WLCMA vs PVA: 2017 Edition - Song Awards/General Field

We continue with our picks for who will win This Years We Love Christian Music Awards, presented by +NewReleaseToday . The last time we discussed the Album Awards, which is the only section of the awards that we have pool entries to match. The others (Song, and General Field) have no ready pool entries yet, so for those two categories we will be all quick picks. You can't go into detail if you don't have your material prepared. Let's get to it.

• Worship Song: Extravagant, Bethel Music
• Movie Song: Almost Human, Lauren Daigle
• Collaboration: Shine Like Gold, Switchfoot and Lifehouse
• Cover Song: September, Tauren Wells
• Song of The Year: Broken Things, Matthew West

Now for the rest of the bunch, also Quick Picks. The General Field

• Male Artist: Danny Gokey
• Female Artist: Hollyn
• Group: Red
• New Artist-Group: As We Ascend
• Next Best Thing: Mass Anthem
• Music Video of The Year: Back From The Dead, Skillet

That concludes our predictions. We will return to add up the score. Until next time, I am Awaiting Your Reply.

Dove Wrap: 2016 Edition - The General Field

And now, for the moment you've all been waiting for. The final of our Dove Wrap posts. There really isn't much to write about here. Only 3 awards coincide, so this will be short. When last we met we were covering the Song Predictions and their results. At that time we had gone through 10 Awards ( I did not make a pick for every category) and had gotten 4 correct. In baseball terms .400 is Holy Grail territory. Woo-Hoo. Let's see if I can keep it up.

New Artist of The Year is the first one out of the gate. I looked at the available choices (Hollyn, Jordan Feliz, Stars Go Dim, Travis Greene, and We Are Messengers) and listened to all the available products. I went with Hollyn, and the Doves went with Jordan Feliz. We are not off to a good start. (Score 4/11)

Artist of The Year is next, which usually goes to more established artists, which makes Lauren Daigle's inclusion in this list a bit of a head scratcher. But, if you are willing to look only at quality and not age or "paying ones dues", there is no question who rises to the top of this milk bottle. The Doves and I agree on Daigle. A rare meeting of the minds. (Score 5/12).

Finally, we arrive at Song of The Year. While not having a ridiculous number anymore, it has a healthy 10 entrants, which may be what winds up at a Platinum Vinyl Awards, try as we do to get down to 7. I'm not going to list them all here. Suffice it to say that when I looked at the list I felt that the cream of the crop was First by Lauren Daigle. The Dove went with Good, Good, Father by Chris Tomlin. Now I like the song, but thought Zealand Worship did a much better job at it. Final score 5/13 .385 

I'm happy with that. Hey, it's not Ted Williams, but I think it will definitely win me the Batting Title. That does it for the Doves. Until next time, I am Awaiting Your Reply.

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.

Dove Songs in an Open Field

I am going to try to cover both the Recorded Song of the Year and General Field Awards in a single post. It may be long, but I don't think a third post would be worthy.


Let's begin with the General Field. I think the GMA really blew it this year. Jason Crabb ARTIST OF THE YEAR!!?? With Casting Crowns, Laura Story and Lecrae in the mix. Then you let him double dip as Male Vocalist when Tomlin and SCC would have been far better choices. Not sure on Kirk Franklin for MV. Never thought the award should go to someone who can let a choir do the heavy lifting. Or a band frontman either, unless they do ALL the vocals. Female Vocalist went to Natalie Grant. No, wrong. Based on pure power I would have gone Mandisa.


New Artist went to Jamie Grace. It was a good pick though I would have went with The City Harmonic. Group of the year went to Needtobreathe. Again, a goog, but not perfect, pick. Definite would have gone Crowder Band here.


Now, to the Song Awards. Urban Song went to Kim Burrell and Sweeter from The Love Album. Personally, this should have been a no brainer. Window by Canton Jones.

When I originally looked up the nominees Rock Song looked unusually long, and it was called Rock/Contemporary. Considering they pulled two winners out of the list I think it was an error on their part. The Dove Judges went with Switchfoot and Dark Horses from Vice Verses and Slumber by Needtobreathe from The Reckoning. It's hard to argue against Switchfoot here but I will try. Just being contrary I will go with Invisible by Disciple on Power, but it's a weak argument. Excellent Choice here. On needtobreathe and the softer rock. One out of Two ain't bad. The Obvious Choice here would have been Lucy by Skillet.

Now to the rest of the awards:

The General Field Awards

• Artist of The Year - Jason Crabb (Complete Fail)
• New Artist - Jamie Grace (B+)
• Male Vocalist - Jason Crabb (Complete Fail)
• Female Vocalist - Natalie Grant (C)
• Group of The Year - Needtobreathe (C-)

Recorded Song of The Year Awards

• Song of The Year - Blessings, Laura Story (C)
• Rap/ Hip Hop - Hallelujah, Lecrae (C)
• Pop/Contemporary - Blessings, Laura Story (C)
• Urban - Sweeter, The Love Album, Kim Burrell (C)

That concludes the Night Beat Coverage of the Dove Awards. Until the next time, I am Awaiting Your Reply.

PVA 2011 Nominees: General Field

We move on from Album of The Year to The General Field (Male Vocalist, Group, etc), mainly because I am not done with going through the song of the year candidates. Go with what's done.

I'm going to leave my exclusive General Field nominations (Comeback Artist, Lifetime Achievement, TNB DJ's Choice and CROSS/over) and go with the big ones. Once again I encourage you to check out the full list of nominees on my blog

Male Vocalist of The Year

• Dominic Balli
• Canton Jones
• Lecrae
• Andrew Peterson
• Tedashii
• Chris Tomlin
• Matthew West

I know, not a Chris August or Brandon Heath in the mix. August's Deluxe edition wasn't all that better and Heath never impressed at all, CJ had an outstanding album (5 Emeralds) and all the others were solid.

Female Vocalist of The Year

• Jackie Evancho
• JJ Heller
• Dara Maclean
• Mandisa
• Ginny Owens
• Beckah Shae
• Heather Williams

Four of the seven on this list (Evancho, Mandisa, Shae, Williams) had 5 Emerald releases. Dara Maclean leads the newcomers. The biggest surprise still continues to be Evancho. To be so good at so young an age. This is a loaded field.

Artist of The Year

• Burlap to Cashmere
• The City Harmonic
• The Civil Wars
• Canton Jones
• Lecrae
• Mandisa
• Beckah Shae

Folk-Rock Burlap to Cashmere returns after many years without missing a beat, and newcomers The City Harmonic have grabbed the spotlight with a refreshing sound. Not to be outdone is Folk Duo The Civil Wars. Another loaded field that is very close to call.

That concludes my partial look at the General Field Nominees. For the full list of General Field Nominees, including Group of The Year and Best New Artist, plus all the rest, please click on the link. Until next time, I am Awaiting Your Reply.

Doves In The Field

Now Before I get started, I want you to click on the highlighted link and purchase NOW, the latest release by Fireflight. It's a bit softer than For Those Who Wait, but it's written around Dawn's voice, and that's a very good thing. I think I've got some of the Amazon Associates stuff down, since I have to do this manually, but If you click the link, It has my associates ID in it and The Night Beat will thank you. Right now the other options don't wrap around the text and the blog looks ugly with them. This is the most unobtrusive.

Now, on to the other music. With the new releases, preparations for the second Platinum Vinyl Awards and other stuff, my Dove Coverage has taken a bit of a hit. We're finally going to continue with The General Field Awards, those that all genres compete in, such as Group of the Year. The Doves only have five of these awards, and they only have five entrants each, so I'm going to hit them all.

Male Vocalist of the Year

• Chris August
• Chris Tomlin
• Jason Crabb
• Kirk Franklin
• Steven Curtis Chapman

Chris August and SCC didn't even have albums out this time around. (August had the obligatory Deluxe edition and SCC had a best of work. Sorry, that's cheating) Tomlin and Franklin did have new albums, and I was more impressed with Tomlin's. Crabb is SG and I don't pay attention to SG.

Female Vocalist of the Year

• Francesca Battistelli
• Kari Jobe
• Laura Story
• Mandisa
• Natalie Grant

What, no Beckah Shae!? Mandisa is a good choice and Natalie Grant okay if its from MIBTS, but Love Revolution, no. Story's album is a good choice. The only one I really think maybe is a tossup is Battistelli. I see another trend coming on. Same with August for the men.

Group of the Year

• Casting Crowns
• David Crowder Band
• Gaither Vocal Band
• Needtobreathe
• The Isaacs

Headscratchers for GVB and the Isaacs. Of course, since this is the (Southern) Gospel Music Association, they feel they have to honor them. Casting Crowns had a solid album as did Needtobreathe (the album that frustrates spellcheck everywhere). Even though the album was AWESOME, was there any doubt that the GMA would give a farewell honor to DCB. Personally, though I'm trying to stay away from predictions right now, I think they are the shoo-in. I think the City Harmonic should be here as well.

New Artist of the Year

• Beyond the Ashes
• Dara Maclean
• Jamie Grace
• Royal Tailor
• The City Harmonic

Never heard of Beyond The Ashes. Of the others, sorry, its a no brainer for The City Harmonic, though the other three in the list all had strong entries. It's just that The City Harmonic is so good and out of the ordinary on sound.

Artist of the Year

• Casting Crowns
• Jason Crabb
• Laura Story
• Lecrae
• The Isaacs

Personally I would pick someone else in this grouping. At least four of the five. Forced among the choices I would go with Lecrae here.

That finally gets me two thirds of the way through the Dove Nominations. Just song of the Year to Go. As always, I am Awaiting Your Reply.

Playing the Field: The 2010 Platinum Vinyl Award Open Nominations

The Nominations for the First Ever Platinum Vinyl Awards continue with the "General Field" Nominations, those not restricted to a certain genre. For the First Year, there will be four major categories: Male Vocalist of the Year, Female Vocalist of the Year, Group of the Year, and New Artist of the Year. Since this is currently a one man job, there will be no best CD Cover Design or any other such minutia awards.

And The Nominees are...

Male Vocalist of the Year

• Lincoln Brewster
• Charlie Hall
• Lecrae
• Toby Mac
• VaShawn Mitchell
• Andrew Peterson
• Michael W. Smith

Female Vocalist of the Year

• Charmaine
• Sara Groves
• Sarah Kelly
• Jennifer Knapp
• Sandra McCracken
• Kellie Roberts
• Beckah Shae

Group of the Year

• The Choir
• The Classic Crime
• Disciple
• Evolett
• Fireflight
• Ivoryline
• The Showdown

New Artist of the Year

• Audrey Assad
• Evolett
• Forever Jones
• Me in Motion
• VaShawn Mitchell
• Poema
• Kerrie Roberts
• Heather Williams 

Artist of The Year

• Lincoln Brewster
• Charmaine
• Fireflight
• Forever Jones
• Ivoryline
• Sarah Kelly
• Jennifer Knapp
• Lecrae
• The Letter Black
• TobyMac
• Kerrie Roberts
• Michael W. Smith 

I am thinking of adding two more major categories to the Platinum Vinyl Awards, that of Song of the Year, which would be open, and Record (Recorded Song) of the Year which would be by genre. I am currently going through the nominees and rating the songs. Since this is by far the most time consuming of the tasks involved in the PVA's, I have decided to divorce these categories from the regular awards. The Awards will be sometime the week of April 17. I am shooting for Thursday April 21. That is after the Dove Awards but before the TV Broadcast of the Doves.  Record and Song of the Year will be done at a separate time. We shall come up with the details later.
 

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.