BMI Christian Songwriters of the Year tobyMac, NeedtoBreathe's Bo Rinehart, and Greater Vision's Rodney Griffin; and writer of the BMI Christian Song of the Year, "What Faith Can Do," Scott Krippayne.
BMI saluted the writers and publishers of the past year’s most-performed songs on Christian radio and television during the annual Christian Music Awards tonight at the company’s Music Row offices in Nashville.
Genre-jumping star tobyMac shared his second consecutive Christian Songwriter of the Year crown with southern gospel favorite Rodney Griffin and pop-savvy rockers Needtobreathe’s Bo Rinehart. “What Faith Can Do” earned Christian Song of the Year honors for its creative team. Written by Scott Krippayne and published by Pirk Music, the song was recorded by alt-rock outfit Kutless. With five songs in the most-performed list, Universal Music Publishing Group was named Christian Publisher of the Year for the fourth consecutive year.
Jody Williams, BMI Vice President, Writer/Publisher Relations, Nashville, along with Director Beth Laird, of BMI’s Nashville Writer/Publisher Relations Department, served as the evening’s hosts, and presented awards spanning five categories: Christian rock, contemporary Christian, inspirational, urban gospel and southern gospel. BMI Senior Vice President, Writer/Publisher Relations Phil Graham joined his staff on stage for the presentation of the night’s top honors, Song, Songwriter, and Publisher of the Year.
The ceremony also included a moving tribute to late Gospel Music Association (GMA) co-founder Don Butler, who died earlier this year. A trusted and visionary executive, he was also a talented singer and producer of albums, GMA awards ceremonies and television series. Butler served as the GMA’s board executive director from 1976 to 1991.