Country Music Association Reveals 2022 CMA Touring Awards Nominees
Written by djfrosty on December 13, 2022
After a two-year, pandemic-induced hiatus, the Country Music Association’s CMA Touring Awards will return Monday, Jan. 30 at Nashville’s Marathon Music Works.
Members of the teams supporting artists including Kenny Chesney, Garth Brooks, Carrie Underwood, Luke Combs, Morgan Wallen, Miranda Lambert, Dierks Bentley and Eric Church are among the nominees for the upcoming awards ceremony, which honors country music industry members in categories including advertising/public relations/media, touring musician, record label, touring, venue, personal manager and talent agent.
“I am thrilled that we will be returning this year to host the CMA Touring Awards after a two-year hiatus,” said Sarah Trahern, CMA CEO, via a statement. “The touring industry was one of the hardest hit during the pandemic, and I have been amazed at the continued resilience and dedication from this community as they rebuild. These behind-the-scenes heroes are the ones that keep the music playing, so to be able to honor and celebrate them again is especially exciting. We can’t wait for January 30!”
Final voting for the 2022 CMA Touring Awards launches Wednesday (Dec. 14) and closes Dec. 28.
See the full list of the nominees below.
Manager of the year
Clint Higham – Morris Higham Management
Mary Hilliard Harrington – Red Light Management
Chris Kappy – Make Wake Artists
Marion Kraft – ShopKeeper Management
John Peets – Q Prime South
Business manager of the year
Renee Allen – Arnie Barn, Inc.
David Boyer – Flood, Bumstead, McCready & McCarthy, Inc.
Jamie Cheek – Flood, Bumstead, McCready & McCarthy, Inc.
Duane Clark – Flood, Bumstead, McCready & McCarthy, Inc.
Stephanie Mundy-Self – Farris, Self & Moore, LLC
Tour manager of the year
David Farmer – Kenny Chesney
Luke Holton – Brothers Osborne
Curt Jenkins – Miranda Lambert
Ethan Strunk – Luke Combs
Jon Townley – Thomas Rhett
Talent agent of the year
Mike Betterton – Wasserman Music
Joey Lee – WME
Austin Neal – The Neal Agency
Nate Towne – WME
Jay Williams – WME
Touring musician of the year
Jimmie Deeghan – Kane Brown
Dan Hochhalter – Dierks Bentley
Harmoni Kelley – Kenny Chesney
Jimmy Mattingly – Garth Brooks
Josh Reedy – Thomas Rhett
Venue of the year
Ascend Amphitheater – Nashville, TN
Bank of New Hampshire Pavilion – Gilford, NH
Bridgestone Arena – Nashville, TN
Red Rocks Amphitheatre – Morrison, CO
Ryman Auditorium – Nashville, TN
Coach/truck driver of the year
Ronnie Brown – Zac Brown Band
Rhett Evans – Thomas Rhett
Caleb Garrett – Luke Bryan
Jon Long – Dierks Bentley
John Stalder – Kenny Chesney
FOH (front of house) engineer of the year
Aaron Lain – Morgan Wallen
Todd Lewis – Luke Combs
Robert Scovill – Kenny Chesney
Frank Sgambellone – Luke Bryan
Trey Smith – Thomas Rhett
Lighting director of the year
Zac Coren – Morgan Wallen
Philip Ealy – Kenny Chesney
Kevin Northrup – Luke Combs
Chris Reade – Dierks Bentley
Alec Takahashi – Thomas Rhett
Monitor engineer of the year
Jimmy Nicholson – Thomas Rhett
Phillip Robinson – Kenny Chesney
Scott Tatter – Dierks Bentley
Phil Wilkey – Keith Urban
Michael Zuehsow – Luke Combs
Production manager of the year
Chris Alderman – Blake Shelton
Erik Leighty – Miranda Lambert
Jerry Slone – Luke Combs
Kevin Twist – Thomas Rhett
Ed Wannebo – Kenny Chesney
Publicist of the year
Janet Buck – Essential Broadcast Media
Ebie McFarland – Essential Broadcast Media
Tyne Parrish – The GreenRoom
Jensen Sussman – Sweet Talk Publicity
Jennifer Vessio – 1220 Entertainment Publicity
Talent buyer/promoter of the year
Jered Johnson – Pepper Entertainment
Louis Messina – Messina Touring Group
Brian O’Connell – Live Nation Nashville
Aaron Spalding – Live Nation Nashville
Adam Weiser – AEG Presents
Tour videographer/photographer of the year
*Due to a tie in this category, there are six nominees.
Zach Belcher – Dierks Bentley
David Bergman – Luke Combs
Tanner Gallagher – HARDY
Grayson Gregory – Thomas Rhett
Jeff Johnson – Carrie Underwood
Jill Trunnell – Kenny Chesney
Tour video director of the year
John Breslin – Garth Brooks
Jay Cooper – Kenny Chesney
Ron Etters – Chris Stapleton
Tyler Hutcheson – Luke Combs
Phil Nudelman – Keith Urban