Nominations for the second annual We Love Christian Music Awards were recently announced with Hawk Nelson leading the field.

Produced by NewReleaseTuesday.com in conjunction with Grand Canyon University, the awards honor the best artists and releases of Christian music in 2013, as chosen by the site’s editorial staff. Fans are invited to vote for winners of 23 categories through Dec. 13 at www.theweloveawards.com.

Pop/rock group Hawk Nelson’s recent reconfiguration with new lead singer Jonathan Steingard and album Made earned the band six nominations: Group of the Year, Album of the Year, Song of the Year (“Words”), The Hook Award for Best Pop Artist/Group, The Relaunch Award for Best Comeback or Lineup Change and Best Collaboration (for “Words” featuring Bart Millard).

Skillet, Audio Adrenaline and Everfound received five nominations each. Among record labels, Fair Trade Services leads with 15 nominations, followed by Capitol Christian Music Group (14) and Word Label Group (12).   

This year’s awards introduces several new categories, including The Front Porch (Best Country or Southern Gospel Artist/Group); The Chorus (Best Church-Based Worship Group), Best Lead Singer, The Next Big Thing (for undiscovered or underground talent) and EP of the Year, reflecting a growing trend of artists releasing EPs that aren’t eligible for Album of the Year honors.

“Part of what makes the We Love Christian Music Awards so exciting and unique is our desire and ability to change our categories based on industry trends and listener tastes,” said NewReleaseTuesday.com's Editor-in-Chief Marcus Hathcock. “We think the addition of The Front Porch, The Chorus and EP of the Year particularly bring special recognition to some important areas.”  

Also returning this year is the Fan Impact Award, a fan-voted award that asks fans to name the artist or group that impacted them most in 2013. There are no nominations for this category, and it’s completely fan-decided.

After bringing the We Love Christian Music Awards to more than 250,000 people in its first year, the show is hitting the road again as a part of The Roadshow 2014 tour in January and February. Concertgoers will have the chance to experience the live announcement of an award each night of the tour, complete with exclusive acceptance speeches from winners.

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