Nashville, TN (September 30, 2011) – Doyle Lawson won two IBMA Awards last night at the 22nd Annual IBMA Awards, held at the legendary Ryman Auditorium in downtown Nashville. Lawson received awards in the categories of “Recorded Event of the Year” and “Gospel Recorded Performance of the Year,” both with good friends J.D. Crowe and Paul Williams for the song “Prayer Bells of Heaven” from their collaborative album “Old Friends Get Together” on Mountain Home Records.
Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver performed “Gone Long Gone” from their #1-charting “Drive Time” album during the show, and were joined immediately after by J.D. Crowe and Paul Williams on the historic Ryman stage, where the group performed the doubly-awarded “Prayer Bells of Heaven.”
The IBMA Awards were broadcast live on both WSM Radio and Sirius XM Satellite Radio. Updates were also streamed in real time via IBMA’s Facebook page and Twitter.
For a full listing of 2011 IBMA Awards recipients, please go to: http://ibmaawards.org/node/279
Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver performing at the 22nd Annual IBMA Awards on 29 Sept 2011. Pictured L to R: Jason Barie, Jessie Baker, Doyle Lawson, Corey Hensley, Mike Rogers, and Josh Swift (not pictured to the right of Josh Swift: Carl White on snare drum). Photo graciously provided by Dean Hoffmeyer. (www.deanhoffmeyer.com)
Nashville, TN (September 7, 2011) – Doyle Lawson has been nominated in two categories in the upcoming 17th Annual Inspirational Country Music (ICM) Awards to be held in Nashville at the Schermerhorn Symphony Center on October 28, 2011. Lawson was nominated individually for Musician of the Year, andwith his band Quicksilver for Inspirational Bluegrass Artist of the Year. The Awards event will be the finale of ICM Faith, Family & Country Week to be held at Nashville’s Millenium Maxwell House Hotel during the week of October 24-28, 2011. The week’s activities will be a mix of music showcases and seminars. Final nominees for the Awards were announced on August 31, after a round of voting by ICM members during the month of August narrowed the field of 10 nominees in each of 22 categories down to the Final Top Five, from which the winners will be chosen by ballot in voting ending September 30. Lawson is in sterling company, as other artists nominated for ICM Awards include country mega-stars George Strait, Carrie Underwood, and Dolly Parton. For a complete list of categories and nominees, please go to:
NASHVILLE (August 17, 2011) – Doyle Lawson co-hosted an IBMA Press Conference today at the Loveless Café Barn announcing the 2011 IBMA Awards Nominees.
Introduced by IBMA Executive Director Dan Hays, Lawson shared co-hosting privileges with fellow Bluegrass artists Josh Williams, Sierra Hull and Russell Moore. The late afternoon press conference on the Music City Roots stage preceded performances by all four bands (in order of appearance): the Josh Williams Band, Sierra Hull & Highway 111, Russell Moore & IIIrd Tyme Out, and Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver.
Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver were nominated for IBMA Vocal Group of the Year, while Lawson received two nominations for his recent collaboration with J.D. Crow and Paul Williams. The threesome’s performance of the song “Prayer Bells of Heaven” from their album Old Friends Get Together was nominated for both Recorded Event of the Year and Gospel Recorded Performance of the Year.
DLQ’s performance closing out the night’s show at the Loveless Café rocked the Music City Roots stage and garnered three standing ovations from the sold-out crowd, two alone for DLQ’s a cappella rendition of “He Made It All Right.”
“Doyle Lawson is one of music’s lions at this point,” Craig Havighurst penned in his blog on MusicCityRoots.com. Of the evening’s events, Havighurst wrote, “There was no question who was going to close the show… When Lawson came out in perhaps the most beautiful western jacket I’ve ever seen…he was a holy vision. … When DLQ, in quartet mode, nailed the final chorus of the a cappella gospel song “Made It All Right,” I swear we were mainlining the holy spirit. You know how the word awesome gets overused and misused? Here’s where it applies.” (“Passionate Precision” by Craig Havighurst. http://www.musiccityroots.com/passionate-precision )
The IBMA Press Conference was heard live on Sirius XM Radio and via LiveStream on www.MusicCityRoots.com.
The complete Music City Roots concert from August 17, 2011 can be viewed via MCR Archives on-line now at the following link:
BIRMINGHAM, AL (March 2, 2011) — Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver visited Children’s Hospital of Alabama on the third official hospital stop of their Children’s Hospital and Arena Tour this afternoon, following their early morning appearance on Birmingham’s live morning show “Talk of Alabama” on ABC 33/40.
The Birmingham hospital’s two-story lobby quickly packed with children, parents, doctors and hospital staff as Doyle and the boys in Quicksilver set toes to tapping with new album cuts “Gone at Last” and “Love on Arrival.”
“That was the biggest lobby crowd we’ve ever had by far for any celebrity program event we’ve hosted in the past five years,” said Suzanne Reeves, the hospital’s Director of Child Life and the Sunshine School.
The crowd revved up as one doctor called out a special request for “Sadie’s Got Her New Dress On,” and Doyle and Quicksilver took the lobby on a rollicking ride through the perennial favorite.
The tone then changed from rollicking to comforting as Mike Rogers led DLQ in soulful performances of “Nothing Can Touch Me” and “Precious Memories.”
Then memories of the group’s first visit the Birmingham hospital flooded back as Carl White stepped to the microphone and led a heartrending rendition of the group’s Southern Gospel #1 hit, “Help Is On the Way,” which DLQ sang all over the Birmingham hospital during their October 2009 visit.
“Doyle and his band stayed at the hospital an amazing seven hours that day, singing and visiting with families,” said Sherri George, the hospital’s Celebrity Events Coordinator. “All we saw were big huge grins on every single face of patients, parents and staff all over the lobby and entire hospital when DLQ sang. I’ve never seen anything like the impact they had. DLQ were like an infusion of Instant Happy!”
“That was a special day,” said Lawson’s manager, Josh Trivett. “If you have a chance to help kids and their families feel better, you want to do that. It’s always a blessing to be able to help.”
Doyle forged some special friendships during his first visit to Birmingham, including with an adorable six-year old, McKinley Keith.
“She just stole my heart,” said Lawson of the bright-eyed recovering cancer patient from Crossville, AL.
Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver with McKinley Keith of Crossville, AL, after their performance at Children's Hospital of Alabama on October 23, 2009. Photo by Sherri George. Pictured L to R: Jason Barie, Joey Cox, Josh Swift, Doyle Lawson, Corey Hensley, Carl White, and little McKinley.
McKinley and her mother Angel came into the Birmingham hospital’s lobby that sunny October afternoon while Doyle and Quicksilver were performing. During a pause between songs, the smiling little girl with sparkling blue eyes told Lawson she wanted to dance. “You want to dance?” Doyle asked her with a big grin, and he and Quicksilver gladly obliged her with a revved up instrumental version of “North Carolina Breakdown.” And, little McKinley danced.
And she danced.
And she danced!
To smiles on every face in the lobby, including a beaming hospital CEO Mike Warren, McKinley danced. With chemotherapy over, and an all-clear diagnosis recently proclaimed, the little girl from northern Alabama had plenty to celebrate, and all energy back to do it with.
“McKinley loves to dance,” said her mother, Angel Keith. “And Mr. Lawson and his band provided her with the perfect opportunity! She loved it!”
The desire to bring smiles to children and parents like McKinley and Angel across the southeast region led Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver to partner efforts with Sherri George to create their current Children’s Hospital and Arena Tour.
“Moments like those with McKinley are priceless,” said Lawson. “We’re loving every minute of this tour, being able to perform for kids and their parents when our music may be able to make a real difference for them.”
The Gospel Music Association (GMA) has honored Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver with a Dove® Awards nomination. The nomination was in the Bluegrass Album of the Year category, honoring the Horizon / Crossroads release Light on my Feet, Ready to Fly.
Doyle Lawson, winner of The National Endowment for the Arts National Heritage Fellowship, has garnered no less than 14 International Bluegrass Music Awards, 4 Grammy nominations, and 4 previous Dove Award Nominations. “We, at Crossroads, certainly believe that this is the year Doyle will win his first Dove®”, says Mickey Gamble, President of Crossroads Entertainment.
Doyle Lawson comments: “I am honored to be nominated in the Bluegrass Gospel Category of the prestigious Dove® Awards.” The nomination was announced in a February 16th press conference at the Fox Theatre in Atlanta, Georgia.
The 42nd Annual GMA Dove® Awards Ceremony will be at the same venue, on April 20th. GMC will televise the show at 8:00 P.M. EST on April 24th, Resurrection Sunday.
Watch the show on GMC (www.watchgmctv.com). GMC can be seen in over 47 million homes on various cable systems around the country, on DIRECTV on channel 338 and on Verizon FiOS on channel 224.
DLQ Perform First NBA Anthem and Visit Levine Children’s Hospital
Charlotte, NC (February 5, 2011) – Doyle Lawson and Quicksilver chalked up two “firsts” in one day on their newly launched Children’s Hospital and Arena Tour in Charlotte, North Carolina: they performed their first NBA game National Anthem for the Charlotte Bobcats, and visited their first children’s hospital of the tour at Levine Children’s Hospital on February 5, 2011.
DLQ performed a Main Lobby concert in a spectacular atrium area at Levine, and their performance was beamed into every child’s room in the hospital via closed circuit TV.
“The first family to come down for the concert had been wanting to see a DLQ show,” said tour coordinator Sherri George. “The young dad was so excited! His family had been at the hospital for months, and he’d been waiting so long for a chance to hear Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver. It was neat, because he said, ‘I couldn’t get to them, but today they came to me!’”
“Providing a lift like that for kids and their parents is the reason we’re doing this tour!” said Lawson.
“It’s the greatest thing when you can have an impact like that,” said Lawson’s manager Josh Trivett. “Doyle got the biggest grin on his face when we told him about that family being there. Their little girl was dressed in a Cinderella outfit, and when they met, Doyle told her she was DLQ’s little princess! You’ve got to be happy when you can help bring smiles to the faces of kids and parents. That’s what this tour is all about!”
“I still have families stopping me to say how awesome it was!” said Carrie Keuten, Event Coordinator for Child Life at Levine. “One floor mentioned it was so cool to hear the music coming from all the rooms! Many parents said they wished they could have come down to the lobby, but didn’t want to leave their child’s bedside.”
Time Warner Cable Arena was the next stop for DLQ as they performed their first rendition of their NBA version of The National Anthem that evening for Michael Jordan’s Charlotte Bobcats in the five-year old downtown TWC Arena as the Bobcats hosted the Dallas Mavericks.
“I heard it went well at Time Warner Area,” said Carrie Keuten. “I had a friend there, and she thought it was one of the most beautiful renditions EVER!”
“We’re having a wonderful time doing these Anthems,” said Lawson. “It is a joy to be able to sing it in front of so many people. I love to look at the crowd and see the caps off, or the hands over their hearts, as we honor our flag and country.”
Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver performing our National Anthem at Time-Warner Cable Arena for the NBA's Charlotte Bobcats. 5 Feb 2011. Pictured L to R: Corey Hensley, Mike Rogers, Doyle Lawson and Josh Swift.
Doyle Lawson Kicks Off Children’s Hospital and Arena Tour
BRISTOL, TN (February 1, 2011) – A patriotic fever is about to hit all of us in the next few months, if Doyle Lawson has his way.
Bluegrass legend Doyle Lawson and his band Quicksilver are embarking on a Children’s Hospital and Arena Tour in 2011, an ultra creative venue combining helping hospitalized children with inspiring national patriotism.
The tour will combine a series of National Anthem performances at major sporting arenas with Children’s Hospital visits in the same cities or regions in the early months of 2011.
The tour kicked off on January 11 as DLQ brought the house down in Knoxville’s Thompson-Boling Arena with an Anthem performance at the Tennessee Vols home SEC game with Florida.
“Audience response was overwhelming,” said tour coordinator Sherri George, “from sound check forward. ESPN’s commentators even stopped their pre-game prep to call out, ‘Who ARE THEY? That’s incredible!’”
“Singing the National Anthem at the UT-FL men’s basketball game was a blast,” said Lawson. “Fans shook our hands and voiced their approval as we made our way back to our seats to watch the game. Many commented that it was the best version of our National Anthem they had ever heard. I was honored to do it!”
While the chance to watch some of the country’s best hoops in VIP seats is quite a perk, helping hospitalized children is the real driving force behind the tour. “Doyle really has a soft spot for kids,” said Lawson’s manager Josh Trivett. “After we visited Children’s Hospital of Alabama last year, their celebrity program coordinator Sherri George and I put our heads together and came up with the idea for this tour. She and I both have sports industry backgrounds, and we wanted a creative and fun vehicle to keep Doyle involved with helping kids. This tour does it all!”
“It’s a win-win for everyone: Doyle, the kids, and teams and arenas where DLQ performs the National Anthem,” Trivett continued. “Plus, it’s unique and a total blast for everyone. No one has ever put together a tour quite like this before, so we’re excited for the exposure Bluegrass will be getting in front of huge sports arena audiences, and we’re really pumped for the help we get to be to kids in the hospitals.”
The tour is geared to help meet the emotional needs of hospitalized children and their parents, while raising awareness of the service and emotional miracles Child Life Departments render daily within Children’s Hospitals nationwide. Some hospital visits may even occur during special celebrations of National Child Life Month in March.
“Child Life Departments work to help ease the emotional stress and trauma of children who are hospitalized,” said tour coordinator Sherri George. “Doyle’s music works fabulously with that objective in mind, from the up-tempo fun numbers like ‘Sadie’ and the new ‘Gone at Last,’ to gospel songs with a powerful, touching message like ‘Help Is On the Way.’ We had amazing experiences with DLQ last year as they sang ‘Help Is on the Way’ a cappella all over the hospital in Birmingham. The impact Doyle and his band have to touch lives and hearts, and to provide comfort, is the reason we’re doing this tour.”
“Sometimes it may work to do the hospital visits same day as the arena performances,” said Lawson’s manager Trivett, “and sometimes we may need to visit on another day. The big thing is that we make it happen for the kids.”
“We did a Main Lobby concert for the hospital in Birmingham last year, then room-to-room visits,” said Lawson. “We stayed seven hours singing and saying hello to all the kids the hospital wanted us to see! But what a great way to spend a day. Good feeling, and we look forward to more days like that as we start the Tour this year.”
An arena stop in Alabama was the most recent order of tour business as DLQ stepped on the hardwood of The University of Alabama’s Coleman Coliseum to perform our National Anthem for the Alabama-Kentucky game on January 18 in Tuscaloosa.
Upcoming SEC men’s basketball National Anthem performances for DLQ include February 10 in Nashville at Vanderbilt University’s Memorial Gymnasium for the Vandy-Alabama game, and March 5 in Starkville in the largest on-campus arena in the state of Mississippi at Mississippi State University’s Humphrey Coliseum for the MSU-South Carolina game.
DLQ’s first NBA game performance of the tour is slated for North Carolina on Saturday, February 5, as Doyle Lawson’s version of the Anthem will ring in Time Warner Cable Arena as the Charlotte Bobcats host the Dallas Mavericks with tip-off scheduled for 7:00pm ET in downtown Charlotte.
“I’m very excited about partnering our efforts to create this Tour,” said Lawson. “I love children and am very patriotic. I’m really proud and honored to be able to combine helping hospitalized children with honoring our great country – and doing both through my band’s music. It’s a special opportunity, and I’m excited to be part of such a great project.”
Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver on the hardwood at Coleman Coliseum after the Alabama-Kentucky game in Tuscaloosa where they performed our National Anthem on 18 Jan 2011. Photo by Sherri George. Pictured L to R: (back row) Corey Hensley, Carl White, Doyle Lawson, Josh Swift. (front row) Jason Barie, Mike Rogers, manager Josh Trivett.
Everyone tune in to hear the new dynamic group as Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver are featured on Ronnie Reno’s new “Reno’s Old Time Music Show” on Saturday, February 5, on RFD-TV at 7:00 pm ET.
KNOXVILLE, TN (January 11, 2011) – “Singing the National Anthem at the UT-FL men’s basketball game was a blast,” said Doyle Lawson. “The fans really showed their appreciation. Afterwards they shook our hands and voiced their approval as we made our way back to our seats to watch the game. Many commented that it was the best version of our National Anthem they had ever heard. I was honored to do it.”
Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver at center court at Knoxville's Thompson-Boling Arena following the TENN-FLA game and DLQ's first National Anthem performance of the Children's Hospital and Arena Tour. 11 Jan 2011. Pictured L to R: (back row) Carl White, Mike Rogers, Doyle Lawson, Josh Swift, manager Josh Trivett, Corey Hensley. (front row) Dale Perry, sound engineer Kevin McKinnon.
SEC – Southeastern Conference: Mississippi State University Men’s Basketball
Sat, March 5 Humphrey Coliseum 1:00PM CT Starkville, MS\
Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver will be performing our National Anthem in the largest on-campus arena in the state of Mississippi in a Saturday afternoon 1:00PM CT tip-off at Mississippi State University’s 16,000 seat Humphrey Coliseum. DLQ will travel to Starkville for an SEC Men’s Basketball season-closer as the Bulldogs take on South Carolina. Catch the game live on ESPN or ESPN2. For ticket info, call 1 (888) GO-DAWGS, or go to www.mstateathletics.com/tickets.
