Dove Awards 2016 Predictions: Playing The Field

I believe this is my final Prediction Post for this years Dove Awards. I had originally planned to do a quick hits wrap, but I think otherwise now. This is enough.

The General Field is the area where bands and artists compete without regard to genre. It is almost a free for all, but there are some boundaries. We begin with New Artist of The Year, which sets boundaries of time. The nominees were:

• Hollyn
• Jordan Feliz
• Stars Go Dim
• Travis Green
• We Are Messengers

I have heard of all of these with the exception of Travis Green. However, of the ones that I have heard I was most impressed with Hollyn, so that will be MY PICK.

Moving on to Artist of The Year. Technically a New Artist could also win Artist of The Year, but that is usally not the case. This is primarily for established artists. The nominees:

• For King and Country
• Hillsong United
• Lauren Daigle
• Lecrae
• Toby Mac

MY PICK: Unlike New Artist, which had 4/of its 5 nominees in the #PlatVnyl7 pool, we had two nominees here in the past #PlatVnyl6. And those are the ones I couldn't decide on. I am going with TobyMac for the win with a back up of Lauren Daigle.

Song of The Year is the final group I will pick from. The Doves cast off all notions of editing. One year they had over twenty nominees. This year they kept it to ten. 

• Brothers, Needtobreathe
• First, Lauren Daigle
• Flawless, Mercy Me
• Good Good Father, Chris Tomlin
• Just Be Held, Casting Crowns
• No Longer Slaves, Bethel Music
• The River, Jordan Feliz
• Touch The Sky, Hillsong
• Trust In You, Lauren Daigle
• Worthy, Anthony Brown

A lot of good good songs on the list (sorry). However MY PICK is First by Lauren Daigle.

That does it for the prediction posts. Maybe now I can take small break from things so I can finally update the winners page on the blog. Until next time, I am Awaiting Your Reply.

The 2015 Dove Award Nominations: Song and Artist of The Year

We conclude our Dove Prediction posts with the predictions for Artist of The Year, New Artist of The Year, and Song of The Year. We will also briefly comment on the Video Awards.

Song and Album of The Year are typically category busters. Now the 2013 Dove Awards had 21 Song of The Year Nominees, which was a joke. There are 10 this year. Since #PlatVnyl5 had 9 nominees for Song of The Year, this is not excessive. The nominees were as follows:

• Overwhelmed, Big Daddy Weave
• Thrive, Casting Crowns
• Come As You Are, Crowder
• Hope In Front of Me, Danny Gokey
• How Can It Be, Lauren Daigle
• He Knows My Name, Francesca Battistelli
• Greater,  Mercy Me
• Multiplied, Needtobreathe
• We Believe, Newsboys
• This Is Amazing Grace, Phil Wickham

Except for Big Daddy Weave, they appear to be of #PlatVnyl5 vintage. With the exception that Lauren Daigle was a nominee for AC/Insp Song, none of them were among my nine. We think different here at The Night Beat. I'm going to go with How Can It Be by Lauren Daigle for the win. I think it will be Casting Crowns for the industry.

The Doves for 2015 have Artist of The Year, New Artist of The Year, Southern Gospel Artist of The Year, Gospel Artist of The Year, and Contemporary Christian Artist of The Year. We just have the first two. New Artist nominees were About A Mile, Danny Gokey, I Am They, Lauren Daigle and NF. I really liked Daigle's powerful voice, and I was impressed by About A Mile, so I'll predict one of the two.

Artist of The Year nominees were For King And Country, Francesca Battistelli, Kari Jobe, Lecrae, and Mercy Me. Kari Jobe was the only one on my list. I think it will either be her or Francesca.

One last prediction. Video, or in Dovespeak, Short Form Video. The nominees were: You Can't Stop Me by Andy Mineo; Take This City by Everfound; Shoulders by For King and Country; Dreams by Kings Kaleidoscope; and Wake Up by NF. Two rap, two pop and one alternative. I'm treating this as Video of The Year. I had none of the nominees and the King's Kaleidoscope video is of #PlatVnyl6 vintage. I'll pick them nonetheless. The Platinum Vinyl Awards have 14 Video Categories, allowing for as many as 70 nominees. It allows for much more variety.

That does it folks. The Dove Awards will take place in Nashville on October 13. While I won't be there in person, I will keep tabs and either eat crow or gloat at my prognostication skills. Until next time, I am Awaiting Your Reply.

The Drive To Five: The Class of 2010

Welcome back to our look back to the first four Platinum Vinyl Awards as we begin the road to #PlatVnyl5. Today we will look at the Class of 2010 interpreted however you want to.  It was the year of The New, The Dying, and The Establishment. Debut artists came up winners in Modern Worship and Pop with wins by Rend Collective Experiment and Poema respectively. Debut artists receiving nominations included the two winners as well as Forever Jones, The Washington Projects, VaShawn Mitchell, Evolett, The Letter Black, Audrey Assad, Me In Motion, Kerrie Roberts and Heather Williams. The Class of 2010 did not have an easy road, and of the 11 newbies 4 of them (The Washington Projects, Evolett, Me In Motion and Audrey Assad) are no longer with us musically, with Assad leaving the industry completely, unable to reconcile faith and pop music.

The newbies weren't the only ones to say goodbye. 2010 was the swan song for several artists. Delirious was the only official breakup. (When you're nominated for your farewell show, it is pretty obvious). Though Addison Road broke up soon afterward. Caedmon's Call has not been heard from in years and Group 1 Crew, though still technically intact, has lost two of its three original members so it is very hard to say it hasn't broken up.

There is a pecking order in Christian Music, and it reaches even to The Night Beat. New Artist of The Year , the class of 2010 had to wait their turn in most cases. Jennifer Knapp, The Brooklyn Tabernacle Choir, even industry favorite Michael W. Smith won in the inaugural award. We shall see how the rest fare.

In our next post we will discuss the Crossovers, The Kooks, and the Grac. Until then, I am Awaiting Your Reply.

#PlatVnyl4: The Nominees - New Artist of The Year

I promised these posts and I am finally getting around to it. Things have been pretty interesting around here. You know, as in, "may you live in interesting times". I think that is a curse. We are going to do the big four, as far as I am considered. We begin with the nominees for New Artist of The Year. And the nominees are:

• Julie Elias
• +Everfound The Ordnorolov Brothers, though residing in Colorado, emigrated from Russia with their parents. Their nomination makes the farthest East the Night Beat family stretches.
• +Farah Loux  These Kiwis (New Zealand) are the latest addition to The Commonwealth of CCM. There are barely any Flaws with their newest release, which in the tradition of fellow commonwealth member IONA, is filled with non-traditional rock instruments such as a harp.
• +ShineBrightBaby The latest discovery by the Tooth and Nail empire, the Orville, OH band really knows how to jam, and songs like Love Endures and Made to Glow will not be forgotten very soon.
• +Jenny Simmons The former Addison Road frontwoman makes a strong debut as a solo artist.
• +We As Human Being discovered by John Cooper of Skillet is a strong point in this bands favor, and while they are not technically new (having formed in 2006 and released 2 EPs and 2 full length albums), their current eponymous release marks their Major Label Debut with Atlantic Records, all of the previous releases were Independent).
• +WHOSOEVER SOUTH The most unique rap/hip hop band out there. They blend the hip hop with Bluegrass instead of the traditional dance. I don't believe that anyone will be attempting to imitate them anytime soon. They are truly in a class by themselves.

That concludes the nominees. Until next time, I am Awaiting Your Reply.

42nd Annual GMA Dove Award Nominees: General Field

In my last post I dealt with the Dove Award nominations in the genre-specific Album of the Year categories, making my predictions as to who I think the GMA will pick and who I think should win. I also addressed the time window issue between the Doves and the Platinum Vinyl Awards. With this post I move on to the General Field, the awards for Female Artist of the Year and so forth. Things get a little more interesting here, as my research has unearthed some trends that I think need to be addressed by the GMA in order to assure a more representative, and therefore more interesting Awards. Who knows, maybe the PVA's will be the spark that shakes the Dove's out of their monopoly induced lethargy. Keep reading after the break for my picks and predictions.