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Jason Ingram, Needtobreathe earn top Dove honors Print Email
Written by Eric Tiansay   
Thursday, 22 April 2010 03:30 PM America/New_York

Producer-songwriter Jason Ingram and Needtobreathe were the big winners during last night's 41st Annual Gospel Music Association (GMA) Dove Awards.

With four awards, Ingram was the biggest winner of the event, held at the Grand Ole Opry House in Nashville. Ingram and Rusty Varenkamp won Producer of the Year for their work on Tenth Avenue North's Over and Underneath (Reunion Records/Provident-Integrity Distribution), and Ingram was part of the songwriting team that won Song of the Year for the band's "By Your Side."

Additionally, Ingram received a trophy for being a producer of "By Your Side." He was also a co-writer on Bebo Norman's Inspirational Song of the Year, "The Only Hope."

Needtobreathe earned three Doves for Group of the Year, Rock/Contemporary Album of the Year for The Outsiders (Atlantic Records/Word Distribution) and Rock/Contemporary Song of the Year for "Lay 'Em Down." The Possum Kingdom, S.C., rock quartet, led by brothers Bear and Bo Rinehart, snapped Casting Crowns' five-year run in the Group of the Year category.

Casting Crowns, though, won the fan-voted Artist of the Year. "To me it's extra special because the fans were voting," said Casting Crowns leader Mark Hall, the Associated Press reported. "It really wasn't anywhere on our radar."

Meanwhile, Brandon Heath won Male Vocalist of the Year for the second consecutive time, while Francesca Battistelli snapped Natalie Grant's four-year run as Female Vocalist of the Year.

Jennie Lee Riddle won two Doves, including Songwriter of the Year and Worship Song of the Year for Phillips, Craig and Dean's "Revelation Song." Sidewalk Prophets was named New Artist of the Year.

The Doves Awards were taped live for broadcast Sunday, April 25, on the Gospel Music Channel. Click here for a full list of Dove Award winners.

With no retail-focused events and workshops this year, the GMA's traditional GMA Music Week was renamed GMA Dove Week, centering on the awards ceremony.