Country

12 Dec 2023

Warner Music Nashville A&R EVP Scott Hendricks to Exit Label

Producer and longtime Warner Music Nashville executive Scott Hendricks will be leaving the company at the end of the month. He joined Warner Nashville in 2007 and currently serves as executive vp of A&R/ creative advisor. Hendricks will transition back to being an independent producer and will continue his work with Warner Nashville artists Blake Shelton and Dan+Shay.

While at Warner Nashville, Hendricks has overseen numerous No. 1 singles on the Country Airplay chart, including several chart-topping hits recorded by Shelton. During that time, Shelton has earned a slew of RIAA certifications, including two five-times-platinum singles with “Boys ‘Round Here” and “God Gave Me You,” as well as the three-times-platinum album Based on a True Story… and the two-times-platinum album Red River Blue.

Hendricks is also responsible for signing Dan+Shay, the duo behind the Grammy-winning hit “Tequila” — which was named song and single of the year at the ACM Awards in 2019 — as well as the Grammy-winning hit “Speechless.” Hendricks returned as a co-producer alongside Dan Smyers on Dan+Shay’s most recent album, Bigger Houses, including their current single, “Save Me the Trouble.” Hendricks was also responsible for signing and/or managing A&R for artists including Hunter Hayes (“Wanted”) and Brett Eldredge.

“Scott has been a friend, a mentor, a brother and an always generous teacher from the day I met him as a publisher almost 30 years ago,” Warner Music Nashville co-chair/co-president Cris Lacy said in a statement. “His unparalleled expertise in the studio and his willingness to share the ‘hows’ and ‘whys’ of everything he does — whether as a label head, producer or A&R person — makes him irreplaceable. His quintessential stories will live on, and we look forward to hearing and co-creating many more of them as we work together on projects now and in the future.”

“It’s hard to believe it’s been almost 16 years since I joined the Warner team. It’s true time flies when you are having fun!” Hendricks said in a statement. “I’ve been a part of countless great memories in those years. It’s been an honor and a privilege to collaborate with so many talented people, as well as the artists we served. I am thankful for each and every one. I look forward to continuing my work with Blake Shelton and Dan + Shay as I transition back to being an independent producer. With Ben and Cris now leading the charge, Warner Music Nashville is in good hands moving forward.”

12 Dec 2023

Top 10 Highest Grossing Country Tours of 2023

Billboard revealed its year-end Boxscore charts, ranking the top tours, venues, and promoters of 2023. That coverage included analysis of the new wave of genre diverse artists crashing stadium stages, and in turn, our charts. This week, we are breaking down the year’s biggest tours, genre by genre. Today, we continue with country.

Country music has been a reliable pillar of the touring industry for several decades. Tradition states that Nashville singer-songwriters take to American arenas and amphitheaters each weekend, often returning home for the week to write and prepare new material. This established model continues to work for artists across the genre, with its share of the top 100 tours oscillating between 12-15% for much of the last decade.

In 2017, however, country’s share dipped below 10% and stayed in the single digits through the pandemic. But after a small boost back to 10% last year, it’s up to 12.7% in 2023. Not only does it bounce back with a slew of amphitheater artists, but newer headliners such as Morgan Wallen and Luke Combs ascend to stadiums, while extending their schedules to Australia and Europe.

With their tours continuing into the 2024 tracking period, and Zach Bryan joining them in U.S. stadiums, the genre’s restored strength is likely to hold steady in the year to come.

Scroll to check out the top 10 highest grossing tours by country artists, with such acts qualifying due to recent performance on Billboard’s Top Country Albums and/or Hot Country Songs charts. Rankings are determined according to figures reported to Billboard Boxscore. All reported shows worldwide between Nov. 1, 2022 – Sept. 30, 2023, are eligible.

12 Dec 2023

Jason Aldean Tops Google’s 2023 Trending Musicians List, ‘Try That in a Small Town’ Leads Song Search

Google released its list of the biggest trending searches of 2023 and when it comes to music, Jason Aldean‘s controversial “Try That in a Small Town” led the list of search inquiries for songs, with Aldean also hitting No. 1 as the top trending musician.

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In a year when Taylor Swift and Beyoncé were perpetually in the news thanks to their massive tours and the live concert films, the high placement for Aldean was not totally surprising given the weeks of attention he got for “Small Town,” which was  pulled from CMT and labeled by some detractors as being pro-gun, pro-violence and akin to a “modern lynching song” after the release of the track’s video.

The visual found Aldean performing the song in front of the Maury County Courthouse in Columbia, TN, the site of the 1927 lynching and hanging of 18-year-old Henry Choate over allegations that he sexually assaulted a white girl, as well as the spot of a 1946 race riot in which two Black men were killed. Aldean rejected detractors’ claims about the song whose video featured images of an American flag burning, protesters clashing with police, looters breaking a display case and thieves robbing a convenience store; the video was later seemingly edited to remove images of a Black Lives Matter protest following the backlash.

Right behind Aldean was buzzy rapper Ice Spice, followed by “Rich Men North of Richmond” country singer Oliver Anthony, Peso Pluma, Joe Jonas, Sam Smith, The 1975’s Matty Healy, Kellie Pickler, Kim Petras and Sexxy Red.

Google’s data shows the top trending searches in the U.S., referring to trending queries as searches that had a major spike in traffic over a sustained period in 2023 versus 2022, which is why despite being a near-ubiquitous search term who has a consistently high search interest, TIME‘s Person of the Year Swift (and Beyoncé) didn’t top the ranking for musicians; click here for Gizmodo‘s explanation.

The year’s most buzzed-about movies, Barbie and Oppenheimer (combined as Barbenheimer by fans) came out on top, followed by the controversial anti-trafficking movie Sound of Freedom and Oscar-winner Everything Everywhere All At Once, as well as Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, The Super Mario Bros. Movie, Creed III, John Wick: Chapter 4, Five Nights at Freddy’s and Cocaine Bear. The No. 1 trending actor was Jeremy Renner, who suffered serious injuries in a snowplow incident in January.

Jamie Foxx, who was sidelined most of this year after an unexplained “medical complication” in April, was just behind Renner, followed by disgraced That 70’s Show actor Danny Masterson, comedian Matt Rife, Pedro Pascal, Jonathan Majors, Sophie Turner, Russell Brand, Ke Huy Quan and Josh Hutcherson.

The trending people list had Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin at No. 1 following his scary on-field cardiac incident during a Cincinnati Bengals game in January, followed by Renner and Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce, likely due to his romance with Taylor Swift; Kelce was also among the top five most-searched athletes.

The TV tally featured mostly Netflix projects, including its originals Ginny & Georgia, Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story, Wednesday, That 90’s Show, Kaleidoscope, Beef and The Fall of the House of Usher. Other shows that got in the mix included Daisy Jones & the Six (No. 4) and The Weeknd’s one-and-done HBO series The Idol (No. 9).

Late Friends star Matthew Perry was No. 1 on searches for celebrity deaths, followed by Tina Turner, Jerry Springer, Jimmy Buffett and Sinead O’Connor, with Lisa Marie Presley coming in at No. 8. The news headlines that we searched the most were those related to the war between Israel and Hamas, followed by the sinking of the Titanic tourist submarine, Hurricanes Hilary, Idalia and Lee, as well as a mass shootings in Maine and Nashville, the Maui wildfire, the Idaho college campus murder trail and the Canadian wildfires.

11 Dec 2023

Country Hitmaker Lee Thomas Miller Signs With SMACKSongs

Lee Thomas Miller, a writer on hit country songs including “In Color” (Jamey Johnson) and “You’re Gonna Miss This,” (Trace Adkins) has signed a publishing deal with SMACKSongs.

Over three decades, Miller has become one of country music’s most prolific songwriters, as well as one of the songwriting industry’s biggest champions. He has earned 13 BMI radio performance awards and earned such Billboard Hot Country Songs hits including “The World,” which was co-written and recorded by Brad Paisley. Miller has also earned three Grammy nominations, as well as four NSAI “Songs I Wish I Had Written” honors. “In Color” was named song of the year by both the Academy of Country Music and the Country Music Association, while “You’re Gonna Miss This” earned song of the year titles at the ASCAP and NSAI Awards and single record of the year at the ACM Awards. Miller has also had songs recorded by Tim McGraw, Garth Brooks, Thomas Rhett, Brothers Osborne and more.

Miller was previously signed to a publishing deal with UMPG Nashville.

“One of the first songwriters to welcome me in the publishing business 15 year ago was Lee Thomas Miller,” Lee Krabel, senior vp of publishing at SMACK, said in a statement. “I’m incredibly excited to get the opportunity to work with Lee again at SMACK. He is simply one of the best songwriters to ever come to Nashville. Looking forward to seeing what we can accomplish together!”

“It is an honor to begin the next chapter of my career writing songs at SMACK. Not only have I been a fan of Shane McAnally’s songwriting his entire career, I also love what he and Robin Palmer have built in this publishing company,” Miller said in a statement. “I could not be more impressed with their team and the close ties I have to them already. I worked with Lee Krabel for many years early in his career and Robert Carlton’s late father Jeff Carlton gave me my big break when he signed me to my first publishing deal in the 90’s. Lee and Robert are impressive publishers now who have surrounded themselves with quality professionals as well as humans. I have to think Jeff is smiling today and would tell me I’m in good hands. Everything about this feels right.”

“This one is really special. Lee is one of the truly great songwriters in this town,” added Robert Carlton, president at SMACK. “He could go anywhere but the fact that he entrusted SMACK with this next chapter of his career is a big win for all of us. Personally, it hits a sentimental note for me because my dad gave Lee his first deal. I grew up listening to Lee’s catalog and demos as a kid. His songs are as relevant and as timely now as they were back then. I know my dad has got to be looking down proud to have a hand in this signing.”

11 Dec 2023

RVSHVD on Finding His Old-School Roots in ‘Small Town Talk’

His hometown — Willacoochee, Ga. — sounds a whole lot like “Chattahoochee,” so it’s not entirely surprising that indie artist RVSHVD’s current single, “Small Town Talk,” employs many of the same values that inhabit an Alan Jackson song.

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The red brick church, the tire marks he left on Main Street, his first broken heart and his grandmother’s grave marker all provide this relatable sense of RVSHVD’s upbringing, which is quite similar to the childhood that many country fans experience across America. In a very real way, “Small Town Talk” exists mostly because RVSHVD doesn’t tend to talk that easily about what he’s doing or where he’s from. He just kind of lives it.

“My dad will sit there and tell me the same story,” he notes, drawing an obvious contrast. “Even random people in the grocery store, if there’s somebody standing there, he’ll walk up — he don’t even know the guy — and he’s like, ‘This meat’s high, ain’t it?’ He don’t even know the guy! My mom, she ain’t going to say more than three words. That must be where I get it from.”

RVSHVD’s reserved nature was on full display in April 2021 when he took part in a writing retreat specifically designed to generate songs that fit him at The Penthouse, the home base for his manager, Jonnie Forster, located near the Beverly Center in Los Angeles. Four or five different rooms were set up with at least one “track guy” and one topliner, with each of those rooms aiming for a song in the morning and another in the evening across two or three days. It all started with a get-acquainted session, where RVSHVD shared a little about his personal history, his goals, his tastes and his philosophy. Still, the introduction wasn’t all that detailed.

“I think I remember Jonnie making some jokes about, you know, ‘Good luck trying to get a lot out of him, because he’s usually a man of few words,’ ” says singer-songwriter Josh Logan.

That’s apparently pretty accurate — it’s similar to the understanding that singer-songwriter Willie Jones, who shares Forster as a manager, has of him. “RVSHVD is like that,” Jones says, “simple, low-key, real chill, laid-back, really grounded and really thoughtful.”

Logan, Jones and Jason Afable all ended up in a room together that first morning, and as they sought a direction to write for RVSHVD, they fixated on that “man of few words” description. They batted around some ideas, then found themselves wondering what more they could learn about RVSHVD if, as an old adage suggests, the walls could talk. That became its own train of thought, and as they started chasing down what that could mean, Forster popped into the room for a bit. They told him where they were headed, and somehow the phrase “Small Town Talk” showed itself.

“Jonnie was a big part of that title,” says Logan. “I don’t remember if someone just threw out the title, or he really kind of got us going or encouraged us down that road.”

But it was enough to work from. Afable developed a bittersweet, arpeggiated chord progression on electric guitar, and they began building a hook that flipped the gossipy implication of “small-town talk” into a confident portrait of a man’s roots speaking for his character. The opening lines — “The way I was raised up/I don’t really say a lot” — came directly from the day’s conversation and set up the storyline that followed.


https://youtube.com/watch?v=8bixQajHv4A&version=3&rel=1&showsearch=0&showinfo=1&iv_load_policy=1&fs=1&hl=en-US&autohide=2&wmode=transparent

The phrasing in that verse was conversational, leaning into a fluid, hip-hop vibe near the end of the stanza, then lifted into a chorus melody that emphasized repeated three-beat phrases: “small-town talk,” “grade school walls,” “right from wrong,” for starters. The chorus’ images and its melodic components were classically country, forming a contrast with the flowy, hip-hop lead-in. It hinted at an artistic range that also showed itself in the span from the verse’s lower melodies to the chorus’ higher notes.

“A lot of singers got maybe one sweet spot,” Logan notes. “But for RVSHVD, I feel like his low tone is so rich and deep, and I just love that tone. But then also he has that upper range that just soars. So when he hits that, it just makes our job easier  because we can really utilize a different range, and we have [fewer] rules.”

The second verse painted an image of a broken-hearted young man who narrowly escaped tragedy, recounting an 18-year-old who drank a fifth of his dad’s Jack Daniel’s after his girlfriend broke his heart, jumped into his dad’s Cadillac and left tire marks on the road. The story wasn’t exactly RVSHVD’s — he changed the road to Main Street, his first overindulgence in alcohol was actually with Wild Irish Rose, and the tire marks he left were from playing with the gear shift in his mom’s car around age 10. But the narrative still hit close to home.

“When I first recorded the demo for it, I was getting choked up, and my wife, Angel, she was there with me,” remembers RVSHVD. “I’m tearing up, and I keep looking at her over in the chair, trying to make sure she don’t see me.”

The initial demo relied on the electric guitar part and drum with some other programmed parts thrown in. Afable produced several versions of it, though they had a hard time getting it right. RVSHVD, at some point, seemed to lose faith in it, so Forster suggested that Jones cut it. The song, he sensed, was too good to let go. Jones agreed on the song quality, though the opening lines didn’t really suit him.

“I talk a lot,” Jones says with a laugh.

He changed the street name and substituted Shreveport for Georgia to personalize it, but it never felt quite right.

“It was cool, but I felt like I was lying,” he admits. “Then he came back around, RVSHVD, like, ‘I want to do a version.’ I was like, ‘Do it and do it well.’ They changed the production, and I was like, ‘Whoa, that’s what I like to hear.’ ”

For that last go-around, Afable reached out to a multigenre Los Angeles production team, Dream Addix (aka singer-songwriters Michael Ferrucci and Chris Valenzuela, both of whom participated in the original retreat at The Penthouse), and they were able to meld just enough classic country pieces, such as fiddle and baritone guitars, to capture the song’s small-town essence and still feel contemporary. RVSHVD recut the vocals, and — since he had lived with “Small Town Talk” long enough —he had a different physical reaction to the song.

“It wasn’t tears no more,” he says, “but it was still chills on that.”

RVSHVD shot a video to “Small Town Talk” in his hometown, performing on the same football field where he used to play bass drum in the marching band and receiving a key to the city. The video and the song itself, released Nov. 3, shine a light on the same sort of small-town ethics at the center of country’s lexicon. RVSHVD knows it firsthand, and he expects the rest of his first album will create an even fuller picture of that heritage.

“Hopefully,” he says, “it’ll come out next year.” 

11 Dec 2023

Best Country Songs of 2023: Staff List

This year’s picks for top 10 tracks include music from Lainey Wilson, Luke Combs, Morgan Wallen, Jelly Roll, Tyler Childers and more.

Lainey Wilson

Lainey Wilson performs on stage during day two of CMA Fest 2023 at Nissan Stadium on June 9, 2023 in Nashville.

Jason Kempin/Getty Images

It’s been a banner year for country music. Streaming is up nearly 25% for the genre over last year, propelled by newly minted superstars Morgan Wallen and Luke Combs having banner years, artists like Lainey Wilson rising from newcomer to award-winning star and baby acts like Bailey Zimmerman, Nate Smith and Megan Moroney breaking through with chart toppers.

The success spread far beyond the country charts. Wallen’s “Last Night” spent 16 non-consecutive weeks at No. 1 on Billboard’s Hot 100, while three other country songs hit No. 1 on the chart, Jason Aldean’s controversial one-week leader “Try That in a Small Town,” Oliver Anthony Music’s two-weekNo. 1, the topical “Rich Men North of Richmond” and Zach Bryan’s “I Remember Everything,” featuring Kacey Musgraves. Since the Hot 100’s launch in 1958, only 1975 had more country No. 1s. That year five country songs hit the summit.

In total, 11 country songs reached the Hot 100’s top 10, including Combs’ “Fast Car,” which spent eight weeks at No. 2, becoming his top-charting song. In 2022 and 2021, only three country hits appeared in the top 10 each year.

While a few of the acts have been around for more than a decade, several didn’t put out their first single until fairly recently, which serves as a testament to the influx of great new talent coming into the genre as Wallen and Combs brought about a generational shift.

Below, Billboard counts down our 10 favorite country songs that came out this year. Some hit the top of the charts, others serve as great introductions to new talent. The songs delve into themes of heartbreak, healing and everything in between.

11 Dec 2023

What Unconventional Wins Taught Us About The Future Of Country Music

Something unusual happened at the 2023 Country Music Association (CMA) Awards: A song written over three decades ago won the award for song of the year.

While Tracy Chapman’s “Fast Car” first became a pop hit in 1988 — when it reached No. 6 on the Billboard Hot 100 — the song experienced a renaissance over the past year thanks to country singer Luke Combs’ faithful cover. Combs released his rendition to pop radio in April and country radio in June, helping it became a juggernaut that ultimately reached No. 2 on the Hot 100 and spent five weeks atop the Country Airplay chart.

“The success of ‘Fast Car’ is mind-blowing. But should it be?” asks Combs’ manager, Chris Kappy. He calls Combs’ connection to the song (the artist has said that it reminds him of his father) and his ability to deliver it to a new generation of fans “the perfect chemistry to create this moment.”

The fact that Combs scored one of the biggest hits of his career with a cover is illustrative of the unconventional success stories that defined country music in 2023 — all of which helped propel the genre to one of its most prominent years in Billboard chart history. Jason Aldean’s politically charged “Try That in a Small Town”; outlier Oliver Anthony’s out-of-nowhere hit, “Rich Men North of Richmond”; and Zach Bryan and Kacey Musgraves’ somber duet, “I Remember Everything” all ruled the Hot 100. Along with Morgan Wallen’s “Last Night,” which spent 16 nonconsecutive weeks at No. 1, 2023 marked just the second time in Hot 100 history that four country songs reached the chart’s summit in a calendar year. And for the first time since the chart launched in 1958, country hits occupied the top three spots (“Small Town” at No. 1, “Last Night” at No. 2 and “Fast Car” at No. 3) in a single week on the Hot 100.

Yet in the same way that a decades-old single winning the song of the year CMA Award (a feat that also made Chapman the first Black songwriter to win that honor) marked an uncommon achievement, the biggest wins of country’s huge year all contained atypical wrinkles in their narratives. The success of “Try That in a Small Town” — and in particular, the song’s accompanying music video — was mired in controversy. Footage of Black Lives Matter protests was seemingly edited out of the original clip, while critics noted the performance itself was filmed in front of the site of a 1927 lynching. CMT ultimately pulled the video from its rotation — a move that led many to view the clip on YouTube and stream the song, some out of curiosity alone, which helped push it to No. 1 on the all-genre Hot 100.

In late August, independent artist Anthony broke through with one of the year’s most unexpected hits, the polarizing “Rich Men North of Richmond.” The song — with lyrics centering on greedy politicians, inflation, rising taxes and welfare abuse — was uploaded to YouTube out of the blue. And a little more than 10 days later, it debuted atop the Hot 100, making him the first artist to enter at No. 1 without any prior Billboard chart history. The video has been viewed over 98 million times on YouTube.

“Rich Men North of Richmond” stayed atop the Hot 100 for two weeks, during which time it became a lightning rod of controversy for political pundits on both the right and left. “The most special thing about it being on the chart at all is that it made it [there] without some big, corporate schmucky schmuck somewhere pumping a bunch of money into making it get there,” Anthony recently told Billboard. “It actually got to the top of the [Hot 100] because people genuinely wanted to listen to it and support it.”

As Country’s Radio Coach owner/CEO John Shomby says, “Now he’s going on a 40-plus-city tour next year. That tells you a lot.”

Then there’s the alternative, genre-fluid Bryan, who prior to signing with Warner Music in 2021 built a fan base with his independent releases and constant touring, and has a history of shucking industry expectations. He capped 2022 with a live album titled All My Homies Hate Ticketmaster and throughout his breakout 2023 has largely avoided press. In September, he and Musgraves each earned their first Hot 100 No. 1 with “I Remember Everything” off his self-titled album. The duet became the first song to simultaneously debut atop the Hot 100, Hot Country Songs and Hot Rock & Alternative Songs charts — proving Bryan’s wide appeal.

A surplus of country artists have experienced similar crossover success, with hits that have both topped country charts and entered the upper echelon of the Hot 100. Jelly Roll’s “Need a Favor” hit No. 13 on the Hot 100, Bailey Zimmerman’s “Rock and A Hard Place” entered the chart’s top 10, and Lainey Wilson’s “Watermelon Moonshine” reached No. 21 — and all three songs were Country Airplay No. 1s. Meanwhile, a few Hot 100 first-timers included rising stars like Hailey Whitters and Warren Zeiders along with Americana stalwart Tyler Childers.

“This year has shown us that the genre is not as painted into a corner as it was years ago,” says Shomby, who credits a younger generation of programmers moving into decision-making roles at radio stations as a driving factor in the span of country music sounds dominating charts in 2023. “The bigger companies, it’s going to take a little while, but some of these smaller organizations, you can see it already, with people taking chances on songs like the Zach Bryan and Kacey Musgraves duet, or Tyler Childers or the Post Malone song [titled “Pickup Man,” off HARDY’s HIXTAPE and featuring the late Joe Diffie, which debuted on Country Airplay in November]. They look at it as, ‘It sounds good, so I’m going to play it.’

“I come from the generation where we couldn’t care less whether it was rock or pop or country,” Shomby adds. “Then we started putting people into lanes. Thankfully, it’s starting to open up a little more. I’m not saying we’re there, but it’s the beginning of it.”

This story originally appeared in the Dec. 9, 2023, issue of Billboard.

11 Dec 2023

CMA Touring Awards Nominees Announced: Full List

The Country Music Association has announced the nominees for the 2023 CMA Touring Awards, spotlighting those behind-the-scenes members who keep country music’s touring industry going.

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Final-round voting for the 2023 CMA Touring Awards opens Wednesday, Dec. 13 and closes Thursday, Dec. 28. This year’s CMA Touring Awards will again be hosted by Keith Urban and will take place Monday, Feb. 12, 2024, in Nashville.

Ron Baird, industry veteran and former head of Creative Arts Agency’s (CAA) Nashville office, will be posthumously honored with the CMA Touring Lifetime Achievement Award. The award honors an individual who has positively impacted and contributed to the growth of touring throughout the years.

“Honoring our touring community is something I look forward to every year,” said Sarah Trahern, CMA chief executive officer, in a statement. “Each time I attend a show, hear a new tour being announced, or see footage from an unforgettable night, I am reminded again of the importance, dedication and resilience of our touring community. I am also especially excited to add five additional categories this year, including a Crew of the Year honor. They are the road warriors that keep Country Music alive all over the world, and I can’t wait to celebrate them on February 12!”

“As someone who spent years not only setting up all my own equipment at shows, but was also for a time a lighting guy and crew member for a band, I know the hard work that goes in to keeping shows on the road,” Urban added. “I’m honored to once again be asked to host the CMA Touring Awards and acknowledge and shower some love on all the hard workers behind the scenes that make it all happen.”

This year, the CMA Touring Awards have expanded, adding five categories. CMA members will have the opportunity to vote for Backline Technician, Stage Manager, Support Services Company, Unsung Hero and Crew of the Year. All balloting is tabulated by the professional services organization, Deloitte.

The CMA Touring Awards, originally called the SRO (Standing Room Only) Awards, were created by the CMA Board of Directors in 1990 to honor outstanding professional achievement within the touring industry. The first awards were presented at a black-tie gala hosted by K.T. Oslin and Roger Miller during CMA’s Entertainment Expo, also known as the Talent Buyers Entertainment Marketplace. Ten awards were presented at the first gala and the number swelled to 19 over the years before settling at the current 20. The SRO Awards were renamed the CMA Touring Awards in 2016.

See the full list of nominees below:

Crew of the year

“All American Road Show Tour” Crew – Chris Stapleton
“The Outsiders Revival Tour” Crew – Eric Church
“I Go Back Tour” Crew – Kenny Chesney
“Country On Tour” Crew – Luke Bryan
“2023 World Tour” Crew – Luke Combs
“One Night At A Time World Tour” Crew – Morgan Wallen
“No Bad Vibes Tour” Crew – Old Dominion
“Home Team Tour 23” Crew – Thomas Rhett


Backline technician of the year

Jason Baskin – Zac Brown Band
Melvin “Melvis” Fults – Kenny Chesney
Carlos Gutierrez – Dierks Bentley
Jason Herndon – Blake Shelton
Joel “Tico” Jimenez – Thomas Rhett
Jeremiah Langdon – Jelly Roll
Chris Miller – Keith Urban
Zach Rickard – Brothers Osborne


Business manager of the year

Renee Allen – Arnie Barn, Inc.
David Boyer – Flood, Bumstead, McCready & McCarthy, Inc.
Duane Clark – Flood, Bumstead, McCready & McCarthy, Inc.
Catherine Morris – Farris, Self & Moore, LLC
Caleb See – Curo Financial, LLC
Michael Vaden – Vaden Group/Elliott Davis
Kris Wiatr – Wiatr & Associates, LLC


Coach/truck driver of the year

Ronnie Brown – Zac Brown Band
Josh Easter – Morgan Wallen
Rhett Evens – Thomas Rhett
Caleb Garrett – Luke Bryan
Justin Pullin – Old Dominion
Erin Siegfried – Lainey Wilson
Chris Simms – Jelly Roll
Wayne “Wayno” Sullivan – Blake Shelton/Keith Urban


FOH (front of house) engineer of the year

Brendan Hines – Jelly Roll
Aaron Lain – Morgan Wallen
Todd Lewis – Luke Combs
Ben Rigby – Eric Church
Arpad Sayko – Chris Stapleton
Trey Smith – Thomas Rhett
Ian Zorbaugh – Old Dominion


Lighting director of the year

Zac Coren – Morgan Wallen
Philip Ealy – Kenny Chesney
Kevin Lichty – Old Dominion
Mac Mosier – Chris Stapleton
Kevin Northrup – Luke Combs
Taylor Price – Miranda Lambert
Austin Strain – Jelly Roll
Alec Takahashi – Thomas Rhett


Manager of the year

Narvel Blackstock – Starstruck Entertainment
Virginia Bunetta – G-Major Management
Martha Earls – Neon Coast
Kerri Edwards – KP Entertainment
Clint Higham – Morris Higham Management
Marion Kraft – ShopKeeper Management
Mandelyn Monchick – Red Light Management
John Peets – Q Prime South


Monitor engineer of the year

Bryan “Opie” Baxley – Kenny Chesney
Mark Davis – Jelly Roll
Logan Hanna – Brothers Osborne
Andy Hill – Zac Brown Band
Nathan Lowe – Eric Church
Jimmy Nicholson – Thomas Rhett
Dean Studebaker – Old Dominion
Scott Tatter – Dierks Bentley


Production manager of the year

Chris Alderman – Blake Shelton
John Garriott – Chris Stapleton
Meesha Kosciolek – Eric Church
Erik Leighty – Miranda Lambert
Chris Nathan – Jake Owen
Earl Neal – Jason Aldean
Kevin Twist – Thomas Rhett
Ed Wannebo – Kenny Chesney


Publicist of the year

Janet Buck – Essential Broadcast Media
Paul Freundlich – PFA Media
Quinn Kaemmer – Big Machine Label Group
Tyne Parrish – The GreenRoom PR
Carla Sacks – Sacks & Co.
Jessie Schmidt – Schmidt Public Relations
Wes Vause – Press On Publicity
Jennifer Vessio – 1220 Entertainment Publicity


Stage manager of the year

Sam “Sambo” Coats – Eric Church
Donnie Floyd – Morgan Wallen
Todd Green – Chris Stapleton
Matt Hornbeck – Luke Combs
Josh “Dude” Marcus – Jason Aldean
Tom Nisun – Kenny Chesney
Richard Rossey – Old Dominion
Justin Sumrall – Thomas Rhett


Support services company of the year

4 Wall Entertainment
Clair Global
Dega Catering
Master Tour by Eventric
Moo TV
Richards & Southern


Talent agent of the year

Meredith Jones – CAA
Joey Lee – WME
Jonathan Levine – Wasserman Music
Darin Murphy – CAA
Adi Sharma – The Neal Agency
Aaron Tannenbaum – WME
Elisa Vazzana – UTA
Jay Williams – WME


Talent buyer/promoter of the year

Bradley Jordan – Peachtree Entertainment
Patrick McDill – Live Nation Nashville
Louis Messina – The Messina Group
Rich Schaefer – AEG Presents
Aaron Spalding – Live Nation Nashville
Ed Warm – Joe’s Concerts
Adam Weiser – AEG Presents


Tour manager of the year

Matt Anderson – Old Dominion
Jason Hecht – Chris Stapleton
Luke Holton – Brothers Osborne
Chuck Hull – Keith Urban
Meg Miller – Lainey Wilson
Ethan Strunk – Luke Combs
Chris Thacker – Dierks Bentley
Jon Townley – Thomas Rhett


Touring musician of the year

Rob Byus (Bass Guitar) – Blake Shelton
Paul Franklin (Steel Guitar) – Chris Stapleton/Vince Gill
Ben Helson (Guitar) – Dierks Bentley
Lee Hendricks (Bass Guitar) – Eric Church
Harmoni Kelley (Bass Guitar) – Kenny Chesney
Chris Kimmerer (Drums) – Thomas Rhett
Danny Mitchell (Piano) – Miranda Lambert
Kurt Ozan (Guitar) – Luke Combs


Tour videographer/photographer of the year

Mason Allen – Old Dominion
Andy Barron – Chris Stapleton
Zach Belcher – Dierks Bentley
David Bergman – Luke Combs
CeCe Dawson – Lainey Wilson
Tanner Gallagher – HARDY
Grayson Gregory – Thomas Rhett
Andy Pollitt – Jelly Roll


Tour video director of the year

Josh Clark – Miranda Lambert
Jay Cooper – Kenny Chesney
Houston Creswell – Dierks Bentley
Ron Etters – Chris Stapleton
Nate Fountain – Zach Bryan/Blake Shelton
Chris Jones – Jelly Roll
Ricky Krohne – Thomas Rhett
Michael Todd “M.T.” Stembridge – Eric Church


Venue of the year

Ascend Amphitheater – Nashville, TN
BankNH Pavilion – Gilford, NH
Bridgestone Arena – Nashville, TN
Choctaw Casino Resort – Durant, OK
Grand Ole Opry House – Nashville, TN
Joe’s on Weed Street – Chicago, IL
Paycom Center – Oklahoma City, OK
Red Rocks Amphitheatre – Morrison, CO


Unsung hero of the year

Dallas Bowsier – Eric Church
Josh Castle – Dierks Bentley
RJ Estrella – Luke Combs
Kayla Carter Greear – Luke Bryan
Kelsey Maynard – Old Dominion
Todd Molle – Jake Owen
Mel Murphy – Live Nation Nashville
Tyler Rhodes – Thomas Rhett

11 Dec 2023

7 Must-Hear New Country Songs: Chase Wright, Meg McRee, Michael Ray and More

In this week’s collection of new country music, Chase Wright and Michael Ray offer up somber, reflective numbers, while bluegrass-rockers The Dead South bring a rollicking new track.

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See latest videos, charts and news

This week’s crop of songs also showcases the top-shelf musical talents of several female artists. Meg McRee teams with award-winning songwriters Lori McKenna and Hillary Lindsey for a heartbreaking ballad. Additionally, Mae Estes and Laci Kaye Booth offer up intensely vulnerable tracks.

Chase Wright, “Who I Want to Be”

Wright follows his breakthrough song “Why Should We” with this redemptive ballad, which Wright crafted with Josh Jenkins, Chris Lacorte and Andy Albert, with production from Ned Cameron. This pensive pop-country track, filled with understated piano and guitar, finds Wright reflective and regretful, ruminating over past transgressions while vowing to change his ways. “I’m tasting my own medicine, I’m swallowing my pride/ Thе moments I was weakest ain’t how I’ll bе defined,” he offers, delivering one of his strongest vocals to date.

Meg McRee feat. Lori McKenna and Hillary Lindsey, “The Moon”

Newcomer McRee teams with Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame member (and current Songwriters Hall of Fame nominee) Lindsey as well as three-time Grammy winner McKenna for this superb song about a “love” relationship with a web of strings attached. “For unconditional love, yours sure did come with a lot of conditions,” McRee deadpans here, as this trio of singer-songwriters trade harmonies over rippling, tender acoustic guitar. This understated ballad brings plenty of vulnerability and bite.

Mae Estes, “Town Left Me” (Acoustic)

Singer-songwriter Estes deftly captures the disconnected, disappointing feeling of returning to a childhood hometown only to find that, like herself, that rural space has grown and shifted in the intervening years — as gravel lots become coffee shops, high school hangouts are paved over and once-close relationships fade into vague acquaintances. This acoustic version further accentuates Estes’ evocative vocal.

Michael Ray, “We Should Get a Drink Sometime”

This time of year is rife with reflections and the urge for relational restoration. This older ballad, written by Thomas Rhett, Rhett Akins, Josh Kerr and Mike Busbee, centers on a chance encounter between two old flames, which kindles his desire to reconnect. Though he casually tosses off the request to get together “like old friends do,” it’s clear his feelings run closer to hoping for a revived romance than a simple platonic meetup. As always, Ray’s smoothly understated, country vocal delivers the song’s sentiments with ease.

Laci Kaye Booth, “Cigarettes”

This Texas native is a clear-eyed truth purveyor, and she doesn’t hold back from chronicling the lessons she’s learned from years of heartbreak, both personally and professionally. The images of smoke and cigarettes become metaphors for moments of letdown, particularly as she details being touted as the “next big thing” in a fickle music industry that can be filled with smoke and mirrors. She later etches a heartbreaking scene of being released from her record label deal with the succinct line: “And the same champagne that they bought me/ I popped it when they dropped me.” A stunning song from a towering talent.

Colin Stough, “Sleep Tonight (Acoustic)”

This former American Idol contestant offers up a pared back version of his song “Sleep Tonight,” which ponders the fear of death and leaving behind his loved ones too soon. “What if I leave here without a warning?/ Start dancing in the sky,” he muses. This version places the spotlight on Stough’s smooth-yet-textured vocal and further highlights country music’s current moment of turning from the “girl-truck-alcohol” paint-by-numbers songs of the past decade, toward more songs torn from personal revelation.

Written by Stough with Sean Thomas Rogers and Brian Congdon, the original version appeared on Stough’s six-track EP Promiseland.

The Dead South, “A Little Devil”

This quartet’s fleet-fingered picking on cello, mandolin, banjo and acoustic guitar infuse heavy metal intensity into their unique bluegrass sound, led by singer/guitarist Nate Hilt’s warm, gritty voice. This group’s high-powered harmonies further escalate this tale of deception and wanting. “A Little Devil” will be included on the group’s upcoming album Chains & Stakes, out Feb. 9, 2024.

08 Dec 2023

Join Priscilla Block Tonight for a Live Q&A With ‘Hooche’ Host Demps Plus Signed Merch

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Priscilla Block is ready to share some signed merch and limited-edition bundles during Day 5 of Billboard Live Shopping Week with talkshoplive, going down tonight (Dec. 7) at 6 p.m. ET right here.

The country singer/songwriter will join Hooche podcast host Demps (Katie Dempsey) for a special conversation about her latest projects and will offer new bundles featuring her Hey Jack T-shirt, a Hooche trucker hat and more. For an extra-special gift for the country fans in your life, a limited quantity of hats will be signed by both Block and Demps.

Billboard Live Shopping Week with talkshoplive has been going down since Monday, with Garth Brooks’ merch drop kicking things off. On Tuesday, Walmart and Netflix teamed up to bring you gifts from fan-favorite Netflix shows and movies, including Stranger Things and Love Is Blind, and on Wednesday, we saw the double-header of Angela Simmons with her Angela’s Cakes mixes and Jordin Sparks with her perfect holiday gift ideas.

Thursday brought another twofer: Akon with some exclusive Superfan Tour merch and Sammy Wilk with exclusive meet-and-greet packages and an autographed hoodie. Finally, Billboard Live Shopping Week concludes on Wednesday (Dec. 13) with a special bonus livestream featuring Jared Leto of Thirty Seconds to Mars. In celebration of his band’s latest album, It’s the End of the World But It’s a Beautiful Day, Leto will offer up exclusive tour merch, a holiday collection, tour tickets and special VIP packages.

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