PIGEON FORGE, TN (October 28, 2014) – Dove and IBMA Award-winning powerhouse band Blue Highway will appear as special guests at the upcoming 23rd Annual Diamond Awards. The fan-voted Diamond Awards will be held at the Smoky Mountain Convention Center at 4010 Parkway in Pigeon Forge at 8:00 pm on Tuesday, November 4, as part of the Creekside Gospel Music Convention.
The 2014 Diamond Awards are sponsored by SGN Scoops Magazine, the vibrant all-digital source of Southern Gospel News and current #1-visited Southern Gospel website on the Internet.
The highly esteemed Bluegrass band Blue Highway will perform as special guests on the Awards Show, which will be taped for a television special to air later this year on Atlanta’s WATC Channel 57 and be shown in syndication via various Christian media outlets in 2015.
“Blue Highway is honored to be invited to perform as special guests on the Diamond Awards,†said Tim Stafford, a founding member of the band who was just named IBMA Songwriter of the Year (2014). “Gospel music has always been a part of our lives as individuals, and at least one gospel song usually appears on even our Bluegrass releases. We’re excited to be a part of this great Southern Gospel event in the heart of the beautiful Smoky Mountains!â€
Gospel harmonies will definitely be ringing in the heart of the Smokies next week, as the Diamond Awards and Creekside Gospel Music Convention bring acclaimed gospel artists such as the Dixie Melody Boys and Exodus to Pigeon Forge’s Smoky Mountain Convention Center with events running from Monday, November 3, at 4:00 pm through Thursday, November 6 at 10:30 pm.
Tickets for the event are being made available FREE of charge, but must be reserved at: http://www.eventbrite.com/e/creekside-gospel-music-convention-2014-tickets-10916793423?aff=New
“We are excited to have bluegrass supergroup Blue Highway performing at this year’s Diamond Awards,†said Rob Patz, CEO of Coastal Media Group and Publisher of SGN Scoops Magazine. “Blue Highway is not only one of the top contemporary Bluegrass bands, but their gospel songs are incredible and multi-award winning.â€
Blue Highway has won a combined 24 International Bluegrass Music Association (IBMA) Awards and five SPBGMA Awards. The high octane band is known for its powerhouse performances, but their gospel music roots run deep. The gospel song God Moves In a Windstorm from Blue Highway’s Wind to the West (1997) album took home the IBMA Gospel Recorded Event of the Year Award (1997). The band’s All-Gospel release Wondrous Love skyrocketed up charts and won a Dove Award for Best Bluegrass Album (2004) and the IBMA Award for Gospel Recorded Event of the Year. The incredible 13-song Wondrous Love release also garnered a prestigious Grammy nomination for Best Southern, Country or Bluegrass Gospel Album.
Blue Highway is 20 years strong with all original members still intact with Jason Burleson on banjo, Rob Ickes on dobro, Shawn Lane on mandolin and fiddle, Tim Stafford on guitar, and Wayne Taylor on bass. Rob Ickes currently reigns as the most awarded instrumentalist in the history of IBMA, with an astounding 15 IBMA Dobro Player of the Year honors. The band was honored with 9 IBMA Award Nominations in 2014 including Entertainer of the Year, Vocal Group of the Year, and Album and Song of the Year for The Game.
Blue Highway’s current album The Game debuted at #4 on Billboard, and has been riding high at #1 for a staggering 5 months atop the Bluegrass Unlimited Monthly Album Chart (June-Oct 2014), while the title track The Game has been #1 for 3 months (August-Oct 2014) on the Bluegrass Unlimited Monthly Song Chart.
For more info on Blue Highway and its members, please go to www.BlueHighwayBand.com. For daily news and photos of Blue Highway, please go: https://www.facebook.com/BlueHighway
For more details on SGN Scoops Magazine and the Diamond Awards, please go: www.sgnscoops.com
