Dove Awards fly back to Nashville

On Tuesday night, one of Christian music's biggest annual celebrations comes home.

After spending the last two years in Atlanta — marking the first time it had been held outside of Nashville — the 44th annual Gospel Music Association Dove Awards returns to Music City at 8:30 p.m. Eastern at Lipscomb University's Allen Arena.

Gospel Music Association Executive Director Jackie Patillo said she couldn't comment on the decision to move to Atlanta, but told The Tennessean, "It's appropriate for us to bring it back home."

"Nashville is quite a hotbed for Christian and gospel artists, as well as our industry, so everybody's excited about it coming back to Nashville."

The Doves' return is a big win for Nashville in a year that also saw the city lose the annual World of Bluegrass conference and bluegrass awards to Raleigh, N.C., and judging by this year's lineup, it's an apt move. More than half of the artists set to perform at the Doves are based in Tennessee, including Amy Grant, Newsboys, TobyMac and Dailey & Vincent — and each act has its own distinct sound.

Grant was 17 years old when she attended her first Dove Awards show, and remembers an evening packed with performances by "Southern Gospel" artists in a style much like the Doves' founder, Bill Gaither. As Grant prepares to co-host and perform at this year's show, she knows that all sorts of music will be on the menu.

"There's so much music I'm not even aware of," Grant said. "So we're really trying to create an atmosphere of 'Come one, come all.' This is going to be a night of exploration, and everybody's welcome."

At this year's Doves, rockers and rappers will share the stage with country singers, worship leaders and soulful belters. Few awards shows outside of the Grammy Awards can unite that range of performers, and though this may be the only time of the year that some of them cross paths, they all share a common thread.

"The main passion is that we still believe," said gospel star Kirk Franklin, who will co-host the show with Grant. "We still believe in the purpose of what we're doing, and we're really committed to that. I think that's what continues to pull people's hearts, and I think that's a beautiful thing."

As contemporary Christian music has made stylistic strides over the years, it's helped redefine Nashville as a home for all sorts of music-makers. Decades before Taylor Swift, Ke$ha and Kings of Leon came along, Christian artists like Grant, Michael W. Smith and Sixpence None the Richer were the Nashville acts breaking into the mainstream with respective hits Baby Baby, Place In This World and Kiss Me.

Today, the Gospel Music Association, "Trinity Music City" production complex and Smith's all-ages event center Rocketown are among fixtures defining Nashville as a hub for Christian music.

When the Nashville Area Chamber of Commerce reported earlier this year that the music and entertainment industry provided an annual impact of $10 billion on Nashville's economy, a "lively gospel and Christian music industry" was among the factions celebrated. While it may not be the first musical genre that most associate with Nashville, Grant says the city's songwriters, session players and producers are certainly aware of its presence.

"So many people in the industry, whether they go to church or not, are participants in making (Christian) music," Grant said. "It's not the biggest money maker in town, but I don't think Americana is, either, and certainly not bluegrass. It's another color in the spectrum of Nashville music."

Nashville's not only attracting Christian musicians, but it's also fostering quite a few of its own — like Colton Dixon, who scored his first three Dove nominations this year and will perform on Tuesday's show.

The 21-year-old Murfreesboro, Tenn., native proudly professed his Christian faith during his 2012 run on American Idol, finishing in seventh place. He may have been mentored by the likes of Stevie Nicks and Sean "Diddy" Combs on the show, but Dixon was instead starstruck after his Idol run when he got to meet Christian mainstays Steven Curtis Chapman and Michael W. Smith, artists on which he had been raised.

After Idol, Dixon says there was no question that he'd stay in Nashville to continue his career.

"I was fortunate not to have to pick up and start a life somewhere else to do what I love to do," he said. "I've been around it since I was born."

Others — like Christian music listener Suzie Price of Marion, Va. — will come to Nashville for the first time for the Dove Awards. Price attended the previous two shows in Atlanta with her husband and their teenage son and daughter, and says they're looking forward to seeing it here. "That's going to make it more special," she said. "You know that it's their home."

"We like to do things that are going to show a positive message," she said. "With everything in the world going on that's wrong, you have to give hope."

As the Doves return to Nashville, the Gospel Music Association is keeping the music's effect on the audience in mind. Patillo said the show's theme this year was "celebrating the impact of this music on the culture."

"Christian and gospel music is not just inspirational, but it's like a lifeline to people," she said. "The message is enduring, and it's powerful, no matter what style of music you wrap it in."