The Grizzly Awards, an annual event that honors faith-based rock and metal music, announced the winners of this year’s awards during their 4th annual live stream. The event featured performances by Zahna and Nesdam, Nate Parrish, and Rusty Shipp, as well as appearances by Joey West from Disciple, John Schlitt of Petra, and Les Carlson of Bloodgood.
The cohosts of the event were Grizzlies team members Trevor “Talks” Tyson, Cindy “Mothership” Blankenship, Mary Nikkel, and Joel Burris.
The Grizzly Awards team expressed their gratitude for the community’s support and the quality of performances during the live stream. The winners of the awards included Seventh Day Slumber for Rock Album of the Year with Death by Admiration, Wolves at the Gate for Metal Album of the Year with Eulogies, and Matt Sassano for Fan Choice.
Other winners include Relentless Flood for Rock Song of the Year with “My Chaos,” Convictions for Metal Song of the Year with “Stigmata,” Rusty Shipp for Alt Rock Song of the Year with “Bottom of the Barrel,” Reclaimers for Electronic Rock Single of the Year with “Fight,” Kutless feat Kevin Young for Collaboration Song of the Year
with “End of the World,” Wolves At The Gate for Music Video of the Year with “Lights and Fire,” Sean Ely for Industry Champion, and Demon Hunter for Braveheart (Faith Forward) Song of the Year with “Master.”
The Grizzly Awards is an event aimed at celebrating excellence, innovation, and spiritual impact within the Christian rock and metal community.
The awards aim to recognize talent and purpose-driven hearts within the industry, wherever they are found, regardless of major label rosters and radio airplay.
The event is more than just an awards ceremony, with the intention of unifying the Christian rock community as a whole, fostering connection, community, and the pursuit of excellence.
The Grizzly Awards also invites listeners to be a part of the process, extending the opportunity to invest in a movement to strengthen a genre that has often been overlooked and under-resourced.
The Grizzly Awards has a foundational commitment to the Gospel, with an unwavering belief that Jesus Christ changes and saves lives. This belief is the driving force behind the event’s support of songs that are a unique tool for communicating the message of redemption.
The idea for the awards ceremony was first suggested by Justin Forshaw of As We Ascend, while playing at a festival in Germany in October 2018. Forshaw suggested the creation of awards for the Christian hard rock genre, in addition to the “Dove Awards” for the lighter music aimed at soccer moms.
Soon after, he was joined by Cindy Blankenship, also known as “Mothership,” Mary Nikkel of Rock on Purpose, and Joel Burris of ATD Media, who helped to bring the concept to life.
The Christian rock genre has gained a renewed focus in recent years, thanks in part to sites such as Solid Rock Radio, Rock On Purpose, JesusWired.com, A1MRadio, and The Christian Rock 20, among others. The Grizzly Awards hopes to build on this momentum and attract a wider audience by encouraging people to share news of the event on their social media pages.
