Members of Chris Stapleton’s “All-American Road Show Tour” Crew takes home the inaugural Crew of the Year award, the night’s highest honor, at the CMA Touring Awards. Photo: John Russell/CMA
The Country Music Association held its annual CMA Touring Awards on Monday night (Feb. 12) at Marathon Music Works in Nashville. Hosted by Keith Urban, the evening celebrated the top touring professionals in country music.
Awards in 20 categories were handed out as the room full of industry members looked on. CMA executives shared that the touring sector is the largest category of CMA membership, so there were a lot of celebrations to be had.
Keith Urban hosts the CMA Touring Awards. Photo: John Russell/CMA
Artists such Chris Stapleton, Thomas Rhett, Lainey Wilson and members of Old Dominion all came out to support their nominated crews. Stapleton’s crew showed up and showed out, with five members of his camp receiving awards.
Stapleton’s “All-American Road Show Tour” also took home the night’s highest honor, Crew of the Year. The brand new award recognizes the crew that has exemplified outstanding professionalism, skills, teamwork, hospitality, innovation and excellence in all aspects of their work while demonstrating the most heart and spirit on the road and making the biggest overall contribution to elevating country music.
After humbly cheering his crew on from the audience, Stapleton shared a few words of thanks to them when they were given the honor.
“I don’t particularly love crowds, if you can believe that or not,” Stapleton shared. “I like them to come to the show, but I like to play music. That’s what I like to do. Everybody up here helps me do that every night in ways that would not be possible in any way, shape or form if everybody wasn’t at the top of their game.
“I want to thank them from the bottom of my heart for letting me play music, which is what I love to do.”
The late Ron Baird honored with the 2023 CMA Touring Lifetime Achievement Award. CAA’s Marc Dennis accepts on his behalf. Photo: John Russell/CMA
Later in the night, the late Ron Baird, former Agent and Head of CAA’s Nashville office, was posthumously honored with the CMA Touring Lifetime Achievement Award. Agent and Co-Head of CAA’s Nashville office Marc Dennis, who is also Baird’s stepson, accepted the honor on his behalf.
The award is given to an individual who has positively impacted and contributed to the growth of touring throughout the years. It honors an individual that has proven to have an unprecedented historical impact on country music fans and the industry alike, and whose presence will have a long-term positive impact on the genre and CMA for generations to come. Baird is one of only six people to have ever received this award.
To honor Baird, a video was played to share a bit about his impact on the music industry, with cameos from Clint Black, Rob Light, John Huie, Rod Essig, Ed Benson, Keith Miller, Martina McBride and Shania Twain.
When Dennis spoke, he mentioned the people that Baird would have thanked, and talked about the wisdom he was known for sharing.
“I think his lasting legacy will be the people he encouraged to get into our business,” Dennis said. “It was hard to figure out how to break into our business [back then.] Ron was incredibly generous with his time.”
Additionally, during the ceremony, CMA unveiled its new Touring Mentorship Program. The program, intended for early-career touring professionals, was designed by industry veterans who recognize the importance of equipping and supporting the next generation. The Touring Mentorship Program will cover seven key roles in the touring industry: Tour Manager, Band Leader/Musician, Production Manager, Production Assistant, Front of House Engineer, Monitor Engineer and Lighting Director/Designer. As part of the six-month program, participants will engage in monthly mentor and mentee meetings and gain access to opportunities for shadowing and projects in the field.
The crowned winners at the CMA Touring Awards were determined by current professional voting members of CMA in the Affiliated, Artist, Composer, Entertainment Services, Musician, Personal Manager, Record Company, Talent Agent, Advertising/Marketing/Communications, Venue, Talent Buyer/Promoter and Touring Personnel categories. Nominees were based on shows originating between Oct. 1, 2022 and Sept. 30, 2023.
2023 CMA Touring Awards Winners:
CATEGORY 1 – CREW OF THE YEAR
“All-American Road Show Tour” Crew – Chris Stapleton
CATEGORY 2 – BACKLINE TECHNICIAN OF THE YEAR
Joel “Tico” Jimenez – Thomas Rhett
CATEGORY 3 – BUSINESS MANAGER OF THE YEAR
Duane Clark – Flood, Bumstead, McCready & McCarthy
CATEGORY 4 – COACH/TRUCK DRIVER OF THE YEAR
Erin Siegfried – Lainey Wilson
CATEGORY 5 – FOH (FRONT OF HOUSE) ENGINEER OF THE YEAR
Arpad Sayko – Chris Stapleton
CATEGORY 6 – LIGHTING DIRECTOR OF THE YEAR
Mac Mosier – Chris Stapleton
CATEGORY 7 – MANAGER OF THE YEAR
Mandelyn Monchick – Red Light Management
CATEGORY 8 – MONITOR ENGINEER OF THE YEAR
Bryan “Opie” Baxley – Kenny Chesney
CATEGORY 9 – PRODUCTION MANAGER OF THE YEAR
John Garriott – Chris Stapleton
CATEGORY 10 – PUBLICIST OF THE YEAR
Tyne Parrish – The GreenRoom PR
CATEGORY 11 – STAGE MANAGER OF THE YEAR
Todd Green – Chris Stapleton
CATEGORY 12 – SUPPORT SERVICES COMPANY OF THE YEAR
Clair Global – Nashville, TN
CATEGORY 13 – TALENT AGENT OF THE YEAR
Jay Williams – WME
CATEGORY 14 – TALENT BUYER/PROMOTER OF THE YEAR
Louis Messina – The Messina Group
CATEGORY 15 – TOUR MANAGER OF THE YEAR
Meg Miller – Lainey Wilson
CATEGORY 16 – TOURING MUSICIAN OF THE YEAR
Paul Franklin – Chris Stapleton/Vince Gill – Steel Guitar
CATEGORY 17 – TOUR VIDEOGRAPHER/PHOTOGRAPHER OF THE YEAR
CeCe Dawson – Lainey Wilson
CATEGORY 18 – TOUR VIDEO DIRECTOR OF THE YEAR
Chris Jones – Jelly Roll
CATEGORY 19 – VENUE OF THE YEAR
Red Rocks Amphitheatre – Morrison, CO
CATEGORY 20 – UNSUNG HERO OF THE YEAR
Kelsey Maynard – Old Dominion – Assistant Tour Manager
The post CMA Touring Awards Honors Giants In Live Music appeared first on MusicRow.com.
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By: LB Cantrell
Title: CMA Touring Awards Honors Giants In Live Music
Sourced From: musicrow.com/2024/02/cma-touring-awards-honors-giants-in-live-music/
Published Date: Tue, 13 Feb 2024 22:46:44 +0000
