MyHoustonGOSPEL.com

Kirk Franklin, Marvin Sapp, Donnie McClurkin and Israel Houghton are on tour this Fall. Tickets for The King’s Men tour are on sale on Ticketmaster.com and LiveNation.com.  The tour hits Houston’s Reliant Arena on Sept. 26, 2012.

Israel Houghton’s music ministry is being celebrated with Integrity Music’s Decade. The new two-disc CD includes 26 of his hits with New Breed, such as “Friend of God,” “Moving Forward,” “New Season,” “Say So” and many more.

It is available now at local retailers. A digital deluxe version of Decade, which includes additional songs and videos is also available on iTunes.

For those of you that can not make the Israel Houghton & New Breed recordings in Houston, you can view it online. Go to http://www.lakewood.cc/pages/watchonline.aspx and watch in high quality.

The recording is taking place February 4 at 7:00 PM,  February 5 at 8:30 AM & 11:30 AM.

Stellar Awards Academy members have a short time left in casting their first round ballot for the 27th Annual Awards show. This year’s first round ballot has many Houston connections. Houston-bred artists Yolanda Adams, Lecrae, Brian Courtney Wilson, James Fortune & FIYA, Luke Mercer, Kim Burrell, Jennifer Holliday and Preashea Hilliard are all listed.

Locally-based record labels are getting recognition also. Matthew Knowles’ MusicWorld Gospel is listed 18 times with entries for Trin-i-tee 5:7 & Brian Courtney Wilson. Kerry Douglas’ Black Smoke Music World Wide is listed 25 times with entries for James Fortune & FIYA, Earnest Pugh, Lonnie Hunter, Keith Wonderboy Johnson and Preashea Hilliard.

Other mentions include Kirk Franklin’s Hello Fear, which Houston’s Nikki Ross is featured on. Also, Ricky Dillard’s Keep Living is listed, it features Ross and Houston choir master Carnel Davis Jr., who is a part of the background choir, New G.

Lakewood Church music head, Israel Houghton is also listed seven times on the ballot.

Members of SAGMA have until Sept. 2nd to vote.

Radio One is presenting the 7th Annual Family Fun Day in the Park on Sunday, September 4th at  The Arts Pavillion in Tom Bass Regional Park, located at 3452 Fellows Road  Houston, Texas 77047.

This year’s event features Fred Hammond, Martha Munizzi, Israel Houghton, Wess Morgan, Troy Sneed and James Fortune in concert. The Whispers, Cameo, Kurtis Blow will also be featured.

Tickets can be purchased at Fiesta locations for only $17 per person. Online tickets for reserved seating are $25.00 while supplies last.

Click here for more information.

The 42nd Annual GMA Dove Awards brought out gospel and Christian music artists from around the world to Atlanta, GA. The show that aired on Easter Sunday featured performances from Mary Mary, Marvin Sapp, Deitrick Haddon, Donald Lawrence and Bishop Paul S. Morton.

Israel Houghton won Gospel Album of the Year for  “Love God, Love People.” Other winners include Tamela Mann, Marvin Sapp and TobyMac.  Sherri Shepherd from the View was this year’s host.

Click here for the complete Dove winner rundown.

A couple of Houston artists took home music’s most notable award last night.

Here is the Houston area’s winners list for the 53rd Annual Grammy Awards.

Best Gospel Song:

“It’s What I Do” by Jerry Peters & Kirk Whalum, songwriters (Kirk Whalum & Lalah Hathaway) | The Gospel According To Jazz Chapter III

Best Pop/Contemporary Gospel Song:

Love God. Love People. | Israel Houghton

In other Grammy news:

Some people were outraged that Patti Griffin won for Best Traditional Gospel Album over Marvin Sapp, Karen Clark Sheard, Vanessa Bell Armstrong and Shirley Caesar.

There are those that are also outraged that Houston native, Lecrae didn’t win the golden statue for his Gospel Rap album, Rehab.

This shows that the gospel community needs to become a part of the Grammy nominating and voting process. If you have been in a national choir recording (choir member, background vocals, lead singer) and can show proof, you may be eligible to be a part of the Recording Academy, the group that votes in the gospel category among others. Go to www.GRAMMYS.com for information.