Absolutely Gospel Awards: My Votes

It’s that time of year again—time for southern gospel fans to cast their votes at the Absolutely Gospel Awards. I’m reproducing the list of nominees along with my votes and some comments.

I noticed that there is no category for non-artist songwriters, and I thought it was particularly unfortunate this year since the most notable new songs came from the pens of Lee Black, Barbara Huffman, Dianne Wilkinson, etc. I wonder, would Wayne Haun be counted as an “artist” writer since he does tour and sing with the EHSS band? [Clarification: Chris Unthank has reminded me that there actually is a non-artist writer category, just not one voted on by the fans. Thanks Chris!]
Among the nominated songs, a couple seem a bit old—“Almost Home” and “Homecoming Day” were both big in 2011.  For Tribute Quartet, I felt that “Good News From Jerusalem” or “The Song of Heaven” might be a more current choice. However, those songs haven’t had as much time to find success as “Homecoming Day.”
I must confess that I felt ill-informed in a few of these categories, particularly since there were some artists I didn’t recognize, and not just in the Breakthrough category. In the category for Female Group, I confess that I was unfamiliar with most of the names. I know Sisters and Red Roots. Can someone enlighten me about 2nd Generation, the McClennan Sisters, or Sweetwater Revival? (That’s funny, the first thing I typed from memory was “Cleerwater Revival.” Oldies on my mind.) Also, I noticed that The Williamsons were nominated both for Breakthrough Artist and Fan Favorite. A family group, I presume? I saw on their website that they’ve been singing since 1998. Was there a particular song of theirs that caught folks’ attention this past year? I also don’t recall running across Back Home before, also nominated for Fan Favorite.
Among special event projects, the Lari Goss tribute was a no-brainer. Easiest choice of them all. Go get it if you haven’t already—it’s a fantastic concert DVD.
Here is a full list, with my votes in bold: