2010 SGN Music Awards Handed Out

Karen Peck & New River, Booth Brothers, The Isaacs, and songwriter Rusty Golden Named Big Winners


MURFREESBORO, Tenn. – The 2010 SGN Music Awards were handed out last night at a special concert celebration in Smyrna, Tennessee to a standing room only crowd. The award winners were spread evenly throughout the course of the evening as three artists and one songwriter walked away with four awards apiece.

Karen Peck & New River, who tied with the most nominations this year, walked away with Song of the Year and Country Song of the Year (for “I Want to Thank You”), Progressive Southern Album of the Year (for No Worries), and Fan Favorite Artist of the Year.

The Booth Brothers won their sixth Male Group of the Year award this year, as well as Progressive Southern Song of the Year (for “What Salvation’s Done For Me”), Best Live Performer, and Special Event Project of the Year (for Jubilee!).

The Isaacs only won one award as a group – Mixed Group of the Year. Otherwise, group members Becky & Sonya Isaacs won their second consecutive Songwriter of the Year (Artist) award, while Ben Isaacs took home his first Producer of the Year (Artist) award. Sonya Isaacs Yeary also won Female Vocalist of the Year.

Hit songwriter Rusty Golden was the most awarded individual of the night – taking home four SGN Music Awards for his songwriting contributions. He won Song of the Year and Country Song of the Year (for co-writing “I Want to Thank You”) as well as Progressive Southern Song of the Year (for co-writing “What Salvation’s Done For Me”). Rusty also won the coveted Songwriter of the Year (Professional) award.

The other most nominated artist of the evening, The Perrys, did not go home empty-handed. The popular mixed quartet walked away with three awards – including the overall Album of the Year for their critically acclaimed release Almost Morning.

The biggest award of the evening – 2010 Pacesetter Award – was handed to the Branson Gospel Music Convention – one of the Southern Gospel industry’s newest and most impressive multi-day events.

Jerry Salley and Wayne Haun both won two awards apiece for songwriting and producing respectively.

The event was hosted by Mike Bowling and Sonya Isaacs Yeary with additional emcee work by Madison Easter. The evening featured resounding performances from Jason Crabb, the Booth Brothers, Karen Peck & New River, The Perrys, Jeff & Sheri Easter, the Bowling Family, HisSong, The Freemans, Beyond the Ashes, McMillan & Life, Soul’d Out Quartet, and sponsors the Mystery Men Quartet.

The event also hosted a multi-artist tribute to the longevity and leadership of Southern Gospel veterans the Singing Cookes. That performance – which featured The Isaacs, The Whites, Jeff & Sheri Easter, The Perrys, and The Freemans – closed out the evening and was a highlight of the awards program.

“We can not believe just how amazing a night it was,” mentioned Deon Unthank, administrator for SoGospelNews.com. “We feel like these awards just keep getting better and better! We already can’t wait for next year’s Celebration!”

The SGN Music Awards are an annual award handed out each year by the staff at SoGospelNews.com and AbsolutelyGospel.com. Each January, the staff decides upon the nominees in over twenty categories. In February of that year, the readers of the site are then allowed to vote for their favorites. This is the ninth year the awards have been in existence.

The official sponsors for the 2010 SGN Music Awards Celebration were The Mystery Men Quartet.

2010 SGN Music Award Winners:

SONG OF THE YEAR:
“I Want to Thank You” – Karen Peck & New River (written by Rusty Golden & Jerry Salley)

ALBUM OF THE YEAR:
Almost Morning – The Perrys (produced by Wayne Haun)

PACESETTER:
Branson Gospel Music Convention

BREAKTHROUGH ARTIST OF THE YEAR:
Soul’d Out Quartet

MALE VOCALIST OF THE YEAR:
Michael English (Gaither Vocal Band)

FEMALE VOCALIST OF THE YEAR:
Sonya Isaacs Yeary (The Isaacs)

MALE GROUP OF THE YEAR:
Booth Brothers

FEMALE GROUP OF THE YEAR:
Perry Sisters

MIXED GROUP OF THE YEAR:
The Isaacs

SONGWRITER OF THE YEAR (Artist):
Becky & Sonya Isaacs (The Isaacs)

SONGWRITER OF THE YEAR (Professional):
Rusty Golden

PRODUCER OF THE YEAR (Artist):
Ben Isaacs (The Isaacs)

PRODUCER OF THE YEAR (Professional):
Michael Sykes

ENGINEER OF THE YEAR:
Steve Allen

MUSICIAN OF THE YEAR:
Madison Easter (Jeff & Sheri Easter)

BEST LIVE PERFORMER:
Booth Brothers

TRADITIONAL SOUTHERN SONG OF THE YEAR:
“If You Knew Him” – The Perrys (written by Rodney Griffin & Joseph Habedank)

TRADITIONAL SOUTHERN ALBUM OF THE YEAR:
Almost Morning – The Perrys (produced by Wayne Haun)

PROGRESSIVE SOUTHERN SONG OF THE YEAR:
“What Salvation’s Done For Me” – Booth Brothers (written by Rusty Golden & Dianne Wilkinson)

PROGRESSIVE SOUTHERN ALBUM OF THE YEAR:
No Worries – Karen Peck & New River (produced by Mark Fain)

COUNTRY SONG OF THE YEAR:
“I Want to Thank You” – Karen Peck & New River (written by Rusty Golden & Jerry Salley)

COUNTRY ALBUM OF THE YEAR:
Jason Crabb – Jason Crabb (produced by Jason Crabb, Otto Price, and Norro Wilson)

SPECIAL EVENT PROJECT OF THE YEAR:
Jubilee! – Booth Brothers, Greater Vision, and Legacy Five (produced by Gerald Wolfe)

FAN FAVORITE ARTIST OF THE YEAR:
Karen Peck & New River

More information on the SGN Music Awards and past winners can be found at http://southerngospelnews.com .

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