Co-sponsored by BMI, it will take place May 29-31 at the Asheville Crowne Plaza Resort, Asheville, NC.

With registration limited to 200 attendees, the Expo is a networking and relationship-building bonanza. BMI members will receive a 10% discount on their registration fee.

For more information, click here: Durango-Songwriter-Expo or call 970-259-9747.

Co-sponsored by BMI, it will take place May 29-31 at the Asheville Crowne Plaza Resort, Asheville, NC.

With registration limited to 200 attendees, the Expo is a networking and relationship-building bonanza. BMI members will receive a 10% discount on their registration fee.

For more information, click here: Durango-Songwriter-Expo or call 970-259-9747.

Co-sponsored by BMI, it will take place May 29-31 at the Asheville Crowne Plaza Resort, Asheville, NC.

With registration limited to 200 attendees, the Expo is a networking and relationship-building bonanza. BMI members will receive a 10% discount on their registration fee.

For more information, click here: Durango-Songwriter-Expo or call 970-259-9747.

Dr. John thrilled the crowd by sitting down at the piano and playing a few of their requests. The first request of the evening came from Dr. John’s old friend and fellow luminary Aaron Neville. The song: “Such a Night.”

Longtime friends and sometime collaborators Aaron Neville (left) and Dr. John (right) recalled some good times.

Dr. John tickled the ivories and the crowd.

Many of Music Row’s finest attended the party to meet the legend in person. Pictured shooting the breeze are (l to r): Dr. John and BMI’s Harry Warner with premier songwriter and guitarist Al Anderson.

Pictured are (l to r): BMI’s Jody Williams, Dr. John and Aaron Neville.

Photos by Steve Lowry

Hugh Prestwood, Jeffrey Steele, Dennis Morgan

In addition to the Hall of Fame inductions, the Nashville Songwriters Association International (NSAI) conferred a series of Songwriter Achievement Awards, with the top prizes won by BMI affiliates. BMI Award-winning writer Jeffrey Steele earned his second NSAI Songwriter of the Year title, honored this year for his compositions "Gone," recorded by Montgomery Gentry, and "Help Somebody," recorded by Van Zant. NSAI's Song of the Year honors went to "Bless the Broken Road," written by Bobby Boyd, Jeff Hanna and Marcus Hummon. The song, previously recorded by Hummon, was a recent hit for Rascal Flatts.

Del Bryant, Patty Loveless

Longtime friend and fellow Hall of Famer Rodney Crowell gave a poignant introduction speech for Vince Gill, followed by a stunning performance of "Whenever You Come Around" by Gill's wife, Amy Grant. Patty Loveless brought the house down with her rendering of Gill's "Go Rest High on That Mountain," backed by John Hobbs and Al Anderson, who also paid tribute to Gill by treating the audience to a sampling of his other signature songs, including "When I Call Your Name," "Never Knew Lonely," "Pocket Full of Gold," "Don't Let Our Love Start Slipping Away," "I Still Believe in You," "Look at Us," "Whenever You Come Around," and "Which Bridge To Cross (Which Bridge To Burn)."

NSAI's Mark Alan Springer, Phillip White, Roger Murrah, Jeff Hanna, Bobby Boyd, Vince Gill, Jeffrey Steele, Del Bryant, James Dean Hicks

Blake Shelton and BMI's Thomas Cain saluted Murrah, whose hits include "Goodbye Time," "Don't Rock the Jukebox," "High Cotton," "I'm in a Hurry (and Don't Know Why)," "We're in This Love Together," "Ozark Mountain Jubilee," "It Takes a Little Rain (To Make Love Grow)," "Life's Highway," "It's a Little Too Late" and "National Working Woman's Holiday." Murrah's induction speech was provided by Hall of Fame member Bobby Braddock.

Billy Montana, Del Bryant	Jeffrey Steele

Steve Wariner joined Jeffrey Steele, Reed band member Mark Thornton and guitarist John Knowles to celebrate Reed, whose classics include "East Bound and Down," "Amos Moses," "When You're Hot, You're Hot," "A Thing Called Love," "Guitar Man," "The Claw," "Crazy Legs," "Misery Loves Company," "Talk About the Good Times" and "Tupelo Mississippi Flash." Longtime friend Bobby Bare provided the induction speech.

Besides honoring the Song, Songwriter and Songwriter/Artist of the Year, the writers of NSAI's Professional Songwriters Division also singled out 13 songs and their writers for its 2005 Achievement Awards (informally dubbed "The Songs I Wish I'd Written").

BMI recipients were Bobby Boyd, Jeff Hanna and Marcus Hummon for "Bless The Broken Road," Bart Butler and Bobby Pinson for "Don't Ask Me How I Know," James Dean Hicks and Roger Murrah for "Goodbye Time," Phillip White for "He Gets That from Me," Hank Williams, Sr. for "Hey, Good Lookin'," Joe Diffie, Tony Martin and Tom Shapiro for "My Give a Damn's Busted," Billy Montana for "Suds in the Bucket," Ed Hill, Karyn Rochelle for "Georgia Rain" and Paul Overstreet for "Some Beach." "Bless The Broken Road" was the top choice of the NSAI Pro writers.]]> 2005-10-17T05:00:00-05:00 http://www.bmi.com/news/entry/234523 Artists, Anderson, Al, Harris, Richard, Hummon, Marcus, Johnson, Ken, Lindsey, Hillary, McKenna, Lori, Sellers, Warren, Steele, Jeffrey, Musical Styles, Singer-Songwriter Durango Songwriter's Expo is now offering a discounted registration fee of $200 to BMI writers and composers. The 10th annual Expo, co-sponsored by BMI, will take place October 6-8 at The Lodge at Tamarron in the mountains north of Durango, Colorado.

Since 1996, the Durango Songwriter's Expo has provided a perfect blend of music business seminars and workshops, song listening/critique sessions, live songwriter showcases, and a live hit writer concert to close the event. With registration limited to 200 attendees, the Expo is truly an intimate event that offers unparalleled networking opportunities.

Registrations are accepted on a first come, first served basis.

This year's special guests include songwriters Jeffrey Steele, Al Anderson, Marcus Hummon, Hillary Lindsey, and Lori McKenna, as well as industry pros including Interscope/A&M's Tony Ferguson, Chrysalis' Sara Kapuchinski, Columbia's Beka Callaway and Marshall Altman, Aware's Steve Smith, Sony's Clay Bradley, BMG's Michelle Berlin, Harlan Howard Songs' Melanie Howard, Maverick's Kevin Williamson, and a bevy of other producers, managers, and writers.

In just the last few months, Expo attendees Ken Johnson, Warren Sellers, Richard Harris and Julianne Hansen have been signed to deals as a direct result of their Expo experience. In addition, two #1 songs have been written at this event by participating hit songwriters.

Greg Crowe, Bob DiPiero, Conchita Leeflang, Chuck Jones, Chuck Cannon, BMI's Mary Loving, Peter Nygard, Kylie Sackley, Jeffrey Steele and Al Anderson (kneeling) Travis TV's Greg Travis, BMI's Brian Tipton and Mark Mason.

A crew from Travis TV attended the event to film a segment for GAC's series "Country Music Across America," and L.A.-based recording artist Conchita Leeflang was on hand for a special performance.

Other sponsors included Blue Sky Real Estate, Performing Songwriter magazine, Crystal Palace Casino, The Poop Deck, Nashville Underground, Stella Artois, Junkanoo Rum and American Airlines.

Performing Songwriter magazine's Abby White, Kylie Sackley, Jeffrey Steele, NSAI's Virginia Davis, Conchita Leeflang

Jeffrey Steele, Bob DiPiero and Al Anderson perform at Nygard Cay Resort

Al Anderson, Blue Sky Real Estate's Steven Johnson, Bob DiPiero

Chuck Cannon and Chuck Jones play at the Poop Deck restaurant

Kylie Sackley and Greg Crowe perform at Crystal Palace Casino

Sunset from Nygard Cay

Nygard Cay Resort at night

photos: Jonathan Simms and Brian Tipton

Chuck Cannon	Chuck Jones	Jeffrey Steele

The tunesmiths will perform two public shows -- at the Crystal Palace Casino on Friday, November 12 at 8:00 pm, and at The Poop Deck on Saturday, November 13 at 9:00 pm. Tickets will be available at the door.

Al Anderson	Bob DiPiero

Additional event sponsors include festival host Nygard Cay Resort, American Airlines, Blue Sky Real Estate, Performing Songwriter magazine, Stella Artois, Nashville Underground, Crystal Palace Casino, Junkanoo Rum, Country Music Across America and The Poop Deck.

Greg Crowe	Kylie Sackley

Sunset from the Nygard Cay Resort

BMI presented its Country Awards last night (11/4), recognizing the songwriters and publishers of the past year's 50 most performed country songs. Ultimate honors went to the Stevie Nicks-penned "Landslide" as Song of the Year; to Jeffrey Steele as Songwriter of the Year; and to Sony/ATV Music Publishing Nashville as Publisher of the Year. A highlight of the evening was the tribute to Dolly Parton, who was honored as a BMI ICON. 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.

"Landslide" earned songwriter Stevie Nicks of Fleetwood Mac the 35th Robert J. Burton Award as Most Performed Country Song of the Year. This distinction is given to the song tallying the most feature US broadcast performances during the eligibility period. Nicks is also publisher of the song, through her company Welsh Witch Music. Included on the Dixie Chicks' platinum Monument album Home, "Landslide" was a Country, Adult Top 40, Hot 100 and AC Billboard charts smash. Nicks previously collected a Pop Award in 1998 for Fleetwood Mac's recording of the song, which has achieved Million-Air status with over three million airplays.

Stevie Nicks | Bio

Jeffrey Steele | Bio

Dolly Parton | Bio

Jeffrey Steele claimed the title of Songwriter of the Year by placing four songs on the list of 50: "Chrome" (Trace Adkins), "The Cowboy In Me" [2nd Award] (Tim McGraw), "My Town" (Montgomery Gentry) and "These Days" (Rascal Flatts). Steele's BMI Awards total now stands at 14, with 11 Million-Air songs [16 million performances total].

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 12 songs on the most-performed list [through its companies Sony/ATV Tree and Sony/ATV Acuff Rose]: "Brokenheartsville," "I Keep Looking," "I Miss My Friend," "Living and Living Well," "A Lot Of Things Different," "Man To Man," "My Heart Is Lost To You," "Red Rag Top," "She'll Leave You With A Smile," "Ten Rounds With Jose Cuervo," "These Days," and "What If She's An Angel."

Dolly Parton was saluted as a BMI ICON for her "unique and indelible influence on generations of music makers." After a video tribute, Kris Kristofferson and Porter Wagoner took the stage to share reminiscences. Closing the program were performances by Lee Ann Womack, who sang "Jolene," and Vince Gill, who performed "I Will Always Love You."

With her first solo hit "Dumb Blonde" in 1967, Parton launched a career that helped revolutionize the world of country music for women and, through her songwriting, performing, film & television projects and entrepreneurial ventures, has made her one of the most successful and recognizable artists in history.

She has scored with more than 100 charting songs -- including 24 #1s -- and has collected 37 BMI Country and Pop Awards for such classics as "I Will Always Love You," "9 To 5," "Jolene," "Two Doors Down," "To Daddy," "Here You Come Again" and "Love Is Like A Butterfly." A member of the Country Music Hall of Fame since 1999, she is nominated as Female Vocalist of the Year at the 2003 CMA Awards. Parton enters the elite company of previously honored BMI ICONs: James Brown, Chuck Berry, Bo Diddley and Little Richard, Isaac Hayes, Motown songwriting trio Brian Holland, Lamont Dozier and Edward Holland, and last year's Country ICON, Bill Anderson.

Of the 64 songwriters recognized, nine joined Steele as multiple winners: Tony Martin and Tom Shapiro with three songs each; Al Anderson, Toby Keith, David Lee, Lee Thomas Miller, Mark Nesler, Tia Sillers and Troy Verges with two each.

Additional publishers with three or more awards were Songs of Windswept Pacific; Universal Music Publishing Group; Warner-Tamerlane Publishing Corp.; Mosaic Music; Careers-BMG Music Publishing, Inc./Zomba Songs Inc.; EMI Music Publishing; Steele's companies Gottahaveable Music/My Life's Work Music; and Shapiro's company Wenonga Music.

Among this year's honorees, 24 songs have reached the status of BMI Million-Air (accumulating at least one million broadcast performances) for a total of over 32 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 2003 Country list translate into 1.6 million hours or 185 years of continuous airplay. In addition to "The Cowboy In Me," songs cited for the second consecutive year were Million-Airs "Blessed," "Bring On the Rain," "I'm Movin' On" and "Young."

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 2003 Country Awards eligibility period ran April 1, 2002 through March 31, 2003.

BMI represents approximately 300,000 songwriters, composers and publishers in all areas of music. It collects license fees on behalf of American creators, as well as for thousands of creators from around the world who haven chosen BMI for American representation. The fees for the public performances of its repertoire are then distributed as royalties to the writers and copyright holders BMI represents. These performances include radio airplay, broadcast and cable television carriage and live and recorded performances by other music customers, including but not limited to the Internet, cell phone ring tones, restaurants and clubs, retail outlets, and music-on-hold.