November 13, 2020 The MusicRow Weekly THIS WEEK’S HEADLINES New Winners Abound At CMA Awards Morgan Wallen Announces Sophomore Double Album Project Kameron Marlowe Drops Self-Titled Debut EP “Gone Too Soon” Hitmaker Andrew Jannakos Inks Sony Label Deal Ashley Gorley, Warner Chappell, “One Man Band” Lead ASCAP 2020 Country Awards Ross Copperman, “Whiskey Glasses,” Warner Chappell Lead BMI Country Awards Winners Matt McGinn, Wyatt Durrette III, SMACKWORKS Lead SESAC Awards Russell Dickerson Celebrates Fourth No. 1 DISClaimer Singles Reviews And much more… Friday, November 13, 2020 SIGN UP HERE (FREE!) New Winners Abound At CMA Awards Eric Church accepts award for Entertainer of the Year at The 54th Annual CMA Awards. Photo: Donn Jones/CMA New winners abounded at last night’s (Nov. 11) Country Music Association Awards. Most notably, Eric Church cinched his first CMA Entertainer of the Year honor after three previous nominations. He humbly accepted the honor, reflecting on what 2020 has meant to to him. “If there was ever a year not to win…” Church laughed as he took the stage. “This year, at least for me, has been about loss – loss of life, loss of playing shows, loss of freedom, loss of kids being in school… And you know what the win is? The win is we all were here tonight, together as country music – in person, live and I believe this, I really believe this: It’s gonna be music that brings us out of this. That is the one thing that’s gonna save the world. Politicians are about division; music is about unity.” Maren Morris, a three-time winner this year, took home her first wins for Female Vocalist of the Year, as well as Single of the Year and Song of the Year for “The Bones.” Songwriter Laura Veltz, a first-time nominee this year, also earned her first win for Song of the Year as a co-writer on “The Bones”, and Jimmy Robbins won his first CMA Award with the song. Morris’ Sony labelmate Luke Combs took home his first Album of the Year win (for What You See Is What You Get), along with his second Male Vocalist of the Year honor. Page 1 of 20
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November 13, 2020 The MusicRow Weekly
THIS WEEK’S HEADLINES
New Winners Abound At CMA Awards
Morgan Wallen Announces Sophomore Double Album Project
Kameron Marlowe Drops Self-Titled Debut EP
“Gone Too Soon” Hitmaker Andrew Jannakos Inks Sony Label Deal
Ashley Gorley, Warner Chappell, “One Man Band” Lead ASCAP 2020 Country Awards
Ross Copperman, “Whiskey Glasses,” Warner Chappell Lead BMI Country Awards Winners
Matt McGinn, Wyatt Durrette III, SMACKWORKS Lead SESAC Awards
Russell Dickerson Celebrates Fourth No. 1
DISClaimer Singles Reviews
And much more…
Friday, November 13, 2020
SIGN UP HERE (FREE!)New Winners Abound At CMA Awards
Eric Church accepts award for Entertainer of the Year at The 54th Annual CMA Awards. Photo: Donn Jones/CMA
New winners abounded at last night’s (Nov. 11) Country Music Association Awards.
Most notably, Eric Church cinched his first CMA Entertainer of the Year honor after three previous nominations.
He humbly accepted the honor, reflecting on what 2020 has meant to to him.
“If there was ever a year not to win…” Church laughed as he took the stage. “This year, at least for me, has been about loss – loss of life, loss of playing shows, loss of freedom, loss of kids being in school… And you know what the win is? The win is we all were here tonight, together as country music – in person, live and I believe this, I really believe this: It’s gonna be music that brings us out of this. That is the one thing that’s gonna save the world. Politicians are about division; music is about unity.”
Maren Morris, a three-time winner this year, took home her first wins for Female Vocalist of the Year, as well as Single of the Year and Song of the Year for “The Bones.” Songwriter Laura Veltz, a first-time nominee this year, also earned her first win for Song of the Year as a co-writer on “The Bones”, and Jimmy Robbins won his first CMA Award with the song.
Morris’ Sony labelmate Luke Combs took home his first Album of the Year win (for What You See Is What You Get), along with his second Male Vocalist of the Year honor.
Morgan Wallen, Carly Pearce, and Lee Brice also picked up their very first CMA Awards honors, with Pearce and Brice earning Musical Event of the Year for “I Hope You’re Happy Now.” Wallen was awarded New Artist of the Year.
Due to COVID-19 precautions, this year’s CMA Awards looked vastly different—no Bridgestone Arena filled with fans cheering, but rather the show harkened back to its more modest beginnings in 1967, a non-televised banquet and show.
Held this year at Music City Center, nominees and performers were socially distanced at tables throughout the room, with two performance stages flanked either end of the room with a smaller center stage for awards acceptance speeches.
The effect was intimate but energetic, a club lounge vibe with an arena-sized passion coming from the performing artists, who were clearly happy to be back onstage in front of an audience.
Co-hosts Reba and Darius Rucker welcomed viewers and the limited in-house audience made of nominees and performers to the CMA Awards—“or as I like to call it, my favorite Wednesday of 2020,” Reba said.
“In 2020, it’s great to be anywhere,” she added. “Tonight’s a wonderful time to be together, sing together and be together.”
Even with the CMA’s COVID-19 precautions, two more acts dropped out as the show got underway, making for some last-minute adjustments. The evening’s co-host Rucker performed his single “Beer & Sunshine” without Lady A, who performed on the recorded version of the track. The trio pulled out of the CMA telecast just before the start of the show due to a COVID-19 exposure. As the show got underway, Rascal Flatts announced they would not be taking part in the CMA Awards due to a positive COVID test within the band. Fiddle player Jenee Fleenor, who picked up her second Musician of the Year honor last night, also dropped out of the show due to COVID-19. Lee Brice and Florida Georgia Line’s Tyler Hubbard had dropped out of the awards show earlier in the week.
Sony Music Nashville artists took home the lion’s share of honors in several categories. Maren Morris launched the show with a pair of major wins, as “The Bones” earned Single and Song of the Year.
“This is very weird but I love this kind of setup because we can all hang out all night together and that’s a first…It has kind of been a medicine for this year, this crazy year,” she said.
Maren Morris. Photo: Courtesy ABC
After her Female Vocalist of the Year win, Morris used her acceptance speech to honor Black female country artists and their musical contributions.
“There are some names in my mind that I want to give recognition to because I’m just a fan of their music and they are country as it gets. I just want them all to know how much we love them back and just check out their music after this: Linda Martell, Yola, Mickey Guyton, Rissi Palmer, Brittney Spencer, Rhiannon Giddens.
“There are so many amazing Black women that pioneer and continue to pioneer this genre and I know they are going to come after me, they’ve come before me, but you’ve made this genre so, so beautiful and I hope you know that we see you. Thank you for making me so inspired as a singer in this genre.”
In addition to Combs’ aforementioned wins, Sony labelmates Old Dominion picked up a third consecutive win for Vocal Group of the Year. Old Dominion also made tribute to the 40th anniversary of the film Urban Cowboy with Johnny Lee’s “Looking for Love.” Lee and Mickey Gilley were in attendance.
The Vocal Duo of the Year category celebrates its 50th anniversary this year, with the first category honor being given to Porter Wagoner and Dolly Parton in 1970. This year, Vocal Duo of the Year went to Dan + Shay. Performing from the Hollywood Bowl and eerily highlighting the empty seats, Dan + Shay and Justin Bieber performed a stripped-down rendition of their smash hit “10,000 Hours.”
“I did not expect to get this,” Wallen said in accepting his New Artist of the Year honor. “I’d like to thank the Good Lord first of all. I’d like to thank my Mama for always being the one to push me to sing. My Dad for always making the sacrifices for me and my family so I could sing, and to my team and for Nashville for accepting me into your family. It’s been a great five years since I moved here,” said Wallen, who also performed “More Than My Hometown” during the show, and immediately after, announced a January release date for his upcoming album.
Many of the performances throughout the evening honored musical titans that died over the past year, including Kenny Rogers, Charlie Daniels, Mac Davis, and Joe Diffie.
Dierks Bentley started the show standing alone onstage, with a lone spotlight, as he performed “Long Haired Country Boy” in tribute to Daniels on center stage.
The show moved to a side stage as Brothers Osborne joined Bentley on “Trudy.” Then Ashley McBryde handled spitfire lyrics of “Texas” with ease, accompanied by John Osborne’s smoldering guitar licks. Jason Aldean followed with “Devil Went Down To Georgia.”
Jon Pardi brought ‘90s country intensity with his tribute to the late Diffie with a performance of “Pickup Man,” earning an enthusiastic standing ovation from many in the crowd. Little Big Town honored Kenny Rogers with their heavenly harmonies on a rendition of “Sweet Music Man,” while McEntire and Rucker paid tribute to Davis with a rendition of the Davis-penned Elvis classic “In The Ghetto.” Curiously missing from the evening’s tributes was any homage to singer-songwriter John Prine, who died earlier this year from COVID-19 complications and penned songs including George Strait’s “I Just Wanna Dance With You” (which earned Prine a CMA nomination for Song of the Year in 1998), as well as his own sterling classics such as “Sam Stone” and “Hello In There.”
Some performances, such as Brothers Osborne’s blues-rock soaked performance of “All Night,” and Kelsea Ballerini‘s semi-theatrical performance of “hole in the bottle,” brought up the energy, but it was the evening’s quieter moments that often had the most impact, such as Ingrid Andress’ stunningly vulnerable rendition of “More Hearts Than Mine” which ended with the singer in tears, Jimmie Allen’s soothing rendition of his breakthrough radio hit “Best Shot,” Chris and Morgane Stapleton‘s musical gut-punch of a performance on “Starting Over,” or Miranda Lambert‘s stripped-down take on “Settling Down.”
The evening’s highest tribute, the Willie Nelson Lifetime Achievement Award, was given to Charley Pride. Between his chart debut in 1966, and 1989, Pride had 29 No. 1 country hits and over 50 Top 10 songs. In 1971, he was named CMA Entertainer of the Year as well as Male Vocalist of the Year in both 1971 and 1972. Pride was also the first Black man to co-host the CMA Awards, taking the reins in 1975 alongside Glen Campbell. He became a Grand Ole Opry member in 1993 and in 2000, was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame. He holds three Grammy Awards and was honored with a Lifetime Achievement Award by The Recording Academy in 2017. Previous recipients of the Willie Nelson Lifetime Achievement Award include Willie Nelson (2012), Kenny Rogers (2013), Johnny Cash (2015), Dolly Parton (2016) and Kris Kristofferson (2019).
Jimmie Allen presented Pride with the honor and joined the legendary entertainer for Pride’s 1971 signature hit “Kiss An Angel Good Mornin’,” as the audience rose and sang along (with the cameras panning to Thomas Rhett and his wife Lauren, who danced along to the tune).
“Thank you for all the songs and for breaking down so many barriers,” Allen said, calling Pride his “hero.”
The 86-year-old Pride humbly accepted his honor with an all-too-brief and sweet speech, saying “I want to thank CMA for this award,” also thanking Jack Clement, Jerry Bradley, among others. “To all my fans, I want to say thank you,” Pride summed. MR
Reba McEntire and Darius Rucker. Photo: John Russell/CMA
Columbia Nashville artist Kameron Marlowe is releasing his self-titled debut EP this Friday (Nov. 13). To celebrate the release, Marlowe will open for Chris Young at a socially-distanced concert at Coolray Field in Lawrenceville, Georgia, on Saturday (Nov. 14).
Produced by Brad Hill, the six-song release includes Marlowe’s entirely self-penned debut “Giving You Up” and “Burn ‘Em All,” which has ranked Top 40 on Billboard’s Hot Country Songs chart. Marlowe has earned more than 77 million on-demand career streams.
“I’ve been waiting for this day for a long time. Coming from a small town, things like this just don’t happen,” said Marlowe. “Releasing my debut EP under Columbia Nashville is a dream come true and I couldn’t be more excited for what’s to come.”
Click here to view the track list.
Morgan Wallen Announces Sophomore Double Album Project Set For January
Morgan Wallen is having a big week this week, with his CMA win last night (Nov. 11) for New Artist of the Year and the news that he’ll release his brand new two-album sophomore project, Dangerous: The Double Album, on Jan. 8.
He announced the release on his socials last night. The 30-track album is nearly three years in the making, and features songs penned by an arsenal of writers ranging from Ashley Gorley, Shane McAnally, Hillary Lindsey, and Josh Osborne, to two of Wallen’s biggest musical inspirations, Eric Church and Jason Isbell, along with his closest musical confidants HARDY, ERNEST and Ryan Vojtesak (aka Charlie Handsome).
The vast double album holds both of Wallen’s current country singles, “More Than My Hometown” and “7 Summers,”as well as his acclaimed cover of Isbell’s “Cover Me Up,” the New Year’s surprise release “This Bar,” and the countrified album version of the triple Platinum Diplo collaboration, “Heartless.”
“As y’all may have heard, I announced a double album last night, and I couldn’t be more excited about it,” shared Wallen. “The ‘double album’ idea started off as just a joke between me and my manager because we had accumulated so many songs over the past couple of years. Then quarantine hit, and we realized it might actually be possible to have enough time to make it happen. I also ended up writing quite a few more songs during the quarantine with some of my good buddies. After a few months of production
and fine tuning, I am so proud of what we came up with. I know 32 (eventual) songs sounds like a lot to digest, but I truly did my best to make sure there’s not a song that I would press ‘next’ on. I also wanted the songs to speak to multiple phases of life and have multiple different sounds based on my influences and based on what I enjoy. The three songs that we will put out next week will hopefully encapsulate a lot of the project for you and hold you off until January. Thank y’all!!”
WHMA Anniston, ALWXFL Florence, ALKHBZ Harrison, ARKQUS Hot Springs, ARKDXY Jonesboro, ARKWCK Searcy, ARKRAZ Santa Barbara, CAWPAP Panama City, FLWUBB Savannah, GAKXIA Marshalltown, IAKIAI Mason City, IAKBOE Oskaloosa, IAKTHK Idaho Falls, IDWOOZ Carterville, IL
New On The Chart —Debuting This Weeksong/artist/label—Chart PositionBlame It On You/Jason Aldean/Broken Bow — 61So Long So Long/Darlinghurst/Helium — 73Ghost Town Nation/Travis Tritt/Big Noise — 78What's Your Country Song/Thomas Rhett/Valory — 79Heaven Down Here/Mickey Guyton/Capitol — 80
Greatest Spin Increasesong/artist/label—Spin IncreaseGone/Dierks Bentley/Capitol — 305Down To One/Luke Bryan/Capitol — 272Hell Of A View/Eric Church/EMI — 207Blame It On You/Jason Aldean/Broken Bow — 186Long Live/Florida Georgia Line/BMLG Records — 159Breaking Up Was Easy In The 90's/Sam Hunt/MCA Nashville — 157What's Your Country Song/Thomas Rhett/Valory — 155
Most Addedsong/artist/label—No. of AddsHell Of A View/Eric Church/EMI — 15Blame It On You/Jason Aldean/Broken Bow — 13What's Your Country Song/Thomas Rhett/Valory — 13Memory I Don't Mess With/Lee Brice/Curb — 13Heaven On Dirt/Teddy Robb/Monument — 9Gone/Dierks Bentley/Capitol — 9Cold Beer Calling My Name/Jameson Rodgers feat. Luke Combs/River House Artists/Columbia Nashville — 7
On Deck—Soon To Be Chartingsong/artist/label—No. of SpinsWorship You/Kane Brown/RCA Nashville — 154Anybody Else/Mira Goto/ArtistMax/Copperline — 151Meghan/Brecken Miles/Rhyme Partners — 149Heartland/Hailey Whitters/Big Loud Records/S&D — 149Won't Forget/Rusty Gear/Chickahominy Marsh Records — 145
NO. 1 SONGCHART ACTION
Friday, November 13, 2020
“All Night” by Brothers Osborne peaks at No. 1 on the MusicRow CountryBreakout Chart this week. The single has accumulated over 29,000 spins in 26 weeks on the chart.
The brothers, John and TJ Osborne co-wrote “All Night” with Andrew DeRoberts. It appears on the duo’s third studio album, Skeletons, which was released on Oct. 9.
“If Pawn Shop was our introduction, and Port Saint Joe was like the first conversation we had with someone over a beer, then Skeletons is the moment where you start getting down to the real stuff and showing who you really are,” says John Osborne. “If you really want to get to know us, this is the record to do it.”
Each songwriter and artist earning No. 1 credit on the MusicRow Chart receives a MusicRow Challenge Coin. Click here to
26 2 1 All Night / Brothers Osborne / EMI 1827/69 5 849 4 2 Long Live / Florida Georgia Line / BMLG Records 1823/68 10 15921 3 3 How They Remember You / Rascal Flatts / Big Machine 1793/64 4 6911 1 4 Starting Over / Chris Stapleton / Mercury Nashville 1736/63 -7 -13515 7 5 I Should Probably Go To Bed / Dan + Shay / Warner Music Nashville 1581/50 2 2524 10 6 Almost Maybes / Jordan Davis / MCA Nashville 1557/62 9 1266 11 7 Better Together / Luke Combs / Columbia 1546/58 10 14619 8 8 Happy Does / Kenny Chesney / Blue Chair Records/Warner Music Nashville 1499/47 3 4330 5 9 Love You Like I Used To / Russell Dickerson / Triple Tigers Records 1450/41 -12 -1954 17 10 Down To One / Luke Bryan / Capitol 1389/61 24 27228 13 11 Lady / Brett Young / BMLG 1342/57 2 2811 15 12 7 Summers / Morgan Wallen / Big Loud Records 1336/58 8 9729 12 13 Made For You / Jake Owen / Big Loud Records 1320/56 -1 -1839 14 14 Nobody / Dylan Scott / Curb 1319/54 2 2510 16 15 Settling Down / Miranda Lambert / Vanner Records/RCA Records 1155/57 3 357 19 16 One Too Many / Keith Urban & P!nk / Capitol 1148/55 13 13323 20 17 Hard Days / Brantley Gilbert / Valory 939/43 4 323 28 18 Gone / Dierks Bentley / Capitol 934/53 48 3057 23 19 Next Girl / Carly Pearce / Big Machine 876/49 14 11041 21 20 Momma’s House / Dustin Lynch / Broken Bow 874/39 1 945 22 21 Somebody Like That / Tenille Arts / 19th & Grand 846/38 5 3822 24 22 Wine, Beer, Whiskey / Little Big Town / Capitol 785/40 9 6812 26 23 Good Time / Niko Moon / RCA Nashville 767/31 12 8123 27 24 Uncommon Man / Dallas Remington / RoadWarrior Records 726/36 9 6220 25 25 Grew Up On That / High Valley / Warner Music Nashville 713/40 3 235 35 26 Breaking Up Was Easy In The 90’s / Sam Hunt / MCA Nashville 709/39 28 15712 31 27 Good Time Waitin’ To Happen / James Robert Webb / Bison Creek Records 674/45 12 7017 29 28 Land Of Y’all / Smith & Wesley / Dream Walkin/Audium Nashville 673/37 8 4820 36 29 The Good Ones / Gabby Barrett / Warner Music Nashville 656/35 25 13219 30 30 Mix ‘Em With Whiskey / Drake White / Reverend White 637/34 3 1617 32 31 Ain’t The Only Hell (My Momma Raised) / Allie Colleen / Evangeline Records 618/36 5 2811 33 32 Waitin’ On 5 / Chris Janson / Warner Music Nashville 614/33 6 3431 40 33 To Hell & Back / Maren Morris / Columbia 595/35 19 9317 34 34 I Still Think About You / Jake Simon / Spaceshot Records 561/39 -1 -37 38 35 Waste Of A Whiskey Drink / Gary Allan / EMI 549/35 6 324 46 36 We Didn’t Have Much / Justin Moore / Valory 531/37 24 10412 41 37 Wash My Truck / Bobby Wills / MDM Recordings 529/33 6 286 42 38 Tiny Town / Laine Hardy / Buena Vista Records 503/41 3 1716 43 39 Made For Mornings / Lockeland / Lockeland Entertainment LLC 502/35 5 259 39 40 Dear Rodeo / Cody Johnson / CoJo Music/Warner Bros. 470/29 -9 -46
16 44 41 Y’allsome / Pryor & Lee / Black River Entertainment 465/31 4 1816 45 42 Ain’t Bad For A Good Ol’ Boy / Mo Pitney / Curb 464/28 4 172 64 43 Hell Of A View / Eric Church / EMI 455/34 83 2075 48 44 If It Wasn’t For Trucks / Riley Green / BMLG 439/31 10 416 50 45 Bad Guy / Casey Donahew / Almost Country Records 405/25 10 3715 49 46 We Were Rich / Runaway June / Wheelhouse Records 402/26 7 258 51 47 Sometimes Late At Night / Eric Burgett / Bow To Stern Records 393/31 10 379 47 48 Never Be Sorry / Old Dominion / RCA Nashville 391/19 -4 -166 53 49 Everybody Dies But Not Everybody Lives / Shane Owens / Amerimonte Records 383/31 9 3113 52 50 Simple Things / Dylan Gerard / SSM Nashville 366/26 3 1014 54 51 Wishin’ I Was Fishin’ / Lucas Hoge / Forge Entertainment 362/23 5 185 55 52 Where I Find God / Larry Fleet / Big Loud Records 359/23 8 283 67 53 Heaven On Dirt / Teddy Robb / Monument 334/30 45 1042 75 54 Memory I Don’t Mess With / Lee Brice / Curb 326/29 88 15314 56 55 betty / Taylor Swift / MCA Nashville/Republic Records 324/21 0 -114 62 56 Love’s Unknown / Aliana / Bar Frog 321/15 13 367 58 57 Sometimes Always Never / Brandon Ratcliff / Monument 309/26 3 97 59 58 The Mountain / Calamity Jane / Mountain Records 307/26 3 88 61 59 Population 2 / Tom Sexton / Lots To Do Music, LLC 293/24 2 713 60 60 Single Saturday Night / Cole Swindell / Warner Music Nashville 272/17 -9 -271 112 61 Blame It On You / Jason Aldean / Broken Bow 268/23 127 1865 63 62 Comin’ Home / The Desert City Ramblers / Crane Kick Records 268/21 5 123 66 63 Just About Over You / Priscilla Block / Mercury Nashville 252/23 5 136 65 64 I Can Tell By The Way You Dance / Josh Turner / MCA Nashville 245/16 0 16 69 65 Bad Decision / Emily Jean / SSM Evolution 232/18 5 1210 68 66 What Love Can Do / Bruce Larson / Busy@Play 221/18 -3 -73 71 67 As Soon As You / Bri Bagwell / 10XMusic 211/17 3 74 72 68 Just The Way / Parmalee x Blanco Brown / Stoney Creek 193/12 1 27 70 69 Saltwater Gospel (Fins Up Version) / Eli Young Band & Jimmy Buffett / Valory 192/13 -12 -262 78 70 Your Love Won’t Let Me Cheat / RT Johnson / CCB Nashville 190/16 12 213 73 71 Beers To Catch Up On / LOCASH / Wheelhouse Records 188/11 3 615 18 72 Girls Like Me / Martina McBride / Vinyl Recordings, LLC 188/13 -82 -8581 82 73 So Long So Long / Darlinghurst / Helium 183/10 20 302 77 74 Same Ole / Chris Kroeze / 182/15 6 102 76 75 Martha Devine / Ashley McBryde / Atlantic Records/WMN/WAR 178/15 3 52 80 76 Calling All The Angels / Brooke Lee / Brooke Lee Music 170/12 8 122 79 77 You Time / Scotty McCreery / Triple Tigers Records 167/11 2 31 84 78 Ghost Town Nation / Travis Tritt / Big Noise 161/10 15 211 0 79 What’s Your Country Song / Thomas Rhett / Valory 155/13 0 1551 81 80 Heaven Down Here / Mickey Guyton / Capitol 155/9 -1 -1
“Gone Too Soon” Hitmaker Andrew Jannakos Inks Sony Label Deal
Former The Voice contestant Andrew Jannakos, singer-songwriter behind the recent viral hit “Gone Too Soon,” has inked a deal with Sony Music Nashville’s RCA Nashville imprint.
In July, Jannakos’ girlfriend (now wife) posted a video to TikTok of Jannakos singing along to “Gone Too Soon.” The video earned more than 250,000 likes overnight and brought him over half a million followers on the TikTok platform.
When it released in September, Jannakos debuted at No. 1 on Billboard‘s Emerging Artist chart. The song also reached No. 12 on Billboard’s Hot Country Songs chart, No. 1 on the Country Digital Song Sales Chart, and No. 2 on the all-genre Digital Song Sales chart. “Gone Too Soon” has earned nearly 14 million on-demand streams to date.
“I’m so excited to be starting this journey with Sony Music Nashville!” shares Jannakos. “I could not be more grateful to my team and my family, who have supported me from the beginning. It just goes to show that hard work and dedication pay off.” MR
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Ross Copperman, “Whiskey Glasses,” Warner Chappell Lead BMI Country Awards Winners
Ross Copperman. Photo: Kelly Taylor
BMI has honored many of country music’s top songwriters and publishers as part of its 68th annual BMI Country Awards.
Ross Copperman was named Songwriter of the Year for the fourth time. He co-penned six of the year’s top songs, including Brett Young’s “Catch,” Dierks Bentley’s “Living,” Eli Young Band’s “Love Ain’t,” and more.
Morgan Wallen’s “Whiskey Glasses,” co-written by BMI writer Ben Burgess, was named Song of the Year, marking Burgess’ very first BMI Country Award. “Whiskey Glasses” was certified 3x multi-Platinum by the RIAA and was a multi-week No. 1 on country radio.
Warner Chappell was named Publisher of the Year for the third consecutive year, representing 21 of the previous year’s Top 50 songs, including “Whiskey Glasses,” “The Bones,” “God’s Country,” “Beer Never Broke My Heart,” “10,000 Hours” and more.
Read interviews with the winners here.
Ashley Gorley, Warner Chappell, “One Man Band” Lead ASCAP 2020 Country Awards
Ashley Gorley. Photo: Josh Ulmer
ASCAP honored the writers and publishers as part of the 58th annual ASCAP Country Music Awards, revamped in a creative virtual format for 2020.
Ashley Gorley won his eighth consecutive ASCAP Country Songwriter of the Year.
Old Dominion’s “One Man Band,” penned by Josh Osborne alongside Old Dominion’s Brad Tursi, Matthew Ramsey, and Trevor Rosen, was named ASCAP’s Country Music Song of the Year.
Warner Chappell Music was named ASCAP Country Music Publisher of the Year for an eighth consecutive time, for publishing songs including “One Man Band,” “10,000 Hours,” “After A Few,” “God’s Country” and more.
Read interviews with the winners here.
Wyatt Durrette III, Matt McGinn Discuss Taking Top SESAC Honors
Matt McGinn
SESAC honored its top-performing country and Americana songwriters and publishers with the 2020 Nashville Music Awards.
Matt McGinn was named SESAC’s Songwriter of the Year for the second time (he first took home the honor in 2018). McGinn’s chart-topping hits from the past year include “Homesick” and “Cool Again” recorded by Kane Brown and “One Thing Right” recorded by Kane Brown and Marshmello.
SMACKWORKS Music was named this year’s Publisher of the Year, having previously earned the accolade in 2018.
“Even Though I’m Leaving,” a five-week No. 1 hit co-written by Wyatt Durrette III, published by Rosest Music and recorded by Luke Combs, was named SESAC Song of the Year. Durrette previously earned SESAC’s Song of the Year honor last year, for his work on Combs’ “Beautiful Crazy.”
Russell Dickerson Celebrates Fourth No. 1 With “Love You Like I Used To”: “We Knew It
Was Special”
Triple Tigers artist Russell Dickerson has earned his fourth consecutive No. 1 single with “Love You Like I Used To,” which tops both the Mediabase country chart and Billboard’s Country Airplay chart this week.
“This feels really big for us,” Dickerson tells MusicRow. “I had a couple of friends over for a bonfire and I got a call from the radio team saying that the chart had just closed and it was officially No. 1, and it felt great. This one is special because it’s off the new album. I can’t believe it’s No. 1, it’s insane.”
The song follows his previous consecutive No. 1 songs, including “Yours,” “Blue Tacoma,” and “Every Little Thing”—all songs that the Triple Tigers team has propelled to No. 1 on the radio charts.
“The missing piece was the Triple Tigers team—their promo team is hands-down the best in the business,” Dickerson says. “This is my fourth No. 1 and Scotty McCreery has had several, so just out of the gate, to earn that many No. 1s with two artists is a testament to them. It feels like God kind of hand-picked the best radio veterans to all come together and take these to No. 1.”
He wrote the song alongside Parker Welling and Casey Brown. Dickerson recalls how his wife, Kailey Dickerson, even gave the singer-songwriter some direction with “Love You Like I Used To.”
“We had written the song once, and she’s brutally honest, and was like, ‘The title of the song is better than the song.’ And she was right. I got back together later that year with Parker and Casey, they had come on the road with us, and we completely re-wrote the song, just took it down to the studs—different groove, tempo, totally different lyric. Then we played it for the team and the label, and it just clicked and it was like, ‘Boom, there it is.’ In the first verse now, it kind of throws you for a loop, it feels like a breakup song. We wrote that twist in verse one, and then you get to the chorus and it’s like ‘Nope! It’s a big ‘ol love song.’ We knew it was special.”
“Love You Like I Used To” is the first track from Dickerson’s upcoming album, Southern Symphony, set for Dec. 4. The song has earned 96 million streams to date.
Dickerson says the COVID-19 touring shutdowns have allowed him ample time to focus on the production for his upcoming album. “We were throwing mixes around every few weeks up until a few months ago. For me, it’s no question it’s a giant step up from album one, from production and writing and a vocal standpoint,” says Dickerson, who produced the project alongside Brown and Dann Huff.
“We had a cool thing going with album one, it was younger sounding with a pop edge. This one has more roots to it, and more organic instruments, but it’s still a polished, big production. We had done a majority of the recording before quarantine hit, and then I had more time to focus on production.”
Dickerson played the guitar solo on his current chart-topper, something he says he normally wouldn’t get to do because he would be on the road. “I had time to add things like that and actually kind of pull my weight as a producer,” he notes. He also gained more confidence in the studio this time around, thanks to Brown and Huff.
“I’ve learned to speak my mind a lot more freely. It’s a hard road to walk as an artist and producer,” says Dickerson, who studied music at Belmont University. “To go into the studio and really get into the technical jargon and not shy away from my musical knowledge in the studio and just being confident in that. They both really encouraged me to keep doing that in the studio.” MR
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November 13, 2020 The MusicRow Weekly
MORE TOP STORIES
DISClaimer Single Reviews: Billy Ray Cyrus, Thomas Rhett, Shy Carter, Kameron Marlowe, Brittney Spencer
Radio seems bent on trying to make you believe that all country music sounds the same, but today’s listening session is abundant proof that it does not.
We have tremendous diversity on display here. Two of the best sounding discs come from from Black Nashville singer-songwriters Shy Carter and Brittney Spencer. The Mavericks are here singing in Spanish. Lacy J. Dalton is political. Shelby Lee Lowe is a traditionalist.
Four songs name-check country heroes Waylon Jennings, John Wayne, Dolly Parton and, most excellently, the late coronavirus victim John Prine.
We also have a transition from rap to country with the imaginative Billy Ray Cyrus reworking of “Mama Said Knock You Out.” It is our Disc of the Day.
The DisCovery Award goes to Columbia newcomer Kameron Marlowe.
Click here to read Robert K. Oermann's reviews of Thomas Rhett, Billy Ray Cyrus, Shy Carter, Brittney Spencer, The Mavericks, Kameron Marlowe, and more.
Reba McEntire, Carrie Underwood Prepping “Secret Project,” Says John Carter Cash
Thomas Rhett, Lauren Akins To Co-Host ‘CMA Country Christmas’
Warner Chappell Extends Pub Deal With Logan Wall
Jordan Feliz Scores Third Career Chart-Topper With “Glorify”
NIVA Launches National Independent Venue Foundation
Luke Dick Extends Publishing Deal With Little Louder Music
Dolly Parton, Jimmie Allen, Lauren Alaina, Brett Young Set For “Television-Only” Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Event
Bart Herbison To Be Honored By L.A. AIMP Chapter
CMA Awards Ratings Slip
Kelsea Ballerini Ups The Ante—Taps Shania For ‘Hole In The Bottle’ Remix
Ryman Auditorium To Host Livestream Event To Help Music Touring Community
Thomas Rhett Namechecks Country Classics In Upcoming Single
Darius Rucker, Reba McEntire. Photo: Courtesy of CMA
Ingrid Andress. Photo: Courtesy of CMA
Dan + Shay, Justin Bieber. Photo: Courtesy of CMA
November 13, 2020 The MusicRow Weekly
Maren Morris. Photo: Courtesy of CMA
Old Dominion. Photo: Courtesy of CMA
Carly Pearce. Photo: Courtesy of CMA
Jimmie Allen, Charley Pride. Photo: Courtesy of CMA
Ashley McBryde. Photo: Courtesy of CMA
Morgan Wallen. Photo: Courtesy of CMA
Jason Aldean. Photo: Courtesy of CMA
Thomas Rhett. Photo: Courtesy of CMA
Brothers Osborne. Photo: Courtesy of CMA
1 18 Luke Combs Without You1, 2 ManyRefrigerator DoorMoon Over MexicoNothing Like YouMy Kinda FolkForever After AllThe Other GuyCold as YouLovin' On YouBetter Together
36 41 Ray Fulcher Moon Over MexicoMy Kinda FolkLovin' On You
Luke CombsLuke CombsLuke Combs
37 35 Chris Lane Big, Big Plans Chris Lane
38 36 Jacob Durrett Big, Big Plans Chris Lane
39 30 Lee Brice One Of Them Girls Lee Brice
40 39 Ryan Vojtesak More Than My Hometown Morgan Wallen
41 42 James McNair Lovin' On You Luke Combs
42 — Drew Parker 1, 2 ManyNothing Like YouForever After All
Luke CombsLuke CombsLuke Combs
43 40 Brock Berryhill Happy DoesHard Days
Kenny ChesneyBrantley Gilbert
44 37 Niko Moon Good TimeGone
Niko MoonDierks Bentley
45 43 Jason Evigan I Should Probably Go To Bed Dan + Shay
46 44 Sean Douglas I Should Probably Go To Bed Dan + Shay
47 45 Dan Smyers I Should Probably Go To Bed Dan + Shay
48 46 Shay Mooney I Should Probably Go To Bed Dan + Shay
49 49 Andrew DeRoberts Champagne NightAll Night
Lady AntebellumBrothers Osborne
50 50 Jamie Paulin Happy Does Kenny Chesney
51 51 Brad Clawson Happy Does Kenny Chesney
52 52 Greylan James Happy Does Kenny Chesney
ThisWeek
LastWeek Songwriter’s Name Song(s) Artist
ThisWeek
LastWeek Songwriter’s Name Song(s) Artist
53 90 Tyler Hubbard Lil BitLong LiveThis Is Us
Nelly & Florida Georgia LineFlorida Georgia LineJimmie Allen & Noah Cyrus
54 53 Jordan Davis Almost Maybes Jordan Davis
55 81 M. Beeson How They Remember You Rascal Flatts
56 82 Allen Shamblin How They Remember You Rascal Flatts
57 58 Kelsea Ballerini Hole In The Bottle Kelsea Ballerini
58 59 Steph Jones Hole In The Bottle Kelsea Ballerini
59 56 John Thomas Harding Beers And Sunshine Darius Rucker
60 57 Darius Rucker Beers And Sunshine Darius Rucker
November 13, 2020 The MusicRow Weekly
CALENDAR
Singles
November 13Kalie Shorr/Lying to Myself/tmwrk recordsKirstie Kraus/Thirsty/KH of Entertainment
November 16Thomas Rhett/What’s Your Country Song/ValoryTroy Cartwright/Hung Up On You/Warner Music NashvilleAdam Doleac/Whiskey’s Fine/AristaWard Davis/Ain’t Gonna Be Today/Thirty TigersBrittany Bexton/Kissin’ Fear Goodbye/NashTown EntertainmentStephanie Nash/Time ChangesFaith Schueler/March On Girl
Albums
November 13Chris Stapleton/Starting Over/Mercury Records NashvilleThe Brummies/Automatic World/Sandbox EntertainmentJosh Abbott Band/The Highway Kind/Pretty Damn ToughShenandoah/Every Road/Foundry RecordsBen Rector/A Ben Rector Christmas/OK Kid Recordings, LLCThe LACS/Nothing In Particular II/Average Joes Entertainment
November 6Garth Brooks/FUN/Pearl RecordsLee Brice/Hey World/Curb RecordsCollin Raye/Scars/BFD/Audium NashvilleThe Wild Feathers/Medium Rarities/The Wild FeathersPaul Bogart/Won’t Have Far To Go/117 MusicMargie Singleton/NEVER MIND/aintquittin musicLarkin Poe/Kindred Spirits/Tricki-Woo RecordsSarah Buxton/Signs Of Life/Big Dolphin EnergyThe Swon Brothers/NASHLAHOMA/TSB RecordsStephan Hogan/So Long CaliforniaClayton Smalley/Dirt Road Therapy
