2012 GMA Dove Awards To Return To Atlanta's Fox Theatre

 The 43rd Annual GMA Dove Awards will return to the historic Fox Theatre in Atlanta, GA for the second year in a row to host the 2012 event. Mitchell Solarek, chairman of the board of The Gospel Music Association (GMA), made the announcement at a Dove Awards kickoff reception hosted by CCM Magazine held earlier this week in Nashville.

The GMA Dove Awards is Gospel music's biggest night of the year, featuring top artists from the many different genres of Gospel and Christian music. The event will be an evening of music and celebration held at the Fox Theatre on Thursday, April 19, 2012, and will be televised nationally on GMC (www.watchgmctv.com) on Sunday, April 22, 2012.

Mitchell Solarek, speaking to record label executives, recording artists and other industry VIPs, said, “Following last year’s outstanding event, we are excited to return to the Fox Theatre for another diverse program showcasing the most talented group of artists from within the Gospel and Contemporary Christian music genres.”

The decision last year to move the industry event to Atlanta marked the first time ever the GMA Dove Awards had been held outside of Nashville in more than four decades. The sold-out show at the Fox Theatre also garnered the highest ratings for the event to date on GMC, with more than 1.5 million viewers tuning in to watch Sherri Shepherd host the broadcast and to see an array of leading artists perform and take home honors at the annual awards show -- including Female Vocalist of the Year Francesca Battistelli, Male Vocalist of the Year Chris August, and stars such as Third Day, Casting Crowns, Natalie Grant, Chris Tomlin, Mary Mary, Kirk Franklin, Marvin Sapp and Kenny Rogers.

“The Fox Theatre is thrilled to host this prestigious national event honoring the top artists in Gospel music again this year,” said Allan C. Vella, General Manager of the Fox Theatre. “Last year’s event sold out quickly, which speaks to the enthusiasm and support of the Atlanta community. The GMA Dove Awards is already becoming a much anticipated event on the Atlanta entertainment calendar and the Fox Theatre is proud to be a part of it.”

In 2012, Dove Awards will be handed out in 43 categories. The Dove Awards nominations go to recordings released during the eligibility year from November 1, 2010 through October 31, 2011 and voted on by the members of the GMA.

Tickets to the 43rd Annual GMA Dove Awards will go on sale in early 2012.

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• D.C. Music Producer Releases 'Tis the Season' Christmas Gospel CD and Gives Free Concert (christianfiction.blogspot.com)

D.C. Music Producer Releases ‘Tis the Season’ Christmas Gospel CD and Gives Free Concert

  Deborah E. Bradley releases Christmas CD Tis the Season.

Washington, DC – Fans say that D.C. Gospel Music Producer Deborah E. Bradley combines the spiritual intimacy of Mahalia Jackson with the jazzy gospel infusion of Dottie Peoples in a contemporary and nostalgic way in her Christmas new release, Tis the Season. Enjoy ten tracks of classic Christmas songs and Gospel hymns compromise this fusion of contemporary and nostalgic Christian music perfect for the holiday season.

“TIS THE SEASON reminds us of the greatness of God. There is at least one or two songs that every listener will love dearly and may choose to listen year round, because these are classic Christmas songs. Songs we can hear over and over again,” Bradley states.

Bradley has appeared at Seaton Memorial AME Church of Lanham, MD and Montplier Arts Center in Laurel, MD. As a gift to the community that has supported her, Bradley is offering a free concert to local non-profits, which service the needy during the 2011 holiday season

Visit her at www.deborahedwardsbradley.com to listen to Tis the Season. To book her to appear at your holiday event, contact please complete this form or contact Dee Stewart at DeeGospel PR.

THe Edge of Grace

Christa Allen’s Excerpt of The Edge of Grace ….

The last two words I said to my brother David that Saturday were "oh" and "no," and not in the same sentence—though they should have been.

On an otherwise ordinary, cartoon-filled morning, my son Ben sat at the kitchen table spiraling a limp bacon slice around his finger. His last ditch effort to forestall doing his chores. I was having a domestic bonding experience with the vacuum cleaner. My last ditch effort to forestall the house being over- taken by microscopic bugs, dead skin, and petrified crumbs. I’d just summoned the courage to attempt a pre-emptive strike on the intruders under the sofa cushions when the phone rang.

I walked into the kitchen, gave Ben the "don’t you dare touch that phone with your greasy bacon hands" stare, and grabbed the handset.

It was David. "I wanted you to hear this from me," he said. An all-too familiar sensation—that breath-sucking, plum- meting roller-coaster feeling—I’m thinking he’s been fired, in a car wreck, diagnosed with cancer, six months to live, but,

no, it wasn’t as simple as that.

He told me he was leaving in a few days for a vacation. With a man. Leaving with a man. Crossing state lines from Louisiana to Mexico to share sun, sand, and sheets with a per- son of the same sex.

My universe shifted.

Click here to http://christaallan.com/writing to lean more about her book.