2024 MusicRow Awards Category Profile: Producer Of The Year
Following the announcement of this year’s nominees for the 36th annual MusicRow Awards, presented by City National Bank, we take a closer look at the Producer of the Year category. This visionary class of nominees crafted up some of country music’s most innovative projects during the eligibility period of June 1, 2023 to May 31, 2024.
This year’s winners will be announced online on all MusicRow platforms on Tuesday, Aug. 27.
Click here to see the full list of MusicRow Awards nominees.
Winners are determined solely by MusicRow Magazine subscribers. Voting is now open and closes on Aug. 9 at 5:00 p.m. To receive a ballot to vote in the MusicRow Awards, become a MusicRow subscriber here.
Alongside Chris and Morgane Stapleton, Dave Cobb produced Chris Stapleton’s fifth studio album, Higher, which won the 2024 ACM Award for Album of the Year and secured the singer more hits with its double-Grammy winning “White Horse” and “Think I’m In Love With You.” Cobb also produced Lori McKenna’s 1988, Luke Grimes’ self-titled album, Oliver Anthony’s Hymnal Of A Troubled Man, Reba McEntire’s Not That Fancy and The War And Treaty’s Lover’s Game. He was also tapped to produce the soundtrack for the new Hunger Games movie, The Ballad Of Songbirds & Snakes, as well as other projects outside of country and Americana.
Zach Crowell was celebrated for his production credits on projects from Sam Hunt, Dustin Lynch, Cole Swindell, Russell Dickerson and more over the past year. His expertise can be heard on select tracks of Jelly Roll’s Whitsitt Chapel album, including hits “Halfway To Hell” and the 2024 ACM Single of the Year “Save Me.” Other hits that Crowell celebrated over the past year include Hunt’s “Outskirts,” Dickerson’s “God Gave Me A Girl” and Smith’s “Creek Will Rise.” At the 2023 CMA Awards, Crowell had two tracks in the Musical Event of the Year category with “Save Me” and Swindell’s “She Had Me At Heads Carolina.”
Continuing to cement his legacy of making hit records, Dann Huff released work with Thomas Rhett, Kane Brown, Keith Urban, Brett Young, Brian Kelley, Darius Rucker, Kameron Marlowe, Kidd G, Restless Road, Riley Green and plenty more over the past year. Among the hits he celebrated are Rhett and Morgan Wallen’s “Mamaw’s House,” Brown’s “Bury Me In Georgia” and “I Can Feel It” and Riley Green and Luke Combs’ “Different ‘Round Here.” In June, Huff received his fifth win for ACM Producer of the Year, bringing his total ACM Award count to 11.
Jay Joyce further pushed his creative limits this year with a wide array of projects. He helmed production on Lainey Wilson’s Bell Bottom Country project, which was awarded Album of the Year at the 2023 CMA Awards and named Best Country Album at the 2024 Grammy Awards. The album also yielded more awards and hit songs with “Watermelon Moonshine,” “Heart Like A Truck” and “Wildflowers and Wild Horses.” Joyce also shared his expertise with Ashley McBryde, Corey Kent, The Black Crowes and Lanco on their respective projects this past year. Last summer, Joyce received his sixth win for ACM Producer of the Year, extending his own already-established title of the winningest Producer of the Year in ACM history.
With his multi-award-winning work with Morgan Wallen, Joey Moi continued to make history this past year. After its release in early 2023, the Moi-produced One Thing At A Time album remained atop the all-genre Billboard 200 chart for 19 non-consecutive weeks, and was the most-streamed album of the year on Spotify. Moi and Wallen have racked up more No. 1 hits at radio, such as “Last Night,” “Thinkin’ Bout Me” and “Man Made A Bar” featuring Eric Church. All the while, Moi also helmed production on projects released by Hardy, Ernest, Lauren Alaina, MacKenzie Porter, Larry Fleet, Lauren Watkins and more. With Hardy, Moi celebrated the smash hit “Truck Bed” and a slew of awards for his and Lainey Wilson’s “Wait In The Truck.”
Alysa Vanderheym co-produced Kelsea Ballerini’s enormously successful Rolling Up The Welcome Mat (For Good) project. The album featured some of Ballerini’s most vulnerable work to date, leading to universal acclaim from critics and fans alike. The project was nominated for Album of the Year at the ACMs and CMAs, and also received a Grammy nomination for Best Country Album. In addition to her production work, Vanderheym is a prolific songwriter with recent cuts by Jelly Roll, Dustin Lynch, Alana Springsteen, Dallas Smith and more.
