 2010 Trailblazers honoree Donnie McClurkin; co-host Yolanda Adams; and BMI President & CEO Del Bryant. (Photo by Arnold Turner).

According to a news release, veteran songwriter Derrick Starks, who resides in Atlanta, was recently honored by Broadcast Music Inc. (BMI), the performing rights organization, at their 11th Annual Trailblazers of Gospel Music Awards Luncheon in Nashville, TN.
BMI Vice President of Writer/Publisher Relations joined Grammy winner Dorinda Clark Cole to present Starks with the BMI Award for the Most Performed Gospel Song of the Year for composing Dorinda Clark Cole’s smash hit “Take It Back.” The song reached #2 on Billboard’s Hot Gospel Songs and #17 on its Bubbling Under R&B/Hip-Hop Singles charts in 2008 and remains a popular recurrent.
A gifted organist/keyboard player, Starks founded the contemporary gospel ensemble Today’s Generation in 1991. His group has backed such artists as John Tesh and Shirley Caesar. Starks and his group released best-selling gospel CDs such as “Derrick Starks and Today’s Generation” (1994), “He’s On Time” (1999) and “Sacrifice” (2001). His 2001 remake of the Commodores’ classic “Jesus is Love” proved to be a major hit for Starks as well.
Currently the music director for the Trumpet Awards on the TBS television network, Starks is also a gifted songwriter. He’s written Dorinda Clark Cole’s big hit “So Many Times,” “Been Good to Me” for The Mighty Clouds of Joy, “I Am Yours” for Dorothy Norwood and “Let the Healing Begin” for Bishop Paul S. Morton, among others.