I caught up with Brian Courtney Wilson the other day.  Aside from being an absolutely great dude with a great voice, his album sales have been consistently good, proving that he’s gonna have some staying power in this industry.  I love that.

With the exception of this week, his debut album, Just Love, has stayed within the top 15 at Billboard since its release last JUNE, when it debuted at #2 on the chart!

Brian was recently nominated for two Dove Awards and I wanted to catch up with him to see how he’s taking everything in, how things have been, and what he’s got planned for the near future.  I even touch a lil’ bit on how he felt after being passed up for nods at the Stellar Awards.

It’s just a quick chat, but I think you’ll enjoy it!  Here’s Brian Courtney Wilson…

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EJ:  Hey man!

BCW:  Hey, EJ!  What’s going on, man?

EJ:  All’s well.  How are you?

BCW:  I’m doing good.

EJ:  Good, man.  Well let’s get to it– what’s going on?!

BCW:  Aww, man.  The record’s been doing well– it’s been in the top 15 since we got started and I’m happy about it.  It’s just what was in my heart.  When I recorded it, I wasn’t sure that anybody was gonna receive it, you know?  But people have been receiving it and that’s been really gratifying to see.

EJ:  That’s awesome, man.  You’ve had great success at radio and great sales.  I’ve not seen you far from the top of the charts since you started and there are people who’ve been in the game for years that still can’t get there, so you’ve definitely made an impression on people.

BCW:  Thank you, man.

EJ:  I need to ask you– you’re signed to Music World, which is Mathew Knowles’ company.  This is just a question that I’ve gotta ask… you know, we’ll deal with it and move on.  Do you ever get to hang with Beyonce?

BCW:  *laughing*  Man, the last time was probably two years ago and I would call that an “interaction.”  It was more like she flew in, said hello and flew out.  She’s doing her thing.

EJ:  Nah, that’s cool. *laughs* It’s something I think the people have needed to know, so I figured I’d ask… like, “how often does he interact with Beyonce, or with Mathew.”

BCW:  Well, I just met up with Mathew yesterday.  We sat down and talked for a long time about the direction of the album and my career– where we’re going next.  And Solange, Beyonce’s sister, she reached out to me the other day, just wishing me well.  But, you know, I didn’t get into this to hang around them.  It’s cool that they’re there, but I’m hard after God.

EJ:  I love it.  Lemme ask you– you’ve got two Dove nominations, one for New Artist Of The Year and another for Urban Recorded Song Of The Year for “Just Love.”  What does THAT feel like?

BCW:  Man, it feels extremely gratifying.  For real.  Especially… you know, because we got missed for the Stellars.

EJ:  Oh yeah, well I’m coming to that in a minute. *laughs*

BCW: *laughing* I KNOW you are!  But for the Dove Awards to come out and acknowledge what I’m doing– and we don’t have any Christian radio airplay to speak of, that I know about– so, for them to reach out and say that we’re doing something worth acknowledging, that really means a lot.

EJ:  Sure.

BCW:  And it means a lot for our supporters because they have the opportunity to vote for Best New Artist… To be able to tell the supporters “hey, they’re thinking about giving us an award for what you’ve been listening to, for what’s been enriching your life…” It means a lot to them as well.

EJ:  Absolutely.  Now, for my clarification– did you say you were “missed” by the Stellars or “dissed” by the Stellars?

BCW:  I said “missed!”  It’s hard to diss me, man.  I try to stay as humble as possible, so I just figured that they knew what they were doing and knew who they wanted to nominate.

I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t a little disappointed with how it went down, but it wasn’t devastatingly disappointing.  It would have been nice to get that, because you’re only Best New Artist once.

EJ:  Right.

BCW:  And I knew that we had done a lot of good work, and we put up a lot of good numbers.  But beyond the numbers, I’m talking to the people everywhere we go, listening to their stories, and I’m getting messages on Facebook that what we’re doing is enriching lives.  It seemed stellar to me.

EJ:  Yeah, and I remember the day of the press conference, as I’m sending out my tweets, kinda being surprised.  Not to rehash any of that drama, but by the time I got home, a lot of people were blowing up Twitter and my blog about YOU not being on the list, in particular.

BCW:  Really?  Is that right?

EJ:  Oh yeah, they were about to cuss over you and J Moss, but J will be eligible on this year’s ballot.  Was there not a moment where you kicked somethin’?

BCW:  Nah, man.  Absolutely not.  The reason being– a year before that album came out, I wasn’t even sure if it would come out at all.  I wasn’t even sure if I’d made the right to decision to step out on faith and do music.

By the time the nominations came around, we had already gotten so much love from radio and from the supporters… that was already a reward in and of itself.

I was a little disallusioned by the process, but I just figured that maybe I didn’t have a full understanding of what was going on and what we needed to do to make sure that we were acknowledged by the Stellars.

EJ:  Yeah, I don’t think anyone did.

BCW:  And I remember the blogs you did.  My wife and I both were like “man, this is so insightful.”

EJ:  Thanks, man.

BCW:  But the other thing that I have to remember, as an artist, is that I wasn’t the only one who felt that he was passed over or missed.  So it wasn’t just about me.  If there are things that need to be done or corrected– and I’m not saying that there are… you know, Don Jackson has been doing this a long time and I think he knows how to run his company.  But if there are things that need to be corrected, I pray that they are because the Stellars are important.

EJ:  That’s a great response and outlook to have, man.  What would you say has been one of the greatest challenges you’ve faced, breaking into the gospel industry?  I ask from the standpoint of you being a new artist and not necessarily having a bunch of established artists endorsing you out the gate.  You know?  There wasn’t a whole church or Bishop T.D. Jakes’ endorsement, or some GMWA feature and guest solos for years… what has been the greatest challenge coming in as a virtual newcomer?

BCW:  I think the challenge was before everything broke.  It was the waiting and believing that what you’re waiting on is actually worth waiting on.  Because like you said, no one like T.D. Jakes was callin’ me to say “man, your music… we need to have it out there.”

Now, I have people in my life that were doing that– great people, but you may or may not have heard of them.  They showed me love and respected what I was doing.  But that was the challenge– waiting.  And not aborting what God was doing before the people got to hear it and experience it for themselves.

EJ:  And I’m glad you endured.  How often are you traveling?  What is your gig-load like each month?

BCW:  I probably get 40-50% of the month.  I’d like to do more.  It’s been picking up, but I want to get to 60-70% of the month.

EJ:  So, what is next for you– are you back in the studio soon, are you riding this album out for a while?

BCW:  Well, we’re gonna do a couple more singles and we’ll look at putting out a new album next year.

EJ:  Sounds great, man.  I know it’ll be great.  Umm… I think that’s all I’ve got for ya– just wanted to touch base and see what’s up with you.

BCW:  You do a great job, man.  I follow what you say and it always makes great sense to me, so I appreciate that.

EJ:  Well, I appreciate you for that, man.  I’ll talk to you soon.

BCW:  Alright, man.

EJ:  Alright, bye.

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And there you have it!

I’m very proud of Brian– he’s such an incredibly humble dude with no frills or pretenses… what you see is what you get.  And that’s refreshing.

It doesn’t hurt that his voice is dope, either. LOL

Peep this video of him singing one of my favorites from him– “Already Here”…

Do you guys have his album?  If not, click here to listen/make a purchase.  If so, what do you think of it?

And what did you think of our chat???

Immediately following the taping of the 25th Annual Stellar Awards, social networking sites were flooded with praises, lauding THIS show as the best Stellar Awards EVER.  And I agree.

I’ve attended numerous times and I’ve watched the show since I was kid growing up in Chicago– the performances on this show were innovative and you’ll be hard-pressed to find more memorable and captivating performances right now.

!!!SPOILER ALERT!!!

During the taping, I sent tweets via Twitter about who was on stage, but intentionally left off the songs that were being performed.  Here, I’m recapping the ENTIRE taping, so if you wanna leave anything to your imagination, don’t read any further.

If you wanna know the juicy details, do proceed…

As you probably know, the show was hosted by Donnie McClurkin, Vickie Winans and Kirk Franklin.  They did a great job, especially Vickie, who served as comic relief for much of the night.  There was no hype man between set changes this year, so we could’ve gotten really restless but for Vickie’s jokes about herself.

For the first time, the Stellar Awards featured a live house band, which was led by producer Percy Bady.  This made a WORLD of difference because the sound was tighter than ever, the performances came to life, and we weren’t bound by the restrictions of each artist’s performance track.  EXCELLENT decision.

If you follow my tweets, you know that I said that the theme for this year’s show would be COLLABORATIONS.  Almost all of the performances on the show are medleys between artists that have made significant contributions to gospel music over the past 25 years.  The others were performances from artists that left a great impression on the industry in the past year.

The show opened with a collabo between Ricky Dillard & New G and Hezekiah Walker & LFC.  If you love choirs, you’ll get a glimpse of Heaven within the first coupla minutes of the program!

Ricky Dillard & New G performed “Search Me” before transitioning into the classic vamp of “More Abundantly”… you know, the part where the sopranos, altos and tenors break down into parts, singing “JOYYYYY!”  During this time, the Love Fellowship Choir had joined them on stage, just in time for Bishop Hezekiah Walker to lead them in their hits “I Need You To Survive” and “Souled Out.”  It was electrifying.

The next performances came from the legendary Vanessa Bell Armstrong, performing her hit single “Good News.”  She looked incredible and sounded even better.

In a traditional female vocalist collaboration, we were super blessed to witness Lady Tramaine Hawkins sing “Changed” (it doesn’t matter how many years have passed– her voice DOES NOT CHANGE) before Dottie Peoples came on stage to sing “On Time God” like you wouldn’t believe.  As if that wasn’t enough, Pastor Shirley Caesar came to the stage to tell us about ol’ Shoutin’ John in “Hold My Mule”  Y’all remember that song?!  It was a classic performance.

The next collabo came from Richard Smallwood and Smokie Norful.  This was absolutely one of the best performances.  Fortunately, I had seen it during some rehearsals, because I could’ve missed the whole thing.  An usher at the Grand Ole Opry House used this time to SCREAM in my area, talkin’ about “are there any SEAT FILLERS over here?!”  Fortunately, my wife told her to “shhhhh!!!” and we still caught some of it.  Don’t mess with Janice Gaines, y’hear?

Picture it– Smallwood and Norful, both in tuxedos (with tails), each at a black grand piano, tickling the ivories like nobody’s business.  Richard Smallwood started by playing Smokie’s “I Need You Now,” then Smokie followed by playing Richard’s “Center Of My Joy.”  Smokie then played and sang “Dear God” (from his latest project) and Richard Smallwood capped the performance off with his classic anthem, “Total Praise.”

New Artist Of The Year Crystal Aikin came to the stage next with her hit single “I Desire More,” and left the entire room desiring more… I could’ve heard her on that vamp all day.  Her voice soars, effortlessly, and she’s got such control and sincerity… a true treasure.

Another stand-out performance came from our favorite bro & sis– BeBe & CeCe Winans, singing their latest single “Grace.”  They looked like a million bucks and they sounded like they never took a 15-year break.  They’re just pros who don’t miss a beat.

Up next was another classic performance– Kirk Franklin performed with his singers– new and old– a medley of his greatest hits, including “Silver & Gold,” “Why We Sing,” and a bunch of others I’m forgetting.  The best part of the performance was probably when Tamela Mann and Dalon Collins joined them to sing “Now Behold The Lamb.”  That auditorium went UP and IN.  CLASSIC!

Up next was the popular single “I Trust You” from James Fortune & FIYA.  They gave a great performance and reminded everyone why he had such great success at radio– it’s a singable anthem that encourages souls… great stuff.

The next performance is one that you’d BETTER watch for on the broadcast.  Don’t take bathroom breaks even remotely close to this segment.  I’m talking about the all-male vocalist collaboration between Donnie McClurkin, Byron Cage and Marvin Sapp.  There are hardly words to describe it.  The song list was great–  ”Never Would Have Made It,” “The Presence Of The Lord Is Here,” “Faithful To Believe,” “Marvelous” (by Walter Hawkins), and “Stand.”

Each of the three guys took turns singing on “Never Would Have Made It” and “Stand.”  By the end of their set, the ENTIRE room was on its feet worshipping.  They came back in on “Stand” and the taping had to take a break.  I’ve NEVER heard Byron Cage sing the way he did, Donnie’s range was limitless and powerful (as always) and Marvin Sapp was simply incredible.

At this point, Kirk came out and shared some of what’s been on his heart.  One thing that stood out was a quick phrase he gave– “IN ADVANCE.”  He shared that, as we sleep, as we doubt, while we’re not knowing what is going to happen, GOD has thoughtfully already worked everything out for us, in advance.  Our response to THAT should be that we praise Him, in advance.  It was a very powerful moment– I know I’m not typing it well enough to convey that, but… you’re gonna have to trust me.

The fire was kept burning by the next performance, which came from Israel Houghton and Mary Mary.  Israel performed via satellite from London, while Erica & Tina Campbell looked and sounded great on stage as they sang the Grammy-nominated “Every Prayer.”  I loved the concept of it and the execution.  Great job.

The finale of the show came sooner than I had prepared for– I guess I wanted to go until midnight or something– but when it came, it was great.

Donald Lawrence & The Co. (and you guys KNOW I love me some Co.!) sang “Back II Eden” with the Atlanta West Pentecostal Church Choir, winners of How Sweet The Sound (HSTS), behind them.  It was a great concept to include the choir because HSTS was such a great and popular part of the gospel industry this year.  And when Floyd Wilkinson came up to do his vamp… I’m sayin’… I could listen to that vamp 10 times in a row and never got tired of it.

What I think you WON’T see on camera is Vickie Winans clownin’… she won Female Vocalist Of The Year and the award was presented by Shirley Caesar, Dorothy Norwood and Albertina Walker.  When she won, she was so overwhelmed and blown away that she went to the podium and said to Albertina (who sat with an oxygen tank next to her), “girl, gimme some of this [oxygen].”  I NEED them to not edit that out! LOL

Also, you probably won’t see Tina Campbell with her gorgeous new lil’ baby, TJ.  She walked to her seat with him at one point, and the whole audience awww’ed and oooo’ed cuz it was just priceless.

Even without those moments, you’re gonna get all the rest… and that’ll be one of the best set of televised gospel performances you’ve ever witnessed.

I commend Don Jackson, Central City Productions, Barbara Wilson, and the entire Stellar Awards production crew for an incredible show– definitely my favorite over the past decade, and probably EVER.  Elegant, professional, classic… it was more than just a celebration of 25 years of the Stellars… it was a celebration of gospel music.  Perfect!

Soooooooooooo… sound good to anyone else?  Anyone attend and wanna chime in?  Did I miss anything???

The holiday weekend is upon us, so I’ll keep this short.

Don Jackson of Central City Productions has issued a “thank you” message to Stellar Award fans and supporters.

If this letter was intended to respond to the points that I made in the Open Letter, I must respectfully state that it falls short of my expectations.  Essentially, it dismisses many of the industry’s concerns.  Rather than actually responding to the way the gospel community is feeling, or to the notion that Central City might have made missteps, we are asked to rest assured that the process actually is fair and bursting with integrity, despite what we’re feeling.

Well, thanks!  It seemed sketchy, but if Central City says it’s not, then it must NOT be.  Dunno how we missed that, guys…

I’m reprinting the letter here for your information:

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To: Stellar Award Fans and Supporters
 
From: Don Jackson, Founder & Executive Producer of the Stellar Awards
 
RE: 25th Anniversary of the Stellar Awards Thank you Message
  
Dear Stellar Awards Fans and Supporters:
 
As Founder and Executive Producer of the Stellar Awards I want to personally thank you for your  overwhelming support of our Awards Program,  especially now that we are entering our 25th year Anniversary on National Television with the taping  of our  show on January 16th, 2010 in Nashville Tennessee at the Grand Ole Opry House. Your dedicated support has enabled us to continue the production of our Stellar Awards on National Broadcast and Cable television, which has resulted in our Stellar Awards attaining the position as the # 1 rated Gospel Music Awards show on television today, according to Nielsen Media Research. 
 
Our continuing mission of the Stellar Awards is to establish an environment through our Awards show where Artists and other Industry Professionals are recognized for their achievement and significant accomplishment in the field of Gospel Music for national recognition; and to support, encourage and promote Gospel Music Worldwide.  
 
Over the 25 year history of the Stellar awards I have openly met with Gospel Music Industry Executives, Artists, the Gospel Music Media outlets and  Faith based Institutions in our community, where I have welcomed their suggestions and recommendations on all aspects of our show, to maintain the highest standard and integrity  of our production as well as our Entry, Nominating and Balloting policy and procedures.  I will continue this open outreach to the Gospel Music Industry in the future, in an effort to improve upon our Stellar Awards production and procedures, and I will always welcome your constructive feedback and recommendations in regards to every aspect of our show.  
 
As a direct result of the constructive  feedback of the Gospel Music Industry, from the sources I’ve identified above,  I am pleased to inform you that for our 25th Anniversary Show we implemented several improvements to our Entry, Nominating and Balloting process that we feel strengthened our overall Voting process and made our procedure more open and inclusive, while continuing to maintain the integrity, fairness and highest standards of our overall process for everyone.  
 
The improvements that were implemented included changes in the following areas:
 
#1. The extension of our Voting Eligibility entry period window to allow additional time for the submission of qualified entries;
 
 #2. Changing our entire Voting procedure to an Online Internet voting process which included Eligibility submissions, and both 1st & 2nd round balloting,  versus a mailed hardcopy paper Eligibility submission and  ballot process;
 
 #3. Expanding the Charting System to include the entire Nielsen Media Data Systems, which added the Nielsen Broadcast Data System (BDS), versus using only SoundScan and Billboard Charts;
 
 #4. Opening up the first round of our voting process to Fan voting, to have an opportunity to  involve  Gospel Music Fans in our “Fan Favorite” voting process,  without compromising the final voting process of the 2nd ballot by SAGMA members which ultimately determines the final Stellar Award Nominees and winners. 
   
These changes resulted in the following improvements to our overall procedure of:
 
#1. Giving Record Labels and Artists additional time to submit their entries during an expanded Eligibility window, which resulted in increased submissions
 
#2. Improved our nominating and voting procedure by going online and eliminating the hardcopy paper Eligibility submissions and  ballot, which resulted in an increase in the voting process
 
#3. Increased the representation from Independent Labels dramatically, by using all of the Nielsen Data Charting systems including Nielsen BDS in the charting system without compromising the integrity of the voting process
 
#4.Opening the process up to Fan voting in the “Fan’s Favorite” categories, which resulted in an overwhelming response from our Gospel Music Fans where we will once again announce our “Fan’s Favorite” voting categories at our pre-show awards in the categories of Song of the Year, New Artist of the Year and Choir Of the Year, which does not affect the final voting from the Stellar Awards Gospel Music Academy (SAGMA) members in these categories.
 
Based upon the above constructive improvements in the voting procedure we are positively elated with the results and feel that the process is more inclusive and fairer to everyone in the Gospel Music Industry.
 
I want to mention that our 25th Stellar Awards Anniversary production planned for our taping on Saturday January 16th, 2010 is shaping up to be our best show ever! Please join me and our co-hosts Kirk Franklin, Vickie Winans, and Donnie McClurkin in our celebration of Gospel Music’s biggest night…The Stellar Awards. (Please see attached promotional flyer).
 
I greatly appreciate your support over the past 24 years and look forward to your continuing commitment.
 
Lastly as we prepare for our 25th Anniversary show, I would like for you to join me in prayer as we acknowledge that the Stellar Awards is God’s work! Our goal and mission is to raise Gospel Music to its highest level for the Glory of God. We are invoking God’s presence and guidance as we plan and organize to uplift His name. We are asking you to help us uplift His name. Please join us in prayer to speak the words of love, peace and harmony for the Glory of God throughout our Stellar Awards production. This is God’s work! In the name and through the power that is in the name of Jesus, we declare IT IS DONE! Thank You God!
 
God Bless!
 
Don Jackson
Founder & Executive Producer

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Your thoughts?