CMA To Receive LM's Dale Franklin Award

The Country Music Association will be the 2011 recipient of the Leadership Music Dale Franklin Award, it was announced today (1/24). The organization will be bestowed with the honor Tuesday, May 17 at Nashville’s Renaissance Hotel.
“Leadership Music is excited to recognize CMA as the 2011 recipient of the Leadership Music Dale Franklin Award,” says Jamie Cheek, president of Leadership Music Board of Directors. “As one of the foremost leaders in the music business, CMA has played an integral role in supporting many great artists as well as numerous businesses and organizations, including Leadership Music. We look forward to an extraordinarily special and intimate evening celebrating CMA’s accomplishments and years of service to our industry and community.”
The Dale Franklin Award was created in 2004 to recognize a music industry leader who exemplifies the highest quality of leadership and leading by example. Since the honor’s inception in 2004, recipients have included Tony Brown (2004), Gerry House (2005), Emmylou Harris (2006), Frances W. Preston (2007), The Bradley Family: Owen, Harold, Jerry, Connie and Patsy (2008); Garth Brooks, Jim Foglesong and Allen Reynolds (2009); and Fred Foster, Willie Nelson, and Kris Kristofferson (2010).
Analysis: Over the last three years, groups of individuals have been honored for the Dale Franklin Award but CMA is the first ever organization to be recognized. Leadership Music Exec. Dir. Karen Oertley explains that, while the award has historically been given to individuals, the criteria language specifies only that it will be awarded to a music industry “leader.” The Leadership Music board of directors felt that CMA’s initiatives such as the Awards, Music Festival, and Songwriter Series, combined with the generous donation of all net proceeds ($2.9 million) from the 2010 CMA Music Festival for flood relief and music education made all speak very favorably toward CMA’s leadership role in the community.
Tickets for this invitation-only event will be available in March.