Is Tenth Avenue North the luckiest band in Christian music or what? Digging through my library, I rediscovered an older song from the band on a 2005 indie artist compilation. It was poorly done to say the least. Yet a couple years later, Provident Music Group snatched them up, polished them off, and voila, Tenth Avenue North made an impression with their national debut, Over and Underneath.

 

Now I’m not saying the band is without merit. Their previous album has some rather catchy songs, and I’d even reluctantly concede that Tenth Avenue North deserved their New Artist of the Year award at the 2009 Doves. But was “By Your Side” truly worthy of Song of the Year honors for the 2010 Dove Awards? Though I consider it dull and formulaic sounding, it was one of the year’s most (over)played songs on Christian radio—and I suppose that’s your answer.