Jason Ingram, Needtobreathe earn top Dove honors Print
Written by Eric Tiansay   
Friday, 07 May 2010 10:56 AM America/New_York

Producer-songwriter Jason Ingram and Needtobreathe were the big winners during the 41st Annual Gospel Music Association Dove Awards.

With four awards, Ingram was the biggest winner of the event, held April 21 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.”

Ingram also 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, ended Casting Crowns’ five-year run in the Group of the Year category.

Casting Crowns, though, won the fan-voted Artist of the Year. Meanwhile, Brandon Heath won Male Vocalist of the Year for the second consecutive time, while Francesca Battistelli ended Natalie Grant’s four-year run as Female Vocalist of the Year. Battistelli also won Short Form Music Video of the Year for “Free to be Me.”

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”—also recorded by Kari Jobe. Sidewalk Prophets was named New Artist of the Year.

Jars of Clay was also awarded two Dove Awards, one for the Pop/Contemporary Album of the Year for The Long Fall Back to Earth (Gray Matters/Essential Records/Provident-Integrity)—also recognized as Recorded Music Packaging of the Year.