The Pearl Awards

My wife said that she likes seeing me at the Pearl Awards, because I get so excited and have such a great time. And it is a great time. It’s like the one night where everyone who is anyone in LDS music all dresses up and gets together.

What are the Pearls? They are the annual awards for LDS musicians, presented by the Faith Centered Music Association. It’s kinda like the Grammies for Mo’ Town.

Greg Simpson opened the show up singing “The Rhythm of Life”, from his most recent CD “Unspoken”. He was nominated for, like, four awards, but didn’t win any. Poor guy, that’s kinda the story of his life. He gets nominated for one or two each year, but I don’t think he’s ever actually won one. I was really pulling for him this year, but… Oh, well!

Scott Christopher was the MC, and was in great form. He did a lot of really funny bits on camera, which the broadcast will show, but his funniest bits were just vamping with the audience in between sets.

Another one I was hoping would win was Sam Payne. He was up for all kinds of awards, including Songwriter, Contemporary Album, New Artist… He did a song from his “Railroad Blessing” CD called “Brother’s Road”. Great tune about Isaac and Esau. And Sam’s a great performer. But he didn’t win either.

One thing that surprised me was that there were a lot of people accepting awards “in behalf of”… Meaning that a lot of people didn’t show up to get their awards! Even Ryan Shupe won two, but had his parents do the accepting. George Dyer was doing an opera somewhere, and Jennie Oaks Baker always wins, but since she plays in a symphony on the east coast, she’s never able to be there. Sam Cardon won, but wasn’t there, And a few others.

Well, it was great fun. I love being a part of the whole experience. It feels like the scene is just exploding every year. The vast majority of the LDS music buyers still really have no idea that the pear awards exist, so winning an award means little more than a tich of prestige in an already small circle. It’s not like it amounts to more sales, or anything. But every year it’s watched on TV by more and more people and every year it’s bigger and bigger.

So, watch for it! July 11 on Channel 4 here in Utah.

MRKH
Mark Hansen
http://markhansenmusic.com