Davidson, Laird, Sony/ATV Win BMI Country Awards

Tom T. Hall

The 60th Annual BMI COUNTRY AWARDS took place in NASHVILLE LAST NIGHT (10/30). The awards honor the top Country music songs, songwriters and publishers each year.

In addition to the traditional awards, TOM T. HALL was named an official “BMI Icon” during this week’s ceremony. Former “BMI Icon” recipients have included LORETTA LYNN, THE BEE GEES, DOLLY PARTON, BRIAN WILSON, WILLIE NELSON, KRIS KRISTOFFERSON, ISAAC HAYES, JOHN FOGERTY, JAMES BROWN and more. A tribute to HALL included performances by THE AVETT BROTHERS, DAILEY & VINCENT, JUSTIN TOWNES EARLE and TOBY KEITH accompanied by SCOTTY EMERICK.

“I thought (the Icon award) was kind of for special people, and then I got a call about six weeks ago and found out that I’m a special person, and I’m loving it!” said TOM HALL.

DALLAS DAVIDSON and LUKE LAIRD took the honors for “Songwriter Of The Year.” “Song Of The Year” was given for “Take A Back Road” which was written by LAIRD and RHETT AKINS. SONY/ATV MUSIC PUBLISHING NASHVILLE won the “Publisher Of The Year” award. For a full list of awards and winners, visit www.BMI.com/Country.

In the official press release, BMI gave some staggering statistics about Country music and Country radio. 10 of the top 20 most performed BMI songs in 2011 were of the Country genre. That equals 11 million radio and TV performances. If you were to listen to each performance back-to-back, it would take 66 consecutive years. BMI also noted that Country stations account for more radio towers than any other format in the U.S.

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