SoGospelNews.com is the internet's largest e-zine based on Southern Gospel Music

Southern Gospel

Southern Gospel music—at one time also known as "quartet music"—is music whose lyrics are written to express either personal or a communal faith regarding biblical teachings and Christian life, as well as to give a Christian alternative to mainstream secular music...

.

History

SoGospelNews.com - http://sogospelnews.com - was formed over 10 years ago by Deon & Susan Unthank, then of Southaven, Mississippi. The site was birthed from an email discussion group by the same name. The SoGospelNews email discussion list was created by the Unthanks after the Singing News

Singing News

The Singing News is an American magazine which focuses on the Southern Gospel music industry....

 shut down its extremely popular discussion list.

SoGospelNews started as a simple webpage listing artists, fans, individuals, etc. that were avid supporters of the newly formed SoGospelNews talk list. The site eventually took on printing news for Southern Gospel artists, and eventually took on reviewing the latest recordings from both signed and independent artists within the small genre.

Deon & Susan Unthank's family has now become involved in the site, as well as the addition of several staff writers. The website has now based operations out of Murfreesboro, Tennessee.

Content

The site now contains Southern Gospel's largest message board forum, bi-weekly feature articles and interviews, bi-weekly album and DVD reviews, opinion columns, editorials, monthly artist articles, a free chat room, staff blogs, and much more in addition to reporting news daily. The website's weekly chart, which is a mixture of fan voting and radio airplay, is the industry's most respected weekly chart.

In addition, the site hosts an annual awards program, the SGN Music Awards Celebration, every April, and the SoGospelNews Fan Festival, which is a free week of concerts in the Nashville

Nashville, Tennessee

Nashville is the capital of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the county seat of Davidson County. It is located on the Cumberland River in Davidson County, in the north-central part of the state. The city is a center for the health care, publishing, banking and transportation industries, and is home...

, Tennessee

Tennessee

Tennessee is a U.S. state located in the Southeastern United States. It has a population of 6,346,105, making it the nation's 17th-largest state by population, and covers , making it the 36th-largest by total land area...

 area featuring today's biggest Southern Gospel artists at the end of July every year.

SoGospelNews Fan Festival

The SoGospelNews Fan Festival is a week long series of concerts that is sponsored by SoGospelNews.com. The event is held the last week of July and has now expanded to five days of Southern Gospel music. The event remains free to the public and is designed to give Gospel music fans a chance to relax, get to know their favorite artists, and enjoy great Southern Gospel music. The event has featured some of Southern Gospel's most popular artists like the Crabb Family, Talley Trio

Talley Trio

The Talleys are a progressive southern gospel group composed of Roger and Debra Talley, their daughter Lauren, and her husband Brian Alvey.- Group History :...

, Gold City

Gold City

Gold City is an American Christian music group that is based in Gadsden, Alabama.-Early years:The Mississippi-based Christianairs were renamed Gold City in Dahlonega, Georgia at the stroke of midnight on New Year’s Eve to begin the year 1980 with bass Dallas Gilliland, tenor Bob Oliver, lead singer...

, Karen Peck and New River

Karen Peck and New River

Karen Peck and New River is a southern gospel trio based in Gainesville, Georgia.-Music career:The youngest of three daughters, Karen was exposed to the traditional sounds of gospel music at a very early age...

, The Kingsmen

The Kingsmen Quartet

The Kingsmen Quartet is an American Christian music group.-Musical career:The Kingsmen are a Southern Gospel vocal quartet based out of Asheville, North Carolina. Many legends of Southern Gospel have been members of The Kingsmen...

, LordSong, Mike Bowling, Booth Brothers, Dove Brothers Quartet, The Imperials

The Imperials

The Imperials are an American Christian music group that has been around for over 45 years. Originating as a southern gospel quartet, the innovative group would become pioneers of contemporary Christian music in the 1960s. There have been many changes for the band in membership and musical styles...

, McRaes, and many more.

SGN Music Awards Celebration

The SGN Music Awards were founded in 2002 by the staff of SoGospelNews.com. The award nominations are chosen by the staff of SoGospelNews.com and most of the winners are then chosen by the fans of the genre and readers of the site. In 2005, SoGospelNews.com held its first SGN Music Awards Celebration which brought in all the artists, industry professionals, and fans for an official awards ceremony. In 2006, SoGospelNews.com held a contest for the readers to name the statue that is presented to the winners at the Awards Celebration, in which "Ovation" was chosen as the winner. The Ovations are handed out on the last Tuesday in April every year.