CCMA Awards (yeah the 'other one') LOL

[Chris Gaines]

Hi all

I was at the CCMAs (and the party afterwords)
I met alotta new friends :)

Especially Dennis Agajanian. He's a great guy.. an even greater person, and an even greater musician.

Randy Travis won 2 awards.

"Streets Of Heaven" was sung by Sherrie Austin. Boy was she looking very good... lol

The party Thursday night after the awards was such a blast.. I got to hold Dennis' "Entertainer Of The Year award" ...

But I can tell you this... you need to watch Rory Huffman play guitar, Paino, and Sax. That man has talent.... and he's Blind. This was his first year in the CCMAs, so I figured he wouldn't win anything.. but After seeing him play at the hotel for 3 solid hours, I know he will get many "Musician Of The Year" awards soon.

Oh yeah.. and Paula Slow (Female Vocalist of the Year) was awesome too.. I got a picture witrh her at the party after the show.

And the FOX BROTHERS... wow.. they are something else.. that chubby dude (Roy Fox) is quite a character! :)

oh yeah and I can't forget CROSS COUNTRY (the band) they know how to rock the house.... and they gave me a CD of them live in concert... performing a number of songs... like Urban's "But For The Grace Of God" to Greenwood's "God Bless The USA" to Sawyer Brown's "800 Pound Jesus" and even GARTH's "To Make You Feel My Love." Their Guitar player is a very cool guy. :)

This was a very cool event and I can't wait to go back next year and see all my new friends again! :)

I was at the award show... but I don't get GAC so I can't watch it...
But was cool to hear Buddy Jewell sing the Lacey Song.. and Jimmy Wayne sing "I Love You This Much" for the second time!

I took pictures at the show... and the party afterwords should have them back later this week!!!

All in all .. I walked in with no cds... and friday on my way home I had 12 new cd's to listen too... I guess life isn't all bad :)
=====================================
The Winners:

Entertainer Of The Year - Dennis Agajanian
Male Vocalist of the Year - Del Way
Female Vocalist of the Year - Paula Slow
Vocal Duo of the Year - Twice Robin
Vocal Group of the Year- Fox Brothers
Trio of the Year - Jeff Treece Band
Song of the Year - "Three Wooden Crosses" - Randy Travis
Songwriter of the Year - Dottie Rambo
Mainstream Artist of the Year - Randy Travis
New Artist of the Year - Glenn Kearney
Musician of the Year - Dennis Agajanian
Comedy Act of the Year - Roy Fox of Fox Brothers
Radio Personality of the Year - Fred Bacher
Radio Station of the Year - WTVY, Dothan AL
Video of the Year - "Have You Forgotten?," Darryl Worley
Pioneer Award - Dottie Rambo
Living Legend Award - Chester Smith
Youth In Music Award - Amber Morgan
Music Evangelist of The Year - CrossCountry (the band)

======================================
My Sister did really really well.. impressed quite a few people
(Just not the judges... seems they wanna "Faith Hill of Christian Country" and not someone true to the word... I guess..)

But many people asked for her autograph and stuff after she performed in the Talent show saying they wanna follow her carreer... and a guitarist for "CrossCountry (the band)" told her how awesome her guitar playing was.. and how 'real' she was.. just her and the guitar and that you never see that anymore...

Most the Talent show entries was with the use of Backtracks (kinda like karaoke) seemed so unreal.. on stage ya know?

But they gave it to a couple of Sisters that was young and can be "molded to the label" :roll:

As for the disclaimer.. I got no idea... I don't get GAC so I can't watch it :(
But they didn't disclaimer anything at the conferences... and stuff lol

None of the 'big' artists was there.. ie. Darryl Worley, Randy Travis, Diamond Rio, Dolly Parton... that was up for awards. Kinda sucked on that part. But it's cool.. I'm glad Dennis won for the second year in a row!

Jason

[GriggsGarthGirl]

I understand most of those awards, but I can't for the life of me figure out the video of the year award. What part of Have You Forgotten is the least bit Christian? I don't remember God being mentioned in that song at all. I know Bin Laden's mentioned a few times, but never God. I don't get that win at all.

[Chris Gaines]

Darryl Worley is a Mainstream Christian artist :)
(His dad is a preacher I believe?)

Just like Diamond Rio, Sherrie Austin, Buddy Jewell, Randy Travis, Jimmy Wayne etc etc...
Anyone that signifies themselves as Christians, and are on Regular Country Labels, played on Regular COuntry Radio/Video... are Mainstream Christain Artists :)

It's not always the song itself.. just the impact it has made... just like in the BIG show (CMAs) :)

[ProducerJ]

How did Buddy do as co-host? I caught a bit of the show - Josh Turner and Sherrie both did great.

If anyone DID see the show - those southern accents did NOT come out of Nashville - I SWEAR people don't talk like those women did down here! I couldn't take much of it, they must have been from Alabama....

runs from PJ

[Chris Gaines]

Buddy did great.. just messed up an Name once.

Said "What does that say?" LOL

Not everyone was from Nashville..

Dennis is from California. LOL :)

I don't think anyone in Nashville is originally from there.. LOL

[GriggsGarthGirl]

I always thought the songs that were nominated were nominated because they specifically mention God or Heaven or even Angels. I believe almost all country artists are Christian...doubt there are a lot of Muslims singing country music. That seems like a flimsy reason to win a CCMA Award. I think. To me the song or the video should portray a religious message and Have You Forgotten does not. Unless retaliation is a deep religious belief. Maybe it is.

[Chris Gaines]

not all artists are Christian. Or believe in God.
Some just believe in a 'higher' being... some have no belief on the subject.

[GriggsGarthGirl]

This is true, but there's no way for the CCMA's to know which artists are which. Just because you sing a song that mentions Heaven or God does not mean that you believe in that. It just means you wanted to get airplay on a format where a majority of the listeners DO believe in that. So the awards should either be based on just the fact that the artist is a Christian or on the fact that the song leans towards Christian themes (mentions of God, Angels, Heaven). Not pick and choose depending on whom you want to reward that year. In my opinion Have You Forgotten is NOT a Christian song in any way shape and or form and should not have even been considered for an award, let alone win one. It'd be like giving a CMA Award to Britney Spears--not that that's totally out of the realm of possibility.

[fuzzwuzz]

Buddy did great.. just messed up an Name once.

Said "What does that say?" LOL

Not everyone was from Nashville..

Dennis is from California. LOL :)

I don't think anyone in Nashville is originally from there.. LOL That's just how it is down here in Florida as well. I'm really glad you had such a wonderful experience at the CCMA's Jason. We'll be keeping an eye out for your sister as you continue to keep us informed.

But really. I gotta defend Darryl Worley here. God IS in his music. I can feel Him. I believe many others have too to the point it is undeniable and Darryl got not only nominated but the win as well. If you'll notice in the Bible, I don't think God is even mentioned in the book of Esther. But I challenge anybody to prove God is not there. That whole story of how God saved His people from planned evil against them, through her and her people's faith backed by actions, gives us hope even now too. :)

[ProducerJ]

Don't give Ed Benson any ideas Amy! LOL

I went to the CCMA website thinking they might have something that explained the criteria but I couldn't find anything. I know on CMA ballots they list the criteria for each category, but I don't think I know anyone who's a CCMA member.

What was the talent show your sister was in Jason? Sorry, I missed that part earlier. Sounds like they offered a recording contract to someone - a la Nashville Star?

[Chris Gaines]

Well Kid Rock (of all people.. as "cocky" as he is) was up for a CMA (or was that an ACM.. well it was one of the two).. what's that tell ya Amy.. LOL!

Joyce, it was kinda like that but it was you sing one song and impress the judges. You got a 10 song studio session with product, if you won.
There was a lot of good singers in the contest, but I don't think you can base one good song on a record deal, but like they say ... everythign involves a little luck in Nashville.

[wmcinnis]

Good to hear you had a great time Jason and met some great people by the sounds of it:)
I guess I missed something here, cause I had no idea your sister is a musician. That's very cool and great you could be there with her:)
-Susan-

[ProducerJ]

Oh my gosh, one song - that's crazy!

I had a thought on the video thing. What outlets are there for Christian videos? I imagine the song got airplay on Christian radio - sort of a cross over thing. I had thought that the videos were songs that got airplay that had Christian content (like Rio's 'Believe' and Randy's '3 Wooden Crosses.' But if there are Christian video channels that played the video, that's a whole other criteria and would make more sense.

[fuzzwuzz]

That's a good question Joyce. There used to be a channel like MTV called "Z" Music Television. But that was mostly pop/rock. I used to watch something called "Real Videos". I'm trying to remember if that came out of TBN or something else.

[majmom]

Jason-

I heard Phil Vassar's song "This is God" was nominated for video - but don't have GAC - can you confirm or deny???

Thanks,

Kerry

[Chris Gaines]

Phil's video was one of the top 10 nominees that was released in September, but when they cut the group for airing to 5, 10 days later, it did not make the cut.

Jason