For Immediate Release -- Ali Matthews releases new CD and receives 11 GMA Covenant Award nominations.

Toronto, ON.-- September 20, 2006 --Stratford singer-songwriter Ali Matthews leads the list of nominees for the 28th Annual Covenant Awards with a whopping 11 nominations including Album of the Year for her new CD, Window of Light and Seasonal Album of the year for On Angels Wings.

The Gospel Music Association of Canada announced the nominations in two locations on September 12th with ceremonies in Hamilton and Calgary, where the Awards will be handed out on October 27th. Matthews will be a featured performer at the Calgary award ceremony along with Brian Doerksen, Starfield, downhere, Carolyn Arends, Cindy Morgan and others. A full list of nominations and performers can be found on the GMA Canada web site at www.gmacanada.ca.

Matthews was thrilled about the news. “I just finished Window of Light in the summer and it’s been such a whirlwind of activity since then. I haven’t even had a chance to have an official launch party. Now, with these nominations, I am just spinning. It’s exciting!”

Window of Light is Matthews forth CD release on her own independent label, Shake-a-Paw Music. Recorded and co-produced by her performing partner, Rick Francis at his Stratford recording studio, the CD is a departure from her earlier acoustic/folk projects. “We worked on these songs for over four years and really wanted to explore some new territory in the process. It has more of a “world music” flavour with influences ranging from r&b to jazz to bluegrass.”

Her 2004 release, Where You Remain won the GMA Covenant Award for “Inspirational Album of the Year” and was more overtly Christian in its lyrical content than the approach taken with Window of Light. She doesn’t really consider this new project to be a “gospel album” but is grateful for the recognition from the GMA. “It’s important to me to write music that is accessible to everyone, so I really want to market the CD to both the Contemporary Christian and the mainstream music industries. It’s a challenge but I think it’s possible. So far the reaction has been very encouraging.”

Her hopes are confirmed by the support of Billboard Magazine’s Canadian Bureau Chief, Larry LeBlanc who states, “Ali’s music touches the soul providing both comfort and guidance”. LeBlanc is placing singles from the CD on several easy-listening radio stations in Canada and he is clear about looking past the gospel aspect of the CD. “To me these are good songs with strong messages.”

The global appeal of Matthews’ music was further acknowledged this week with the announcement of four nominations for the Just Plain Folks Awards, the largest international music competition in the world. Music was judged from 350,000 song submissions and 25,500 CD submissions and nominees were announced in 81 album and 67 song categories. This year’s nominees come from over 70 countries around the world and include seasoned, well known veterans and some of the best up and coming artists and writers in the music community. Matthews’ nominations have earned her an invitation to perform at the award ceremonies on November 4th at the Galaxie Theatre in Santa Ana, California.

All of these nominations come in the midst of Matthews’ preparations for the upcoming holiday season. The perennial success of her Christmas CD, On Angels’ Wings has made December her busiest time of year. This year she is partnering with FTC Canada (Feed the Children) for a series of Christmas concerts with her six-piece band.

“I feel an immense amount of gratitude that I am able to have the career that I always dreamed about. At the same time I have the privilege of helping promote the life-changing work of this wonderful charity. It’s incredibly fulfilling. I’m a lucky girl.”

For downloadable high resolution promo photos visit www.sonicbids.com/alimatthews