2002 BMI Christian Music Awards: Toby McKeehan
One of the music industry's most creative and influential talents, Toby McKeehan has excelled both onstage and backstage. As a songwriter, producer, artist, publisher and record label executive, he's been responsible for creating and developing some of the biggest success stories in Christian music.
McKeehan began his career as a member of multi-platinum ForeFront recording group dc talk, which he and friends Michael Tait and Kevin Max formed in the late 1980s. As a youth growing up in the northern Virginia suburbs adjacent to Washington, DC, McKeehan recalls immediate attraction to the beats, rhymes and production of early rap music.
After a decade of trend-setting musical development, award-winning album releases and exhaustive touring with dc talk, McKeehan is now taking time to express himself as solo artist tobyMac. His first release was the title song from the motion picture Extreme Days, which spent a record 10 weeks at the top of the CCM Update Rock charts, followed by the album Momentum.
The Gospel Music Association has awarded McKeehan 13 Dove Awards since the early 1990s. In 1996, dc talk's hit "Jesus Freak" won in both Song of the Year and Rock Recorded Song of the Year categories. Recognizing his success on radio, TV, and other media, he earned a BMI Pop Award in 1997 for dc talk's "Between You and Me." He also garnered 2001 BMI Christian Music Awards for Avalon's hit "Always Have, Always Will" and dc talk's "Godsend" and "It's Killing Me" to earn him the title of BMI Christian Songwriter of the Year. McKeehan, who publishes his songs through his company Achtober Songs, is also the founder of Gotee Records, boasting a roster of Jennifer Knapp, Out Of Eden, Relient K and Grits, among other artists.
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