What an amazing trip! First, we went from Tuscaloosa to Nashville in style, riding in a Tesla Cybertruck courtesy of our friends at Steven Fikes Allstate in Tuscaloosa.
If you drive one of these vehicles, I promise you will not want to drive anything else ever again. The self-driving feature is truly amazing; we hit a couple of buttons and then sat back and let it do the work.
TobyMac opens the Dove Awards above: Credit: DC Daniel/TSM
TobyMac opens the Dove Awards above: Credit: DC Daniel/TSM

It was an honor to attend the biggest night in Christian and gospel music at the Dove Awards in Nashville. We are also honored to give trips like this and tickets to winners here in the Tuscaloosa area. In this case, congratulations to Steven Mansfield of Tuscaloosa for listening and supporting 101.7 The River.

The first thing that amazed us was how good our seats were in the Bridgestone Arena. We were very close to the action, which Tauren Wells, an amazing artist in his own right, hosted. He did a great job, and Christian music legend TobyMac opened the show. Since the awards won’t air on television until Friday night on TBN at 6:30, and on the radio on 101.7 The River, we were sworn to secrecy about who won certain awards.

We can tell you the performances were amazing, and we were just a stone’s throw away from a unique set where Brandon Lake and Lainey Wilson performed their amazing song.

Lainey Wilson & Brandon Lake perform above: Credit: DC Daniel/TSM
Lainey Wilson & Brandon Lake perform above: Credit: DC Daniel/TSM
After that, we got an amazing tribute to Dolly Parton featuring Amy Grant and the underrated, incredibly talented Natalie Grant. Another highlight was seeing Tauren Wells and Naomi Raines perform “What a Miracle Feels Like.” The show ended with New Artist nominee Jamie McDonald and a rousing performance of “Left It In The River”.
Credit: DC Daniel/TSM
Credit: DC Daniel/TSM

It was a night none of us will ever forget, and we cannot wait to see what else God has in store for all of us in the rest of 2026 and beyond.

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