The Country Music Association awarded four of its 2022 CMA International Awards and celebrated its return to C2C: Country to Country Festival in the U.K. this past weekend. These efforts are part of CMA’s mission to expand country music globally. 

“It’s been particularly rewarding over the last week celebrating C2C’s 10th year and honoring those who have made such an impact on our genre,” says Milly Olykan, CMA Vice President, International Relations and Development. “2023 is set to be a big year for country music in the U.K. with so much large-scale country touring taking place and the continual growth of streaming and radio support, which is a direct result of our industry working together. Meeting up as an industry this week has allowed us to take a moment to acknowledge together the huge strides country music has taken in a relatively short time.”

Bobbi Boyce, former and long-time CMA employee, won the Jo Walker Meador International Award for her advocacy and support of CMA’s international efforts with their partners and the Nashville Community. Olykan presented the award at the U.K. fan-filled CMA Songwriters Series on March 9.

Chris Stevens, CMA U.K. Task Force Member and CountryLine Radio (formerly Chris Country Radio) host, won the International Country Broadcaster Award for his outstanding achievements in broadcasting. Fellow host and broadcaster Baylen Leonard presented the award.

Nigel Hassler, CAA Country Initiative Leader and CMA U.K. Task Force member, won the Rob Potts International Live Music Advancement Award for his contribution to building country music in the live music industry over many years. CAA Music agent and co-founder of CAA Music Nashville John Huie presented the award. 

During an industry reception hosted by CMA and BBC Radio 2, Bob Shennan, BBC Group Managing Director, won the Wesley Rose International Media Achievement Award for his contributions and influence in the media which contributed to the mainstream exposure of country music in the U.K. on BBC Radio 2. Bob Harris OBE (Nashville Convention & Visitors Corp, C2C, and BBC) presented the award to Shennan, who was a former member of the CMA Board of Directors and is a current member of the CMA U.K. Task Force. 

Dutch recording artist Ilse DeLange won the Jeff Walker Global Country Artist Award recognizing an artist that has furthered the popularity of country music and brought attention to the country music format in their foreign-based territory.

All of these awards come in addition to the previously announced CMA International Artist Achievement Award, presented to Ashley McBryde in November 2022.

CMA returned to the C2C Country to Country Festival with the CMA Songwriters Series and “Introducing Nashville” lineup. Featured performances by Dalton Dover, Nate Smith, and Lainey Wilson kicked off the weekend on March 9 with acclaimed songwriter Ashley Gorley. The weekend also saw guest appearances by Tyler Braden, Caylee Hammack, and Alana Springsteen.

The sold-out crowd sang along to hits by Wilson and Gorley, and enjoyed hearing the stories behind the songs from the artists and songwriters themselves. Wilson shared memories from her first trip to the U.K. in 2018, and Dover and Smith celebrated their first U.K. appearance.

“Introducing Nashville,” CMA’s international touring series, featured Braden, Hammack, and Springsteen in acoustic performances during the festival’s opening set on the main stages of London’s O2, Glasgow’s OVO Hydro, and Dublin’s 3 Arena. For each of the artists, the warmly welcomed writers’ rounds marked their first U.K. experiences. 

CMA’s trip to London included hosting various industry events including a panel moderated by Anna-Sophie Mertens (VP of Touring, Live Nation U.K.) and featuring Jon Loba (BMG Nashville President), Becky Gardenhire (Co-Head, William Morris Endeavor Nashville), and Mike Rittberg (Executive VP Label Operations, Big Machine Label Group). They discussed the next steps for the growth of country music in the U.K., shared their views on the challenges of establishing artists internationally, and celebrated the huge inroads that have been made.

Songwriters in Los Angeles and Nashville can dread tax time a little bit less thanks to the National Music Publishers Association.

The NMPA S.O.N.G.S. Foundation (Supporting Our Next Generation of Songwriters) has announced it will continue its partnership with H&R Block to provide free tax prep services to songwriters in L.A. and Nashville.

The program is part of the Foundation’s effort to provide direct assistance to working music creators. Writers wanting to take advantage of the free service or wanting more information can find it here.

“Our goal as a foundation is to help songwriters succeed at what they do best and often taxes are one of the most stressful and distracting things a creator must contend with. We hope LA and Nashville songwriters utilize this free service which should alleviate stress and free them up to create the music we love,” says NMPA S.O.N.G.S. Foundation President, David Israelite.

Launched in 2015, the NMPA S.O.N.G.S. Foundation supports songwriters through funding educational programs, direct financial assistance and services and through partnerships with organizations to enhance opportunities for music creators. The Foundation has supported She Is The Music, partnered with the National Endowment for the Arts, and provided grants and scholarships to universities including Belmont, LA College of Music, MTSU and Howard University, among other initiatives.

Country Radio Seminar kicked off Monday (March 13) at the Omni Nashville Hotel. Below are some of the highlights from yesterday’s programming.

The Digital Music Summit

The first official day of CRS included The Digital Music Summit. With five educational sessions, the content in the programming went beyond just streaming, including informative discussions surrounding web3, NFTs, and emerging next-gen platforms.

The experts who spoke during yesterday’s Digital Music Summit included Johnny Chiang (Pandora), Rachel Whitney (Spotify), Tim Foisset (Warner Music Nashville), Michelle Tigard-Kammerer (Amazon Music), Jade Driver (Crowd Surf), Kristen Reed (UMG Nashville), Katie McCartney (Monument Records), Robert Carlton (SMACKSongs), Marissa Turk (SMACKSongs), Emily Cohen Belote (Amazon Music), Lucia Kaminsky (Sandbox), Clark Mims Tedesco (Warner Music Nashville), Doug Phillips (Q-Prime), Cameo Carlson (Mtheory), Zach Bair (VNUE), Chris McMurtry (Pex), Sean Peace (SongVest), Noah Itman (Digital Music News) and more.

 

Warner Music Nashville Luncheon

Warner Music Nashville celebrated the first day of CRS with performances from Avery Anna, Chase Matthew and Ian Munsick.

Gabby Barrett also made a surprise appearance and was joined onstage by Colton Dixon for a special performance of their collaboration on his hit song “Build a Boat.”

 

CRS Honors

Kelsea Ballerini joined Country Radio Hall of Fame co-chairs Joel Raab and Tim Roberts during CRS Honors at CRS 2023 to reveal the 2023 Country Radio Hall of Fame honorees. As previously reported, the honorees include six radio professionals in two categories: On-Air personality and Radio (Off-Air broadcasters). Pam Green, Charlie Morgan, Wade Jessen, and John Willyard are among the distinguished radio category honorees, while Trish Biondo and Dollar Bill Lawson are recognized for their outstanding on-air contributions.

Carly Pearce was on hand to perform during CRS Honors and Avery Anna sang the National Anthem.

 

Amazon Music Presents: Country Heat Showcase

When the day drew to night, it came time for the Amazon Music Presents: Country Heat showcase. This year’s lineup included a headline performance by Chris Young, along with Avery Anna, Dalton Dover, Megan Moroney and Dylan Schneider.

Willie Nelson‘s largest “Outlaw Music Festival Tour” to date is set for this year, with a huge lineup on tap for the first 16 shows across the nation. The tour continues the celebration of the artist’s legendary life and legacy in his milestone 90th birthday year.

Along with Nelson & Family, the journey will feature Robert Plant & Alison Krauss, The Avett Brothers, John Fogerty, Nathaniel Rateliff & The Night Sweats, Whiskey Myers, Gov’t Mule, Marcus King, Margo Price, Trampled By Turtles, Molly Tuttle & Golden Highway, Kathleen Edwards, Flatland Cavalry, Kurt Vile And The Violators, Brittney Spencer and Particle Kid, with additional shows yet to be announced.

“I can’t wait to be on the road with the amazing group of artists joining us on this year’s ‘Outlaw Music Festival Tour,'” says Nelson. “It is always a great day of music and fun with family, friends and the incredible fans, and even more special this year in celebration of my 90th birthday.”

Tickets as well as VIP packages including prime seating and exclusive festival merchandise will be available this Friday, March 17. With Citi being the official card of the “Outlaw Music Festival Tour,” Citi cardmembers will have access to presale tickets today (March 14) until 10 p.m. local time on Thursday, March 16 through the Citi Entertainment program.

For more information, click here.

Multi-Platinum recording artist, author and songwriter RaeLynn has joined The Kinkead Entertainment Agency for exclusive representation in all areas of touring, film, TV, music and private engagements.

“My team and I are super excited to be representing Raelynn,” says Bob Kinkead, CEO of The Kinkead Entertainment Agency. “In my four decades of representing some of the greatest female artists in our industry, RaeLynn is one of those artist’s that has already made a mark in our industry and will continue to shape and mold the future for females in country music and other genres.”

RaeLynn adds, “I felt like I had known the team for a while upon our initial meeting. They have a unique ‘at home’ approach that I am looking for in this season of my career. Hey, and they love my new music. With a quick handshake and a drive down 40 East, my calendar already was filling up. We are excited for the future.”

RaeLynn continues to be represented by Wortman Works for artist management and PR/publicity.