Stellar Awards events spill out across town

Hale

Former gospel DJ and current manager, promoter and advocate/enthusiast Carlos Hale saw during his days on the air that Nashville had a huge amount of undiscovered and underappreciated gospel and Contemporary Christian music talent.

When the Stellar Awards returned to Nashville five years ago, Hale viewed it as another opportunity to highlight the city's gospel community, and since 2007 he's presented a series of events under the banner of "Urban Soul Cafe: Access Granted."

The events serve as a prequel to the Stellar awards show. The 2010 version of the Soul Café gets underway Thursday night at the Limelight Cafe with a program that includes the presentation of a Lifetime Achievement Award to famed radio/TV host Dr. Bobby Jones.

Dr. Jones is being recognized for his more than 29 years doing gospel shows on various stations (Jones' Gospel Countdown program is heard locally Sundays on WFSK, 88.1FM, from 5-7 a.m.)

"I designed this event to display the amount of upcoming talent in the city, and also to highlight the importance of the Stellar Awards being held here," Hale said. "We called it Access Granted because it was providing local gospel music fans a chance to see top performers and meet them in an informal setting."

"When we started the reaction was immediate and highly positive," Hale continued. "Now it's become a established part of the community, an event where gospel artists come to meet the public, and people can see both national performers who've been nominated and hear some top acts who haven't yet gotten national attention, but are going to be stars soon."

The event will be co-hosted by DeWayne Woods, Lexi, and Canton Jones and the Belle, with musical performances from 17 artists, among them Jones, J Moss, and God's Image.

There will also be guest appearances from Stellar nominees, something that's become a high point of the yearly "Access Granted" events.

"Last year we had (multi Stellar, Dove and Grammy award winner) Kirk Franklin come by and he was a huge hit," Hale continued. "Another big supporter is (promoter/manager) Matthew Knowles. He's attended a couple and also been an investor, helping us take this event to another level."

Artist of the Year nominees for 2010 are Donald Lawrence, Hezekiah Walker and Love Fellowship, Kierra Sheard and Vickie Winans. Click here for a complete of list of nominees.

Other Urban Soul Cafe events connected to the Stellar Awards include a Saturday morning Midday Mixer, a free event with comic and actor Jonathan Slocumb that begins at 11 a.m. at Pearl Pestro, 204 Commerce St., and an awards after party Saturday at Dave & Buster's in Opry Mills, beginning at 8 p.m. and continuing through the evening.

Hale, who formerly was a disc jockey on both 1240 AM and 880 AM, began The Urban Soul Cafe in 2005 as a support organization to expand the audience for gospel music throughout Middle Tennessee. He credits that experience with not only making him a lifetime fan, but also showing him what was needed to help improve the careers of many performers.

"I got a chance between playing the music, interacting with the artists, dealing with the labels and even talking with the other jocks to see the entire scope of gospel music," he said.

"I learned there were so many great acts whose music wasn't being played, and others who didn't have much exposure in terms of public awareness. Though the industry keeps growing, I felt a support organization dedicated to gospel could fill in some of those gaps. That's what we've been doing ever since with the Urban Soul Cafe and these Access Granted events."

IF YOU GO

What: Pre and post-Stellar Awards events
When: 6 p.m. Thursday; 11 a.m. Saturday, 8 p.m. Saturday
Where: Limelight Cafe, 201 Woodland St. (Thursday), Pearl Pestro, 204 Commerce St. (Saturday morning), Dave & Buster's, Opry Mills (Saturday night)
Cost: (for Thursday) $10 (advance), $15 (door), $7 (kids 17 and under)
Info: urbansoulcafe.com