Dierks Bentley’s 10th Annual Miles & Music For Kids celebrity motorcycle ride and concert sold out within 30 minutes of tickets going on sale today, Friday, Aug. 21.

The event is scheduled to kick off CMA Awards week in Nashville on Nov. 1. It will also closeout the outdoor concert season at the new Ascend Amphitheater. This year’s lineup includes Florida Georgia Line, Thomas Rhett, Cole Swindell, The Cadillac Three, Canaan Smith, Brooke Eden and emcee Storme Warren. All proceeds benefit Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt. Over the course of the event’s history, Bentley has raised more than $3 million dollars for Children’s Miracle Network hospitals across the country.

“I thought we would have a good turnout, but to sell out Ascend in minutes is crazy! It really speaks to the passion that country fans have for causes that are important to their community. I feel honored that ‘Miles & Music’ is one of them,” shares Bentley. “Every year, the biker community has also been there for us, helping raise money for these kids…they are definitely some of the most giving people out there. So, we are holding back a few extra tickets to be sure anyone who wants to ride on Nov. 1 into downtown can jump on their bikes and join us. It’ll be pretty unreal to cruise into a sold-out amphitheater reminiscing about everyone who has helped make the last 10 years so huge – I can’t wait!”

Campbell Entertainment Group President Craig Campbell was honored recently with the 2015 John Henry Family Award by Tennessee Community Organizations, a professional trade organization for home and community-based service providers.

Campbell is the parent of an adult who receives services from Waves, Inc., an organization that has provided possibilities to individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities in Williamson County for over 40 years. He was honored for his work on the inaugural Dueling Pianos for Waves event, which was held on May 14, 2015.

“I first met Craig in November 2014 at an event we had with family members of our service recipients,” said Shannon Nehus, Executive Director of Waves, Inc. “At that event, Craig came up to me and introduced himself, and indicated that he’d like to create a dueling pianos fundraiser for Waves. This was the first day in a journey to May 14, 2015. As a result of Craig’s vision, passion, and hard work, we were able to host a successful inaugural event, raising more than $22,000 for Waves. But more importantly, we were able to bring community awareness about Waves to a whole new audience of supporters through this unique event. I am delighted that TNCO chose to honor Craig for his support and dedication to Waves and our mission.”

The John Henry Family Award is given annually to a family member of a service recipient of services provided by a TNCO member agency. The family member supports the member agency with his/her time and/or resources and is active in the community in supporting the agency’s goals and initiatives.

“The day our daughter started at Waves was really a life transforming day for her and for us,” said Craig Campbell, of Campbell Entertainment Group. “I accept this on behalf of my wife and my family, the Waves board, staff, and all the service providers at Waves.”

Craig and the staff at Waves are already planning for the second annual Dueling Pianos for Waves event, which will be held in May 2016.

Members of Nashville’s music industry elite packed into venue Ruby yesterday (Aug. 20) to celebrate the back-to-back successes of “platinum-selling badasses” (to quote UMG Nashville’s Shane Allen) Little Big Town, thanks to “Day Drinking” and “Girl Crush,” both tracks from their latest album Painkiller.

The shindig began by celebrating the jaunty No. 1 single “Day Drinking,” penned by Little Big Town members Karen Fairchild, Jimi Westbrook, and Phillip Sweet, with UMPG writer Troy Verges and Creative Nation writer Barry Dean. All are BMI writers.

“Day Drinking” marked Dean’s second No. 1 single (his first was another LBT mega-hit, “Pontoon”), and Verges’ eighth chart-topper.

“This is the first song we wrote for the record,” Fairchild commented.

BMI’s David Preston and Leslie Roberts were on hand to honor Fairchild, Westbrook, and Sweet with custom Gibson guitars to honor their first No. 1 song as writers. Preston also presented Little Big Town with BMI’s Million-Air award, certifying 1 million spins of “Day Drinking.”

Warner/Chappell’s Ben Vaughn called the celebration “the feel-good party of the year.”

Among those celebrating included Little Big Town’s manager Jason Owen and members of his team, along with UMPG’s Kent Earls, the CRB’s Holly Lane, and Creative Nation’s Luke Laird and Beth Laird, who continued their tradition of out-of-the-box ways of honoring the songwriters, this time with wooden coolers emblazoned with “Day Drinking.”

Next up, honors for the attention-grabbing, sultry ballad “Girl Crush,” penned by the Love Junkies, a.k.a. top-notch songwriting trio Lori McKenna (BMI), Hillary Lindsey (ASCAP), and Liz Rose (BMI). “Girl Crush” notched a record-breaking 13 weeks at No. 1 on the all-encompassing (including streams, sales and airplay) Billboard Hot Country Songs chart. “Girl Crush” was honored earlier this year as Song of the Year at the 2015 MusicRow Awards.

“There are songs that are game changers, and this is one of them,” said Fairchild, sharing that the band all but begged the writers to not play the song for any other artists upon hearing it for the first time.

“Thank you for trusting us with this amazing song,” Schlapman added, thanking Rose, McKenna, and Lindsey.

Massachusetts resident McKenna recalled how the song was penned during one of the trio’s writing sessions while she was in town. “We decided we would stay at Liz’s house and write every spare moment for three days,” said McKenna. “Liz can literally write a song in her sleep. I’ve seen it happen.” She also shared that Lindsey penned “Girl Crush”‘s first four verses on the spot.

Kos Weaver of BMG noted that the party marked Lindsey’s third No. 1 party in less than a week (she was previously honored at parties celebrating Tim McGraw’s “Shotgun Rider” and Carrie Underwood’s “Little Toy Guns”). “Hillary is a national treasure,” said Weaver, adding, “This song will go down in history.”

ASCAP’s Mike Sistad was also on hand to celebrate Lindsey as a contributor on “Girl Crush.”

Additional honors included Cooper Samuels of Avenue Bank announcing donations to Blood:Water and MusiCares on behalf of the songwriters of “Girl Crush” and “Day Drinking.” Meanwhile, UMG Nashville’s Royce Risser presented Little Big Town with plaques commemorating the platinum sales of “Girl Crush.”

That’s definitely worth a celebratory day drink or two.