c. 1996 Religion News Service
(RNS)-Vocal ensembles-rather than individual artists-walked away with many of the the big awards Thursday night at the Dove Awards, an annual event honoring Christian music.
The modern-rock group dc Talk was named Artist of the Year, and group member Toby McKeehan won Song of the Year for”Jesus Freak,”with co-writer Mark Heimermann. The group, a male trio, also won Rock Recorded Song of the Year for”Jesus Freak.” Other big winners included Point of Grace, a female pop quartet, which was honored as Group of the Year. The 2-year-old group also won Pop/Contemporary Recorded Song of the Year for”The Great Divide”and Pop/Contemporary Album of the Year for”The Whole Truth.”Point of Grace was also among 10 artists and groups receiving an award in the Special Event Album category for their joint participation in”My Utmost for His Highest,”an album featuring recordings by top musicians in gospel music.
The group Anointed, a pop and rhythm and blues ensemble, won three Doves.”The Call,”their debut record, was named Contemporary Gospel Album of the Year. Their song”It’s In God’s Hands Now”was awarded Urban Recorded Song of the Year, and their song”The Call”won Contemporary Gospel Recorded Song of the Year.
Jars of Clay, a modern-rock quartet, won New Artist of the Year and an additional award for Best Short Form Video of the Year for their song”Flood.” The 1996 Dove Awards ceremony, sponsored by the Gospel Music Association, was held at the Grand Ole Opry House in Nashville. Amid the two-hour display of the varied aspects of Christian music were tributes to evangelist Billy Graham and contemporary Christian music pioneer Andrae Crouch.”This year’s Dove Awards honored the most diverse group of winners in memory, and clearly groups were among the biggest winners,”Bruce Koblish, president of the GMA, said Thursday.”The artists who won in each of the 40 categories this evening clearly represent the dynamic styles and high quality of gospel music today,”he added.
Host Michael W. Smith won a Dove for Songwriter of the Year and was honored in the Special Event Album category for his part in the”My Utmost for His Highest”project.
Other 1996 Dove Award winners included Gary Chapman for Male Vocalist, CeCe Winans for Female Vocalist and Charlie Peacock for Producer. All three also were honored in other categories.
Chapman also won Doves for Inspirational Recorded Song of the Year for”Man After Your Own Heart”and Special Event Album for”My Utmost.”Winans won a Dove for Traditional Gospel Song of the Year for”Great Is Thy Faithfulness,”and Peacock won for Alternative/Modern Rock Recorded Song of Year for”Monkeys At the Zoo.”
Following is a list of major winners of the 1996 Dove Awards:
Song of the Year:”Jesus Freak”by Mark Heimermann and Toby McKeehan
Songwriter of the Year: Michael W. Smith
Male Vocalist of the Year: Gary Chapman
Female Vocalist of the Year: CeCe Winans
Group of the Year: Point of Grace
Artist of the Year: dc Talk
New Artist of the Year: Jars of Clay
Producer of the Year: Charlie Peacock
Rap/Hip Hop Album of the Year:”Church of Rhythm,”performed by Church of Rhythm
Alternative/Modern Rock Album of the Year:”This Beautiful Mess,”performed by Sixpence None the Richer
Metal/Hard Rock Album of the Year:”Promise Man,”performed by Holy Soldier
Rock Album of the Year:”No Doubt,”performed by Petra
Pop/Contemporary Album of the Year:”The Whole Truth,”performed by Point of Grace
Inspirational Album of the Year:”Unbelievable Love,”performed by Larnelle Harris
Southern Gospel Album of the Year:”The Martins,”performed by The Martins
Country Album of the Year:”Where Love Runs Deep,”performed by Michael James
Urban Album of the Year:”Give Your Life,”performed by Angelo & Veronica
Traditional Gospel Album of the Year:”He Will Come: Live,”performed by Shirley Caesar
Contemporary Gospel Album of the Year:”The Call,”performed by Anointed
MJP END RNS
