Following the announcement of this year’s nominees for the 34th MusicRow Awards, we take a look at the MusicRow Song of the Year category. The nominees honor Nashville writers and publishers on the craft of songwriting, not necessarily chart performance, during the eligibility period of June 1, 2021 to May 31, 2022.
The winners of this year’s honors will be announced online on all MusicRow platforms on Tuesday, August 30. Presenting Sponsor of the 2022 MusicRow Awards is City National Bank.
Click here to see the full list of MusicRow Awards nominees.
Winners are determined solely by MusicRow Magazine subscribed members. Voting is now open and closes on July 29 at 5:00 p.m.
To receive a ballot to vote in the MusicRow Awards, become a MusicRow member here.
“Circles Around This Town”
“I drove circles around this town tryin’ to write circles around this town / Tryna say somethin’ with meaning, somethin’ worth singin’ about,” sings Maren Morris on her ode to the life of a songwriter, “Circles Around This Town.” Penned alongside Ryan Hurd, Jimmy Robbins, and Julia Michaels, the track is part of Morris’ album Humble Quest, released in March by Columbia Nashville. “Circles Around This Town” was the most-added single on its add week at country radio, broke Amazon Music’s record for most streams for a country song debut by a female artist, and debuted as the No. 1 country song and No. 7 all genre song on Pandora’s Top Thumbed Hundred Chart. The skillfully written song is relatable to songwriters everywhere who are just trying to write “somethin’ worth singin’ about.”
“Doin’ This”
When Luke Combs premiered his new song “Doin’ This” at the 2021 CMA Awards–where he also won Entertainer of the Year for the first time–fans immediately gravitated to the biographical tune about chasing dreams. Co-written with frequent collaborators Drew Parker and Robert Williford, “Doin’ This” finds Combs imagining what he’d be doing if he wasn’t a country superstar. What he finds is that even if he wasn’t, he’d still be “doin’ this.” He sings, “I’d be feelin’ on fire on a hardwood stage / Bright lights like lightning runnin’ through my veins.” The single is on Combs’ new album, Growin’ Up, released in June via River House Artists/Columbia Nashville/Sony Music Nashville. “Doin’ This” became Combs’ thirteenth-consecutive No. 1 single. The history-making singer-songwriter is also up for Artist of the Year at the MusicRow Awards.
“Down Home”
“Down Home,” the new single from Jimmie Allen, finds the country star at his most vulnerable, paying tribute to his late father James. Written in the form of a letter by Allen, Cameron Bedell, Rian Ball, and Tate Howell, Allen sings “I still hate that you’re gone, I wish you were here / But I hope I’m making you proud ’cause I know you’re up there looking down home.” The meaningful song continues to climb the country charts and has garnered more than 20 million global streams. Allen named his first-ever solo headlining tour after the track, which appears on his recently released BBR Music Group/Stoney Creek Records album Tulip Drive. His success follows his third career No. 1 “Freedom Was A Highway,” and his nomination for Best New Artist at the 64th annual Grammy Awards.
“Flower Shops”
Inspired by the Jerry Chesnut-written and George Jones-recorded “A Good Year for the Roses,” “Flower Shops” finds ERNEST and Morgan Wallen lamenting that they’ve messed up so badly that they need to buy out the local flower shop. “I’ll buy violets and daisies to hide all the crazy, it’s gonna take all you’ve got / Aw, it’s a bad day for love, but a good day for flower shops,” he sings. The track took off, becoming the most-added single on its add week at country radio and hitting No. 1 on MusicRow‘s CountryBreakout Radio Chart. It also spawned an album of the same name for ERNEST. “Flower Shops” is the singer-songwriter’s debut single as an artist, after having achieved five No. 1 hits for other artists such as Wallen, Chris Lane, Sam Hunt, and Florida Georgia Line. ERNEST is also nominated for Breakthrough Artist of the Year this year at the MusicRow Awards.
“Never Wanted To Be That Girl”
Carly Pearce, Ashley McBryde and Shane McAnally crafted a captivating, classic country, cheating song in “Never Wanted To Be That Girl.” The tune features Pearce and McBryde trading verses, and perspectives, of being “the other woman.” With Pearce taking the role as the wife or girlfriend feeling like a fool, and McBryde as the new fling who never saw a ring, the two relate to each other in their heartache, singing, “I thought this kind of lonely only happens to somebody else.” The song hit the top of the country charts and appears on Pearce’s critically acclaimed album 29 (Big Machine Records). Pearce, the reigning ACM Female Vocalist of the Year, is also nominated in MusicRow‘s Artist of the Year for the first time. McBryde took home the Breakthrough Artist-Writer of the Year award at last year’s MusicRow Awards.
“‘Til You Can’t”
Cody Johnson projects the universal message of living life to the fullest on “‘Til You Can’t,” singing “If you got a chance, take it,” and “If you got a dream, chase it,” because we only have so much time to make our lives count. The inspiring song was written by Matt Rogers and Ben Stennis. In true Nashville fashion, it took six years for the tune to find a home when Johnson cut it, and became Stennis’ first No. 1 song. “‘Til You Can’t” also marked Johnson’s first hit, was certified Platinum by the RIAA, and was the debut single for his sophomore CoJo Music/Warner Music Nashville release, Human The Double Album. This is Johnson’s second nomination in MusicRow‘s Song of the Year category, having been nominated in 2019 with “On My Way To You.”
The post 2022 MusicRow Awards Category Profile: Song Of The Year appeared first on MusicRow.com.
-----------------------------------
By: LB Cantrell
Title: 2022 MusicRow Awards Category Profile: Song Of The Year
Sourced From: musicrow.com/2022/07/2022-musicrow-awards-category-profile-song-of-the-year/
Published Date: Tue, 26 Jul 2022 18:51:37 +0000
