Point of Grace Take Country Honors at 2011 Dove Awards

Point of Grace swept the country categories at the 42nd Annual Gospel Music Association Dove Awards last night (April 20) at the Fox Theater in Atlanta. Hosted by Sherri Shepherd, the show was taped for broadcast April 24 on the Gospel Music Channel. The talented trio won three Doves: country recorded song of the year for 'There Is Nothing Greater Than Grace,' country album for 'No Changin' Us' and Christmas album of the year for 'Home for the Holidays.' This brings Point of Grace's total number of Dove wins to 13.

"We got to work with an incredible producer, Nathan Chapman," POG's Shelley Breen says of the man who also produces Taylor Swift. "His wife, Stephanie, also co-produced on the Christmas record. I texted him and said 'it's not a Grammy, but it's a Dove Award' and he was over the moon, so excited. He said 'it's just as big a deal to me.' We were real excited to tell him."

Jason Crabb, whose self-titled album won a Grammy in 2010 for Best Southern/Country/Bluegrass Gospel Album, earned three Dove Awards on last night's show. Jason's hit 'Sometimes I Cry,' which was written by his father Gerald Crabb, was named Song of the Year and Gerald won the Songwriter of the Year honor. Jason, who co-hosted the pre-show awards with Nicole C. Mullen, also won in the traditional gospel recorded song for 'Go Tell It on the Mountain' and inspirational recorded song for 'Joseph.'

Other artists who earned three Doves were Francesca Battistelli, who was named Artist and Female Vocalist of the Year as well as netting the Pop/Contemporary Song of the Year honor for her hit 'Beautiful, Beautiful.' Singer/songwriter Chris August was named Male Vocalist of the Year and also earned the Best New Artist award. His debut album, 'No Far Away,' was honored as Pop/Contemporary Album of the Year.

Point of Grace's Shelley, Leigh Cappillino and Denise Jones also provided one of the highlights of the show when they joined Kenny Rogers to perform 'The Rock of Your Love,' a track from Kenny's new gospel CD, 'For the Love of God,' available at Cracker Barrel Old Country Store locations across the country. "This album has been a great thing for me. I've never done a gospel album before," Kenny said backstage. "My mom was extremely religious. Our family went to church three days a week. My mom thought church was the answer for everything. She told me something once that I thought was so insightful. I kept saying 'Why do we have to go to church three times a week?' and she said 'Son, you can never be anything more as an adult than what's put into you as a child.'"

This year's Dove for Bluegrass Album of the Year went to Daily & Vincent for 'Singing From the Heart.' Darrin Vincent wasn't present, but Jamie Daily accepted the honor during the pre-telecast portion of the evening. He thanked the Lord and the gospel music community for their support of the album, and noted that the record had "raised over $60,000 to send kids to Bible college that couldn't afford to go."

The award for Bluegrass Song of the Year went to 'Mountaintop,' recorded by Lizzie Long and Little Roy Lewis. The Gaither Vocal Band won the Dove for Southern gospel recorded song of the year for 'Better Day.'

Like the Grammy Awards, the Doves honor multiple genres, including country, bluegrass, rock, traditional gospel and hip hop. Dove Awards are presented in 43 categories. When asked what he thought about the diversity of styles represented under the gospel music umbrella, Kenny said "You can't touch everybody with the same wand. I think that's what's so beautiful is that everybody comes in with a different interpretation of what God means to them and they are going to touch people. Everybody that's on that stage, singing songs that have a message are going to touch somebody. I think that's very exciting."