Midland, Randy Travis, Lee Brice, RaeLynn Pick Up Honors During CMA Fest

While hundreds of artists were on hand over the weekend to perform as part of CMA Music Fest, some artists were also picking up career honors.

Cracker Barrel presented its inaugural Country Legend Award to Randy Travis. The honor is awarded to country musicians with over 30 years in the business, including past partnerships with Cracker Barrel’s music program. The company also made a $5,000 donation in Travis’ name to the CMA foundation.

Pictured (L-R): Michael Ray, Randy Travis and Julie Ulmer, Cracker Barrel Sr. Marketing Manager

During their set on June 9 as part of Spotify’s Hot Country lineup, Midland was surprised when Big Machine Label Group President/CEO Scott Borchetta presented the Texas trio with a plaque to commemorate the RIAA platinum certification of their debut single “Drinkin’ Problem.”

Pictured (L-R): Jess Carson, Mike Ritteberg, Jim Weatherson, Scott Borchetta, Mark Wystrach, Kris Lamb and Cameron Duddy. Photo: Terry Wyatt/Getty Images for Spotify

Warner Bros. / Warner Music Nashville artist RaeLynn was also surprised with some RIAA hardware during her CMA Fest set at Chevy Riverfront Stage. Her WMN family honored the singer-songwriter with a Gold plaque for her hit single “Love Triangle.”

Pictured (L-R): Kerry Hansen (Manager, Big Enterprises); Scott Hendricks (EVP A&R, WMN); RaeLynn; John Esposito (Chairman & CEO, WMN); Katie Bright (National Director Radio & Streaming, WMN)

Meanwhile, Lee Brice was inducted into Pandora’s “Billionaires Club” during CMA Fest. Brice is one of the Top 25 most-streamed country artists of all time on the streaming service, with more than 2 billion streams. He was surprised with a plaque commemorating the milestone. He is only the second country artist behind Keith Urban to receive the Pandora Billionaire plaque.

“It’s no surprise that Lee is in the elite company of our Billionaires’ Club, not only because country music is so massive on Pandora but also because of his musical magic,” said Beville Dunkerley, Director of Artist Marketing and Industry Relations, Pandora.  “He consistently delivers relatable lyrics with infectious melodies, appealing to a wide – and passionate – demo on Pandora. He gets an average of more than 100,000 Pandora ‘thumbs up’ per week!”

Photo ID (L-R): Enzo DeVincenzo (Red Light Management), John Clore, VP Marketing (Curb | Word Entertainment), Jessie Lowe, Promotion Coordinator (Curb Records), Blair Munday, VP Creative (Curb | Word Entertainment), Benson Curb, SVP Revenue (Curb | Word Entertainment), Beville Dunkerley, Director of Artist Marketing and Industry Relations (Pandora), Lee Brice, Haley McLemore (Red Light Management) Rachel Whitney, Head of Country Programming (Pandora), Kris Waitr (Waitr & Associates), Ryan Dokke, SVP/General Manager (Curb | Word Entertainment), Jeff Tuerff, SVP Marketing & Creative (Curb | Word Entertainment) RJ Meacham, VP Promotion (Curb Records). Photo by Spidey Smith [Click to enlarge]

 

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Jessica Nicholson

Jessica Nicholson serves as the Managing Editor for MusicRow magazine. Her previous music journalism experience includes work with Country Weekly magazine and Contemporary Christian Music (CCM) magazine. She holds a BBA degree in Music Business and Marketing from Belmont University. She welcomes your feedback at jnicholson@musicrow.com.

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