I wrote a review of Myron Butler’s new project, Worship, for gmc this go ’round. I want you to check it out right here.

Listen to snippets and buy it here:

Heads-up–

On Saturday, January 21, 2012 (that’s tomorrow) at 7pm ET (with encores at 9pm and 11pm), gmc will air the original gospel play “Sugar Mommas,” featuring Vanessa Williams, Terri J. Vaughn, Lamman Rucker and gospel’s own VaShawn Mitchell.

A synopsis of the play:

Inspiring, heart-warming and hilarious, “Sugar Mommas” centers on three 40-something women who start a bakery together to fulfill their own sweet desires to be independent women after motherhood, failed marriages and the loss of loved ones have left indelible marks on their lives. Together, their story is a celebration of womanhood, the good and the bad, as each learns new lessons about maturing, love and romance, and opportunity. 

Should be good, right? Right.

Tune-in!

The 27th Annual Stellar Awards were held on Saturday, January 14, 2012 in Nashville, TN at the Grand Ole Opry House.

And here are this year’s winners (winners in bold and blue)!

Artist of the Year
Earnest Pugh
Kirk Franklin
Mary Mary
VaShawn Mitchell

Song of the Year
“Nobody Greater” | Darius Paulk
“Well Done” | Deitrick Haddon
“I Smile” | Kirk Franklin
“I Choose To Worship” | Wess Morgan

Male Vocalist of the Year
Earnest Pugh
Israel Houghton
Smokie Norful
VaShawn Mitchell

Female Vocalist of the Year
Beverly Crawford
Kim Burrell
Martha Munizzi
Yolanda Adams

Group/Duo of the Year
James Fortune & FIYA
Mary Mary
Rance Allen Group
Trin-i-tee 5:7

New Artist of the Year
Greater Mt. Calvary Church Choir
Preashea Hilliard
Todd Dulaney
Y’Anna

CD of the Year
James Fortune & FIYA – I Believe
Kirk Franklin – I Smile
Mary Mary – Something Big
VaShawn Mitchell – Triumphant

Choir of the Year
Chicago Mass Choir
Mississippi Mass Choir
Ricky Dillard
Shekinah Glory Ministry

Producer of the Year
Aaron Lindsey, Tommy Sims & Israel Houghton for Love God. Love People.
Kirk Franklin for Hello Fear
VaShawn Mitchell, Daniel Weatherspoon & Rick Robinson for Triumphant
Warryn Campbell/Mary Mary for Something Big

Contemporary Group/Duo of the Year
James Fortune & FIYA
Mary Mary
Trin-i-tee 5:7

Traditional Group/Duo of the Year
Keith Wonderboy Johnson & Spiritual Voices
Rance Allen Group
The Soul Seekers

Contemporary Male of the Year
Deitrick Haddon
Earnest Pugh
Israel Houghton
VaShawn Mitchell

Traditional Male of the Year
Keith Wonderboy Johnson
John P Kee
Rance Allen
Smokie Norful

Contemporary Female of the Year
Kim Burrell
Preashea Hilliard
Y’Anna
Yolanda Adams

Traditional Female of the Year
Beverly Crawford
Evelyn Turrentine-Agee
LaShun Pace
Twinkie Clark

Contemporary CD of the Year
Deitrick Haddon | Church on the Moon
Kirk Franklin | Hello Fear
Mary Mary | Something Big
VaShawn Mitchell | Triumphant

Traditional CD of the Year
John P Kee | The Legacy Project
Mississippi Mass Choir | Then Sings My Soul
Ricky Dillard | Keep Living
Smokie Norful | How I Got Over…

Urban Inspirational Performance of the Year
Deitrick Haddon | “Well Done”
Kirk Franklin | “I Smile”
Mary Mary | “Walking”
VaShawn Mitchell | “Nobody Greater”

Music Video of the Year – Short Form
Martha Munizzi | “Excellent” (Martha Munizzi)
Christian Heuer | “Walking” (Mary Mary)
Canton Jones | “God” (Canton Jones)
VaShawn Mitchell | “Nobody Greater” (VaShawn Mitchell)

Music Video of the Year – Long Form
Deitrick Haddon | Church on the Moon
Jerry Parries | Bishop Morton Celebrates…
Mississippi Mass Choir | Then Sings My Soul
Ricky Dillard | Keep Living

Traditional Choir of the Year
Chicago Mass Choir
Greater Mt. Calvary Church Choir
Mississippi Mass Choir
Ricky Dillard

Contemporary Choir of the Year
Lonnie Hunter & Structure
Shekinah Glory Ministry

Instrumental Gospel CD of the Year
Harold Rayford | I Am the Instrument
Moses Tyson Jr | Music Remastered & Sacred Organ
Todd Ledbetter | Meditations: Hymsn in the Key of Jazz
Winston Stewart | Season

Special Event CD of the Year
Bishop Paul Morton | Still
John P Kee | The Legacy Project
Shekinah Glory Ministry | Refreshed By Fire
VaShawn Mitchell | My Songbook

Rap, Hip Hop Gospel CD of the Year
Flame | Captured
Lecrae | Rehab
Lecrae | Rehab: The Overdose
Viktory | Birth of a Legacy

Children’s Project of the Year
Teen Pure N Heart | Pure N Heart Live
Santiago & Claude Deuce | My Destiny Place – My Imagination
The Velasquez Singers | Ten
T-Rep The Young Prayzr | Let’s Go

Quartet of the Year
Keith Wonderboy Johnson & Spiritual Voices
Rance Allen Group
The Soul Seekers

Recorded Music Packaging of the Year
Christina Jones for Dominionaire (Canton Jones)
Denise Trotman & Greg Gilligan for Hello Fear (Kirk Franklin)
Martha Munizzi for Make It Loud (Martha Munizzi)
Tanner Gary for Triumphant (VaShawn Mitchell)

Praise and Worship CD of the Year
Earnest Pugh | Earnestly Yours
Israel Houghton | Love God. Love People.
Shekinah Glory Ministry | Refreshed By Fire
VaShawn Mitchell | Triumphant

Spoken Word CD of the Year
Marco the Poet | Marco the Poet EP
Michael Diallo McLendon | The Diallo Experience
Selah | Look At You Loving Me
Trupoetry | Trupoetry

Radio Station of the Year Finalists:

Major Market (3M+)
WPZE 102.5 FM (Atlanta, GA)
WPRS 104.1 FM (Washington, DC)
KJLH 102.3 FM (Los Angeles, CA)
WGRB 1390 AM (Chicago, IL)
[list courtesy of GospelPundit.com]

Large Market (1-3M)
WHAL 95.7 FM/1460 AM (Memphis, TN)
WFMI 100.9 FM (VA-Norfolk-Newport, VA)
KCAO 600 AM (Baltimore, MD)
WMBM 1490 AM (Miami, FL)

Medium Market (500,000-1M)
WLOU 1350 AM (Louisville, KY)
WPRF 94.9 FM (New Orleans, LA)
WENO 760 AM (Nashville, TN)
[list courtesy of GospelPundit.com]
WPZK 102.5 (Little Rock, AR)

Small Market (under 500,000)
WDJL 1000 AM (Huntsville, AL)
WJNI 106.3 FM (Charleston, SC)
KOKA 980 AM (Shreveport, LA)
WIMG 1300 AM (Trenton, NJ)

The show was hosted by Marvin Sapp and Dorinda Clark Cole, and will begin airing in local markets on January 21, 2012 (visit the Stellar Awards website for Local Airdates). The program will also be broadcast on gmc on February 11, 2012 at 8pm ET.

This Saturday, December 3rd, at 7pm, 8pm and 9pm ET, gmc will air the finale of the Verizon Wireless How Sweet the Sound choir competition, which took place last month.

The event, taped at the Staples Center, will feature co-hosts Donald Lawrence and CeCe Winans, judges Marvin Sapp, Israel Houghton and Shirley Caesar, Queen Latifah and Dolly Parton (singing a tune from their upcoming movie, Joyful Noise) and, of course, some of the nation’s best church choirs.

Tune-in!

Hey folks– visit http://www.watchgmctv.com/vote to vote in this year’s Music Video Awards at gmc.

If you do, you’ll be entered to win a $20 iTunes gift card (that’ll get you two albums, or like… 20 singles!).

I just voted and noticed some of my favorite videos over there, like Mary Mary’s “Survive,” Lecrae’s “Background” and Kirk Franklin’s “I Smile.”

Who are you pickin’?

The 13th annual BMI Trailblazers of Gospel Music Awards, held during Stellar Awards weekend each year, will honor Kirk Franklin and Hezekiah Walker at this year’s event on Friday, January 13, 2012 in Nashville, TN.

No word yet on who is slated to perform, but we’re hoping Donald Lawrence will, as always, arrange the musical tribute.

The invite-only tribute luncheon has become one of the most well-attended, highly anticipated events of the weekend. In recent years, the event has been later broadcast on gmc.

If you signed up to receive GospelPundit Weekly, you know that I send exclusive content to you via email each week, posing some question or point of view. One of my recent editorials sparked such interesting conversation that I figured I would re-post it here to see what YOU have to say…

*****

“And The Nominees Are… Decided By Fans”

This past Saturday, the nominees for the 27th Annual Stellar Awards were announced during a live nominations concert, which took place in Nashville, TN and aired exclusively on gmc. Check them out here if you haven’t already seen them.

This year, it seems that the nominees were determined primarily by fan voting. Actually, the same vote count used to determine the nominees will be used in naming the winner in January.

Has the Stellar Awards become a people’s choice award? Yeah, kinda…

A confidential committee still monitors the entries before the public gets to vote, making sure that only eligible submissions go forward, etc. And the voting members still get to whittle a loooooong list of entries down to a more manageable ten or so potential nominees. But at the end of the day, you– the public– have actually chosen this year’s winners.

Is that good or bad? I don’t know. On one hand, I’ve heard people praise the idea that votes are no longer “for sale” through voting memberships, whereby if you simply pay dues, you get to decide who gets a Stellar Award. And they like the idea that the consumers– those most impacted– get to weigh-in. On the other hand, there’s something to be said about a recognition by your peers– those who understand the work you put into it and who are, supposedly, experts in the arena.

One thing is for certain– this is the first time in several years that I haven’t heard someone cry “foul play” in the nominations process… and that’s worth writing about.

*****

What do you think of the Stellar Awards nominations this year?

What do you think of the voting process?

Better, worse, like it, love it?

Details are finally unfolding about the live broadcast of the announcement of nominees for the 27th Annual Stellar Awards.

The announcement will take place on Saturday, October 29th, at 8pm ET, and will be broadcast exclusively on gmc.

Hosted by Trin-i-tee 5:7 and comedian Akintunde, the ceremony will feature live performances from Isaac Carree, Y’Anna Crawley, William McDowell and more.

Mark your calendars!

If you’re lookin’ for good music today (and you should be), check out these two projects–

Dorinda Clark Cole – I Survived
I reviewed it twice– once for gmc and once for this site– so, hopefully you’re picking up what I’m putting down. This is one of Dorinda’s best solo albums to date. From vocal performance to production, it’s a solid project. She’s in her element and she’s giving lessons.

Committed – Committed
Committed is the six-man a cappella group that won last season’s a cappella talent competition, The Sing-Off, on NBC. You’ve seen them on the Stellar Awards, the Dove Awards and Sunday Best this year alone. It’s not a “gospel album,” but with a blend of remakes and original tunes, their’s is a positive (finally?!) mainstream project built upon the foundation of the group’s Seventh Day Adventist upbringing– musically and spiritually.

Get ‘em!

It’s no secret that Donald Lawrence is one of my favorite artists in gospel music.  There aren’t many artists who can honor the rich heritage and sound of gospel, while still adding their own element to it.  He’s not of this era– he’s got few contemporaries– but he’s still relevant. That’s not an easy feat.

In case you haven’t already done so, I encourage you to read my album review at gmc’s official website.  That’s my official and formal deal on Donald Lawrence’s new album, YRM (Your Righteous Mind).

Here, I’ll allow myself to be a fan, just chattin’ about my favorite parts of the project… let’s go!

The a cappella intro to D. Lawrence’s remake of Commissioned’s “How Can We Sing (In A Strange Land)”… perfection.  And it only gets better, as Keith Staten and Jason Nelson take turns on lead.

Listen to “Spiritual,” the latest single from this album, to hear how masterfully Donald incorporated the classic “fruits of the Spirit” segment from the Clark Sisters’ 1981 tune “Walk In the Spirit” (Twinkie was before her time, by the way). THIS type of stuff is where he shines.

If you attended any of the regional Verizon Wireless How Sweet the Sound events last year, you probably remember Marvin Sapp and CeCe Winans performing the Walter Hawkins classic “When the Battle Is Over” with Donald. On the album, singers Kim McFarland and Dante Hall (one of Donald’s newer full-time vocalists) tag team on it. It’s gospel like it’s s’posed to be.

There aren’t many duos like sisters Tobbi and Tommi.  And they demonstrate it on their remake of Chaka Khan’s “Through the Fire.”  The bass line is true to the original, which is wise– this feels like a great, updated version of something we’re still jamming to anyway.

I adore the complex harmonies on the vamp of “The I AM Factor.”  That, with the string arrangement… wow!

Aaaand Floyd Wilkinson’s performance of the Daryl Coley tune “II Chronicles,” is a more-than-fitting pairing. He executes it with precision and passion– definitely a fave.

Other stand-outs for me are “Second Wind” (featuring Anita Wilson) and “We Agree” (featuring Israel Houghton), the latter of which is a refreshing and unexpected pairing.

In a nutshell… buy it.

By the way, for street day (August 9, 2011), Amazon.com is selling it for $3.99!
Grab it here!