The nominees have been announced for the Country Music Association’s CMA Touring Awards, which honor behind-the-scenes industry members within country music’s touring industry in categories including crew of the year, coach/truck driver of the year, manager of the year, touring musician of the year, and many more.
The CMA Touring Awards ceremony will be held Monday, March 3, in Nashville, with final-round voting opening Monday, Jan. 6, and closing Thursday, Jan. 16. All balloting is tabulated by the professional services organization Deloitte.
Keith Urban will return for a third year as host of the ceremony. Longtime country music concert promoter Ben Farrell will be posthumously celebrated with the CMA touring lifetime achievement award, which is given to an individual who has positively impacted and contributed to the growth of touring throughout the years.
“Taking the time to honor the outstanding work of our touring community is one of our most proud nights of the year,” Sarah Trahern, CMA chief executive officer, said in a statement. “Our road warriors are the ones who take the soul of Nashville on the road and share it with the rest of the world in creative and exciting ways. Country music’s growth simply would not be possible without each and every one of our nominees and we are so excited to celebrate them this coming March.”
The CMA Touring Awards were originally known as the SRO (Standing Room Only) Awards and were launched by the CMA’s board of directors in 1990 to honor professional achievement within the touring industry. The first awards were presented at a black-tie gala hosted by K.T. Oslin and Roger Miller during CMA’s Entertainment Expo, also known as the Talent Buyers Entertainment Marketplace. Ten awards were presented at the first gala, and the number has grown over the years to its current 20 categories. The SRO Awards were renamed the CMA Touring Awards in 2016.
See the full list of nominees below:
Crew of the year
The Beautifully Broken Tour Crew – Jelly Roll
Country’s Cool Again Tour Crew – Lainey Wilson
Gravel & Gold Tour Crew – Dierks Bentley
Growin’ Up And Gettin’ Old Tour Crew – Luke Combs
No Bad Vibes Tour Crew – Old Dominion
One Night At a Time Tour Crew – Morgan Wallen
Quit!! Tour Crew – Hardy
Sun Goes Down Tour Crew – Kenny Chesney
Backline technician of the year
Derek Benitez – Chris Stapleton
Dalton Brown – Lainey Wilson
William Coats – Eric Church
Allen Cothran – Jason Aldean
Terry Fox – Kenny Chesney
Dave Graef – Tim McGraw
Hunter Lamb – Hardy
Brian Love – Luke Combs
Business manager of the year
Stephanie Alderman – Farris, Self & Moore, LLC
Renee Allen – Arnie Barn, Inc.
Julie Boos – Flood, Bumstead, McCready & McCarthy, Inc.
Kris Wiatr – Wiatr & Associates, LLC
Dwight Wiles – Wiles + Taylor & Co., PC
Coach/truck driver of the year
Chad Allison – Hardy
Josh Easter – Morgan Wallen
Toby Eaton – Old Dominion
Rhett Evens – Thomas Rhett
Terry Ford – Kenny Chesney
Caleb Garrett – Luke Bryan
Wendy Holt – Lainey Wilson
Chris Sims – Jelly Roll
FOH (front of house) engineer of the year
Ryan Dell – Lainey Wilson
Ron Gardner – Jelly Roll
Todd Lewis – Luke Combs
David Loy – Kane Brown
Evan Owen – Hardy
Jeff Parsons – Blake Shelton
Robert Scovill – Kenny Chesney
Ian Zorbaugh – Old Dominion
Lighting director of the year
Zac Coren – Morgan Wallen
Trevor Drawdy – Hardy
Philip Ealy – Kenny Chesney
Andy Knighton – Jason Aldean
Mitch Mueller – Lainey Wilson
Kevin Northrup – Luke Combs
Chris Reade – Dierks Bentley
Alec Takahashi – Thomas Rhett
Manager of the year
Elisabeth Ashley – Borman Entertainment
Enzo DeVincenzo – 377 Management
Martha Earls – Neon Coast
Kerri Edwards – KP Entertainment
Clint Higham – Morris Higham Management
Troy “Tracker” Johnson – Big Loud Mountain Management
Chris Kappy – Make Wake Artists
Monitor engineer of the year
Beau Alexander – Morgan Wallen
Brad Baisley – Blake Shelton
Cory Benson – Tyler Childers
Samuel Ferry – Hardy
Logan Hanna – Brothers Osborne
Jimmy Nicholson – Thomas Rhett
Dean Studebaker – Old Dominion
Michael Zuehsow – Luke Combs
Production manager of the year
Chris Alderman – Blake Shelton
Jeff Greeninger – Jon Pardi
Chad Guy – Morgan Wallen
Meesha Koscioleck – Eric Church
Earl Neal – Jason Aldean
Jerry Slone – Luke Combs
Emily Waller – Lainey Wilson
Ed Wannebo – Kenny Chesney
Publicist of the year
Janet Buck – Essential Broadcast Media
Carla Sacks – Sacks & Co.
Jessie Schmidt – Schmidt Relations
Jensen Sussman – Sweet Talk Publicity
Wes Vause – Press On Publicity
Jennifer Vessio – 1220 Entertainment Publicity
Stage manager of the year
Sam “Sambo” Coats – Eric Church
Donnie Floyd – Morgan Wallen
Matt Hornbeck – Luke Combs
Josh “Dude” Marcus – Jason Aldean
Tom Nisun – Kenny Chesney
Allison Noah – Carly Pearce
Richard Rossey – Old Dominion
Fred Yanda – Dan + Shay
Support services company of the year
Bandit Lites
Dega Catering
Master Tour By Eventric
Moo TV
Pioneer Coach
Richards & Southern
Rising Star Travel
Spectrum Sound
Talent agent of the year
Mike Betterton – Wasserman Music
Rod Essig – CAA
Becky Gardenhire – WME
Meredith Jones – CAA
Austin Neal – The Neal Agency
Braeden Rountree – WME
Adi Sharma – The Neal Agency
Elisa Vazzana – UTA
Talent buyer/promoter of the year
Todd Boltin – Variety Attractions
Brad Garrett – Police Productions
Bradley Jordan – Peachtree Entertainment
Brian O’Connell – Live Nation Nashville
Aaron Spalding – Live Nation Nashville
Ed Warm – Joe’s Bar
Adam Weiser – AEG Presents
Tour manager of the year
Matt Anderson – Old Dominion
David Farmer – Kenny Chesney
Jeff Gossett – Morgan Wallen
Jason Hecht – Chris Stapleton
Mike McGrath – Tim McGraw
Ethan Strunk – Luke Combs
Taylor Watson – Hardy
Touring musician of the year
Kurt Allison (Guitar) – Jason Aldean
Nick Buda (Drums) – Kenny Chesney
Jerry Flowers (Bass Guitar) – Keith Urban
Aslan Freeman (Guitar) – Lainey Wilson
Kurt Ozan (Guitar) – Luke Combs
Mickey Raphael (Harmonica) – Chris Stapleton
Tyler Tomlinson (Guitar) – Morgan Wallen
Charlie Worsham (Guitar) – Dierks Bentley
Tour videographer/photographer of the year
Mason Allen – Old Dominion
Alex Alvga – Kane Brown
Andy Barron – Chris Stapleton
Becky Fluke – Little Big Town
Tanner Gallagher – Hardy
Jeff Johnson – Carrie Underwood
David Lehr – Morgan Wallen
Jill Trunnell – Kenny Chesney
Tour video director of the year
Josh Clark – Miranda Lambert
Jay Cooper – Kenny Chesney
Houston Creswell – Dierks Bentley
Ron Etters – Chris Stapleton
Tyler Hutcheson – Luke Combs
Jordan Karow – Hardy
Mike Tinsley – Tim McGraw
Jake Zobrist – Cody Johnson
Venue of the year
Ascend Amphitheater – Nashville
BankNH Pavilion – Gilford, N.H.
Billy Bob’s Texas – Fort Worth, Texas
Bridgestone Arena – Nashville
Grand Ole Opry House – Nashville
Joe’s on Weed St. – Chicago
Ryman Auditorium – Nashville
Unsung hero of the year
Holly Atherton – Chris Stapleton
Kayla Carter Greear – Luke Bryan
Mindy Grabowski – Live Nation Entertainment
Jeff “Bean” Griffin – Hardy
Lolo Kinser – Tim McGraw
Robin Majors – Kenny Chesney
Mel Murphy – Live Nation Nashville
Katie Wilkinson – Chris Stapleton