{EHA-Nashville, TN} On Saturday August 11, 2012, the top nominees for the 9th Annual USAGEM Awards were officially announced by artists and members of theNashville organization during the association’s annual USAGEM Birthday Bash. This celebration, sponsored by The United States Association of Gospel Entertainers & Musicians, was held at the newly renovated KOA Campground Pavilion located on Music Valley Drive in Nashville, Tennessee. There are a total of fifteen member-voted categories and four board appointed honors, making a total of nineteen awards that will be presented during the 9th Annual USAGEM Awards scheduled for Saturday November 17, 2012, starting at 3:00 PM. Winners of the member-voted awards will be decided from these finalists during the next final round of voting. This year’s award winners will be announced during the 9th Annual USAGEM Awards Show scheduled to be held at the historic Wallace Chapel at Christ Church in Nashville. This televised show is a part of the 9th Annual USAGEM Convention scheduled for November 16 & 17, 2012. The two hour program will be filmed for future broadcasts by the Family-Friendly Entertainment Network and will also be aired on other television networks.
USAGEM artists that participated on Saturday included Lynn Fox of The Fox Brothers; Sandi Kay Shupe of Sandi Kay & New Hickory; Michael Gardner of The Gardners; Joanne Cash Yates; Larrice Byrd of The Fairfield Four; Country hit songwriter, Glenn Tubb; Television host and producer, Dottie Tubb; Charlene Harrison; The Servants Quartet; Noel Walters & JR Richards of Gold Harbor; Singer-songwriter, Ann Hartmann; Comedian and singer Peggy Inks; Tank Tackett & Darlene Chapman of Chariot; Television host and singer, Dewitt Johnson; David Smith; Paul Sparks; Buddy & Ina Gore of Psalms 100; and Pastor of The Nashville Cowboy Church, Dr. Harry Yates.
Other members and artists who contributed by announcing various categories were Rene & Edie Jones; Jim Sheldon; The Davis Family; Daniel & Teresa Johnson; Rebekan PricDan; Bev McCann; Saxophone player, Shelton Bissell; Singer-songwriter, Tammy Vice; Chuck & Candace Kuykendall; and Roger Revette of UR1.
USAGEM is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization. This association represents five different genres of gospel and Christian music including Christian Country, Southern Gospel, Bluegrass Gospel, Black Gospel, and Contemporary Christian. USAGEM presents five awards specifically designed for each of these categories. Other awards presented to artists by the organization are not considered to be genre specific.
In order to partake in the voting process, a participant must be a USAGEM member in good standing. In this first round of voting, members were responsible for casting their vote in a write-in ballot online at the USAGEM website, www.USAGEM.org. All votes were counted and calculated by the USAGEM Awards Committee. Each ballot was tallied in a way not to reveal the identity of the voter.
Officially, this is the 2012 USAGEM Top-Five nominees. However, because of ties, some categories contain six or seven nominees and one category contains ten.
Listed below are the top nominees in each category. Nominees are listed in alphabetical order of artist’s last name and the first word of groups’ names. The word “the†is not considered.
Gospel Entertainer Of The Year
- Tommy Brandt
- The Fox Brothers
- GoldHarbor
- Dewitt Johnson
- Allison Speer
- The Waymasters
- Joanne Cash Yates
Male Vocalist Of The Year
- Tommy Brandt
- Larrice Byrd
- David Davis
- Darrel Friszell
- Dewitt Johnson
- Rene Jones
- Chuck Kuykendall
- Tank Tackett
- Chris Unthank
- Noel Walters
Female Vocalist Of The Year
- Darlene Chapman
- ReginaGardner
- Teresa Johnson
- Bev McCann
- Becky Davis Short
- Sandi Kay Shupe
Duo Of The Year
- TheDavisFamily
- The Hemphills
- Lewis & Lewis
- The Pearly Gates
- Southern Faith
Vocal Group Of The Year
- For Heaven’s Sake
- The Fox Brothers
- TheGardners
- GoldHarbor
- Joe Arview & Thunder
- Leipers ForkBluegrass
- Psalms 100
- The Servants Quartet
- The Waymasters
Musician Of The Year
- Joe Arview
- SheltonBissell
- Larrice Byrd
- Jim Frable
- John Rees
- Jay Shupe
Song Of The Year
- Bible By Her Bed – Rene Jones
- Cost Of The Call – Joanne Cash Yates
- Don’t Cry For Me – Teresa Johnson
- God Has Got A Plan For Me – Chariot
- I’d Do It All Over Again – The Gardners
- Jesus’ Grace – Mona Faith
- My Sons – Sandi Kay & New Hickory
Acoustic Singer/Songwriter Of The Year
- Ann Hartmann
- Daniel Johnson
- Glenn Tubb
- Tammy Vice
- Jimmy Jack Whitaker
New Artist Of The Year
- Alverson Boyd
- Darlene Chapman
- Chariot
- Mike Dunbar
- Rebekah PricDan
- Jim Sheldon
- Paul Sparks
Comedian Of The Year
- Lynn Fox
- Roy Fox
- Peggy Inks
- Cheryl Jackson
- Tank Tackett
Southern Gospel Crown Jewel Award
- TheDavisFamily
- TheGardners
- The Kent Smith Family
- The Servants Quartet
- Paul Sparks
Christian Country Crown Jewel Award
- Gary Brock
- The Fox Brothers
- Ann Hartmann
- Rene Jones
- Bev McCann
- Russ Murphy
- Southern Faith
Black Gospel Crown Jewel Award
- Larrice Byrd
- Charlene Harrison
- Dewitt Johnson
- Thelmarie Johnson
- Tommie Lewis
Bluegrass Gospel Crown Jewel Award
- Good News Boys
- Leipers ForkBluegrass
- NewJerusalem
- Sandi Kay & NewHickory
- The Waymasters
Contemporary Christian Crown Jewel Award
- Danny Jones
- New Journey
- Rebekah PricDan
- Ransom Heart
- Roger Revette & UR1
- Pam Seaman
- Lynn Royce Taylor