Valdosta Singers: McGlamery nominated for two Dove Awards

Published 11:00 am Sunday, March 4, 2012

A former Valdostan’s performance has led to another Gospel Music Association Dove Award nomination for him.

Devin McGlamery, who grew up in Valdosta and whose parents, Don and Sandra McGlamery, still live in Valdosta, sings lead on Ernie Haase & Signature Sound’s “I’ve Been Here Before” from the album “Here We Are Again.”

The song is nominated for Recorded Song of the Year (all categories) and Southern Gospel Recorded Song of the Year.

The Dove Awards are considered the Grammys of the Christian/Gospel music world. The Dove Award ceremony is scheduled for April 19 in Atlanta’s Fox Theater.

McGlamery has been nominated for Dove Awards in the past; he has also been part of Grammy nominations with his past association with Gospel trio Karen Peck & New River.

Many Valdosta residents may recall a much younger Devin singing locally and throughout South Georgia at churches, fairs, festivals, and other events.

At the age of 17, following his high school graduation, Devin McGlamery became a full-time professional singer with the harmonic Dixie Melody Boys and toured with this group for five years.

He then joined another already established group when he became part of Karen Peck & New River. And did so again upon joining Ernie Haase and Signature Sound. Since McGlamery joined the group, Ernie Haase and Signature Sound created a YouTube sensation with a dynamic performance of “The Star-Spangled Banner” prior to the 2010 Emory Healthcare 500 at the Atlanta Motor Speedway.

Given that he has pursued a singing career since childhood, McGlamery has expressed in the past being amazed by his success.

“I never dreamed it would happen to this extent, to where I would actually make a living at it,” McGlamery said in a past interview with The Valdosta Daily Times, “but through God all things are possible.”

McGlamery is also not the only famed singer with Valdosta-area connections. Here’s a look at a few more.

RHETT AKINS

He’s still performing country hits like “That Ain’t My Truck,” but he’s placed an emphasis on writing songs with Brooks & Dunn, Montgomery Gentry, Blake Shelton and more performing his tunes. Akins is from Lowndes County. He attended Lowndes High School, and he has family still here. But his songwriting has really taken off. He’s won Songwriter nominations and awards from BMI, the Academy of Country Music, etc.

BILL ANDERSON

Known as Whisperin’ Bill Anderson, this singer has never lived in Valdosta, but he reportedly made plenty of visits when his daughter lived here as his son-in-law served at Moody Air Force Base. Anderson is best known for songs like “Still,” “I Get the Fever,” “For Loving You,” “My Life (Throw It Away If I Want To),” “World of Make Believe,” “Sometimes,” “I Can’t Wait Any Longer.” He wrote a song about how city folks think all small-town folks lived in horse-and-buggy towns, he set the song in Valdosta, and even called it “Valdosta, Georgia.”

CHARLIE DANIELS

This one came as a surprise a few years ago. The man behind “The Devil Went Down to Georgia” has been a regular favorite at Wild Adventures for many years. And though Charlie Daniels probably doesn’t need to do any advance press for his shows, he continues doing pre-show interviews. During a phone conversation with The Valdosta Daily Times, after he’d played several Valdosta shows, Daniels dropped the bombshell that he’d spent part of his childhood in Valdosta. “We moved there (Valdosta) at the end of the second World War,” Daniels said. “My dad got a job there, and we stayed at the Daniel Ashley Hotel because there was a housing shortage at the time. I remember it well because the day we arrived, World War II ended and everyone was in the streets.” Daniels was born Charles E. Daniels on Oct. 28, 1936, the son of William Carlton Daniels and LaRue Hammonds Daniels. William Daniels was in the timber industry, often referred to as a lumberjack, which would make him right at home in the timberlands of South Georgia.

KENNY ROGERS

This country-pop superstar isn’t from Valdosta, but his wife, Wanda, is from Lowndes County. Rogers has performed his hits, like “The Gambler,” “Lady” and more, a few times at Wild Adventures and displayed his photographs in an exhibit at the Annette Howell Turner Center for the Arts. But he still quietly comes to town to visit his wife’s relatives who still live in South Georgia.

BILLY JOE ROYAL

The singer who rose to fame with 1960s songs like “Down in the Boondocks,” “I Knew You When,” “Hush,” and “Cherry Hill Park” was born in Valdosta and raised in Marietta. In the 1980s, he made a country comeback with songs like “Tell It Like It Is.”

He has relatives who still live in South Georgia.

MICKEY THOMAS

The lead singer of Starship has Valdosta roots.

Mickey Thomas took over the lead-singer spot for what had once been Jefferson Starship after being Jefferson Airplane.

With Thomas as lead singer, the band had some of its biggest hits such as “Jane,” “We Built This City,” “No Way Out” and “Sara.”