NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Brian Free & Assurance and the Booth Brothers were named the big winners at this year’s SGN Scoops Diamond Awards.

Eighteen awards were handed out at the 2009 Diamond Awards which were moved this year to the Inaugural Branson Gospel Music Convention in Branson, Missouri.

The award winners were announced at a special awards presentation last week, on Thursday, July 16, 2009. Brian Free & Assurance and the Booth Brothers were each awarded three Diamond Awards throughout the program. Karen Peck & New River won two awards.

The evening included performances from some of Southern Gospel’s most popular artists like the Blackwood Quartet, Florida Boys, Stamps Quartet, 2nd Generation, Kirk Talley, Kenny Bishop, and Chris Hester, as well as many up and coming artists like Dale & Cheryl Golden, Kathy Atkins, Jericho, and others.

Many notable Southern Gospel personalities were on hand to present and accept awards, including Lou Hildreth, SGMRadio.com’s Rob Patz, Branson GMC’s Rod & Kelly Burton, SSE Group, Inc.’s Chris Unthank, KWFC’s Jonathan Edwards, Ron Blackwood, Josh Garner, and many more.

The event was hosted by Young Harmony’s Johnathan Bond.

The 2009 Diamond Awards were sponsored by Peal Communications. Additional sponsors for the event included Coastal Media Group (SGMRadio.com and “The Southern Styles Show”) and SSE Group, Inc. (Southern Spin Entertainment, SouthernSpinRadio.com, and SSE Design Group).

For more information on The SGN Scoops Diamond Awards – visit http://www.diamondawardsonline.com .

2009 SGN SCOOPS DIAMOND AWARD WINNERS:

J.D. SUMNER LIVING LEGEND AWARD: Eva Mae LeFevre

GROUP OF THE YEAR: Brian Free & Assurance

TRIO OF THE YEAR: Booth Brothers

DUET OF THE YEAR: Amazed

SOLOIST OF THE YEAR: Janet Paschal

SUNRISE AWARD: Faithful Touch

SONG OF THE YEAR: “Whispered Prayers” – Karen Peck & New River

ALBUM OF THE YEAR: Ephesians One – Karen Peck & New River

MALE VOCALIST OF THE YEAR: Michael Booth (Booth Brothers)

FEMALE VOCALIST OF THE YEAR: Sheri Easter (Jeff & Sheri Easter)

ANTHONY BURGER INSTRUMENTALIST OF THE YEAR: Ricky Free (Brian Free & Assurance)

DOTTIE RAMBO SONGWRITER OF THE YEAR: Jim Brady (Booth Brothers)

CHRISTIAN COMEDIAN OF THE YEAR: Mark Bishop

BLUEGRASS GOSPEL ARTIST OF THE YEAR: Primitive Quartet

VIDEO/DVD OF THE YEAR: Susie’s Eyes – Hearts of Faith

FAVORITE ARTIST WEBSITE: BrianFreeandAssurance.com (Brian Free & Assurance)

FAVORITE INDUSTRY WEBSITE: SoGospelNews.com

LOU HILDRETH AWARD: Gospel Music Television

PAUL HEIL AWARD: Tom Ennis

About the Diamond Awards
The Diamond Awards were transferred over to the SGN Scoops Digital several years ago after the original home for the awards, the Gospel Voice Magazine, folded. The Diamond Awards are a fan-based award that allows the fans to choose the nominees as well as the winners each year. The awards show is held during the Branson Gospel Music Convention every summer.

Nashville, TN - Multi-talented RSI Music recording artist, Gordon Mote was honored recently by MusicRow, Nashville’s leading music industry publication. Mote received the Music City Award for Piano/Keyboard Player of the Year for 2009, an honor awarded to the artist who has performed on the most Top 10 selling albums for the year. Mote, a first-time recipient, was presented the Pianist Award when MusicRow’s Jon Freeman and Sarah Skates announced this year’s Musician Awards, the only honor given to Music City’s session musicians. The publication has been honoring session musicians since 1989, and this year’s MusicRow Awards marked the 21st presentation. The honor comes on the heels of Mote being name Piano/Keyboard Player of the Year by the Academy of Country Music earlier this year.

Mote is recognized as one of Nashville’s most talented studio musicians. His piano artistry can be heard on the recordings of some of the nation’s premier preformers, including Brad Paisley, Trisha Yearwood, Alan Jackson, Rascal Flatts and Alison Krauss, just to name a few; however, since releasing his debut Southern Gospel recording in 2004, the talented singer and musician has enjoyed much success among Christian music circles, including numerous Top 40 hits and numerous Fan Award nominations. Mote’s video release, “The Best of Gordon Mote,” made its debut at Number 7 on the Billboard Music Video Chart in 2008. Mote’s travels throughout 2009 have included stops in the US and Canada, performing in excess of 100 concerts. Later this summer the popular Alabama native will travel to Europe for several concert events, then return in October with the Gaither Vocal Band and several fellow Homecoming artists for a concert tour, which will include stops in 12 countries.

MusicRow is noted for its candid voice and accuracy. The respected print publication was founded in 1981 and is published by SouthComm Communications, Inc. MusicRow subscribers receive six print magazines per year, including the popular issues In Charge, Artist Roster and Publisher Special. Subscribers also receive up-to-the-minute online news and e-mail newsletters three times per week, daily AfterNoon News, exclusive Web site content, and breaking news e-mails.

Complete inforamation regarding MusicRow may be obtained online at http://www.musicrow.com. Gordon Mote fans can stay up-to-date on the latest happenings, as well as his complete touring schedule at http://www.rsimusicgroup.com and http://www.gordonmote.com

The Watkins Family of Toccoa, Ga. adds to its stage show by bringing another full-time musician to their ministry. The group which includes matriarch Judy Watkins and her three adult children Todd, Lorie and Shanon continue a path sharing their love of Jesus through traditional music touring across the United States and Canada since 1982.

Jonathan Maness of Knoxville, Tenn. will perform on mandolin and guitar. Maness was most recently part of the bluegrass band The Dixie-BeeLiners. He has made select appearances for the Watkins Family previously.

“We are so excited to be adding this extremely talented young Christian gentleman to our ministry,” said Judy Watkins.

Maness also toured with Valerie Smith and Liberty Pike, and Young Harmony. He has performed with Sam Bush, Doc Watson, David Holt, Wayne Henderson, and Riders In The Sky.

For more information, visit http://www.watkinsfamilymusic.com.

Golden Harp Awards choose Georgia's Marksmen Quartet as 2009 Group of the Year. The Golden Harp Awards are presented annually by Circuit Rider.

“We are honored to be among the winners of this year’s awards,” said Earle Wheeler, quartet leader. Wheeler said he received the word as the group was preparing for a tour through Texas. “God has opened so many doors for us to reach out to folks in country, bluegrass and gospel music. It is an honor every time we get in the bus to serve Him again with the talents He shared.”

The Marksmen are Four-time Contemporary Bluegrass Gospel Group of the Year and four-time Country Gospel Quartet of the Year winners from the Country Gospel Music Guild.
Their latest hit song is “Love Letters in the Sand” from its Dove nominated CD “God’s Masterpiece.”

For more information about the group, visit http://www.marksmenquartet.com.

Available right now online is this week's edition of This Week in Gospel Music. Featured artist is Jacob Kitson from Greater Vision and also includes an interview with John Lanier with the Christian Voice Magazine.

Just go to http://www.ThisWeekinGospelMusic.com and click on the "On Air" button and enjoy this week's show.

http://www.ThisWeekinGospelMusic.com

Murfreesboro, Tenn. -- 7-16-09 -- Hope Bowling, daughter of Mike & Kelly Bowling, made her Stamps-Baxter School of Music debut last night in Murfreesboro, Tennessee. The nine-year-old performed the Happy Goodman classic “He Pilots My Ship” to a room full of students and faculty. Hope travels with her parents, sings nightly and is a member of the Nashville Children’s Choir at Belmont.

“Everybody knows my favorite singers are the Speer Sisters, Vestal Goodman and Dottie Rambo. It was neat to get to sing for Ms. Rosa Nell and Ms. Mary Tom,” said Hope.

“It is encouraging how this music manages to continue to live on. At such a young age, it amazes me to see the same passion that Vestal Goodman and Dottie Rambo possessed. With performers like Hope, the future of Southern Gospel is in good hands,” stated Beckie Simmons of the Beckie Simmons Agency.

Hope is currently in the studio working on her debut recording. Her dad, Mike and Joyce Martin Sanders are producing the project.

Fans can keep up with Hope at http://www.mikeandkellybowling.com or on Facebook at
http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#/pages/Nashville-TN/Hope-Bowling-Friends/100059364561?ref=ts .

Brothers Forever Completes Successful West-Cost/Western United States Summer Tour

CHURCH HILL, Tenn. – Popular trio Brothers Forever recently completed a successful West Coast/Western United States tour.

The tour kicked off in Harrisburg, Oregon, and the trio visited 19 cities all across the Western United States and West-Coast. Brothers Forever performed 20 concerts in five states – including stops in San Diego, Modesto, Tracy, Marysville, and Ripon, California.

Curtis Hagy of Brothers Forever said, “This has been the most successful summer tour yet for Brothers Forever, and we are excited to see God expanding our ministry into new states as well as the salvations that we have seen in our services.”

Brothers Forever celebrated as 15 people gave their hearts to Christ during the tour.

The group also debuted songs from their new independent release – By Request. This release is only available directly through Brothers Forever – whether through their website or at live events.

“We really enjoyed making this record,” mentioned Gary Ballew of Brothers Forever. “This newest CD features a couple of new songs with our new tenor Chris Higginbottom, as well as some of our personal favorite songs.”

Brothers Forever encourages everyone to call their local radio station and request their newest single – “More Than That.” That song is the follow-up to the group’s Top 40 hits “I Am Him,” “I Feel a Blessing Coming On,” and “I Can’t Forget the Day.”

To visit the newly designed Brothers Forever website, visit http://www.brothersforever.net.

About Brothers Forever
Brothers Forever is based out of Church Hill, Tennessee. Nestled in the foothills of upper East Tennessee, this group has quickly become known for their unique style of southern gospel music. Songs such as "I Feel a Blessing Coming On" and "I Can’t Forget the Day" have become nationwide favorites. Brothers Forever felt the call to the music ministry a little over a few years ago, and since the group’s inception, it has been an exciting journey.

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