NASHVILLE, Tenn.— Curb recording artist Natalie Grant was named Female Vocalist of the Year for the fourth consecutive time at last night’s 40th Annual GMA Dove Awards. Grant now joins Sandi Patty as the only other artist to have received the prestigious honor four or more consecutive years.

In addition to her win, Grant performed “Make It Matter,” from her 2008 best-selling recording, Relentless, along with Group 1 Crew, during the live broadcast of the 40th Annual GMA Dove Awards on Gospel Music Channel.

The ceremony capped a GMA Music Week that saw other high-profile appearances for Grant, including a celebration honoring the RIAA Gold certification of her 2005 breakthrough, Awaken. In addition, Grant co-hosted the BMI Songwriter Showcase with singer /songwriter Matthew West, where she performed her Song of the Year-nominated hit single, “I Will Not Be Moved.”

Last year Grant was both the most-played female artist at Christian radio and the top-selling Adult Contemporary female solo artist in Christian music. One of the genre’s biggest names, Grant is among a select number of artists to have also achieved a formidable foothold at mainstream media and radio. In addition to her music, she is an outspoken advocate for victims of international human trafficking. The Home Foundation, which Grant created in 2005, has raised over a quarter of a million dollars to fight the trafficking of women and children for the purpose of sexual exploitation.

NASHVILLE, Tenn.— Awaken, the 2005 breakthrough that poised Curb recording artist and GMA’s now three-time reigning Female Vocalist of the Year, Natalie Grant, to become the top female solo artist in Christian music today, has been certified Gold by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), it was recently announced. In addition, Grant has also been nominated for a Dove Award in the prestigious Songwriter of the Year category, making her the top female nominee at The 40th Annual GMA Dove Awards.

Produced by Dove Award-winner Bernie Herms, Phil Symonds, Shaun Shankel, and Rob Graves, Grant wrote or co-wrote half of Awaken’s 12 selections. The album features her signature #1 song, “Held,” as well as the hits “Live 4 Today” and “What Are You Waiting For.”

Awaken was written and recorded during a life-changing season for Grant, as she first became aware of the atrocity of international human trafficking. For more than four years now, she has been an outspoken advocate for trafficking victims and was one of the first Christian artists to raise awareness of the issue in the Church. Grant established the Home Foundation in 2005, and the organization now supports numerous entities, both domestically and around the world, in the fight against human trafficking.

Grant is up for six honors at The 40th Annual GMA Dove Awards, including Female Vocalist of the Year. She is also nominated for Song of the Year for her self-penned hit single, “I Will Not Be Moved.” In addition, fueled by the success of her 2008 best-selling, critically acclaimed recording Relentless, Grant was the most-played female artist on Christian radio and the top-selling Adult Contemporary female solo artist in Christian music in 2008.

The nominees for this year’s Dove Award for Songwriter of the Year, which will be presented at the 40th Annual GMA Dove Awards on April 23, were announced this week The nominees are (above, L-R) Steven Curtis Chapman, Natalie Grant, Brandon Heath, Jason Ingram and Tony Wood. The recipient of the Dove Award for Songwriter of the Year will be named during the awards show on April 23 at the Grand Ole Opry House in Nashville. The show is scheduled for live broadcast on the Gospel Music Channel, and tickets are now on sale to the public at the GMA office by calling 615-242-0303.

“Perhaps no other genre relies on the message in the lyrics more than gospel music, so songwriters deserve special honor at the Dove Awards,” GMA President and CEO John W. Styll said. “We congratulate each of these deserving writers for crafting music that has inspired and moved us in the past year.”

In addition to other songs they have written, each songwriter is nominated in the Song of the Year category. Chapman penned “Cinderella,” while Grant wrote “I Will Not Be Moved.” Heath and Ingram co-wrote “Give Me Your Eyes” and Wood co-wrote two Song of the Year nominees – “Empty Me” (with Chris Sligh and Clint Lagerberg) and “I’m Not Letting Go”(with Francesca Battistelli). Click here for a complete list of this year’s nominees.

The 40th Annual GMA Dove Awards, gospel music’s biggest night of the year, featuring artists from every style of gospel/Christian music coming together for a night of music and celebration, will be broadcast nationwide live on Gospel Music Channel from 8-10 p.m. (ET/PT) on Thursday, April 23, 2009.

Click here for more on the 40th Annual GMA Dove Awards

I had an awesome opportunity to go hang out with some of the girls at Mercy Ministries here in Nashville last week. I love this ministry. Nancy Alcorn is so amazing with what she has done for young girls all around the world. I love how God takes the ordinary and does the extraodinary.

Congrats to the recent graduates of the program. I’m so proud of you girls!!!

Mercy has a really cool opportunity coming up for you to be involved in. This year there is a team running in the Country Music Marathon here in Nashville. It’s called “Run For Mercy”. Visit www.runformercy.com to learn more about how you run (or walk) for mercy.

To learn more about how you can support the work of Mercy Ministries or the services they provide, please click here:  www.mercyministries.org