SGN Music Awards

May

2006

SGN Music Awards: 5 Years and Counting

We just wrapped up our fifth year of the SGN Music Awards – and it was easily the biggest and best yet. Our talent line-up for the Celebration was exceptional, and every artist was spot on in their performance. Let’s look back at the last few years and see how things have changed and how things have remained quite consistent.

The awards started in January of 2002. They didn’t have a name, and Deon & Susan Unthank weren’t quite sure what they were giving away. They decided on some pretty familiar categories to most awards programs like Song of the Year, Album of the Year and Male and Female Vocalist of the Year. Wanting to purposely stay away from Tenor, Bass, Soprano, etc. awards (since other awards specialize in these categories), they decided to try some new, breakout categories – thus the invention of the Traditional Southern Song and Album, Progressive Song and Album, and Country/Bluegrass Song and Album categories.

The difference in these new awards was that rather than them being fan based, they would be accomplishment based – meaning that the nominations would be chosen from the staff based on the previous year’s accomplishments. Those who had great years would get the most nominations. Though the fans would still vote on the winners, this would guarantee that a deserving individual would win.

Also, they came up with an award that would be their biggest – the Pacesetter. This award would honor any artist, album, individual, song, company, etc. that raised the standard in the industry from the year before.

The big nominees that first year included the Gaither Vocal Band, Jeff & Sheri Easter, Greater Vision, LordSong, Gold City, Journeymen Quartet, Talley Trio, Isaacs, Old Time Gospel Hour Quartet, Lauren Talley, and the year’s biggest nominee – Karen Peck & New River, who earned eight nominations that year. Looking back, the biggest artist who was virtually absent from the nominations was the Crabb Family, who earned one nomination in Best Artist/Industry Website that year.

Though there was no big winner that would dominate the awards like in the coming years, several artists won in different categories. A framed certificate was given to the winners that year.

2003 saw some different nominees – because each year brings about different results. Those artists that dominated the nominees that year included the Carolina Boys (now the Kingsmen), Chosen Few, CrossWay, Hoskins Family, LordSong, Karen Peck & New River, Old Time Gospel Hour Quartet – and the year’s big nominee Gaither Vocal Band who earned eight nominations. The Crabb Family finally started to earn a hefty amount of nominations as well that year. Big winners were the Crabb Family, Chosen Few, and the Gaither Vocal Band.

The awards got a little nicer, with a framed plaque given out.

The next year saw big nominations going out to Booth Brothers, Mike Bowling, Dunaways, Crabb Family, Hoppers, LordSong, Karen Peck & New River, and brand new artist Ernie Haase & Signature Sound. Earning eight nominations apiece and being the biggest nominees of the year were Gold City and the Martins. The Crabb Family dominated that year with the Booth Brothers following closely behind in wins.

Last year marked three firsts for the awards program: the new statue, the awards celebration, and a name change. The awards officially became the SGN Music Awards, and we finally found an “award” that we loved – the current stars statue that we hand out. The SGN Music Awards Celebration was hosted by Chris Unthank, Chart & Awards Coordinator for SouthernGospelNews.com and featured performances from Gold City, Mike Bowling, Gerald Crabb (featuring the Crabb Family), Hope’s Call, the McRaes, Hoskins Family, Christlike, and many more.

Big nominees in 2005 included the Isaacs, McRaes, Ernie Haase & Signature Sound, Gold City, Jody Brown Indian Family, LordSong, Mercy’s Mark, the Perrys, and the Crabb Family who earned the most nominations that year with nine – which set a new record. They were also the big winners of the night, winning six awards as well.

All of that brings us to this year’s awards – with the Booth Brothers setting a new record with 11 nominations in one year. Other big nominees included the McRaes, Ernie Haase & Signature Sound, Karen Peck & New River, Gold City, Hope’s Call, and the Crabb Family. As already announced – the Booth Brothers were the night’s big winners – breaking another record with eight wins. Artists like Karen Peck & New River, Booth Brothers, Crabb Family, the Ruppes, the Isaacs, and many more performed before a standing room only crowd.

As the last five years have shown – the SGN Music Awards are growing each year and only get better as time goes on.

Let’s look at a few facts from the past few years:

Gold City and the Crabb Family are the most nominated artists in the five year history – with 28 career nominations each. Other artists who have earned a large number of career nominations include Karen Peck & New River (27), LordSong (26), the McRaes (22), Ernie Haase & Signature Sound (22), the Isaacs (20), Booth Brothers (19), Hope’s Call (17), the Perrys (15), CrossWay (14), the Martins (13), Talley Trio (13), and the Hoppers (12).

The most awarded artist is the Crabb Family with 17 total awards. Other artists who have won numerous awards include the Booth Brothers (13), the Isaacs (8), Gaither Vocal Band (7), Gold City (6), and Karen Peck & New River (5).

Gold City, the McRaes, the Ruppes, and the Isaacs are the only artists to be nominated every year in one particular category. Gold City has been nominated for Traditional Southern Album of the Year every year (they won the award in 2005 and 2006), and the Isaacs have been nominated for Country/Bluegrass Song of the Year every year (they won four of the last five years in 2002, 2004, 2005, and 2006). Both the McRaes and the Ruppes have been nominated for Female Group of the Year every year (they both have won the award twice). There are several who have been nominated four of the last five years. They are:

Crabb Family – Mixed Group of the Year (nominated and won every year from 2003-2006)
Gerald Crabb – Songwriter of the Year (nominated and won every year from 2002-2005)
Gold City – Male Group of the Year (nominated in 2002 and 2004-2006 – won in 2005)
Wayne Haun – Producer of the Year (nominated from 2002-2004 and 2006 – won in 2003)
The Isaacs – Song of the Year (nominated in 2002 and 2004-2006)
Michael Lord – Male Vocalist of the Year (nominated from 2002-2005)
LordSong – Mixed Group of the Year (nominated from 2002-2005) and Progressive Southern Album of the Year (nominated from 2002-2005)
Karen Peck & New River – Song of the Year (nominated from 2002-2004 and in 2006 – won in 2002), Mixed Group of the Year (nominated from 2002-2004 and in 2006), and Progressive Southern Song of the Year (nominated from 2002-2004 and in 2006 – won in 2002 and 2004)
Karen Peck Gooch – Female Vocalist of the Year (nominated from 2002-2004 and in 2006 – won in 2003)
Rebecca J. Peck – Songwriter of the Year (nominated from 2003-2006 – won in both 2005 and 2006)
Rejoice! – Female Group of the Year (nominated from 2002-2005)
Daryl Williams – Songwriter of the Year (nominated from 2003-2006)

The last five Song of the Year winners were “Four Days Late” – Karen Peck & New River (2002), “I Rest My Case at the Cross” – Perrys (2003), “The Promise” – The Martins (2004), “He Came Looking For Me” – Crabb Family (2005), and “He Saw It All” – Booth Brothers (2006)

The last five Album of the Year winners were From the Heart – Oak Ridge Boys (2002), Everything Good – Gaither Vocal Band (2003), The Walk – Crabb Family (2004), Driven – Crabb Family (2005), and The Blind Man Saw It All – Booth Brothers (2006)

Male Vocalist of the Year winners have included David Phelps (2002 and 2003), Jason Crabb (2004), Mike Bowling (2005), and Ronnie Booth (2006). Female Vocalist of the Year winners have included Kim Hopper (2002), Karen Peck Gooch (2003), Joyce Martin (2004), Kelly Bowling (2005), and Lauren Talley (2006).

Pacesetter winners have been pretty diverse – including two record labels (Spring Hill Music Group in 2002 and Daywind Records in 2004), two artists (the Crabb Family in 2003 and the Booth Brothers in 2006), and an industry professional (Kathy Crabb in 2005).

Lauren Talley was the first ever Breakthrough Artist of the Year winner in 2002. Other winners have included Chosen Few (2003), Ernie Haase & Signature Sound (2004), Christlike (2005), Mercy’s Mark (2005), and the Collingsworth Family (2006).

We can’t wait to see who comes out on top next year!

Reader Comments

I was lucky enough to be at this and it was a great night. One of the most entertaining and fun events I have attended in a long time.

Thumbs up!

Commented by On 05/21/2006

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