The BMI Country Awards turned a spry 55 years old as they were held tonight, Tuesday, Nov. 6, at the performing right organization's Music Row offices in Nashville. Broadcast Music, Inc. (BMI) - the first home for country music - was also the first U.S. organization to honor the genre's songwriters and publishers with their own awards show in 1953. BMI President & CEO Del Bryant and Jody Williams, Vice President of Writer/Publisher Relations, Nashville, hosted the black-tie ceremony toasting the writers and publishers of the past year's 50 most-performed country songs in the BMI repertoire.

2007 BMI Country Awards: Award Winning Songs

Jeffrey Steele received his second Country Songwriter of the Year title, while his poignant composition "What Hurts The Most" earned the coveted Song of the Year crown. Sony/ATV Music Publishing Nashville snagged Publisher of the Year bragging rights for the sixth consecutive year, and a tribute to Willie Nelson recognized the newest BMI Icon's unifying music and humble dignity.

"What Hurts The Most," co-written by Jeffrey Steele and published by Gottahaveable Music and Bug Music/Songs of Windswept, landed the 39th Robert J. Burton Award, presented to the most performed country song of the year. Recorded by crossover titans Rascal Flatts, the nostalgic ballad earned a slew of accolades including two Grammy nominations, and became the group's fifth no. 1 single.

Nashville's best-selling artists have come to rely on 2007 Country Songwriter of the Year Jeffrey Steele's uncanny hitmaking prowess. Steele secured his first Country Songwriter of the Year win in 2003, and has spent the past four years enriching his bejeweled catalog, which includes five of this year's most performed songs: Rascal Flatts' "My Wish," "Me and My Gang," and "What Hurts the Most," Steve Holy's "Brand New Girlfriend" and Keith Anderson's "Every Time I Hear Your Name."

With 17 songs among this year's top 50, Sony/ATV Music Publishing Nashville (through its companies Sony/ATV Acuff Rose, Sony/ATV Songs LLC, Sony/ATV Melody and Sony/ATV Tree) picked up its sixth consecutive Publisher of the Year win. The publishing powerhouse accumulated the highest percentage of copyright ownership thanks to award songs including "Give It Away," "Would You Go With Me," "Every Mile A Memory," "Tim McGraw" and "Kerosene."

The capstone of the evening took the form of the Icon tribute to beloved legend Willie Nelson, featuring performances by fellow pioneers Kris Kristofferson and Emmylou Harris, along with contemporary country trendsetters Toby Keith, Josh Turner and Keith Urban. Willie Nelson's ascendance to internationally-renowned treasure is a singular path marked by self-belief and musical brilliance. As a BMI Icon, Nelson will perhaps be recognized most for his songwriting, which has long enraptured the entire world. His love of the offbeat and heedlessness of conventional time signatures have made Nelson an innovative and inimitable guitarist. As a singer, his deft phrasing and naked sincerity are irresistible. A romantic aesthete, Willie Nelson makes all that he touches beautiful. The Texas native's "Crazy," "Angel Flying Too Close to the Ground," "Funny How Time Slips Away," "On the Road Again" and "Good Hearted Woman" merely skim the surface of a catalog stacked with unvarnished classics. Famous for his ceaseless touring, Nelson is an untiring philanthropist and humanitarian, most visibly through Willie-coined events including Farm Aid.

The 2007 BMI Country Awards also honored hit songwriters Brett Beavers, Rodney Clawson, Jamey Johnson, Tony Martin, Bill Anderson, Steve Bogard, Scotty Emerick, Toby Keith, Wayne Kirkpatrick, Bobby Pinson and the Warren Brothers, who each supplied two or more songs to the top 50 list.

Publishers EMI Blackwood Music, Inc; Warner-Tamerlane Publishing Corp.; Jeffrey Steele Music Group; Bug Music/Songs of Windswept; Universal Music Publishing Group; Big Gassed Hitties; Brett Beavers Music Group; Gold Watch Music; Music of Stage Three and StyleSonic Music each took home three or more awards.

I'LL TAKE THAT AS A YES (THE HOT TUB SONG)
Jon McElroy
Vince Melamed
Senor Vicente Music
Songs of Mighty Isis
Vista Larga Music
Phil Vassar
Arista Nashville

LIKE WE NEVER LOVED AT ALL
Vicky McGehee
Warner-Tamerlane Publishing Corp.
Faith Hill
Warner Bros.

LONG, SLOW KISSES
Jeff Bates
Gordon Bradberry
New Works Music Co.
Smith Haven Music
Warner-Tamerlane Publishing Corp.
Jeff Bates
RCA

LOT OF LEAVIN' LEFT TO DO
Brett Beavers
Run The Trotline Music
Sony/ATV Tree
Dierks Bentley
Capitol Records

ME AND CHARLIE TALKING
Miranda Lambert
Heather Little
Nashville Star Music
Sony/ATV Tree
Tiltawhirl Music
Miranda Lambert
Epic Records

MY GIVE A DAMN'S BUSTED
Joe Diffie
Tony Martin
Tom Shapiro
Difftunes
EMI-Blackwood Music, Inc.
Mike Curb Music
Music of Stage Three
Sony/ATV Tree
Jo Dee Messina
Curb Records
MY OLD FRIEND
Steve McEwan (PRS)
Careers-BMG Music Publishing
Tim McGraw
Curb Records

MY SISTER
Amy Dalley
Music of Stage Three
Reba McEntire
MCA Nashville

NOBODY BUT ME
Shawn Camp
Phillip White
Big Yellow Dog Music
Murrah Music Corporation
Sony/ATV Tree
Travelin' Arkansawyer Music
Blake Shelton
Warner Bros.

PLAY SOMETHING COUNTRY
Ronnie Dunn
Terry McBride
Showbilly Music
Sony/ATV Tree
Still Working For The Man Music, Inc.
Turn Me On Music
Brooks & Dunn
Arista Nashville

PROBABLY WOULDN'T BE THIS WAY
Tammi Kidd
Irving Music
LeAnn Rimes
Asylum-Curb

SHE DON'T TELL ME TO
Bob DiPiero
Tom Shapiro
EMI-Blackwood Music, Inc.
Love Monkey Music
Piano Wire Music LLC
Sony/ATV Tree
Montgomery Gentry
Columbia Records

SHE LET HERSELF GO
Dean Dillon
Sony/ATV Acuff Rose
Unwound Music
George Strait
MCA Nashville

SKIN (SARABETH)
Doug Johnson
Mike Curb Music
Sweet Radical Music
Rascal Flatts
Lyric Street

SOMEBODY'S HERO
Ed Hill
Shaye Smith
Careers-BMG Music Publishing
EMI-Blackwood Music, Inc.
Sagrabeaux Songs
Shaye Smith Music
Jamie O'Neal
Capitol Records

SOMETHING MORE
Kristian Bush
Dirkpit Music
Sugarland
Mercury Nashville

SOMETHING TO BE PROUD OF
Jeffrey Steele
Gottahaveable Music
Songs of Windswept Pacific
Montgomery Gentry
Columbia Records

SONGS ABOUT ME
Ed Hill
Shaye Smith
Careers-BMG Music Publishing
EMI-Blackwood Music, Inc.
Sagrabeaux Songs
Shaye Smith Music
Trace Adkins
Capitol Records

STAY WITH ME (BRASS BED)
Jedd Hughes
Terry McBride
Still Working For The Man Music, Inc.
Terry McBride Music
Wilmington Road Publishing
Josh Gracin
Lyric Street

THE TALKIN' SONG REPAIR BLUES
Dennis Linde
EMI-Blackwood Music, Inc.
Rising Gorge Music
Alan Jackson
Arista Nashville

TEQUILA MAKES HER CLOTHES FALL OFF
Gary Hannan
John Wiggins
Chobe Music
Fiddle Stock Music
Heavy Leather Music, Inc.
Notewrite Music
Joe Nichols
Universal South

TONIGHT I WANNA CRY
Keith Urban
Coburn Music, Inc.
Guitar Monkey Music
Keith Urban
Capitol Records

WHEN I GET WHERE I'M GOING
George Teren
House of Full Circle Music
Brad Paisley featuring Dolly Parton
Arista Nashville

WHO YOU'D BE TODAY
Bill Luther
Aimee Mayo
Careers-BMG Music Publishing
Evansville Music
Little Blue Typewriter Music
Kenny Chesney
BNA

YOU'LL BE THERE
Cory Mayo
Coburn Music, Inc.
George Strait
MCA Nashville
YOUR MAN
Jace Everett
EMI-Blackwood Music, Inc.
Josh Turner
MCA Nashville

It wasn’t an easy ascent for Kimberly Roads, Karen Fairchild, Jimi Westbrook and Phillip Sweet, who had each put in time singing in church and bands before meeting up in Music City and finding their Fleetwood Mac-esque harmonies. They landed and lost several record deals, and lost their way musically a bit along the path, before settling in to make their now-gold Equity Records album, The Road To Here, with producer Wayne Kirkpatrick.

By the time they landed on Kirkpatrick’s doorstep, they were worn by career defeat, relationship struggles and even death (Kimberly’s husband passed away unexpectedly in 2005), but they were ready to write.

“We’re all real strong believers there’s purpose in all of this,” says Roads. “Many days we went into the studio to write and ended up having a long therapy session! We’d talk for hours and our emotions just kind of flowed out.”

“I think everything that’s happened, happened for a reason,” explains Fairchild. “And we made much better music for going through all this. Our lives are not that much different from anyone else out there . . . we just get to pour that emotion into art, which is a beautiful gift.”]]> 2006-10-15T18:00:00-05:00 http://www.bmi.com/news/entry/334703 Artists, Berg, Matraca, Black, Clint, Cannon, Chuck, Cropper, Steve, Dillon, Dean, Hanna, Jeff, Hanna-McEuen, Johnson, Doug, Kirkpatrick, Wayne, Little Big Town, Preston, Frances, Randall, Jon, Rushlow, Tim, Sanford, Chas Country in the Rockies XII, the annual signature fund-raising event for the T.J. Martell Foundation's Nashville division brought music fans to Club Med in Crested Butte, Colo., for four days of mingling with artists and songwriters in one of the best winter sport settings in the Rocky Mountains. Proceeds from the event support innovative research at the Frances Williams Preston Laboratories, part of the Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center.

CITR MC Tom Gross; BMI VP Writer/Publisher Relations Paul Corbin; Dr. Hal Moses, Director Emeritus of the Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center; Frances Preston, President, T.J. Martell Foundation; Raymond DuBois, M.D., Ph.D., Director of the Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center; Peter Quinn, CEO/National Executive Director for T.J. Martell

Musical highlights of the week included concerts by Steve Cropper, Clint Black, Little Big Town, John Corbett, Blue County, Hanna-McEuen, and many of Nashville's hottest songwriters including Matraca Berg, Jeff Hanna, Jessi Alexander, Jon Randall, Tim Rushlow, Chuck Cannon, Doug Johnson, Wayne Kirkpatrick and Chas Sanford.

Front row: Gary Chapman, Jennifer Chapman, Equity Music Group President Mike Kraski, Equity Chief Creative Officer Tim Wipperman, Kimberly Roads (LBT), Clint Black, Frances Preston, Karen Fairchild (LBT), Jimi Westbrook (LBT); Back Row: BMI's Paul Corbin, and Phillip Sweet (LBT)

"Country in the Rockies is a magical event filled with music, fun, friendships and most importantly, the mission of raising vital funds to support cutting-edge research for leukemia, cancer and AIDS through the Frances Williams Preston Laboratories at the Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center," stated Laura Heatherly, Executive Director of the T.J. Martell Foundation.

Clint Black

The inaugural "Music for Life Concert & Auction" held at the Crested Butte Center for the Arts raised $65,000. The event was spearheaded by a committee of local citizens and presented by Redden Group Realty of Crested Butte. Performers included Blue County, Suzy Boggus, Dean Dillon, Aaron Barker, Hanna-McEuen and Gary Morris.

Clint Black and Little Big Town

Since 1993, the Martell Foundation has enabled physicians and scientists of the Frances Williams Preston Laboratories at VICC to conduct cutting-edge research and quickly transition promising new findings from laboratory benches to patient bedsides. To date, the Nashville division has raised $14 million in support of the VICC's pilot projects. In turn, these contributions have been leveraged to obtain additional funding - totaling more than $100 million - from public and private sources to further advance ongoing efforts to alleviate suffering from cancer.

Jaime Hanna and Jonathan McEuen "busk" on the top of Mt. Crested Butte

The Frances Williams Preston Labs of Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center are named in honor of former BMI President and CEO Frances Preston. Preston is the founder of Country in the Rockies and also serves as President of the Martell board and as a VICC board member.

Casting Crowns	Gerald Crabb	Israel Houghton

Casting Crowns reeled in the most nominations with seven, including Group, Artist, and Rock/Contemporary Recorded Song ("American Dream"), Pop/Contemporary Recorded Song ("Who Am I?") and Long Form Music Video ("Live From Atlanta"). Claiming six nods is the group's lead singer-songwriter, Mark Hall, who is up for Male Vocalist and Song of the Year trophies for "Who Am I?".

Jim Cooper	Jason Roy	Matt Bronleewe

The Crabb Family also garnered a total of six nominations including Group and Southern Gospel Album, while the group's patriarch, Gerald Crabb, earned a Song of the Year mention ("Through the Fire"), plus five more songwriting nods in categories spanning country, inspirational and southern gospel.

Brendan Graham	Wayne Haun	Otto Price

Additional Song of the Year contenders include Israel Houghton of Israel & New Breed ("Friend of God"), Brendan Graham ("You Raise Me Up"), Kenny Greenberg ("More"), Matt Bronleewe ("Healing Rain"), and Jason Roy and Jim Cooper ("Glory Defined"). Other BMI-affiliated Dove nominees include Rodney Jerkins, Switchfoot, Dottie Peoples, Building 429, Hector Cervantes, Grits, the Talley Trio, Martha Munizzi and last year's top Dove nominee Wayne Haun.

Steven Curtis Chapman	Fred Hammond	Martha Munizzi

The GMA Music Awards will begin at 6pm on Wednesday, April 13 with a new format for 2005 -- awards and performances will share the limelight throughout the evening. Steven Curtis Chapman, Cece Winans, Rebecca St. James and Israel Houghton are among those set to host this year's festivities, which will be taped at the Grand Ole Opry House in Nashville for national syndication during the month of June.

Day of Fire	Kim Hill	Dottie Peoples

Song of the Year Nominees:

"Friend of God"
Israel Houghton
Champions for Christ Music Publishing
Integrity's Praise! Music
Sound of the New Breed

"Glory Defined"
Jim Cooper
Jason Roy
Dayspring Music

"Healing Rain"
Matt Bronleewe
Songs From the Farm Publishing
Songs of Windswept Pacific

"More"
Kenny Greenberg
Greenberg Music

"Through the Fire"
Gerald Crabb
Lehsem Songs

"Who Am I"
Mark Hall
Club Zoo Music
SWECS Music

"You Raise Me Up"
Brendan Graham (IMRO)
Peermusic (Ireland), Ltd.

Seven Nominations
Casting Crowns

Six Nominations
Gerald Crabb
The Crabb Family
Mark Hall

Five Nominations
Matt Bronleewe
Wayne Haun
Israel Houghton
Otto Price
Switchfoot

Four Nominations
Steven Curtis Chapman
Fred Hammond
Martha Munizzi
Joe Pace

Three Nominations
Paul Allen
Mike Bowling
Building 429
Ed Cash
Hector Cervantes
Jim Cooper
Jason Crabb
Day of Fire
Kenny Greenberg
Grits
Toby McKeehan
Pillar
Thousand Foot Crutch
Bebe Winans

Two Nominations
Bobby All
Josiah Bell
Kene Bell
Myron Butler
Teron Carter
Barry D.
delerious?
Paul Ebersold
Michael English
Lari Goss
Brendan Graham
Chris Huffman
The Isaacs
Jars of Clay
Rodney Jerkins
Stacy Jones
Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver
The Lewis Family
Aaron Lindsey
Lisa McClendon
Trevor McNevan
The Oak Ridge Boys
Charlie Peacock
Club Zoo Music
CrossWay
Steve Moore
J Moss
Israel & New Breed
Dave Moody
Dottie Peoples
The Perrys
Jason Roy
Martin Smith
Songs From the Farm Publishing
Taylor Sorensen
Aaron Sprinkle
Angie Stone
SWECS Music

Single Nominees
Yolanda Adams
Audio Adrenaline
Alejandro Allen
Duane Allen
Steve Augustine
Percy Bady
Joe Baldridge
Cindy Ballard
Joe Beck
Barry Beckett
Rob Beckley
Big Tent Revival
Big Dismal
Kevin Bond
Joe Bonsall
Kelly Bowling
Rebecca Isaacs Bowman
Clint Brown
Gavin Brown
Joel Bruyere
Billy Buchanan
Marc Byrd
Cedric Caldwell
Eulises Canada
Champions for Christ Music Publishing
Chigger Hill Boys & Terri
Aaron Crabb
Ryan Clark
Don Cook
Adam Crabb
Billy Ray Cyrus
Dayspring Music
Christine Dente
Scott Dente
Darryl Dixon
Jeff & Sherri Easter
Lester Estelle
Sara Evans
Kirk Franklin
Stuart Garrard
Terri Argot Gore
Greater Vision
Brian Green
Greenberg Music
George Hamilton IV with the Moody Brothers
Dan Haseltine
Patti Hawkins
Hawk Nelson
Maurice Henderson
Noah Henson
Bob Herdman
Kim Hill
Gregg Hionis
Stephen Hurd
Integrity's Praise! Music
Sonya Isaacs
Mahalia Jackson
Fred Jerkins
Stan Jones
Kalel
Wayne Kirkpatrick
Jennifer Knapp
Rodney Lay, Jr.
Lehsem Songs
Lifegate Music
Michael Linney
Charlie Lowell
Joyce Martin McCullough
Robert Marvin
Stephen Mason
Donnie McClurkin
Nelson McSwain
Mark A. Miller
Gordon Mote
Dan Munizzi
Newsboys
Matt Odmark
Erin O'Donnell
Solomon Olds
Michael Parker
Sandi Patty
Rebecca J. Peck
PeerMusic III
Peermusic (Ireland), Ltd.
Pettiodee
Praise Street Worship Band
The Principles
Andrew Ramsey
Ric Robbins
George Rowe
Shannon Sanders
Skillet
Donna Smith
Matthew Smith
Songs of Windswept Pacific
Sound of the New Breed
Scott Stapp
Christopher Stevens
Rebecca St. James
Kevin Stokes
Mark Stuart
Marty Stuart
Jerry Sullivan
Mooki Taylor
Jon Thatcher
Linda Thompson
Tait
Michael Tait
Talley Trio
Troy Vest
Asaph Ward
Earl Wright III
Paul Wright
Young Harmony

Wayne Haun	Steven Curtis Chapman	Pete Stewart

Producer Wayne Haun topped the list with nine nods including Southern Gospel Song, Bluegrass Song, Country Song, Southern Gospel Album, Country Album, Special Event Album and Choral Collection. Steven Curtis Chapman earned seven mentions for recordings in the Song of the Year, Male Vocalist, Pop/Contemporary Album and Long Form Music Video categories. Producer Pete Stewart is vying for six trophies including Rap/Hip Hop Song, Rock Song and Rock Album.

CeCe Winans	Connie Smith	Marc Byrd

Additional Song of the Year contenders are Chris Eaton [PRS] ("Child of Mine"), Doug Johnson ("Three Wooden Crosses"), and Mark Hall of Casting Crowns ("If We Are The Body"), who has also just been added to the Songwriter of the Year list. Other BMI-affiliated nominees include Marc Byrd, The Crabb Family, Jars of Clay, Toby McKeehan, Sandi Patty, Robert Randolph, Relient K, Rizen, Marty Stuart and Cece Winans.

The Dove Awards will broadcast live from Municipal Auditorium in Nashville on Thursday, April 28.

Casting Crowns

Congratulations to BMI's 2004 Dove Award Nominees:

NINE NOMINATIONS
Wayne Haun

SEVEN NOMINATIONS
Steven Curtis Chapman

SIX NOMINATIONS
Pete Stewart

FIVE NOMINATIONS
CeCe Winans

FOUR NOMINATIONS
Marc Byrd
The Crabb Family
Barbara Fairchild
Lari Goss
Toby McKeehan
Smokie Norful
Robert Randolph
Connie Smith

THREE NOMINATIONS
Audio Adrenaline
Kevin Bond
Cedric Caldwell
Casting Crowns
Miguel Angel Guerra
Jars of Clay
The Martins
Otto Price
Michael Tait

TWO NOMINATIONS
Matt Bronleewe
Byron Cage
Kurt Carr
Gerald Crabb
Chris Eaton
George Hamilton IV
The Hoppers
The Hoskins Family
Doug Johnson
Greater Vision
Grits
Dave Moody
Newsboys
Charlie Peacock
Relient K
Rebecca St. James
Mark Stuart
Marty Stuart
Michael Anthony Taylor

OTHER NOMINEES
Craig Adams
Alejandro Allen
Duane Allen
Paul Allen
Dallas Austin
Percy Bady
Cindi Ballard
Barry Beckett
Josiah Bell
Kene Bell
Big Dismal
Big Rocc
Blue Highway
Jason Burkum
Myron Butler
Steve Carey
Teron Carter
Chad Chapin
The Churchmen
Mike City
Club Zoo Music
John Cooper
Aaron Crabb
Adam Crabb
Jason Crabb
Kathy Crabb
Billy Ray Cyrus
dcTalk
Christine Dente
Scott Dente
Craig Duncan
Sheri Easter
James R. "Budd" Ellison
Jerome Fontamillas
David Foster
Richard Frierson
John Ginty
GlassByrd
Karen Peck Gooch
Wendi Foy Green
Andy Griffith
Mark Hall
Sanchez Harley
Dan Haseltine
Mark Heimermann
Tom Hemby
Rick Hendrix
Maurice Henderson
Bob Herdman
Here's To JO Music
Jeremy Holderfield
Canton Jones
Monroe Jones
Stacy Jones
Jay Joyce
Joey Kibble
Mark Kibble
Wayne Kirkpatrick
Jennifer Knapp
The Lewis Family
Charlie Lowell
Stephen Mason
Lisa McClendon
Donnie McClurkin
Joyce Martin McCollough
Ann McCrary
Rod McGaha
Will McGinniss
Nelson McSwain
Mike Curb Music
Carlton Moody
Phillip Moore
Dan Munizzi
Martha Munizzi
Dan Murph
Naomi and the Segos
Greg Nelson
Grant Nicholas
Arnold Lanni
Adriann Lewis
Ay'Ron Lewis
Little Pooky's Music
Aaron Neville
Art Neville
Newsboys
Grant Nicholas
The Oak Ridge Boys
Alan O'Bryant
Matt Odmark
Joe Pace
Dolly Parton
Sandi Patty
Peach Hill Songs
The Perrys
Dan Pitts
The Principles
Desmond Pringle
Tom Reeves
Alvin Richardson
Rizen
Ric Robbins
Carroll Wayne Roberson
Joseph Rojas
Matt Rollings
George Rowe
Roger Ryan
Sandtown
Ray Scott
Seventh Day Slumber
Mike Severson
Skillet
Belinda Smith
Soul Dog
Aaron Sprinkle
Kevin Stokes
Storm Boy Music
Jerry Sullivan
Swecs Music
Sweet Radical Music
Sydney Erin Music
Tait
T-Bone
Matthew Thiessen
Mark Lee Townsend
Virtue
Billy Joe Walker, Jr.
Kevin Ward
Steven Weaver
West Lodge Music
Fletch Wiley
Mario Winans
Marvin L. Winans, Jr.
Vickie Winans
Gerald Wolfe
Vicki Yohe]]> 2004-03-31T17:00:00-05:00 http://www.bmi.com/news/entry/233187 Artists, Anderson, Bill, Beathard, Casey, Berry, Chuck, Brooks & Dunn, Brown, James, Bryant, Del, Byrd, Tracy, Diddley, Bo, Green, Marv, Kirkpatrick, Wayne, Little Richard, Lonestar, McBride, Martina, McDonald, Richie, Myers, Frank, Preston, Frances, Shapiro, Tom, Sillers, Tia, Steele, Jeffrey, Tomberlin, Bobby, Verges, Troy, Wariner, Steve, White, Phillip, Awards, Musical Styles, Country, Pop, Urban, Musicworld, Feature, BMI Country Awards Lonestar’s “I’m Already There” as Song of the Year, to Tom Shapiro and Troy Verges as Songwriters of the Year, and to Sony/ATV Music Publishing Nashville as Publisher of the Year. The BMI Country Awards -- country music’s oldest awards celebration -- were hosted by President & CEO Frances W. Preston and Vice President Paul Corbin at the company’s Music Row offices.

Pictured (l to r) onstage at BMI Nashville are BMI Senior VP Del Bryant, Richie McDonald, Sony/ATV Music Publishing's Donna Hilley, BMI ICON honoree Bill Anderson, BMI President & CEO Frances Preston, BMI VP Paul Corbin, Tom Shapiro and Troy Verges.

“I’m Already There” earned songwriter Richie McDonald of Lonestar the 34th Robert J. Burton Award as Most Performed Country Song of the Year. This distinction is given to the song tallying the most feature broadcast performances during the eligibility period. Sony/ATV Tree (an entity of Sony/ATV Music Publishing Nashville) was also presented with a BMI Crystal as publisher.

Click here for photos from the event

Click here for the Country Awards Song List

The title track from Lonestar’s platinum RCA album was a multi-format smash, including six weeks at #1 on the Country chart, and has already achieved Million-Air (million performance) status. McDonald, who previously garnered BMI Country and Million-Air accolades for Lonestar’s “Everything’s Changed,” wrote “I’m Already There” with Gary Baker and Frank Myers (shares not licensed through BMI). This marks the second time Lonestar has recorded the BMI Country Song of the Year: “Amazed” (written by Marv Green, Chris Lindsey and Aimee Mayo) won in 2000.

Click a photo to learn more about these writers:
Bill Anderson	Troy Verges	Richie McDonald	Tom Shapiro

A veteran writer and a newcomer each contributed four songs to the list of 50 to share the title of Country Songwriter of the Year. Tom Shapiro, also BMI’s top country songwriter in 1993, ’96 and ’97, took the prize via “Ain’t Nothing ‘Bout You” (Brooks & Dunn), “In Another World” (Joe Diffie), “Just Let Me Be In Love” (Tracy Byrd) and “Loving Every Minute” (Mark Wills). Shapiro’s BMI Awards total now stands at 32, with 23 BMI Million-Airs.

Troy Verges saw his first BMI Awards - “Blessed” (Martina McBride #1), “I Would’ve Loved You Anyway” (Trisha Yearwood), “Who I Am” (Jessica Andrews #1) and “With Me” (Lonestar) - deliver a share of the night’s top songwriting prize.

Complementing its Song of the Year victory, Sony/ATV Music Publishing Nashville claimed BMI Country Publisher of the Year by accumulating the highest percentage of copyright ownership in award songs. President & CEO Donna Hilley accepted on behalf of the publisher, which placed 16 songs on the most-performed list through its companies Sony/ATV Tree and Sony/ATV Acuff Rose.

Legendary singer/songwriter Bill Anderson was saluted as a BMI ICON for his “unique and indelible influence on generations of music makers.” Since his first hit, “City Lights,” in 1958, Anderson has scored with nearly 50 charting singles and more than 50 BMI Country and Pop Awards. Presented tonight for only the fifth time, the honor was bestowed earlier this year on Chuck Berry, Bo Diddley and Little Richard at the BMI Pop Awards and on James Brown at the BMI Urban Awards.

Of the 54 songwriters recognized on the list of 50 songs, six collected two awards: Casey Beathard, Brett James, Wayne Kirkpatrick, Jeffrey Steele, Steve Wariner and Phillip White.

Additional publishers collecting three or more awards were Warner-Tamerlane Publishing Corp., Universal Music Publishing (Irving Music, Songs of Universal, Inc., and Universal-Songs of PolyGram International, Inc.), EMI-Blackwood Music, Inc., Shapiro’s company Wenonga Music and Ensign Music Corporation.

Among this year’s honorees, 20 songs have reached the status of BMI Million-Air (accumulating at least one million broadcast performances) for a total of over 23 million performances. Based on an average length of three minutes, one million airplays is the equivalent of 50,000 hours or 5.7 years, continuously; Million-Airs on the 2002 Country list translate into 1.1 million hours or 131 years of continuous airplay.

Two songs were cited for the second consecutive year: multi-Million-Airs “I Hope You Dance” by Tia Sillers (2001 BMI Country Song of the Year) and “One More Day” by Bobby Tomberlin.

BMI’s Citation of Achievement awards are given annually in recognition of popularity in the field of country music, as measured by feature broadcast performances on American radio and television; the 2002 Country Awards eligibility period ran April 1, 2001 through March 31, 2002.

High-resolution photos are available for downloading at press.bmi.com/country02

This spring, he released The Maple Room, a 13-song CD recorded in his own studio - for which the album was named - and released on Michael W. Smith's Rocketown label. Neither specifically a Christian nor a pop collection, Kirkpatrick says that the album is a group of personal songs that would likely never be recorded by others. He shows us an adventurous pop sensibility that ranges from the dreamy, Beatlesesque "It's Me Again," about the constant self-analysis that comes from being in a creative field, to the jazzy acoustic groove of "That's Not New Age," which clarifies the notion that words like "angels" and "spirit" don't belong exclusively to the modern metaphysical vocabulary. Though truly contemporary and sometimes even alternative sounding, every song seems to spring from an organic well.

That well began filling up when Kirkpatrick, a Louisiana native, was introduced to the guitar as a 14-year-old. After high school he moved to Nashville in 1982 to be a singer/songwriter, soon deciding to focus on writing. A college-buddy alliance brought the collaboration with Grant, and a publishing deal. His early skills and talent for crafting insightful material set him on a course that would keep him busy writing and producing - and behind the scenes - for nearly two decades. But his friends and fans never stopped asking, "When are you going to record your own CD?"

Gratefully, the wait is over. "A lot of things just lined up," says the soft-spoken, six-time BMI Award-winning Kirkpatrick. "I was just really busy for the longest time. And then, Rocketown understood who I was and the history I had in music, and they were willing to let me go off and do the vision I had for a record."

So can we expect to lose one of our more prolific songwriters to the artist world? Not likely. "I'll always first be a songwriter, and I don't want the artist thing to replace that, but just be an extension of it."

Produced by Kirkpatrick as well, The Maple Room draws from his experience and widespread success in the pop, country and Christian music markets; Kirkpatrick was joined on the album by many of Nashville's finest musicians, including Jimmie Lee Sloas, Jerry McPherson, Gordon Kennedy, Chris McHugh, Phil Madiera, Shawn Pelton and Carl Gorodetzky with The Nashville String Machine. Kirkpatrick won the 1996 Song of the Year Grammy for Eric Clapton's "Change The World" (co-written with Gordon Kennedy and Tommy Sims).

He has notched five Top 10 Billboard hits and over a dozen #1 Contemporary Christian radio singles; among those who have recorded his songs are Amy Grant, Martina McBride, Trisha Yearwood, Susan Ashton, Michael W. Smith, Eric Clapton and Faith Hill. He also co-wrote seven songs on the most recent Garth Brooks project, Garth Brooks...In The Life of Chris Gaines, and toured, played guitar and sang background vocals in the Brooks/Gaines band. Kirkpatrick, who is signed to Warner/Chappell Music, has most recently been touring on the successful "A Night In Rocketown" Tour, with Rocketown Records label mates Chris Rice, Ginny Owens and Watermark. For more info, check out <http://www.waynekirkpatrick.com>

	Warner/Chappell's Tim Wipperman, BMI's Roger Sovine, Warner/Chappell's Judy Stakee, Wayne Kirkpatrick, and Rocketown's Don Donahue
Gordon Kennedy, Wayne Kirkpatrick, Billy Sprague, Rocketown's Don Donahue
	Carson, Kourtney, Fran, Shelby and Wayne Kirkpatrick