Southern Gospel News SGNScoops Digital

Southern Gospel Music Guild Advocates for Relief Package Inclusion from Congress

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (March 24, 2020) – Many significant organizations and companies within the music industry have submitted a joint letter to congress on behalf of the music industry asking Congress to please include the music industry in any future relief packages, as the music industry has been uniquely and significantly impacted as the result of government mandates related to the Coronavirus pandemic.  One of the organizations that participated in this joint letter was the Southern Gospel Music Guild.

Clarke Beasley

“The SGMG actively looks for ways to advocate for the Southern Gospel Music industry, and we were glad to sign on to this offer petitioning Congress for relief,” states Clarke Beasley, President of the Southern Gospel Music Guild.  “Never in the history Gospel Music, as it is known today, has the industry faced a calamity of this scale and scope, and we hope our voice added to others will compel Congress to act in order to preserve our industry and our genre of music.”

SGMG SOUND SCAN FORUM

SGMG SOUND SCAN FORUM

The Southern Gospel Music Guild produced an industry forum on Tuesday, February 20th, at the BMI Theater on the topic of Sound Scan Reporting. The Forum speakers focused on topics such as the formation and purpose of Sound Scan, the benefits that can be offered to artists and music companies for using Sound Scan and how to utilize the various tools to record event sales through Sound Scan.
“Educating, facilitating and enabling our industry professionals, as well as aspiring professionals, to expand the effectiveness and reach of their businesses and ministries as well as expanding the economic base of the entire Southern Gospel Music industry are the chartered purposes of the Southern Gospel Music Guild,” stated Clarke Beasley, Executive Vice President of the National Quartet Convention and current SGMG President. “We feel that providing industry forums with important topics such as the one we covered today accomplishes our stated goals.”

SGMG Announces Industry Forum Series

SGMG Announces Industry Forum Series

Nashville, TN – The Southern Gospel Music Guild (SGMG) announced today plans to sponsor several music industry forums during 2017. BMI is set to host the inaugural forum on Tuesday, February 7, 2017 at 1 PM. Click here to RSVP to the forum.

Clarke Beasley, SGMG President, states: “The industry from which we derive our livelihoods is in the midst of profound change, as is commercialized music in every form and genre.  One of the chartered purposes of the Southern Gospel Music Guild is to expand the economic base of the Southern Gospel Music industry and provide a networking environment where professionals from every facet of the industry can join together and combine their collective talents and skills to work for the common good of the entire industry. To that end, the SGMG is sponsoring a series of industry forums this year, the first of which will be February 7, 2017. At this forum, we will be exploring ways in which our industry can survive and thrive in an era where the way the public consumes commercial music is dramatically changing.”

Speakers for the February 7, 2017 forum are:

• Elwyn Raymer
  Executive Director, Church Music Publishers Association Action Fund / Former VP of BMG Publishing
• Phil Perkins
  President, Music Services, Inc. / Former Head of Publishing, Sparrow Records / CCLI Co-Founder
• Ed Leonard
  President Daywind Music Group / VP, New Day Distributors / Chairman, Christian Music Trade Association

Admission is FREE to the forum and is open to anyone who derives a portion of their income from the Southern Gospel Music Industry.

SGMG TO PRESENT 2014 HARMONY HONORS MARCH 25 AT NASHVILLE’S TRINITY MUSIC CITY

NASHVILLE (March 18, 2014) — Southern Gospel Music will be front and center at the Trinity Broadcasting Network’s famed Trinity Music City in Nashville March 25th as TBN and Grammy Award winning Christian music artist Jason Crabb host the Southern Gospel Music Guild’s 2014 Harmony Honors.

Oak Ridge Boys Celebrate Honors With ‘Gospel Friends’

By Kelly Capriotti Burton

Many artists known as southern gospel royalty graced the stage of the Southern Gospel Music Guild Harmony Honors, held last week at the Gaylord Opryland Hotel in Nashville, TN, including The Perrys, Karen Peck and New River, Jeff and Sheri Easter, The Nelons, Jason Crabb, and Guy Penrod.It was a chance to showcase many of the steller songs and performers on top in SG right now, and for one group whose place in gospel music was further cemented by SGMG’s Presidential Honor, it was a time to celebrate and connect with gospel friends.

SGMG President Judy Nelon presented the long-standing quartet, Oak Ridge Boys, with the honor near the start of the evening. The group sang several songs, including their 1969Dove Song of the Year “Jesus is Coming Soon” and their most recent charting single, “Mama’s Table” (for which writer Jamey Johnson joined them on stage).

Soon after, to the delight of a decidedly traditional southern gospel crowd, Oak Ridge Boys returned to the stage to sing “Everyday” with Triumphant Quartet – the song has been a hit for both groups, years apart. The encore? A verse and chorus of the iconic “Elvira.”

The Oak Ridge Boys watched the rest of the concert from the front row, but after it ended, group member, spokesperson and popular Twitter-user Joe Bonsall organized a “tweet-up” with his gospel music/social-networking friends.

The reaction?

@chrisunthank : Cool meeting @joebonsall tonight! I’m officially starstruck! 😉

@libbistuffle: @joebonsall gr8 seein u tonight! Y’all rocked the house!

@MaddyFatty (aka Madison Easter): Been hangin with @joebonsall all night. Had a blast! Loved seeing all our friends!

@rodburtonmusic: Cool to see you @joebonsall . Y’all rocked it tonight!

@joebonsall: Great to have had the chance to spend time with our friends in Southern Gospel tonight. So many fine folks. The award was a real honor!

Above Photo: April Hinson of Hinson Revival meets Joe Bonsall while Rod Burton looks on. Photo by Miranda Burton

Read more about Joe Bonsall, The Oak Ridge Boys, and their place in gospel music….coming Monday, May 3 in an all new SGN Scoops Magazine!

Oak Ridge Boys to Receive Prestigious SGMG President’s Honor SGMG Announces 2010 Harmony Honors Celebration Concert

Nashville, TN – Today, Judy Nelon, Southern Gospel Music Guild (SGMG) President and on behalf of the SGMG Executive Board, announced The Oak Ridge Boys as the 2010 recipients of the SGMG President’s Honor during the SGMG Harmony Honors at the Gaylord Opryland Hotel on April 19, 2010. All four members of The Oak Ridge Boys – Duane Allen, Joe Bonsall, William Lee Golden, and Richard Sterban – will be in attendance to accept this honor.

“I fondly recall having the opportunity of presenting a Gospel Music Award to the Oak Ridge Boys in Los Angeles, California in 1973. It just happened to have been Joe Bonsall’s first week with the group. Now, thirty-seven years later, it is such a privilege to present the prestigious SGMG President’s Honor to this same amazing group, consisting of Duane Allen, William Lee Golden, Richard Sterban and Joe Bonsall in recognition of their long successful career and significant contributions to the field of southern gospel music,” says Nelon.

The Oak Ridge Boys continue to make new music and entertain millions of fans. With numerous Gold and Platinum albums, they have also enjoyed more than a dozen Number One singles and over 30 Top Ten hits with over 30 million records sold throughout their illustrious 40 year career. With talents that have long been recognized by their peers, this Grammy Award winning group has also received eight Dove Awards, four ACM Awards, four CMA Awards and are members of the Gospel Music Hall of Fame. In 2009, the Oak Ridge Boys released their acclaimed new album, The Boys Are Back on SpringHill Records and they continue to perform (with a full touring schedule) live nationwide throughout the year.

Founding member, Duane Allen commented on this great honor, “I have always felt that it was a huge honor to be recognized by your hometown or from one’s roots. Gospel music is the foundation of The Oak Ridge Boys’ music, Southern style quartet music. I would like to thank all of the former members of The Oak Ridge Boys’ organization for laying the groundwork for all of us, and to offer my deepest gratitude to the SGMG for this wonderful honor.”

The SGMG Harmony Honors Celebration Concert showcases artists with outstanding accomplishments and award nominations over the past year including Grammy, Dove and Singing News Awards, as well as radio airplay and touring success. The top ten songs of the genre are also recognized. The event will include performances by The Oak Ridge Boys, Jason Crabb, Guy Penrod, Jeff & Sheri Easter, Karen Peck & New River, Bowling Family, Gold City, Perrys, Blackwood Brothers, Tribute Quartet and more.

The SGMG Harmony Honors Celebration Concert will be held on Monday, April 19th at 7:00 pm (CST) in the Gaylord Opryland Hotel in Nashville, Tennessee. The SGMG Celebration Concert is free and open to the public.