Matthew West, a four-time GRAMMY® nominee heralded by the New York Times as a "vivid and compelling songwriter," celebrates the distinguished honor of being named ASCAP Christian Music Songwriter/Artist of the Year at this past Monday night's ASCAP Christian Music Awards. As a veteran recipient of ASCAP's Christian Music Song of the Year, West's career highlights boast four No. 1 hits along with songwriter credits including cuts by Rascal Flatts, Billy Ray Cyrus, Diamond Rio and more.

The award comes off the heels of West's nomination in the first ever K-LOVE Fan Awards. West is up for "Male Artist of the Year" and is scheduled to perform at the event on June 1.

Adding to his recent award successes, West's second single "Hello, My Name Is," off his powerful project Into the Light, continues to gain momentum on charts claiming the No. 2 spot on the National Audience Chart, No. 5 at Christian AC Monitored and No. 3 at AC Indicator this week. The singled garnered over 8.5 million audience impressions this week. After a successful run pre-headlining Winter Jam, the No. 1 tour in the country, the acclaimed artist will hit the road this fall on a headlining tour with guests Sidewalk Prophets and Jason Castro as part of "The Into The Light Tour." Cities and dates will be announced soon at www.MatthewWest.com.

Photo Caption: Matthew West wins the Christian Music Songwriter/Artist of the Year award at the 35th annual ASCAP Christian Music Awards at the Franklin Theatre. Photo Credit: Ed Rode

From L to R: Paul Williams (ASCAP President and Chairman), LeAnn Phelan (ASCAP), Matthew West, Michael Martin (ASCAP) and John LoFrumento (ASCAP CEO)