NASHVILLE, Tenn. (BP)–When it comes to Christian music there is a lot of diversity not only in the artists’ musical styles, but also in their fashion tastes. And that’s what makes the Dove Awards so cool. You have people winning awards dressed in leather and then you have some singers decked out in tuxedos. And there were Christian artists at the Dove Awards attempting to make some strange fashion statements.
I really thought Vestal Goodman had some important things to say to the next generation of contemporary Christian musicians. She is one of the great legends in Christian music and has appeared on a lot of the Bill Gaither Homecoming videos.
“Know what you are singing about, say Jesus’ name in your songs,” she said. “Don’t be afraid to say his name. He is your source and without him you are nothing.”
Vestal has been in the business for a long time and I think she knows what she’s talking about.
I also was impressed with the newest boy band, True Vibe. Honestly, I don’t know much about the Christian boy band scene, but if their mission statement is to reach the masses for Jesus Christ, then more power to them.
Yolanda Adams was pretty awesome, too. She brought the house down with a performance number on stage at the Grand Ole Opry House and then she came backstage and answered a few questions.
I asked her how often she gets to share the gospel with people and she replied, “All the time.
“We must reach out to everyone with love and be examples of Christ always,” she said. “And that means taking the gospel to Hollywood and New York City and anywhere there are lost people.”
The 32nd annual Dove Awards marked my first real-life reporting job and I thought it was really cool. At first it took a while to figure out the questions I wanted to ask, but it got kind of easier.
I worked backstage in the pressroom and it was pretty crazy. It was much more hectic than I thought it would be. People in the audience have no idea what all is happening behind the stage.
I thought it was really cool to see exactly what goes on backstage and to see how the press works. It was just like in the movies with reporters and photographers running around trying to interview people and snap their picture.
The best thing about being able to interview the artists was their openness. Even though I was a teenager, they all respected me and listened to what I had to say and answered my questions straightforward.
It was awesome.
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Robison is a freshman at New Song Christian Academy and a member of First Baptist Church, Franklin, Tenn. He served as a junior writer for Baptist Press during the Dove Awards to bring a teenage perspective to the Christian music scene.
