The Country Music Association has today announced its new Board of Directors for both CMA and the CMA Foundation. The appointments are effective on Jan. 1, 2019.

Bill Simmons, Partner at The Fitzgerald Hartley Company, completes his term as Chairman of the CMA Board, while current CMA Board President Jody Williams, Vice President, Creative, Nashville at BMI, assumes that post. CMA President Elect Kurt Johnson, Senior Vice President of Programming at Townsquare Media, will become CMA Board President. Mary Hilliard Harrington, Senior Manager at Red Light Management, has been named CMA Board President Elect, while Clay Hunnicutt, President of Big Loud Records, has been named Secretary/Treasurer of the CMA Board.

Jennie Smythe, CEO of Girlilla Marketing, assumes the post of CMA Foundation Chairperson, while current Chair Joe Galante, CEO of Galante Entertainment Organization, becomes CMA Foundation Vice Chair in 2019.

“Serving on the CMA Board as Chairman has been one of the greatest honors of my career,” said Simmons. “I’m thankful for everyone, including past Chairs, who encouraged and helped me in this role. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, Sarah Trahern is such a gift to CMA, and it’s thanks to her leadership and the CMA staff that the Board’s vision is executed. I congratulate Jody Williams on becoming the Board’s new Chair.”

“Our community has so much to celebrate from 2018, and I am excited to step into the role of Chairman in 2019,” said Williams. “I’d like to thank Bill Simmons for his dedication to the board throughout this past year. And I look forward to working with officers Kurt Johnson, Mary Hilliard Harrington, and CMA leader Sarah Trahern in the coming year.”

“This year, the CMA Foundation celebrated a milestone investment of $25 million. The work the organization does to help enrich music education programs across the country is essential to our future generations, and I’m incredibly honored to be named the incoming Chair,” said Smythe. “Joe Galante has been an invaluable voice on this board, and I’m eager to continue working alongside him and the path he’s paved through this next year and beyond.”

As Vice President, Creative, Nashville, Williams directs all songwriter and publisher relations activities in BMI’s Nashville office. Williams joined BMI in May of 2006 after leading Jody Williams Music, a joint publishing venture with Sony Tree, where he successfully placed songs with major label country artists and discovered and managed MCA Nashville artist Josh Turner. Williams began his career at BMI in the late 1970s before holding creative positions for several major publishing firms. In 1987, he returned to BMI and rose to Assistant Vice President, Writer/Publisher Relations. Soon after, Williams was lured into the publishing world again, this time as President of the Nashville division of MCA Music Publishing, which flourished under his leadership, emerging as one of Nashville’s most awarded publishers. During his most recent tenure at BMI, Williams has led his team to capturing an extremely high country market share percentage not seen in over 30 years. Presently his team oversees the active Nashville music scene for all genres, providing service as well as performance and networking opportunities. A Nashville native, Williams attended the University of Denver. In addition to serving on the CMA Board of Directors, he also serves on the board of The Country Music Foundation.

Johnson is Senior Vice President of Programming at Townsquare, a leading media, entertainment and digital marketing solutions company, operating 312 radio stations, 325 local websites, 15 national lifestyle and music websites, and presenting over 500 live events annually. Before joining Townsquare he created and managed top-ranked radio stations in New York City, Los Angeles, Chicago, Philadelphia and Dallas. Across his more than 30-year career he has worked with RKO Radio, Viacom, CBS Radio, Clear Channel, and AM/FM. Johnson currently serves as President Elect of the CMA Board of Directors, President of Country Radio Broadcasters, and executive board member for St. Jude Country Cares Radiothon. He is an active contributor to American Cancer Society, Habitat for Humanity, Launchability Dallas and actively participates on several community boards. He holds a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Wisconsin where he studied Civil Engineering and Communications.

Smythe began her career in the mid-1990s working for Elektra Entertainment, Spivak-Sobol Entertainment, Disney’s Hollywood Records and more. In the early 2000s, she jumped ship to YAHOO! Music as Director of Marketing and Promotion, which eventually led her to move to Nashville to work for Warner Bros. Records’ New Media Department and then as Clear Channel’s Senior Director of Content and Marketing. In January of 2008, Smythe launched Girlilla Marketing, which is celebrating its 10 year anniversary in 2018. Smythe is honored to be an active Country Music Association & CMA Foundation board member, a proud supporter of St. Jude, Music Health Alliance and is the recipient of Nashville Business Journal’s 2017 & 2018 Women in Music City Awards.

Following is a list of 2019 CMA Directors and Directors at Large, and CMA Foundation Directors.

2019 CMA DIRECTORS BY MEMBERSHIP CATEGORY
Carryover Directors, who are serving the second year of a two-year term, are listed below along with newly-elected Directors, indicated in bold.

Advertising/Public Relations/Media
Ebie McFarland, Essential Broadcast Media, LLC
Tyne Parrish, The Greenroom

Affiliated
Joe Galante, Galante Entertainment Organization
Beverly Keel, MTSU

Artist
Kix Brooks, Brooks & Dunn
Darius Rucker

Composer
Lori McKenna, Creative Nation Music
Liz Rose, Liz Rose Music

Entertainment Services
Frank Bumstead, Flood, Bumstead, McCready & McCarthy, Inc.
Stacey Schlitz, SchlitzLAW

International
Maria Molin Ljunggren, Freebird Entertainment AB
Bob Shennan, BBC

Marketing/Digital
Jay Liepis, Apple Music
Jennie Smythe, Girlilla Marketing

Musician
Kenny Greenberg, Greenberg Music
Derek Wells

Personal Manager
Kerri Edwards, KP Entertainment
Clarence Spalding, Maverick

Producer/Engineer/Studio
Dann Huff, Dann Huff Productions

Publisher/PRO
Troy Tomlinson, Sony/ATV Music Publishing
Kos Weaver, BMG Publishing

Radio
Becky Brenner, Albright & O’Malley & Brenner Country Radio Specialists
Mike Moore, Entercom Communications

Record Company
Mike Dungan, Universal Music Group Nashville
Randy Goodman, Sony Music Nashville

Talent Agent
John Huie, Creative Artists Agency

Talent Buyer/Promoter
Gil Cunningham, Neste Event Marketing
Brian O’Connell, Live Nation Nashville

Touring Personnel
David Haskell, Morris Light & Sound
Scott Scovill, Moo TV, Centerstaging, and Moo Creative Media

Venue
John Bolton, SMG
Ed Warm, Joe’s Bar

Lifetime Directors
J. William Denny, Denny Properties
Ralph Peer II, peermusic

Directors At Large:
Marcie Allen, MAC Presents
Allen Anders, AEG Presents
Chris Baldizan, MGM Resorts
Jim Beavers, Sony/ATV Music Publishing
Rob Beckham
Scott Borchetta, Big Machine Label Group
Steve Blatter, Sirius XM
Stephen Bryan, YouTube Music
Steve Buchanan
Terry Calonge, Richards & Southern
Tony Conway, Conway Entertainment Group
Virginia Davis, G-Major Entertainment
Bob DiPiero, Being Bob Music
Chris DuBois, Sea Gayle Music
Ann Edelblute, The HQ
Brett Eldredge
Ted Ellis, Creator Brand Management Co.
John Esposito, Warner Music Nashville
Karen Fairchild, Little Big Town
Mary Hilliard Harrington, Red Light Management
Lon Helton, Country Aircheck
Clay Hunnicutt, Big Loud Records
Brett James, Cornman Music and Management
Kurt Johnson, Townsquare Media
Marion Kraft, ShopKeeper Management
Luke Laird, Creative Nation
Jon Loba, BBR Music Group/BMG
Matthew Lazarus-Hall, Uncommon Cord
Jonathan Levine, Paradigm
John Marks, Spotify
Michael Martin, ASCAP
Shane McAnally, SMACK
Deb McDermott, McDermott Media Group
Mike McVay, Cumulus Media-Westwood One
Charlie Morgan, Emmis Communications
Rod Phillips, iHeartMedia
Ryan Redington, Amazon Music
Bill Simmons, The Fitzgerald Hartley Company
Jeff Stevens, Jeff Stevens Music
Ben Vaughn, Warner/Chappell Music
Troy Vollhoffer, Premier Global Production Company
Carla Wallace, Big Yellow Dog Music
Biff Watson, Biff-Bangs Productions
Dwight Wiles, Wiles + Taylor & Co., PC
Jay Williams, WME
Jody Williams, BMI
Sally Williams, Opry Entertainment
Chris Young

Ex-Officio Members:
Jim Free, The Smith-Free Group, LLC
Butch Spyridon, Nashville Convention & Visitors Corporation
Kyle Young, Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum

Legal Counsel:
R. Horton Frank, Watkins & McNeilly, PLLC
Joel Katz, Greenberg Traurig, LLP

2019 CMA FOUNDATION DIRECTORS
Kix Brooks, Brooks & Dunn
Karen Fairchild, Little Big Town
Joe Galante, Galante Entertainment Organization – Vice Chairperson
Blair Garner, Cumulus Media
Ed Hardy, Hardy Media and Entertainment Group
Lon Helton, Country Aircheck
John Huie, Creative Artists Agency
Ron Samuels, Pinnacle Bank
Jennie Smythe, Girlilla Marketing – Chairperson
Jody Williams, BMI
Chris Young

Pictured, Top Row (L-R): Round Hill’s Mark Brown, Big Loud’s Seth England, ASCAP’s Beth Brinker, Sony ATV’s Tom Luteran, BMI’s David Preston, Big Loud Records’ Clay Hunnicutt and Joey Moi. Bottom Row (L-R): ASCAP songwriters David Ray and Craig Wiseman, BMI songwriters Jake Owen, Tommy Cecil and Jody Stevens, and Missi Gallimore.

Jake Owen celebrated his seventh No. 1 career single, and his first No. 1 with his new Big Loud Records family, during a party held at the Country Music Association on Monday (Dec. 3).

Owen’s “I Was Jack (You Were Diane)” was penned by Craig Wiseman, David Ray, Tommy Cecil, and Jody Stevens. The song idea and groove were inspired by (and incorporate) John Mellencamp’s 1982 signature smash “Jack & Diane.”

“John Mellencamp is not here, but we did make that call,” quipped Big Loud’s Seth England. “John and his manager, Randy Hoffman, they deserve a massive thank you. This is a big ask of someone of his legendary status. We didn’t know what to expect when we sent them this song, but the craziest thing is they called back within 10 minutes of us sending them this song.

“Randy had given me about an hour preface that John can be tough. He respects his work and he rarely does this. But he called us back in 10 minutes and said John heard it. Randy was blown away that John believed that a new version of a classic song still paid it justice and again credit to everyone here for making that happen.”

ASCAP’s Beth Brinker honored Wiseman, Ray and Mellencamp, while BMI’s David Preston honored Stevens and Cecil. Also presenting honors was CMA’s Brandi Simms.

Sony/ATV’s Tom Luteran honored Ray, Stevens and Cecil, while Songs of XO Music Group’s Missi Gallimore also honored Cecil. Big Loud’s England, Clay Hunnicutt and Round Hill’s Mark Brown feted Wiseman, Owen, and producer Joey Moi.

Newcomer songwriter David Ray was celebrating a rarity for a songwriter. While “I Was Jack (You Were Diane)” marks his first No. 1 single as a songwriter, it is also Ray’s very first cut. Even more startling, he is celebrating his first cut and No. 1 single as an independent songwriter, not currently aligned with a music publisher.

“I don’t know what to say because I’m about to cry right now,” remarked Ray, who recalled working as a science teacher in Florida before transitioning into songwriting. “I dreamed of coming to Nashville and becoming a songwriter but I never thought it would happen. Then I lost my job due to budget cuts and I just had this feeling to move to Nashville. Finding out that the song was being recorded in Vero Beach [Florida], where I used to play and where Jake Owen is from, this was literally a full 360-moment for me.”

The track marks Stevens’ third No. 1 single, and Cecil’s second No. 1. Cecil noted that his work with Owen came after Cecil took a risk.

“Jake answered an email at 12 at night,” Cecil recalled. “He didn’t even know who I was. I stole his email. I was like, ‘Dude I feel like we’d have this energy together, if you would just hear my songs.’ He replied at like 12:02 and two singles later, I’m very grateful that happened.”

First Tennessee Bank and Pinnacle Bank were both on hand to help celebrate the songwriters. Pinnacle made a donation to St. Jude Children’s Hospital. Round Hill’s Mark Brown also announced a donation made on behalf of Wiseman to Second Harvest Food Bank.

England also spoke of the vision Owen had when he signed with Big Loud.

“We had a long conversation, and two things I remember are he refused to cut anything but ‘big records,’ records that stood out, made you listen, and made you call up your friends when you heard it. The other thing is he said he didn’t want to go anywhere where he felt like he was just another name on the wall. And as I stand here, I realize you are helping us build our wall. You are putting the bricks on our wall right now. We are forever grateful.”

Wiseman added, “We had signed Jake to Big Loud—you’re not cheap, by the way. Always easy, never cheap,” he quipped. “All of a sudden they are talking lead off single and I’m like ‘Holy sh*t. How much more pressure can we add to this?’ We’ve messed with an American standard song and so when this thing was going up the charts, I was literally nauseous with butterflies. It took me all the way back to having a first number one, just people sending me texts and emails all the way up the charts. It’s like having a first No. 1 again. I love this town and this business and my songwriters and the producers.”

“I was super excited and flattered you guys gave me that song,” Owen told the songwriters. “I watch it light up people in my set every night. I thank every other songwriter in this town for giving me the opportunity I have in my life to be on the road singing these songs. We get to make people happy and it’s the songs you write that make that happen.

Big Loud, with this being the first No. 1 on your label, being able to partner with people like you…it’s so contagious the way you love to work together. I feel like I’m in a very special place in my life with a lot of special things happening and that’s what I moved to this town for. I knew it was a place I could fulfill my dreams and I’ve fulfilled so much more than anything I could have ever imagined.”