Brandon Heath (right) has been nominated for three Grammy Awards – Best Contemporary Christian Music Album (Leaving Eden), Best Gospel/Contemporary Music Performance (“Your Love”), and Best Contemporary Christian Music Song (“Your Love,” co-written with Jason Ingram).
Heath’s nominations are deserved – Leaving Eden is a fine album – and it’s especially good to see indie gems Gungor getting a nod for Best Contemporary Christian Album (Ghosts Upon the Earth), arguably the most creative worship record to come along in years. Three of the other album nominees – Leeland (The Great Awakening), Mandisa (What If We Were Real), and Chris Tomlin (And If Our God Is for Us . . .) are unsurprising but mostly left me thinking, Meh. But the fifth album nomination, Royal Tailor for Black & White, is a real head-scratcher. Mediocre boy-band pop? In 2011? Seriously?
The Grammy folks were a little more on target with their nominees for Best Gospel Album, with Kim Burrell (The Love Album), Andrae Crouch (The Journey), Kirk Franklin (Hello Fear), Mary Mary (Something Big), and Trin-i-Tee 5:7 (Angel & Chantelle Deluxe Edition). Mary Mary (“Sitting with Me”) and Franklin (“Hello Fear”) also picked up noms for Best Gospel Song.
Joining Heath in the running for Best Contemporary Christian Music Song were Laura Story (“Blessings”), Jamie Grace (“Hold Me”), Chris Tomlin (“I Lift My Hands”), and Matthew West (“Strong Enough”).
Other notable nominations with Christian and spiritual content include Emmylou Harris’s Hard Bargain and Levon Helm’s Ramble at the Ryman for Best Americana Album; Alison Kraus & Union Station’s Paper Airplane, Jim Lauderdale’s Reason and Rhyme, and Ralph Stanley’s A Mother’s Prayer in Best Bluegrass Album; and The Civil Wars’ Barton Hollow for Best Folk Album. The Civil Wars, featuring former CCM star Joy Williams, were also nominated for Best Country Duo/Group Performance for “Barton Hollow.”
For a full list of Grammy nominees, click here.
