FinnFreak
09-28-2007, 6:27am
The Tennessean, TN - Friday, 09/28/07
Songwriters association honors hit writers and key contributors
10 artists win triple play award for 3 top songs
By CINDY WATTS
Despite the rain, an estimated 2,000 people turned out for Nashville Songwriters Association International's World's Largest No. 1 Party on Tuesday.
"It's remarkable," said Bart Herbison, executive director of the songwriters group. "I don't think I've ever seen such a huge gathering on Music Row. I saw people I hadn't seen in years."
Held under a massive white tent in the Country Music Association's parking lot, the event recognized 66 songwriters who wrote the 27 songs that topped the country charts between July 2006 and June 2007, and three industry leaders the organization determined had made special contributions to country music.
Among those presented with industry awards: Denise M. Stevens of Loeb & Loeb, who was given NSAI's President's Choice Award for her contributions in writing "The Songwriters Capital Gains Equity Act"; Donna Hilley, former president and chief executive officer of Sony/ATV Music Publishing Nashville, who received the Maggie Cavender Award of Service for her years of leadership and hard work in the publishing industry; and Connie Bradley, senior vice-president of ASCAP Nashville, awarded the Stephen Foster Award for her support of songwriters and NSAI as an organization.
"I'm very flattered," Bradley said after accepting the award. "It's really different, because most of the time at ASCAP we're presenting songwriters with awards. For a songwriter to present me with an award is pretty awesome."
Triple plays recognized
During the ceremony, the CMA announced the winners of its triple play award, given to songwriters who charted three No. 1 songs in a 12-month period. Brett Beavers, Dierks Bentley, Dave Berg, Alan Jackson, Mutt Lange, Kelley Lovelace, Brad Paisley, Jeffrey Steele, Shania Twain and Rivers Rutherford all managed the feat.
Rutherford, who wrote recent No. 1 singles "Homewrecker" (May 2005), "When I Get Where I'm Going" (Feb. 2006), and "Living in Fast Forward" (March 2006) said that when he started writing professionally, "I thought, 'All I ever want is a triple play award.' Now I'm going to carry it around with me and tap (fellow hit songwriter) Bob DiPiero on the chest and say, 'How's your career go-ing,' " he joked.
The way it's going, Rutherford might have a triple play award for each hand by next year. Since the cutoff date for the 2007 award, Rutherford has racked up two additional No. 1 songs with "Ladies Love Country Boys" and "These are My People," and he also wrote the Chuck Wicks song "Stealing Cinderella," which is at No. 33 on Billboard's country charts after only five weeks at radio.
Recognizing the accomplishments of Rutherford and the other 65 honored writers, Herbison said, is important, because the number of professionals in the business is shrinking.
"We've lost two-thirds of all professional songwriters over the last 10 years, and the average songwriter makes less than $5,000 a year," he said. "I can't tell you how many families came down and took pictures when we were presenting."
And, the executive director admitted, NSAI just wanted to remind its Music Row neighbors how to have a good time.
"A lot of the fun has left Music Row because of the paring down of the business, and a few years ago we started talking about wanting to bring the fun back," he said. "People came to our party to honor the songwriters, but they also came because they knew it would be fun."
http://www.tennessean.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070928/BUSINESS11/709280368/1438/ENTERTAINMENT50
John - ;):up:
Songwriters association honors hit writers and key contributors
10 artists win triple play award for 3 top songs
By CINDY WATTS
Despite the rain, an estimated 2,000 people turned out for Nashville Songwriters Association International's World's Largest No. 1 Party on Tuesday.
"It's remarkable," said Bart Herbison, executive director of the songwriters group. "I don't think I've ever seen such a huge gathering on Music Row. I saw people I hadn't seen in years."
Held under a massive white tent in the Country Music Association's parking lot, the event recognized 66 songwriters who wrote the 27 songs that topped the country charts between July 2006 and June 2007, and three industry leaders the organization determined had made special contributions to country music.
Among those presented with industry awards: Denise M. Stevens of Loeb & Loeb, who was given NSAI's President's Choice Award for her contributions in writing "The Songwriters Capital Gains Equity Act"; Donna Hilley, former president and chief executive officer of Sony/ATV Music Publishing Nashville, who received the Maggie Cavender Award of Service for her years of leadership and hard work in the publishing industry; and Connie Bradley, senior vice-president of ASCAP Nashville, awarded the Stephen Foster Award for her support of songwriters and NSAI as an organization.
"I'm very flattered," Bradley said after accepting the award. "It's really different, because most of the time at ASCAP we're presenting songwriters with awards. For a songwriter to present me with an award is pretty awesome."
Triple plays recognized
During the ceremony, the CMA announced the winners of its triple play award, given to songwriters who charted three No. 1 songs in a 12-month period. Brett Beavers, Dierks Bentley, Dave Berg, Alan Jackson, Mutt Lange, Kelley Lovelace, Brad Paisley, Jeffrey Steele, Shania Twain and Rivers Rutherford all managed the feat.
Rutherford, who wrote recent No. 1 singles "Homewrecker" (May 2005), "When I Get Where I'm Going" (Feb. 2006), and "Living in Fast Forward" (March 2006) said that when he started writing professionally, "I thought, 'All I ever want is a triple play award.' Now I'm going to carry it around with me and tap (fellow hit songwriter) Bob DiPiero on the chest and say, 'How's your career go-ing,' " he joked.
The way it's going, Rutherford might have a triple play award for each hand by next year. Since the cutoff date for the 2007 award, Rutherford has racked up two additional No. 1 songs with "Ladies Love Country Boys" and "These are My People," and he also wrote the Chuck Wicks song "Stealing Cinderella," which is at No. 33 on Billboard's country charts after only five weeks at radio.
Recognizing the accomplishments of Rutherford and the other 65 honored writers, Herbison said, is important, because the number of professionals in the business is shrinking.
"We've lost two-thirds of all professional songwriters over the last 10 years, and the average songwriter makes less than $5,000 a year," he said. "I can't tell you how many families came down and took pictures when we were presenting."
And, the executive director admitted, NSAI just wanted to remind its Music Row neighbors how to have a good time.
"A lot of the fun has left Music Row because of the paring down of the business, and a few years ago we started talking about wanting to bring the fun back," he said. "People came to our party to honor the songwriters, but they also came because they knew it would be fun."
http://www.tennessean.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070928/BUSINESS11/709280368/1438/ENTERTAINMENT50
John - ;):up: