News & Scoops

2006 SGN Music Awards Announce Nominees for Fan Favorite Artist of the Year

Voting for Winners Begins Tomorrow, February 8, 2006

MURFREESBORO, Tenn. – Deon and Susan Unthank, owners of SouthernGospelNews.com, are proud to announce the nominees for the first ever Fan Favorite Artist of the Year. The top 10 finalists for this new award were submitted by the fans from February 1st through noon February 7th, 2006.

The first ever nominees for Fan Favorite Artist of the Year are as follows:

Booth Brothers
Brian Free & Assurance
Crabb Family
Dove Brothers Quartet
Ernie Haase & Signature Sound
Gaither Vocal Band
Gold City
Hope’s Call
Jimmy Fortune
Karen Peck & New River

Voting in all of the categories for the SGN Music Awards will begin at midnight on February 8, 2006 and will last through February 28, 2006. As in year’s past, the nominees in the additional categories were chosen by the staff of SouthernGospelNews.com.

As far as nominations go, the Booth Brothers led all artist nominees this year with a record setting 11 nominations, including Song of the Year (“He Saw It All”), Album of the Year (The Blind Man Saw It All), Male Group of the Year, a Male Vocalist of the Year nomination for Ronnie Booth, and a Songwriter of the Year (Artist) nomination for Jim Brady, in addition to several other nods and the Fan Favorite Artist of the Year nomination.

Following right behind the Booth Brothers was Ernie Haase & Signature Sound with ten nominations. The McRaes and Karen Peck & New River received nine nominations apiece. Receiving eight nominations was Gold City. Hope’s Call and the Crabb Family both earned seven nominations apiece. The Ruppes and the Dove Brothers Quartet earned five nods. Receiving four nominations were the Kingdom Heirs and the Talley Trio. Mark Bishop, Triumphant Quartet, Hoskins Family, CrossWay, and Gordon Mote each earned three nominations, while the Isaacs, Collingsworth Family, Chuck Peters (of SGLive365.com and SGShowPrep), Three Bridges, Peasall Sisters, the Perrys, Greater Vision, Mike Bowling, Jody Brown Indian Family, Jimmy Fortune, Brian Free & Assurance, and Johnny Minick all received double nominations.

Producer Jeff Collins earned the most individual nominations for his work during 2006. In addition to landing in the Producer of the Year (Professional) category, Jeff earned an additional five nominations for his production work this year – bringing his total to six. Earning five individual nominations were Annie McRae and Michael Sykes. Rebecca Isaacs Bowman, Sonya Isaacs, and Wayne Haun all received four individual nominations for songwriting and producing. Landing three individual nominations were Mark Bishop, Donna Beauvais, Phil Johnson, Daniel Riley, Mike Bowling, Bubba Smith, Heather Day, and Barry Weeks.

The Pacesetter Award is awarded to any artist, individual, or organization which has shown great strides in the industry and has raised the bar for others. This year’s nominees for the 2006 Pacesetter are the Booth Brothers, CrabbJam Tour 2005 (featuring the Crabb Family, CrossWay, and the McRaes), Ernie Haase & Signature Sound, Chuck Peters (SGShowPrep & SGLive365.com), and the Talley Trio.

More information on the 2006 SGN Music Awards Celebration will be forthcoming, including hosts, performers, venue, sponsors, etc. The date for this year’s SGN Music Awards Celebration is Tuesday, April 25, 2006.

A partial list of nominees for the 2006 SGN Music Awards are listed below:

SONG OF THE YEAR: "Do You Want to Be Forgiven?" (Ernie Haase & Signature Sound), "Friend Til the End" (Isaacs), "He Saw It All" (Booth Brothers), "I Got Here As Fast As I Could" (Mark Bishop), "It's Just Another Red Sea" (Gold City), "Just One Touch" (Karen Peck & New River), "Long Arm of Love" (CrossWay), "Long As I Got King Jesus" (Brian Free & Assurance), "There Is a Remedy" (McRaes), "You Are Loved" (Hope's Call)

ALBUM OF THE YEAR: Anything But Ordinary...Everything But Typical (Dove Brothers Quartet), Beyond the Music ~ An Acappella Collection (Hope's Call), Ernie Haase & Signature Sound (Ernie Haase & Signature Sound), Good To Be Free (Karen Peck & New River), Heaven (Gold City), It's Over...Let Eternity Begin (Hoskins Family), Perfect Love (McRaes), Sweet Forever (Ruppes), The Blind Man Saw It All (Booth Brothers), Triumphant Quartet (Triumphant Quartet)

PACESETTER: Booth Brothers, CrabbJam Tour 2005 (Crabb Family, CrossWay, McRaes), Ernie Haase & Signature Sound, Chuck Peters (SGShowPrep & SGLive365.com), Talley Trio

BREAKTHROUGH ARTIST OF THE YEAR: Collingsworth Family, Crystal River, Monument Quartet, Gordon Mote, Young Harmony

MALE VOCALIST OF THE YEAR: Ronnie Booth (Booth Brothers), Anthony Facello (Mercy's Mark), Mitchell Kenitzer (Three Bridges), Arthur Rice (Kingdom Heirs), Daniel Riley (Gold City)

FEMALE VOCALIST OF THE YEAR: TaRanda Greene (Greenes), Annie McRae (McRaes), Karen Peck Gooch (Karen Peck & New River), Charlotte Ritchie (Jeff & Sheri Easter), Lauren Talley (Talley Trio)

MALE GROUP OF THE YEAR: Booth Brothers, Dove Brothers Quartet, Ernie Haase & Signature Sound, Gold City, Triumphant Quartet

FEMALE GROUP OF THE YEAR: Beloved, Everlasting Hope, McRaes, Peasall Sisters, Ruppes

MIXED GROUP OF THE YEAR (a tie necessitated six finalists): Crabb Family, Hope's Call, Hoskins Family, Karen Peck & New River, Perrys, Talley Trio

SONGWRITER OF THE YEAR (ARTIST): Mark Bishop, Jim Brady (Booth Brothers), Rodney Griffin (Greater Vision), Annie McRae (McRaes), Daryl Williams (Daryl Williams Trio)

SONGWRITER OF THE YEAR (PROFESSIONAL): Steven Cheney, Joel Lindsey, Rebecca J. Peck, John Darin Rowsey, Dianne Wilkinson

PRODUCER OF THE YEAR (ARTIST): Donna Beauvais (Hope's Call), Mike Bowling, Heather Day (Ruppes), Daniel & Doug Riley (Gold City), Roger Talley (Talley Trio)

PRODUCER OF THE YEAR (PROFESSIONAL): Jeff Collins, Wayne Haun, Bubba Smith, Michael Sykes, Barry Weeks

MUSICIAN OF THE YEAR: Jeremy Brown (Jody Brown Indian Family), Kim Collingsworth (Collingsworth Family), Justin Ellis (Crabb Family), Gordon Mote, Roy Webb (Ernie Haase & Signature Sound)

FAN FAVORITE ARTIST OF THE YEAR: Booth Brothers, Brian Free & Assurance, Crabb Family, Dove Brothers Quartet, Ernie Haase & Signature Sound, Gaither Vocal Band, Gold City, Hope’s Call, Jimmy Fortune, Karen Peck & New River

More information, including songwriter and producer listings and additional nominations, is available at SouthernGospelNews.com.

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