Grammy Award for Best Southern, Country or Bluegrass Gospel Album

Grammy Award for Best Southern, Country or Bluegrass Gospel Album
Awarded forSouthern gospel, country, or bluegrass gospel albums
CountryUnited States
Presented byNational Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences
First awarded1991
Last awarded2011
Websitegrammy.com

The Grammy Award for Best Southern, Country or Bluegrass Gospel Album was an honor presented at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards,[1] to artists, producers, and engineers for quality gospel music albums. Honors in several categories are presented at the ceremony annually by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences (NARAS) of the United States to "honor artistic achievement, technical proficiency and overall excellence in the recording industry, without regard to album sales or chart position".[2]

Originally called the Grammy Award for Best Southern Gospel Album, the award was first presented to Bruce Carroll at the 33rd Grammy Awards in 1991 for the album The Great Exchange. Three years later, the category's name was changed to the Best Southern Gospel, Country Gospel or Bluegrass Gospel Album. The category's name was changed to Best Southern, Country or Bluegrass Gospel Album in 1998. After 2011 it was merged with the Grammy Award for Best Rock Gospel Album and the Grammy Award for Best Pop/Contemporary Gospel Album, forming the Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Christian Music Album. The NARAS made this change in order to "tighten the number of categories" at the Grammy Awards.[3] In 2015, a similar category, Best Roots Gospel Album was introduced.

Bill Gaither has the most wins in the category, with a total of four: two from his work in the Gaither Vocal Band, and another two in combination with his wife, Gloria. Randy Travis has won one less Grammy than Gaither in this category, with three. Gaither has the most nominations in the category, with eleven; the Light Crust Doughboys have eight, trailing Gaither by three nominations. Kyle Lehning holds the record for most wins as a producer or engineer, with a total of three. Nominated bands include Karen Peck and New River, who were selected in three of the final four years of the Grammy, and the Cathedral Quartet.

Recipients

A woman wearing a brown jacket and playing a fiddle
Alison Krauss won the award in 1995 along with The Cox Family
A man with white hair dressed in a black suit, wearing the Presidential Medal of Freedom
Andy Griffith won the 1997 award for I Love to Tell the Story – 25 Timeless Hymns
A man with white hair playing a guitar in front of two microphones
Two-time award winner Ricky Skaggs
A man, sitting, speaking in front of a microphone
Bill Gaither has won the award four times, the most of any performer
A man in a black suit clutching a microphone
Randy Travis was awarded the Grammy three times from 2004–2007
Year[I] Winning artist Personnel Work Other nominees Ref.
1991 Bruce Carroll The Great Exchange [4]
1992 Gaither Vocal Band Homecoming [5]
1993 Bruce Carroll Sometimes Miracles Hide [6]
1994 Kathy Mattea Good News [7]
1995 The Cox Family and Alison Krauss I Know Who Holds Tomorrow [8]
1996 Bill Hearn, producer Amazing Grace – A Country Salute to Gospel [9]
1997 Andy Griffith I Love to Tell the Story – 25 Timeless Hymns [10]
1998 David Corlew and Peter York, producers Amazing Grace 2: A Country Salute to Gospel [11]
1999 Peter Afterman, John Huie, and Ken Levitan, producers The Apostle – Music from and Inspired by the Motion Picture [12]
2000 Bill and Gloria Gaither and Their Homecoming Friends Kennedy Center Homecoming [13]
2001 Ricky Skaggs, and Kentucky Thunder Brent King and Alan Shulman, engineers Soldier of the Cross [14]
2002 Bill and Gloria Gaither and Their Homecoming Friends Chad Evans, engineer Bill & Gloria Gaither Present a Billy Graham Music Homecoming [15]
2003 The Jordanaires, Larry Ford, the Light Crust Doughboys Tim Cooper, Chuck Ebert, Adrian Payne, Robb Tripp, and Philip York, engineers We Called Him Mr. Gospel Music: The James Blackwood Tribute Album [16]
2004 Randy Travis Kyle Lehning, producer. Jason Lehning and Steve Tillisch, engineers Rise and Shine [17]
2005 Randy Travis Kyle Lehning, producer. Jason Lehning and Casey Wood, engineers Worship & Faith [18]
2006 Amy Grant Vince Gill and Brown Bannister, producers. Steve Bishir, engineer Rock of Ages... Hymns and Faith [19]
2007 Randy Travis Kyle Lehning, producer. Casey Wood, engineer Glory Train: Songs of Faith, Worship, and Praise [20]
2008 Ricky Skaggs, The Whites Brent King, engineer Salt of the Earth [21]
2009 Gaither Vocal Band Chad Evans and Pete Greene, engineers Lovin' Life [22]
2010 Jason Crabb Paul Corley and Ben Fowler, engineers Jason Crabb [23]
2011 Diamond Rio Michael Clute, engineer The Reason [24]

^[I] Each year is linked to the article about the Grammy Awards held that year.

References

General

  • "Past Winners Search". National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences. Archived from the original on December 19, 2015. Retrieved September 15, 2012. Note: User must select the "Gospel" category as the genre under the search feature.

Specific

  1. ^ "Grammy Awards at a Glance". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on March 9, 2012. Retrieved September 22, 2012.
  2. ^ "Overview". National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences. Archived from the original on October 27, 2009. Retrieved September 28, 2012.
  3. ^ "Explanation For Category Restructuring". National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences. Archived from the original on December 3, 2011. Retrieved September 22, 2012.
  4. ^ "Grammys go to gospel stars". The Gainesville Sun. Halifax Media Group. February 23, 1991. Archived from the original on March 6, 2017. Retrieved September 15, 2012.
  5. ^ "The Grammy Nominations". Los Angeles Times. January 9, 1992. p. 2. Archived from the original on February 3, 2011. Retrieved September 15, 2012.
  6. ^ "Grammy nominations". The Baltimore Sun. Tribune Company. February 21, 1993. p. 3. Archived from the original on October 3, 2012. Retrieved September 15, 2012.
  7. ^ "Hundreds Nominated For Grammys". Deseret News. Deseret News Publishing Company. January 10, 1994. p. 4. Archived from the original on November 5, 2012. Retrieved September 15, 2012.
  8. ^ "The 37th Grammy Nominations". Los Angeles Times. January 6, 1995. p. 3. Archived from the original on February 5, 2011. Retrieved September 15, 2012.
  9. ^ "The 38th Annual Grammy Nominations: The Complete List of Nominees". Los Angeles Times. January 5, 1996. p. 3. Archived from the original on February 14, 2011. Retrieved September 15, 2012.
  10. ^ "Andy Griffith". Grammy Awards. Archived from the original on May 29, 2022. Retrieved May 29, 2022.
  11. ^ "1997 Grammy Nominees". Orlando Sentinel. Tribune Company. January 9, 1998. p. 3. Archived from the original on September 24, 2012. Retrieved September 16, 2012.
  12. ^ "Academy's Complete List of Nominees". Los Angeles Times. January 6, 1999. p. 3. Archived from the original on August 24, 2010. Retrieved September 16, 2012.
  13. ^ "Final Nominations For The 42nd Annual Grammy Awards". Billboard. 112 (3). Prometheus Global Media: 72. 2000.
  14. ^ Boucher, Geoff (January 4, 2001). "Grammys Cast a Wider Net Than Usual". Los Angeles Times. p. 4. Archived from the original on February 27, 2011. Retrieved September 21, 2012.
  15. ^ "Complete List Of Grammy Nominees". CBS. January 4, 2002. Archived from the original on October 10, 2003. Retrieved September 22, 2012.
  16. ^ "Complete list of Grammy nominees; ceremony set for Feb. 23". San Francisco Chronicle. Hearst Corporation. January 8, 2003. Archived from the original on December 7, 2012. Retrieved September 22, 2012.
  17. ^ "Grammy Award Winners". The Associated Press. The New York Times. December 8, 2003. Archived from the original on December 11, 2010. Retrieved September 22, 2012.
  18. ^ "Grammy Award nominees in top categories". The Associated Press. USA Today. February 7, 2005. Archived from the original on June 28, 2011. Retrieved September 22, 2012.
  19. ^ "Grammy Award Winners". The New York Times. December 8, 2005. p. 4. Archived from the original on December 11, 2010. Retrieved September 23, 2012.
  20. ^ "Complete list of Grammy nominees". San Francisco Chronicle. Hearst Corporation. December 8, 2006. p. 4. Archived from the original on November 6, 2012. Retrieved September 25, 2012.
  21. ^ "The Complete List of Grammy Nominees". The New York Times. December 7, 2007. p. 3. Archived from the original on December 15, 2017. Retrieved September 25, 2012.
  22. ^ "The 51st Annual Grammy Awards Nominations". CBS. Archived from the original on February 14, 2009. Retrieved September 27, 2012.
  23. ^ O'Connor, Dave (December 7, 2009). "Taylor Swift, meet Jars of Clay ... Grammy nominees chosen for Christian music". Intelligencer Journal / Lancaster New Era. Lancaster Newspapers, Inc. Archived from the original on January 27, 2013. Retrieved September 28, 2012.
  24. ^ "53rd Annual Grammy Awards nominees list". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on July 13, 2011. Retrieved September 29, 2012.