Global rights leader Broadcast Music, Inc. (BMI) celebrated the songwriters and publishers behind Country music’s most-performed songs of the past year during the 59th Annual BMI Country Awards. BMI staged the event in its Nashville offices, located in the heart of Music Row, where behind-the-scenes hit-makers and center stage superstars came together to toast one another as songwriters.
Rhett Akins and Dallas Davidson share the Songwriter of the Year crown. Georgia natives and close friends, the two are frequent collaborators and part of a songwriting trio known as the “Peach Pickers.” They both contributed five songs to the year’s most-performed, four of which they co-wrote together: “All About Tonight” (Blake Shelton), “All Over Me” (Josh Turner), “Gimmie That Girl” (Joe Nichols), and “The Shape I’m In” (Joe Nichols). Individually, Akins’ “Farmer’s Daughter” (Rodney Atkins) and Davidson’s “Rain Is A Good Thing” (Luke Bryan) also made the list. “All Over Me” also earned Song of the Year honors for Davidson and Akins, as well as publishers EMI-Blackwood Music, Inc., Rhettneck Music, and String Stretcher Music. Recorded by Josh Turner, the light-hearted summer love song topped Country charts.
In a surprise announcement, the BMI Country Song of the Year award was rechristened the Frances W. Preston Award in honor of the legendary former BMI president and CEO. With fifteen songs among the year’s most performed, powerhouse Sony/ATV Music Publishing Nashville scored its tenth consecutive Publisher of the Year win.
Bobby Braddock was saluted as a BMI songwriting Icon. Braddock is the master craftsman behind staples including “He Stopped Loving Her Today,” “People Are Crazy,” “I Wanna Talk About Me,” “D-I-V-O-R-C-E,” “I Feel Like Loving You Again,” “Texas Tornado,” “Old Flames Have New Names,” “Golden Ring,” “Thinkin’ Of A Rendezvous,” “Faking Love,” “Time Marches On,” and more. Thirty years after his induction into the Nashville Songwriters Hall Of Fame, Braddock became the only living songwriter to have penned chart-toppers in five consecutive decades. The CMA award-winner has earned thirty BMI songwriting awards, and ten of his compositions have earned more than one million performances each. He was inducted into the Country Music Hall Of Fame earlier this year.
An all-star lineup paid homage to Braddock. Pistol Annies (Miranda Lambert, Angaleena Presley, and Ashley Monroe) kicked off the tribute with “D-I-V-O-R-C-E.” Blake Shelton delivered “Same Old Song;” John Anderson followed with “Would You Catch A Falling Star;” and LeAnn Rimes was joined by Vince Gill for “He Stopped Loving Her Today.”
The Icon designation is given to BMI songwriters who have had “a unique and indelible influence on generations of music makers.” Braddock joins a list of past honorees that includes Billy Sherrill, Kris Kristofferson, John Fogerty, Willie Nelson, Isaac Hayes, Merle Haggard, Brian Wilson, Dolly Parton, Loretta Lynn, the Bee Gees, James Brown, and more.
BMI President and CEO Del Bryant hosted the show with Vice President Jody Williams, Writer/Publisher Relations, Nashville; and Assistant Vice President Clay Bradley, Writer/Publisher Relations, Nashville.
Pictured: Taylor Swift with her award at the 59th Annual BMI Country Awards
Photo by Rick Diamond/Getty Images for BMI

On September 15-16, Thunder 102 (WDNB 102.1 FM) held its first ever Country Cares For St. Jude’s Kids® Radio-thon, a fundraising event for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital to help in the fight against childhood cancer. The radio-thon ran from 6AM to 7PM both days and was sponsored by M & M Auto Group, Yellow Cab, Formaggio Cheese, Catskill Regional Medical Center, Hilltop Homes, and Bethel Woods Center For The Arts. St. Jude’s Children’s Research Hospital was founded by entertainer Danny Thomas and opened in 1962. The mission of St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital is to advance cures and means of prevention for pediatric catastrophic diseases through research and treatment. In 1989, Randy Owen, a member of the Country group Alabama, met with founder Danny Thomas who asked him to play a part in curing childhood cancer, and Country Cares For St. Jude Kids® was born.
Throughout the two-day radio-thon, many within the Country music industry called in to show their support for this worthy cause – from up-and-coming artist Amber Hayes to well-known acts such as Josh Thompson. However, the most special of these calls took place when on-air personality Paul Ciliberto picked up the line to be greeted by Country Cares For St. Jude Kids® founder Randy Owens, who called in with words of encouragement, hope, and thanks.
In addition to the two days the actual radio-thon took place, over fifty businesses throughout Thunder Country’s listening area sold Bethel Woods Country Cares For St. Jude Kids® Boot Cards for a minimum of a one-dollar donation. In all, ThunderHeads raised over $42,000 for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital during two emotionally charged, but inspiring days. New York Market Manager and host of Ciliberto & Friends, Paul Ciliberto was in tears as Danny Thomas’ voice closed out the final moments of the first annual Thunder 102 Country Cares For St. Jude Kids® Radio-thon, “With all that has happened in our community in the last two weeks … Hurricane Irene, a tropical storm and flooding … our ThunderHeads still found the time to reach out to help others while in need themselves. I say it time and time again, but our ThunderHeads never cease to amaze me!”
Thunder 102, Liberty New York, can be heard on 102.1 and 94.9 in New York and Pennsylvania and was voted The Best Radio Station by River Reporter readers. In addition, on-air personalities Sakell and Ciliberto were voted best of Radio Personalities for 2006-2010. Thunder 102 is owned by Bold Gold Media Group, who also owns Classic Hits 105.3 FM, 95.3 FM DNH, Wayne-Pike News Radio, 105 The River, 94.3FM The Talker, and sports network, The GAME 1340 and 1400 AM, all in the Scranton area.
Pictured from left to right: Paul Ciliberto, Regina Hensley, Mike Sakell, and Michelle Semerano from Thunder 102 with Courtney Lynch from St. Jude.

The 2012 Country Radio Hall Of Fame Inductees have been announced. Beverlee Brannigan, Ron Rogers, and Rusty Walker are the Radio category inductees, and Moby, Eddie Stubbs, and Bill Whyte are the On-Air category inductees. The class of 2012 will be officially inducted at a dinner ceremony on February 21, 2012 at 6PM CST inside the Nashville Convention Center.
The Country Radio Hall Of Fame Dinner And Induction ceremony unofficially kicks off Country Radio Seminar each year. Lucchese Boots is a proud sponsor of the 2012 Country Radio Hall Of Fame and will be providing each inductee with a custom made pair of Lucchese Boots. The Country Radio Hall Of Fame is dedicated to the recognition of those individuals who have made significant contributions to the radio industry over a twenty-year period, fifteen of which must be in the Country format. CRS 2012 is held February 22-24, 2012 at the Nashville Convention Center.
Beverlee Brannigan joined WOKQ as an air personality, and in 1979 became the program director/personality for KJJY, where she enjoyed tremendous success for the next twenty years. Since 2003, she has served as operations manager for six stations in Wichita and program director for three, including market leader KFDI. Brannigan is widely considered by the industry to be a trailblazer for women in Country radio programming.
Ron Rogers lengthy career spans the entire spectrum of the radio business. He has held positions as program director at WACO, sales manager at KNOW, general manager at KOKE, and president/co-owner at KLAW, KVET, and KASE.
Rusty Walker has either programmed, advised, created, consulted, overseen, served as a strategic partner, or performed as an air personality for more than 750 Country radio stations since he started his radio career in 1970. A few of his personality and program director stints include: WQYK, WQIK, WZZK, and KFKF. He has been recognized with numerous national industry and community awards, including a seven-year consecutive run as Billboard’s Consultant of the Year.
Moby is a forty-year veteran air personality. For ten years, he was a major force in the Rock format every morning in Houston and Dallas (KSSR, KLOL, KEGL). Moby then moved to Atlanta and WKHX, where he proceeded to win a major morning battle in the Country format and enjoyed success for the next decade.
Eddie Stubbs has been the longest tenured evening host on Nashville’s legendary 650AM WSM since the station went to an all Country format in 1979. He is recognized nationally as the announcer of the Grand Ole Opry, a position he has held for more than sixteen years. He also serves as the on camera announcer for The Marty Stuart Show on RFD-TV.
Bill Whyte’s career spans successes at WUBE, WMIL, WSM-FM, and WFMS. He has won multiple national air personality awards, hosted syndicated shows, and is also a singer-songwriter. He has won numerous broadcast awards including the CMA Award for Best Large Market Personality.