Yoakam’s music updates tradition with glamour, and continues the Bakersfield sound of California country pioneers such as Owens and Wynn Stewart. Along with guitarist Pete Anderson, whose powerful guitar and sympathetic production would become an important part of Yoakam’s subsequent hit recordings, the singer moved to the Golden State in 1978 after rejection in Nashville. Once on the West Coast, Yoakam became part of a post-punk-rock scene that included other artists with a similar feel for combining roots and experimentation. He played shows alongside such bands as Rank and File and the Blasters, both of which owed a debt to the hardcore sounds of ’50s and ’60s country and the country-rock of Gram Parsons and the Byrds.

Although Yoakam made his debut on an independently recorded EP, A Town South of Bakersfield, in 1984, it was the 1986 release of Guitars, Cadillacs Etc. Etc. that established him as the latest in a line of neo-traditionalist artists who had come to prominence in the early part of the decade. And like John Anderson, Ricky Skaggs and George Strait, Yoakam toed the line between reverence for past glories and a desire to remake country in his own image. Guitars, Cadillacs produced two top-ten country singles: a brilliant cover of Johnny Horton’s “Honky Tonk Man” and the title track. He continued to have hits throughout the decade, while he proved himself master of his own slightly enigmatic but always intelligently presented persona.

In the ’90s, Yoakam and Anderson made records such as This Time and Gone, which produced more hit singles. The voice soared and seemed, at times, to comment on the down side of romance and success, while Anderson’s tightly wound licks dramatized every moment. Anderson produced 2003’s Population: Me; that record’s closing song, “The Back of Your Hand,” remains among Yoakam’s most devastating. Yoakam had also begun an acting career, notably in Billy Bob Thornton’s 1996 Sling Blade, and has continued to take on dramatic roles. After a split with Anderson, Yoakam produced 2005’s Blame the Vain and two years later released Dwight Sings Buck, a spirited tribute to one of the giants of the California-Nashville sound that Yoakam has drawn upon throughout his career. Like Owens, Yoakam is an innovator whose career proves that intelligent experimentation will always have a place in country music.

“DIFFERENT GROOVE” marks Hood’s first effort for Little Dog Records and his first full studio album. A true collaborative effort, the album was produced by Grammy Award-winning producer/guitarist Pete Anderson (Dwight Yoakam, Roy Orbison, k.d.lang, Sara Evans, Buck Owens, Michelle Shocked, The Meat Puppets). Since it’s release, “DIFFERENT GROOVE” has garnered tremendous reviews. Mario Tarradell of the “Dallas Morning News” wrote, “If you merged early Bob Dylan with dashes of the Band and Al Green, you'd get the flavor of Adam Hood's front porch meets juke joint music.” Ken Barnes of “USA Today” said that Adam was “One of the most interesting Americana/country acts I've heard in a while.” Mr. Barnes also included Adam in his year-end “Best Of” list.

Adam is red-hot these days. He scored a hit single on the Texas Music Chart with “22 Days Too Long” and the corresponding video continues to enjoy national airplay on GAC-TV. He was also featured at the prestigious Austin City Limits Festival and was seen as part of a retail campaign by hip Red Dirt Music-inspired clothing line Southern Thread. Additionally, Adam appeared in an episode of “We’re An American Band” on the Documentary Channel. Adam is continually in the Top 50 on the MySpace independent Acoustic, Country and Folk Charts, with nearly 1,000 plays each day on his MySpace page.

Prior to "Different Groove," Adam, an Alabama native hailing from the small town of Opelika, had already begun to draw critical attention and build a strong following by touring nearly 300 days a year. In 2001, Adam recorded a demo of his songs, which circulated among Auburn University students and quickly created a demand for a full length CD. He released a live album, “21 To Enter,” a few years later, which further solidified his reputation as a talented artist.

“DIFFERENT GROOVE” marks a major leap forward for Adam and his music and has firmly established him as a gifted singer/songwriter to watch in the future.

The new artist categories were reserved for BMI singer/songwriters as well, albeit the respected winners are far from "new" to most listeners. Critic and fan favorite Miranda Lambert earned a Top New Female Vocalist win, while hard-working Rodney Atkins claimed the Top New Male Vocalist crown-10 years after signing his first record deal. Harmony-drenched quartet Little Big Town secured Top New Duo or Vocal Group honors as well.

Perennial favorites Brooks & Dunn won four awards including Top Vocal Duo and Vocal Event of the Year for "Building Bridges." The song featured fellow BMI members Sheryl Crow and Vince Gill, and both Ronnie Dunn and Kix Brooks also received nods for their work as producers. Brooks & Dunn now hold the record for most Top Vocal Duo wins with 14. In recognition of their numerous charitable endeavors, the duo was also presented with the Home Depot Humanitarian of the Year honor.

Both Song and Single Record of the Year went to "Give It Away," produced by BMI affiliate Tony Brown and co-written by BMI songwriters Whisperin' Bill Anderson and Jamey Johnson. The staunchly honky tonk tune was a No. 1 hit for recent Country Music Hall of Fame inductee George Strait, and it earned the first ACM award for Country Music Hall of Fame and Grand Ole Opry member Bill Anderson.

Megastars Rascal Flatts took home Top Vocal Group honors. The group recently saw their single "Stand" hit No. 1 and were also named Billboard's top-selling act for 2006. Their fifth ACM Top Vocal Group win ties them with Country Music Hall of Famers Alabama for the most consecutive wins in this category.

BMI legends swept the prestigious Pioneer and International Award categories. Peerless songwriter Harlan Howard, American treasure Dolly Parton and rebel icon Waylon Jennings were each honored with Pioneer Awards, while the academy bestowed the International Award on Bakersfield sound architect Buck Owens.

The Academy of Country Music, an artist and industry-driven organization, exists to produce a world-class network television awards show, and its associated events, to provide the financial resources to ensure the on-going philanthropic work of its Charitable Fund. Academy of Country Music Charitable Fund promotes and supports music education and humanitarian programs that transform the human spirit. Through its charitable donations, the ACMCF works towards two main goals: encouraging Learning Through Music and Healing Through Music. The Academy, which is comprised of more than 4,500 professional members and more than 48,000 associate members, was established in 1964 and is headquartered in Encino, Calif.

For more information on the Academy of Country Music Awards and the Academy of Country Music, please visit www.acmcountry.com.

BMI 2007 ACM Winners

Top Female Vocalist
Carrie Underwood

Top Vocal Group
Rascal Flatts

Top Vocal Duo
Brooks & Dunn

Top New Male Vocalist
Rodney Atkins

Top New Female Vocalist
Miranda Lambert

Top New Duo or Vocal Group
Little Big Town

Album of the Year [Award to Producer(s)/ Artist(s)/ Record Company]
Some Hearts
Carrie Underwood
19 Recordings Limited/Arista Records

Single Record of the Year [Award to Artist(s)/ Producer(s)/ Record
Company]
"Give It Away"
Producer: Tony Brown
MCA Nashville

Song of the Year [Award to Composer(s)/ Publisher(s)/ Artist(s)]
"Give It Away"
Writers: Bill Anderson and Jamey Johnson
Publishers: Sony/ATV Tree Publishing/Mr. Bubba Music, Inc., Admin. By
Sony/ATV Music Publishing and EMI Blackwood Music, Inc.

Video of the Year [Award to Producer(s)/Director(s)/Artist(s)]
"Before He Cheats"
Carrie Underwood

Vocal Event of the Year [Award to Artist(s)/Producer(s)/Record Company]
"Building Bridges"
Brooks & Dunn with Vince Gill & Sheryl Crow
Producers: Tony Brown, Ronnie Dunn & Kix Brooks
Arista Nashville

Pioneer Award
Harlan Howard
Dolly Parton
Waylon Jennings

International Award
Buck Owens

Musicians

Aubrey Haynie
Fiddle

Brent Mason
Guitar

John Hobbs
Piano/Keyboards

Stuart Duncan
Specialty Instrument

Michael Johnson
Steel Guitar

BMI recognized too that the emerging center of country music—Nashville—was to become one of the hubs of the music industry. An office was started there in 1958, and permanent facilities were constructed for BMI on Music Row in 1964 just in time for the emergence of some of “Music City U.S.A.’s” most legendary writers. That list includes writers like Willie Nelson, who before he became a star in his own right, created hits like “Crazy” for Patsy Cline and “Hello Walls” for Ray Price, and the late Harlan Howard, who penned a string of songs over more than five decades that many of country’s major stars recorded, including “I Fall to Pieces” and “Heartaches by the Number.” From that day on, BMI has assisted in the careers of many of country’s creative legends and recognized that this genre was no flash in the pan, but instead, an indisputable piece of America’s musical fabric. The fact that 87% of the members of the Country Music Hall of Fame are BMI songwriters attests to that fact.

BMI’s list of songwriters and composers also includes such country giants as Hank Williams Jr., Loretta Lynn, Felice & Boudleaux Bryant, Dolly Parton, Kris Kristofferson, Maybelle Carter, Lester Flatt, Earl Scruggs, Conway Twitty, Merle Haggard, the Stanley Brothers, Bob Wills, Bill Anderson, Doc Watson, Jimmy Martin, Mac Wiseman, Jim & Jesse McReynolds, Buck Owens, Faith Hill, Toby Keith, Tim McGraw, Alabama, Shania Twain, Vince Gill, Charlie Daniels, Don Gibson, Curly Putman, Bill Monroe, Brooks & Dunn, John Michael Montgomery and Alison Krauss.

Founded in l939 as a non-profit-making organization, BMI opened the door to performing rights representation for songwriters and composers of all types of music, many of whom were not eligible under the membership guidelines of the older American PROs. BMI offered first-time representation to songwriters of blues, jazz, r&b, gospel, folk, country and Spanish-language music, and as several of these musical trends converged to produce a new music called “rock & roll,” BMI became the preeminent performing right organization for songwriters of this new genre. The company quickly made reciprocal agreements with sister societies around the world.

The success of BMI’s songwriters and composers is unequaled, as evidenced by their dominance of the industry’s most prestigious awards and honors over the years, representing 51% of the Grammy Awards, 67% of the Country Music Association Awards, 69% of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inductees, 87% of the R&B Foundation’s Pioneer Awards and 95% of the Blues Music Awards.

The night before his death, the long-time BMI songwriter was scheduled to perform with his Buckaroos band at the Crystal Palace, the dinner club he owned in Bakersfield, which is located about 100 miles north of Los Angeles.

"Buck Owens created a sound that captured an entirely new audience for country music and popular music in general," said Del Bryant, BMI's President & CEO. "He was one of the entertainment industry's true pioneers, having so successfully navigated his music, TV and business careers up until his passing. He was an innovator, a trend setter, a musical catalyst whose 'Bakersfield sound' spoke to the purist in all of us. His passion for life lived on right up until his death, and his music will continue to influence generations to come."

With his unmistakable honky-tonk sound, flashy rhinestone-studded suits and signature red, white and blue guitar, Owens owned country music. Born Alvis Edgar Owens, Jr. in 1929 just outside Sherman, Texas, the singer is credited with shaping the sound of the genre itself.

He introduced his twangy "Bakersfield sound" to a much broader audience as co-host of "Hee-Haw," the longest-running syndicated show in television history. The popular country music variety show ran for 17 years and made Owens a household name.

His extensive recording career boasts a string of 19 consecutive #1 songs and 26 top ten hits between 1963 and 1974, among them the BMI Award winners "Together Again," "My Heart Skips a Beat," "Love's Gonna Live Here," "I've Got a Tiger by the Tail," "Above and Beyond," "Excuse Me (I Think I've Got a Heartache)," "Waitin' in Your Welfare Line," and his very first hit, "Act Naturally."

Owens capped his career with one last chart-topper, a remake of "Streets of Bakersfield," recorded as a duet with Dwight Yoakam in 1988. He was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1996, the same year he opened Buck Owens' Crystal Palace.

While out of the recording studio for almost a decade, he got involved in several other business ventures, including a TV station in Bakersfield, and radio stations in both Bakersfield and Phoenix.

He is survived by his three sons, Buddy, Michael and John.]]> 2006-03-27T17:00:00-05:00 http://www.bmi.com/news/entry/232840 Anderson, Bill, Cochran, Hank, Haggard, Merle, Owens, Buck, Roots, The, Russell, Johnny, Strait, George, Tillis, Mel, Country Eight of Nashville�s songwriting greats gathered last week to celebrate one of their own, the late Tommy Collins, with proceeds from a special concert earmarked for the Tommy Collins Fund to help his widow defray medical expenses. BMI legends Bill Anderson, Max D. Barnes, Jack Clement, Hank Cochran, Dallas Frazier, Red Lane, Whitey Shafer and Johnny Russell sang their hits to a packed Douglas Corner Caf� audience and reminisced about Collins, who died March 14. Collins, a member of the Nashville Songwriters Foundation Hall of Fame, was a recording artist himself before penning memorable tunes such as ‘Carolyn,’ ‘The Roots of My Raising’ and ‘If You Ain’t Lovin (You Ain’t Livin)’ for a variety of artists, including Merle Haggard, George Strait, Mel Tillis, Faron Young, Buck Owens and Mark Chesnutt.

For more information about contributing to the Tommy Collin Fund, contact Bud-Ro Productions at 615-320-4880.