Breaking News: MusicRow Announces Performers For 16th Annual Country Radio Meet & Greet And CountryBreakout Awards

Pictured (L-R): Denny Strickland (Photo: Carson Nicely); Michael Tyler (Photo: Courtesy of Reviver Records)

MusicRow Magazine, Nashville’s leading music industry publication, is proud to reveal rising country newcomers Michael Tyler (Reviver Records) and Denny Strickland (Red Star Label Group) as performers for the 2018 MusicRow Country Radio Meet & Greet and CountryBreakout Awards.

The industry-only event will be held in February for subscribed members of MusicRow, country radio broadcasters, and magazine affiliates ahead of the 2018 Country Radio Seminar (CRS). Invitations will be distributed in the afternoon on January 9.

“We are thrilled to announce two outstanding performers in Michael Tyler and Denny Strickland for our annual CountryBreakout Awards this year,” says MusicRow Owner/Publisher Sherod Robertson. “The MusicRow reporting panel represents the best country stations in secondary markets and MusicRow subscribers are invited to have a front row seat to see which artists were most-played on the CountryBreakout Chart for the previous year, in addition to honoring an exemplary MusicRow Chart reporter and giving nods to the songwriter with the most No.1s.”

The gathering will reveal the 2018 CountryBreakout Awards winners, tallied from chart performance on the MusicRow Chart in 2017. Those categories include Male Artist of the Year, Female Artist of the Year, Group/Duo of the Year, Breakthrough Artist of the Year, Independent Artist of the Year, Label of the Year, Songwriter of the Year, and the selected Reporter of the Year.

Additionally, MusicRow will reveal its 2018 Country Radio print issue, which will also highlight the CountryBreakout Awards winners among other exclusive radio-pertinent edit. Complementary copies of MusicRow‘s Country Radio print issue will be available at the Meet & Greet and CountryBreakout Awards and throughout the CRS conference. Subscribers will receive their print copies by mail. Additional issues will be available for purchase at musicrow.com or at the publication’s 17th Avenue headquarters in Nashville.

To receive your invitation to the 2018 MusicRow Country Radio Meet & Greet and CountryBreakout Awards, subscribe at musicrow.com.

ABOUT THE 2018 MUSICROW COUNTRY RADIO MEET & GREET AND COUNTRYBREAKOUT AWARDS PERFORMERS

Denny Strickland (Red Star Label Group): Denny Strickland’s love for West Coast culture uniquely blends with his Arkansas country roots to create music that feels like a throwback and an examination of modern romantic expression. On the road from the age of five years old showing horses, Strickland taught himself to play the guitar and write songs after studying at Arkansas State University. With the same veracity that made him a champion rider, he soon began to play regional gigs and caught the eye of The Statler Brothers’ longtime manager (and Bass player for Johnny Cash), Marshall Grant. Grant’s passing in 2011 set the wheels in motion for Strickland’s move to Nashville, reigniting his music career on the MusicRowCountryBreakout Chart with the debut hits “Swerve On” and most recent hit “We Don’t Sleep,” featuring a video co-produced by Strickland. Strickland has hosted the syndicated television show Country Fix, enjoyed sold-out shows during CMA Music Festival week and featured in multiple online video series that have broken through to over one million views. Strickland co-produced and has writing credits on seven of the 10 tracks on his debut album, California Dreamin, which was released August. 1 with Red Star Label Group. Look for his next single in 2018.

Michael Tyler (Reviver Records): Since the fifth grade Michael “MT” Tyler has been influenced by music. He made his first major industry connection at age 13 with powerhouse producer Michael Knox (Jason Aldean). Just a few years later he would earn several notches on his songwriter belt, including Jason Aldean’s “Laid Back” and Dierks Bentley’s Platinum-selling “Somewhere On A Beach.” Influenced by Johnny Cash, Alabama, Mel McDaniel and similar singers while living at home in Thayer, Missouri, Tyler began learning the guitar and contributing to family jam sessions while memorizing writers credits watching videos on CMT. He wrote his first song at age 12 and relocated to Nashville at age 17 after heeding advice from Knox to write at least one song a month. Tyler earned a nomination for Breakthrough Songwriter of the Year at the 2017 MusicRow Awards and has writing credits on all 11 tracks on his debut album for Reviver Records, 317. With the 2017 project, Tyler stepped forward with variety and depth, offering stirring small-town memories over thundering backbeats. His debut single, “They Can’t See,” opened the door toward romance while his endearing, current single “Hey Mama,” plants the first seeds of lifelong love.