The Gospel Music Association honored several titans of the Gospel music industry last night (May 5) at Lipscomb University’s Allen Arena in Nashville. The GMA Gospel Music Hall of Fame saw the addition five new members, including BeBe and CeCe Winans, Mark Lowry, Roland Lundy, and Twila Paris.

“Tonight is about honoring service,” said GMA president and executive director Jackie Patillo. “Even though we use the phrase ‘Hall of Fame,’ what we really mean is notable service to God and to others. Likewise, our GMA Honors provides a platform to acknowledge the many ways that people faithfully serve God and are lights for His Kingdom.”

Additionally the second annual GMA Honors paid tribute to Bishop Paul S. Morton, The Bridge Ministry’s Candy Christmas, Passion founded by Louie and Shelley Giglio, and Porter’s Call founded by Al Andrews.

Point of Grace, Melinda Doolittle, Tauren Wells, Joy and Landy Gardner, and the Grace Church Choir featuring the Martins and Chris August honored the recipients in song. Meanwhile, presenters including Bill Hearn, Amy Grant, Brandon Heath, Dr. A.R. Bernard, Jeff Stultz, Bill Gaither, Bishop Joseph Walker III, and Steve Green shared testimonies of their relationships with the honorees and inductees.

“Louie and Shelley are a powerful combination…They are nurturing leaders and songwriters under their care; you can count on these two to make the name of Jesus famous throughout the earth,” said Hearn.

“The exciting thing about gospel music is it never gets old,” said CeCe Winans. “God just gets greater and greater over the years. The more things you go though, you get to see Him in a different way.” BeBe Winans added, “You do what you do because you love God. You can dream some things but sometimes things happen that you never could dream of.”

Last night’s event will air on JUCE TV on Friday, June 5 at 7 p.m. PST, and Saturday, June 6 at 12 p.m. PST.

The third annual GMA Honors ceremony will take place May 10, 2016.

 

Meghan Linsey Advances on The Voice

Nashville singer Meghan Linsey is among the contestants to advance to the Top 5 on NBC’s The Voice, bolstered by her performances this week of James Taylor’s “Steamroller Blues” and the gospel classic “Amazing Grace.”

Linsey, who is Team Blake (Shelton)’s sole contestant at this point in the competition, earned a spot in the Top 5 alongside Sawyer Fredericks, Koryn Hawthorne, Joshua Davis, and India Carney.

 

Greg Bates Marries

“Did It For The Girl” singer-songwriter Greg Bates married fellow singer-songwriter Shelley Skidmore on May 2, 2015, among close family and friends. After a Valentine’s Day 2014 engagement, the couple chose to wed in the bride’s hometown of Stanton, Ky.

 

RaeLynn’s 21st Birthday Bash

RaeLynn knows how to throw a party. The singer-songwriter celebrated her 21st birthday on Monday evening (May 4) with a party at John Rich’s home in Nashville. Guests included Miranda Lambert, The Cadillac Three’s Jaren Johnston, Big Kenny, Chris Lane, and A Thousand Horses’ Michael Hobby. Frequent songwriting collaborators Laura Veltz, Nicolle Gaylon and Jimmy Robbins as well as producer Joey Moi were on hand to toast the occasion.

RaeLynn will hit the road with Rascal Flatts’ Riot Tour 2015 later this month before joining Lambert once again for the Roadside Bars and Pink Guitars Tour this fall. 

 

Skaggs, White, Cooder To Launch National Tour

Ricky Skaggs, Sharon White, and guitarist Ry Cooder have teamed for a national tour, which will launch in Salt Lake City this June. The Cooder-White-Skaggs Tour will include visits to Denver, Milwaukee, San Francisco, Seattle, Boston, New York City, and more.

“Getting to work with Ry Cooder has been a dream of mine for a long time. He is a world-class musician,” notes Skaggs. “We met at a GRAMMY Awards show many years ago and thought it would be a blast to do something together sometime, and now we’re getting to create new sounds around old music. But the best part is getting to share the stage every night with my wife and sweetheart Sharon White. My heart is full!”

For more, visit rickyskaggs.com.

Not to be outdone by Google Fiber and AT&T, Comcast has announced it will offer a 2 gigabit-per-second service called Gigabit Pro to eligible Middle Tennessee homes, as early as June of this year.

The service was also announced for Atlanta; Chattanooga, Tenn.; Florida and California.

“We are clearly in a space where customers are pushing the boundaries of what the Internet can do,” said Doug Guthrie, Comcast regional senior vice president. “Nashville being named No. 5 city for startups in the country, these are the types of cities we want to be in first.”

The service will be offered to residents within a one-third mile of Comcast’s fiber network, or an estimated 500,000 homes. Pricing for the service and installation has not been revealed.

It was announced in January 2015 that Google plans to bring Google Fiber to the Nashville market. The move is said to offer faster internet connection and television service—up to 100 times faster than traditional broadband. The Google Fiber service is free after an up-front $300 installation, or $25/month for 12 months. Google Fiber for Nashville is currently in the design stages.

AT&T revealed its Gigapower plans for Nashville in July 2014. Though the coming GigaPower will only apply to Nashville, AT&T said at the time that it is considering five surrounding areas for service, including Clarksville, Franklin, Murfreesboro, Smyrna and Spring Hill.