Jackie Lee has signed with CAA for booking.

Lee released a new video for “Long Year” earlier this week, detailing his own battle with testicular cancer over the last two years and his grief over losing his mom to cancer as well. The song was penned with Barry Dean and Sean McConnell. His brand new single, “Comeback,” written by Matt McVaney, Josh Hoge, Mark Fuhrer and Chris Young, is out today at all digital outlets.

His previous single “Getting Over You,” is nearing 40 million streams on Spotify, and he has toured with acts like Dan + Shay and performed at festivals including Stagecoach, Watershed, Route 91, Faster Horses, and Windy City Smokeout in 2017.

Lee is managed by Andrew Cohen and Jarrod Holley at Suit Music Management.

CATEGORY 5: BREAKTHROUGH ARTIST

Voted by MusicRow’s subscribed members to honor a Nashville artist who achieved significant career progress for the first time.

The MusicRow Awards will be presented at a private ceremony. 

See the full list of nominees. 

Winners are determined solely by MusicRow subscribers. Voting closes on May 25 at 5 p.m. If you do not have a subscription, you can subscribe to receive a ballot.

Kane Brown
Kane Brown’s skyrocketing year earned a Guinness World Record, as the first artist to simultaneously top five Billboard Country charts, thanks to his self-titled album, and the songs “Heaven” and “What Ifs.” The Georgia native scored his first major radio success with the doublePlatinum No. 1 “What Ifs” featuring childhood friend turned hitmaker Lauren Alaina. That song, as well as Brown’s follow-up, “Heaven,” were tracked by MusicRow Producer of the Year nominee Dann Huff. Next up, listen for Brown as the guest on a new genre-crossing version of Camila Cabello’s “Never Be The Same.”

Luke Combs
Luke Combs is a major force among country’s rising stars. The self-made songwriter and road warrior built a fan base by touring and releasing music independently prior
to signing a record deal. His 2017 major label debut This One’s For You earned Gold certification and yielded the two-times Platinum single “Hurricane.” The breakout song topped the Billboard Country Airplay chart and Mediabase chart for two consecutive weeks. This makes Combs the first debut country artist to hold a multi-week No. 1 since Florida Georgia Line with “Cruise.” Combs followed “Hurricane” with “When It Rains It Pours” and “One Number Away,” earning those co-writers nominations in MusicRow’s Breakthrough Songwriter category.

LANCO
LANCO has come a long way since their early days practicing in a carpet warehouse. Fast forward five years, 400 shows and one old RV later, and the hard working band is the first country group in a decade to debut at No. 1 on the Billboard Country albums charts. The band is made up of Brandon Lancaster and company: Chandler Baldwin, Jared Hampton, Tripp Howell and Eric Steedly. Their success was driven largely by the multi-week chart-topper “Greatest Love Story,” one of the 11 tracks Lancaster wrote for the album Hallelujah Nights. Helmed by MusicRow Producer of the Year nominee Jay Joyce, the album tallied more than 220 million digital streams as of March. LANCO wrapped a sold-out club run in major markets before touring the UK and joining Dierks Bentley for their first amphitheater trek.

Midland
Midland’s remarkable mix of ‘90s country and Texas twang proved irresistible for music fans. Donning Nudie-style suits, Mark Wystrach, Jess Carson and Cameron Duddy wooed listeners with debut single “Drinkin’ Problem,” which went to No. 1 and earned Platinum certification. The trio took home the ACM Award for New Vocal Group of the Year, and scored two Grammy nominations. They followed that success with current single “Burn Out” and a Spanish version of “Drinkin’ Problem” featuring Jay De La Cueva. Midland didn’t spend much time at home in Dripping Springs, Texas over the last year, as they were busy on major tours with Tim McGraw and Faith Hill, Kenny Chesney, Little Big Town and Thomas Rhett.

Carly Pearce
Carly Pearce’s “Every Little Thing” went to No. 1 and earned her the highest charting solo female debut single since July 2015. The Gold-certified breakout hit was co-written by Pearce, Emily Shackleton and busbee, who scored nominations for MusicRow Breakthrough Songwriter and Producer of the Year, respectively. Pearce’s followup single “Hide The Wine” is now climbing the charts. During the last year, Pearce spent time on the road with Blake Shelton, and will join Thomas Rhett, Rascal Flatts and Luke Bryan for upcoming dates. Pearce, a longtime hard worker, has been singing since age 8 and honed her skills by performing at Dollywood as a teenager.

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Luke Combs will collaborate with R&B singer Leon Bridges for an episode of CMT Crossroads, which will be taped during an outdoor concert experience in downtown Nashville on Tuesday (June 5), with the performance to air June 28 on CMT beginning at 10 p.m. ET. Fans are invited to join the free taping at Nashville’s 5th & Broadway on June 5. Gates will open at 7 p.m. CT, with the show beginning at 8:30 p.m. CT.

Fans can expect to hear the two stars performing favorite tracks and anthems together from Combs’ Gold-certified debut album This One’s For You, Bridges’ Grammy-nominated debut Coming Home and his brand new celebrated sophomore release, Good Thing, as well as the two uniting for covers of their favorite iconic songs.

Pictured (L-R): ASCAP songwriter Frank Rogers and BMI songwriters Scotty McCreery and Monty Criswell pose at the party celebrating their No. 1 hit “Five More Minutes.” Photo: Steve Lowry

Scotty McCreery had much to celebrate Wednesday (May 23) during a party at Nashville’s Country Music Association offices, hosted by ASCAP and BMI. McCreery recently earned his very first No. 1 song with “Five More Minutes.” During the celebration, McCreery was also surprised with the news that the song has been certified Platinum by the RIAA.

“Five More Minutes” was inspired by McCreery’s late paternal grandfather, penned just two weeks after his passing by McCreery and hit songwriters Monty Criswell and Frank Rogers.

The well-attended event was packed with friends and family and featured remarks from BMI’s Bradley Collins, ASCAP’s Mike Sistad, Spirit Music’s Billy Lynn, Sea Gayle’s Jake Gear and Triple Tiger’s Norbert Nix, who offered a shout out to the promotions team for “batting 1,000.” Sony/ATV’s Troy Tomlinson announced a donation to MusiCares on behalf of the songwriters. Others making glowing remarks included CMA’s Brandi Simms and Country Aircheck‘s Lon Helton.

MusicRow Magazine’s owner/publisher Sherod Robertson called the chart-topping success a “case study in how to perfectly execute a hit song.”

“In an industry where perception and image is 99 percent of it, sometimes a good song wins,” Criswell said.

The song marks the second chart-topper for indie label Triple Tigers Records, which recently notched the  “Yours” for Russell Dickerson. The label launched in 2016 as a collaboration between Triple 8 Management’s George Couri and Bruce Kalmick, as well as Nix and Thirty Tigers’ David Macias.

McCreery reflected on the long journey from his former label home, to regaining the rights to his music and ultimately teaming with Triple Tigers Records and topping the music charts.

“I learned patience, goodness gracious,” he said. “This story is about a team. I appreciate you accepting me and fighting for me. This is about a song. If this was a song I would be my career on, it would be this one. We initially put out a song with no label. What were we thinking? We were crazy, but it worked out,” he said with a smile, before personally thanking each member of his team, as well as his soon-to-be wife, Gabi, whom he will wed next month.

Pictured (L-R): ASCAP’s Mike Sistad, Triple Tiger’s Norbert Nix, ASCAP songwriter Frank Rogers, Scotty McCreery, BMI songwriter Monty Criswell, Spirit Music’s Billy Lynn and BMI’s Bradley Collins. Photo: Steve Lowry