The annual Harmony Honors recognize the best and brightest singers, songwriters, quartets, groups, and innovators in this unique American musical genre that has comforted, inspired, and entertained generations of fans.
This year the Harmony Honors will recognize two of Southern Gospel Music's most storied publishing resources: Pathway Press and Stamps-Baxter Music. Southern Gospel aficionados will recognize Pathway Press as publisher of the classic “Red Back”Church Hymnal, used by thousands of churches across the South for over sixty years. Generations of gospel groups have dipped into the depths of the old “Red Back” hymnal for classic quartet and convention songs by such legendary songwriters as Albert Brumley, Vep Ellis, Luther Presley, Lee Roy Abernathy, and many others.
As for Stamps-Baxter Music, its classic “shaped-note” song books — with titles like Super Specials, Crystal Rays, Silver Tones, and Pearls of Paradise — have been used and cherished by Southern Gospel artists for over 75 years.
“I'm excited to be a part of this evening honoring the musical heritage that is so closely tied to gospel music,” said Harmony Honors host Jason Crabb. “The songs in the 'Red Back' hymnal and the Stamps-Baxter songbooks are the foundation for this music that is so loved. This is a well-deserved honor for both publishers and it's going to be a great night!”
Among the musical guests for this year's Harmony Honors will be some of the most beloved and popular names in Southern Gospel Music, including the LeFevre Quartet, the Perrys, the Tribute Quartet, Legacy Five, Three Bridges, the Nelons, Gerald Wolfe from Greater Vision, Karen Peck and New River, Jeff & Sheri Easter, the Bowling Family, Gold City, the Mark Trammell Quartet, the Whisnants, Stan Whitmire and the Mylon Hayes Family.
Also scheduled for a special guest appearance is former U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft, himself an accomplished musician and long-time fan of Southern Gospel Music.
TBN Vice President Matthew Crouch noted that Southern Gospel Music has been a regular part of TBN's history over the past 40-plus years. “We've welcomed many Southern Gospel greats over the years,” he said. “The rich harmonies and inspirational message of this sacred music have been a blessing to generations of TBN viewers. We're privileged once again to host the Harmony Honors.”
Admission to the March 25th live TBN taping of the Harmony Honors at Nashville's Trinity Music City is free to the public, with 1,500 seats available. Doors open at 6 p.m. (Central Time) and the program begins at 7 p.m.
About the Trinity Broadcasting Family of Networks
With 26 networks and growing worldwide, the Trinity Broadcasting Family of Networks is the world's largest faith-and-family television group, airing a broad range of church and ministry programming, Christian music, family friendly movies, children's programming, and shows for teens and young adults 24 hours a day to every inhabited continent via 87 satellites and 20,000 television and cable affiliates. In addition, TBN's most popular global networks are available on computers, smart phones, and other mobile devices, and over 22,000 hours of entertaining and inspiring On-Demand programming is accessible via TBN's innovative online network, iTBN.org. To find out more about the Trinity Broadcasting Family of Networks, log on to www.tbn.org.
About the Southern Gospel Music Guild
The Southern Gospel Music Guild is a fraternity of industry professionals who combine their resources and work together for the expansion of the Southern Gospel Music industry. The overall mission of the organization is to create a cooperative environment that will encourage excellence, education, awareness, and growth, while preserving the essence of Southern Gospel Music.
