R.E.M.	Grand Master Flash and the Furious Five	Ahmet Ertegun

Atlantic Records founder Ahmet Ertegun, who died Dec. 14, 2006, will also be honored. Ertegun was a crucial figure in the careers of artists such as Ray Charles, Aretha Franklin and The Rolling Stones, and one of the leading figures in the creation of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

R.E.M. was the quintessential indie rock band until breaking through to mass success in the early 1990s with hits including ''Losing My Religion.''

Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five led the most innovative act in hip-hop's formative era in the late 1970s, and the song ''The Message'' was like a letter from urban America. Grandmaster Flash was considered a pioneer in many DJ techniques.

Artists become eligible for induction 25 years after the release of their first record. Criteria considered includes the influence and significance of the artist's contribution to the development and perpetuation of rock and roll. Past inductees include Chuck Berry, Fats Domino, Elvis Presley, Bob Dylan, The Beatles, Cream, Bruce Springsteen and The Rolling Stones, among many others. All inductees are represented in the permanent exhibit at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame & Museum in Cleveland, Ohio, which contains the largest collection of rock and roll artifacts chronicling the history of popular music.

The band, which hails from Bellingham, WA, has roots that strike deep for their age, and transatlantic ones at that. Their name comes from the title of a song that 1960s absurdists the Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band performed in the film Magical Mystery Tour. And an immediate link between main songwriter/guitarist Ben Gibbard and band producer/guitarist Chris Walla when they started working together in 1997 was their mutual affection for the cult Scottish pop-rock band Teenage Fanclub.

The band, which includes bassist Nick Harmer and, since 2003, drummer Jason McGarr, started out making records on a four-track recorder and with each album and tour have graduated to the next level, recording Plans at the famed Longview Farms studio in rural Massachusetts.

In contrast to much of the doom, gloom and anger that has dominated modern rock in recent years, DCFC is part of the wave of new romantic types that have recently arisen, like their peers Bright Eyes and Modest Mouse. “Probably 90 percent of all the songs that have ever been written are love songs,” observes Gibbard, who is adding to the catalog with his own flair, admittedly with a frequently heartbroken touch.

Bringing their own imaginative touches to the pop-rock style, Death Cab for Cutie is now poised to make their mark on musical history.

Shown at the 2005 Sundance Composers Lab are (l-r): music supervisors Evyen Klena (Angels in America, Real Women Have Curves) and Tracy McKnight (Everyday People, The United States of Leland); Paul Broucek, President, Music, New Line Cinema; BMI's Doreen Ringer Ross; Rob Messinger, Film Music Agent, First Artists; and Peter Golub, Director of the Sundance Institute Film Music Program.

Fellows for the 8th Annual Sundance Composers Lab included Don Byron, Barbara Cohen, Marco d'Ambrosio, Andrea Kapsalis, Ljova (a.k.a. Lev Zhurbin) and Gyan Riley, who participated in workshops and creative exercises under the guidance of leading film composers and film music professionals during the two-week lab. The Composers Lab provides valuable first-hand experience in composing for film and enhances the musical understanding of independent filmmakers participating in the program.

Participants of the 2005 Sundance Composers Lab are shown from top to bottom. (Top row): driver Lagan Sebert; FFP Fellow DW Harper; driver Christina Martin; Lab Fellows Gyan Riley, Peter and Ljova; Lab staff member Rebecca Davenport; Lab Fellows Andreas Kapsalis and Marco d'Ambrosio; and Lab Technical Director Scott Johnson. (Bottom row): driver Matthew Benson; Lab Coordinator Matt Anderson; BMI's Doreen Ringer Ross; advisors John Waters and George; FFP Fellow Stew; Lab Fellow Barbara Cohen; FFP Fellows Eva Husson, Ryan Eslinger and Heidi Rodewald; Lab Manager Emma Ruse; and Assistant Lab Manager Rachel Donner.

Photos by Chelsea Ross

It's all a rather stunning accomplishment for a band formed by four dropouts from the University of Georgia. Guitarist Peter Buck and singer Michael Stipe met at an Athens record store where they both worked, hooking up soon after with bassist Mike Mills and drummer Bill Berry, longtime pals who had played in bands together since their high school days. After rehearsing in an old church, the foursome played their first gig in April of 1980. "Nobody was thinking of a career, but it was very enlightening to see that we could actually play for people and they would like it," recalls Mills.

Though inspired by the punk-rock revolution of the late 1970s, R.E.M.'s sound had a depth and breadth that encompassed many of the styles that had been hyphenated onto rock: garage, folk, psychedelic, bubblegum and more. An indie single, "Radio Free Europe," on a small Atlanta label, caught the ears of college radio, critics and the burgeoning alternative-rock underground, and launched them onto years of touring and a deal with I.R.S. Records.

With their EP Chronic Town and the album Murmur -- which Rolling Stone anointed as 1983's best album -- R.E.M. became one of America's top underground bands, a stature they solidified with Fables of the Reconstruction and Life's Rich Pageant . Then 1987's Document yielded a Top 10 hit with "The One I Love" and the band ascended to platinum sales status. R.E.M. then moved to Warner Bros. Records with Green in 1988, achieving multi-platinum sales and further hits that would continue through Out Of Time , Automatic for the People and Monster .

After R.E.M. released New Adventures in Hi-Fi in 1987, drummer Bill Berry left the group to live on and work the farm the band's fortunes had bought him. The other three carried on, but also took a well-earned break from their almost non-stop touring. Unhindered by the strictures that massive success often brings, they created some of their most exploratory music on Up and Reveal, as well as recording a soundtrack album for the Andy Kaufman biopic Man on the Moon , which took its name from the R.E.M. tribute in song to the late comic.

Now, in 2003, R.E.M. is back on the charts with In Time: 1988 to 2003: The Best of REM , a retrospective of their Warner Bros. output that proves their continuing vitality and importance, which they underscored with a return to the road. And all along, the group has eschewed the trappings of stardom and remained devoted to being as creative and musical as they can. So it's no wonder that when asked of the secret to their success, Stipe answers the question with typical modesty: "We worked really hard, we had a lot of luck, we had a modicum of talent and we did the best that we could with what we had and it turned out good. In fact, great!"

Diagnosed with incurable lung cancer in August of 2002, Zevon promptly set out to do what he has done all along: take the tragicomedy of existence and fashion it into musical art. Given three months to live, he has already stuck around for close to a year in order to give us The Wind, likely his final album. "I was more prolific than I'd ever been, notes Zevon. "I had this goal and it kept me going." As a measure of the esteem his peers feel for Zevon, the set includes guest appearances by Bruce Springsteen, Don Henley, Joe Walsh, Timothy B. Schmit, Tom Petty, Jackson Browne, Emmylou Harris, Dwight Yoakam, Billy Bob Thornton, Ry Cooder, T-Bone Burnett, Tommy Shaw, David Lindley and John Waite.

Such admiration is the just due for one of the bravest songwriters of his day, maybe ever. Zevon explored the dark side in song like a film noir private eye — and became friends with such crime fiction masters as Ross MacDonald and Carl Hiaasen — which seems only natural for a Los Angeles-reared artist who reveled in complexity and contradiction.

Trained as a classical pianist, Zevon first made his mark writing pop songs for The Turtles and playing with The Everly Brothers. The 1976 release of Warren Zevon brought him immediate critical acclaim, and '78's Excitable Boy album hit the Top 10. His stature was such that in the late 1980s, members of R.E.M. played on Zevon's Sentimental Hygiene and formed a side group with him, The Hindu Love Gods. In recent years, Zevon continued to prove his ongoing creative fire with the ironically titled albums Life'll Kill Ya and My Ride's Here (his ride being a hearse).

Being at death's door has taught Zevon "to value every moment, and do so with typically dark humor and aplomb. When David Letterman recently devoted an entire show to the singer/songwriter, Zevon noted how facing his own mortality showed him "how much you're supposed to enjoy every sandwich."

And as he presciently noted in 1983, "If you're lucky, people like something you do early and something you do just before you drop dead. That's as many pats on the back as you should expect." But thanks to his music and indomitable spirit, Zevon's legacy shall no doubt live forever.

It has been estimated that the 800 recorded titles written by Felice and Boudleaux Bryant have sold more than a half billion copies worldwide. Among their hits are "Wake Up Little Susie" and "Bye Bye Love" recorded by the Everly Brothers, "Raining In My Heart" recorded by Buddy Holly, and the Tennessee state song "Rocky Top."

Visitation for Felice Bryant will be held in Sevierville, Tennessee, on Wednesday, April 23 from 6 to 8 p.m. at Atchley Funeral Home [865/453-2835] and then in Nashville on Thursday, April 24, from 4 to 8 p.m. at Woodlawn Funeral Home [615/383-4754]. The family will also receive visitors on Friday, April 25 from 1 to 1:30 p.m. before the 2 p.m. memorial service, also at Woodlawn. Survivors include two sons, real estate executive Dane Bryant and BMI Executive Vice President Del Bryant; four grandchildren; two great-grandchildren; and a sister.

From their first hit in 1948 throughout the next four decades, the Bryants proved themselves to be among the most pioneering and influential music creators of the 20th century. They supplied songs to an astounding variety of voices -- Eddy Arnold, Bob Dylan, the Beatles, Tony Bennett, Simon & Garfunkel, Sarah Vaughan, the Grateful Dead, Dolly Parton, Elvis Presley, the Beach Boys, Roy Orbison, Elvis Costello, Count Basie, Dean Martin, Ruth Brown, Cher, R.E.M. and Ray Charles, among dozens – and launched the career of the Everly Brothers with several signature records.

Felice Bryant was born Matilda Genevieve Scaduto on August 7, 1925 in Milwaukee, into a music-loving Italian family. As a child she began composing lyrics set to traditional Italian tunes, and in her teens sang in and directed shows at the local USO. In 1945, while working as an elevator attendant at Milwaukee’s Schroeder Hotel, she struck up a conversation with a visiting musician from Georgia named Boudleaux Bryant. They eloped two days later.

In the early years of their marriage, Boudleaux and Felice (a pet name from her husband) traveled around the country while Boudleaux, a classically trained-violinist, played with various jazz and country bands. Eventually, they settled in his native Moultrie, Georgia, and began to dabble in songwriting. After writing 80 songs and suffering months of rejection, they secured their first hit when legendary publisher Fred Rose heard “Country Boy.” Rose placed the song with Grand Ole Opry newcomer Little Jimmy Dickens, who recorded “Country Boy” in 1948 and took it to the Country Top 10 in June 1949. At the urging of their mentor Rose, the Bryants moved to Nashville in 1950; they are generally considered the first people who came to the country music capital to make their living solely as songwriters.

The Bryants were also early pioneers of song promotion and self-publishing in Music City, forming Showcase Music (1954-56) before entering an innovative contract with Acuff-Rose Music Publishing [negotiating for then-unheard-of reversionary rights]. They found success with a string of country singles for Dickens (“Out Behind the Barn,” “I’m Little But I’m Loud”), Carl Smith (“Hey Joe” [also a pop hit for Frankie Laine], “It’s A Lovely, Lovely World,” “This Orchid Means The End”), Eddy Arnold (“The Richest Man In the World,” “I’ve Been Thinkin’”) and Jim Reeves (“Blue Boy”).

Mrs. Bryant usually collaborated with her husband, but earned a huge hit on her own with “We Could,” appropriately a song she had written as a birthday gift to Boudleaux. Among the artists who have recorded “We Could” are Jim Reeves, Little Jimmy Dickens, George Jones & Tammy Wynette, Kitty Wells, George Morgan, the Louvin Brothers, Charley Pride, Al Martino and John Prine.

The Bryants’ considerable success in the country arena would soon be surpassed when, in 1957, they scored two #1 pop hits on up-and-comers the Everly Brothers with “Bye Bye Love” and “Wake Up Little Susie.” The partnership between the pairs would result in numerous Rock & Roll classics; the Bryants provided the Everlys with virtually all of their early hits, including the Boudleaux/Felice co-writes “Problems,” “Poor Jenny” and “Take A Message To Mary.” (“All I Have To Do Is Dream,” “Devoted To You” and “Love Hurts”’ are credited solely to Boudleaux.) “Raining In My Heart,” first offered to the Everlys, was passed on to Buddy Holly and recorded at his final session in 1958.

The Bryant classics continued with “I Got A Hole In My Pocket,” “She Wears My Ring,” “Have A Good Time,” “Sleepless Nights,” “Come Live With Me” and “Rocky Top” (adopted as a Tennessee state song in 1982). In 1966 the duo’s contract with Acuff-Rose ended and, with the publishing rights reverted to their ownership, they established House of Bryant Publications.

The couple moved to Gatlinburg, Tennessee in 1978, where they owned and operated the Rocky Top Village Inn in the Great Smoky Mountains. In 1979 Boudleaux produced their only album as performers, A Touch of Bryant.

Boudleaux Bryant died June 26, 1987, at the age of 67.

Among the Bryants' many industry honors are membership in the Country
Music Hall of Fame (1991), the National Academy of Popular Music
Songwriters Hall of Fame (1986) and the Nashville Songwriters Hall of
Fame (1972). Affiliated with performing rights organization BMI
throughout their careers, Felice & Boudleaux Bryant earned a total of 59
BMI Pop, Country and R&B Awards.

FROM THE CATALOG OF FELICE & BOUDLEAUX BRYANT

- “All I Have To Do Is Dream” (Boudleaux) – The Everly Brothers, Bobbie Gentry & Glen Campbell
- “Baltimore” (Felice & Boudleaux) – Sonny James
- “Bird Dog” (Boudleaux) – The Everly Brothers, The Bellamy Brothers
- “Bye Bye Love” (Felice & Boudleaux) – The Everly Brothers, Simon & Garfunkel, Ray Charles, George Harrison, Conway Twitty & Loretta Lynn
- “Come Live With Me” (Felice & Boudleaux) – Roy Clark, Ray Charles
- “Country Gentleman” (Felice & Boudleaux) – Chet Atkins
- “Devoted To You” (Boudleaux) – The Everly Brothers, Carly Simon & James Taylor,
The Beach Boys
- “Got A Hole In My Pocket” (Felice & Boudleaux) – Little Jimmy Dickens, Ricky Van Shelton
- “Have A Good Time” (Felice & Boudleaux) – Tony Bennett, Ruth Brown, Billy Eckstein
- “Hey Joe” (Boudleaux) – Carl Smith, Frankie Laine, Kitty Wells
- “How’s The World Treating You” (Boudleaux) – Eddy Arnold, Elvis Presley
- “Let’s Think About Living” (Boudleaux) – Bob Luman, Trini Lopez
- “Like Strangers” (Boudleaux) – The Everly Brothers
- “Love Hurts” (Boudleaux) – Roy Orbison, Gram Parsons & Emmylou Harris, Nazareth
- “Mexico” (Boudleaux) – Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass, The Ventures
- “Poor Jenny” (Felice & Boudleaux) – The Everly Brothers
- “Problems” (Felice & Boudleaux) – The Everly Brothers
- “Raining In My Heart” (Felice & Boudleaux) – Buddy Holly, Ray Price, Dean Martin
- “Richest Man In The World” (Felice & Boudleaux) – Eddy Arnold
- “Rocky Top” (Felice & Boudleaux) – Osborne Brothers, Buck Owens
- “Sleepless Nights” (Felice & Boudleaux) – The Judds, Emmylou Harris, The Everly Brothers
- “Take A Message To Mary” (Felice & Boudleaux) – The Everly Brothers, Bob Dylan
- “Wake Up Little Susie” (Felice & Boudleaux) – The Everly Brothers, Simon & Garfunkel
- “We Could” (Felice) – Jim Reeves, Al Martino, Kitty Wells, George Jones & Tammy Wynette

BMI songwriter and Johnny Mercer Award recipient Carole King (center) is congratulated by BMI President/CEO Frances Preston, Songwriters Hall of Fame Chairman/CEO Hal David, EMI Music Publishing Chairman/CEO Marty Bandier and Songwriters Hall of Fame President Linda Moran

Other inductees included Ashford & Simpson, Randy Newman, Garth Brooks (Hitmaker Award), Stevie Wonder (Sammy Cahn Lifetime Achievement Award), National Music Publishers Association CEO Ed Murphy (Abe Olman Publishers Award) and "You're A Grand Old Flag," written by George M. Cohan (Towering Song Award).

EMI's Marty Bandier, BMI's Frances Preston and Sting

Other inductees included Ashford & Simpson, Randy Newman, Garth Brooks (Hitmaker Award), Stevie Wonder (Sammy Cahn Lifetime Achievement Award), National Music Publishers Association CEO Ed Murphy (Abe Olman Publishers Award) and "You're A Grand Old Flag," written by George M. Cohan (Towering Song Award).

BMI's Frances Preston and Barry Manilow

The Songwriters Hall of Fame was founded in 1969 by songwriter Johnny Mercer and publishers Abe Olman and Howie Richmond. The NAPM/SHOF is also devoted to the development of new songwriting talent through workshops, showcases and scholarships. Over the past 32 years, some key Songwriters Hall of Fame inductees have included Elton John, Bernie Taupin, Stevie Wonder, Brian Wilson, James Taylor, James Brown, Burt Bachrach, Jim Croce, Bob Dylan, Billy Joel and Curtis Mayfield, among many, many others.

photos: Gary Gershoff

But while the band's skullcrushing alternative metal continues to seduce fans worldwide, Injected is also winning critical kudos for their ideology. The group's second single, "Bullet," is a bold anti-violence diatribe that swims against the tide of trendy nihilism. Composed after the band signed to Island Records, "Bullet" took shape when singer/songwriter Danny Grady elected to take advantage of the forum his international record deal afforded him.

"I guess somewhere along the way I realized that we were going to have some kid's attention for more than 15 seconds," Grady says on the band's website. "The responsibility of the situation just hit me over the head like a ton of bricks one day. This song ... [is] a scream against the atmosphere in popular culture and with parents and schools that makes a Columbine possible. It's a middle finger in the face of bands who capitalize on their teenage listener's frustrations and anger, yet offer no real solutions or judgment calls. . . . The truth is: if you bring a gun into it, well then you're a punk and a sell-out. I'm not sitting on the fence on this one."

Such unequivocal statements have helped Grady and his bandmates - guitarist Jade Lemons, bassist Steve Slovisky and drummer Chris Wojtal - become critical darlings. In an uncharacteristically enthusiastic review, CMJ magazine recently wrote: "[this] fiercely adorable Georgia foursome has the chops and the savvy to create radio-friendly hooks [as] addictive as heroin." A similarly smitten Alternative Press noted: "What's intriguing about this Atlanta-based quartet is that they never deny their roots, yet they never forget where they're going."

Injected's innovative music hasn't gone unnoticed by the music industry. In a tremendous vote of confidence, MTV recently booked Injected alongside Nickelback and Default on its 2002 Campus Invasion tour. Injected's song "I, IV, V" appears on the Spider-Man soundtrack, while "Burn It Black" appears on the Scorpion King soundtrack. The debut single, "Faithless," is featured on the MTV soundtrack for Tough Enough. With concert and film exposure like this, Injected's future seems platinum-plated.

Chairman/CEO Hal David commented: "Carole King has been a tour de force in our industry ever since I can remember. She is a gifted songwriter and performer who epitomized a wonderful era of music. I am so pleased that the Songwriters Hall of Fame will be recognizing her outstanding accomplishments at this year's event."

Pop music as we know it would not be the same without Carole King. She began her career during the famed "Brill Building" era in the late 50s and early 60s, creating hit after hit. She composed her first #1 hit "Will You (Still) Love Me Tomorrow," with Gerry Goffin for the Shirelles at age 17. The #1 and Top 10 hits she and Goffin (whom she later married) wrote during this period are part of music legend. In the early 70s, King once again led the way, opening the doors for a brand new genre of artist: the singer/songwriter. Carole released her first solo album, Writer in 1970, but it was 1971's Tapestry that took her to the pinnacle. It spoke personally to every one of her contemporaries, women in particular, and provided the spiritual musical backdrop to the decade. Tapestry remains on the charts some 30 years later, having grabbed the first Grammy grand-slam for a woman: Best Record, Best Song, Best Album and Best Female Vocalist. The album has also received the Diamond Award from the RIAA for sales of over 25 million units and remained the best selling album by a woman for 25 years. King has also amassed three other Platinum records as well as six Gold records in a career that spans nearly half a century.

Carole is one of the first musical performers to move into acting, highlighted by her starring role in "Blood Brothers" on Broadway in 1994. Her acting skills will once again be tested as she will be introduced during May sweeps on the "Gilmore Girls," in a role that she will reprise in the Fall. King also writes for film and television. Recent credits include writing and singing the theme (with daughter Louise Goffin) for "Gilmore Girls," and her 2000 Emmy nomination for "Song of Freedom" (the title track to "Freedom Song," a TNT original movie produced by and starring Danny Glover and executive produced and written by Phil Alden Robinson). Other credits include the films "You've Got Mail," "A League of Their Own" and "Murphy's Romance." In this, her 60th year, the ever prolific King has released her 24th album of timeless pop music with all the bravura of her indomitable female spirit.

The National Academy of Popular Music/Songwriters Hall of Fame, the organization dedicated to recognizing the work and lives of those composers and lyricists who create popular music around the world, is one of the most prestigious in the industry. At last year's event, the stars came out to honor each other, with Dolly Parton, songwriter Diane Warren, Willie Nelson, Eric Clapton, singer/songwriter Paul Williams, Billy Joel (Johnny Mercer Award), Gloria & Emilio Estefan (Sammy Cahn Lifetime Achievement Award), Dionne Warwick (Hitmaker Award), Ralph Peer (Abe Olman Publishers Award) and Iris Cantor (Patron of the Arts Award) being honored. Songwriters Rob Thomas, Dave Matthews, Clive Davis, Paul Shaffer, Elvis Costello, Judy Collins, Jimmy Webb, Emmylou Harris, Deborah Cox, Marc Anthony, Maria Elena Holly (Buddy Holly's widow), Blu Cantrell, Richard Belzer, Tony Randall, Jon Secada, and even Kermit the Frog came out to present or perform for the honorees. A highlight of the evening was the grand finale performance of "Not Fade Away" that featured all of the artists onstage together.

The National Academy of Popular Music/Songwriters' Hall of Fame was founded in 1969 by songwriter Johnny Mercer and publishers Abe Olman and Howie Richmond. The NAPM/SHOF is also devoted to the development of new songwriting talent through workshops, showcases and scholarships. Over the past 32 years, some key Songwriters Hall of Fame inductees have included Burt Bachrach, Jim Croce, Bob Dylan, Billy Joel, Sir Elton John, Bernie Taupin, Stevie Wonder, Brian Wilson, James Taylor, James Brown and Curtis Mayfield, among many, many others.

Tickets for the Songwriters Hall of Fame are $750 each and are available through Buckley Hall Events at (212) 573-6933. Net proceeds from the event will go towards the Songwriters Hall of Fame’s educational programs.

If mustangs had human voices, John Abernathy believes they would sing a song called "Runnin' In The West."

The song, with lyrics written by Abernathy, has become the basis of a television public service announcement promoting the adoption of wild horses. The lyrics recently won a nomination for a regional Emmy Award, one of television's highest honors.

"To me, this is success even though I still haven't made my first nickel (on the song)," he said. "I wrote the song from the mustang's point of view," said Abernathy, who is no stranger to horses. "I tried to help people understand how a wild horse must feel about living his life running free on the open range."

Abernathy is the son of an early rancher and homesteader in Arizona Territory. In his younger days, he followed the pro-rodeo circuit for two years, working as an announcer and competing in wild horse races.

He lived in Arizona and central California during his early years, before moving back to the family ranch near Tombstone, Arizona. Nearly 24 years ago, he took a job with BMI, where he now works as a Licensing Executive. Abernathy's BMI job is licensing restaurants and bars that use music, to help compensate BMI's 300,000 affiliated songwriters and copyright owners for their creative efforts. When BMI moved its General Licensing offices to Nashville in 1995, Abernathy was transferred to the new office.

Over the past 15 years, his sales territories have included Arizona, New Mexico, Utah, Montana, Oklahoma and West Texas. At 62 years of age, he still has the lanky frame of a cowboy. Although he has been able to spend only about one week per month in his sales region of beloved Western states, he wears cowboy-cut shirts and bolo ties to work every day in Nashville -- in an office building where every other male wears business dress shirts and ties.

"The bolo tie is the official neck tie of New Mexico," he explained. "The Governor declared it so by proclamation."

Although he had written a few song lyrics before moving to Nashville, he stopped writing until recently. "I think it was the yearning for the Southwest that made my mind seem to wander back in that direction," he said. He plans to retire from BMI on Dec. 31 and move back to Albuquerque. "I'm thinking of working with the BLM wild horse adoption program, following up on adoptions to assure that the animals are receiving good care, " he said.

After composing the lyrics to "Runnin' In The West," he shared them with co-worker Carl Behnke, who set them to music. Another BMI employee, Sam Lowe, recorded the song on a CD with two more of Abernathy's Western songs. When they decided to make a music video around "Runnin' In The West" with the guidance of music video producer Terry Bumgarner, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) offered extensive film footage shot during wild horse round-ups. Lee Delaney, former director of the wild horse and burro program in Washington D.C., viewed the video and liked what he saw. Delaney asked Abernathy to write and narrate two public service announcements based on the song and video for television.

Abernathy worked with producer Art Ferraro on the project. Upon completion, the television spots were distributed and telecast on stations from coast to coast. Abernathy said BLM officials have told him the spots have had a noticeable affect on public interest and visits at the BLM Eastern U.S. wild horse adoption facility in Cross Plains, Tenn.

Abernathy and other Emmy nominees were honored recently at a reception at the BMI offices in Nashville. Winners of the 16th Annual Midsouth Regional Emmy Awards will be announced on Feb. 2 in ceremonies at Nashville's Gaylord Opryland Hotel. The National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences bestows Emmy Awards to foster excellence in television.