BMI hands out honors

Tuesday, October 30, 2012 – Broadcast Music, Inc. (BMI), the global leader in music rights management, honored Dallas Davison and Luke Laird as songwriters of the year.

BMI gave out honors as well for Song (Take a Back Road) and Publisher of the Year (Sony/ATV) at the 60th annual BMI Country Awards held at the company's Nashville building. Also saluted were the writers and publishers of the past year's 50 most-performed songs on radio and TV from BMI's country repertoire along with Tom T. Hall, who was named a BMI Icon.

Hall joins other BMI Icons who have had "a unique and indelible influence on generations of music makers," including Billy Sherrill, John Fogerty, Kris Kristofferson, Willie Nelson, Isaac Hayes, Merle Haggard, Brian Wilson, Dolly Parton, Loretta Lynn, the Bee Gees, Bobby Braddock, Bill Anderson, Ray Davies and James Brown.

Davidson and Laird shared the Songwriter of the Year crown contributing five songs each to the year's most-performed list. Davidson is the writer behind hits Country Girl (Shake It for Me) and I Don't Want This Night to End recorded by Luke Bryan; If Heaven Wasn't So Far Away by Justin Moore; and Just a Kiss and We Owned the Night recorded by Lady Antebellum. Laird penned A Little Bit Stronger by Sara Evans; Baggage Claim by Miranda Lambert; Drink in My Hand by Eric Church; You by Chris Young; and Take a Back Road, recorded by Rodney Atkins.

Take a Back Road, which Laird wrote with fellow BMI songwriter Rhett Akins, was named Song of the Year. The song earned more than 1 million performances in 2011.

Publisher of the Year award was given to Sony/ATV Music Publishing Nashville. The powerhouse published 24 songs on the year's most-performed list, including Take a Back Road"; Taylor Swift's Mean; Kenny Chesney's Live a Little; Eli Young Band's Crazy Girl; Keith Urban's You Gonna Fly; The Band Perry's All Your Life and Blake Shelton's Honey Bee.

The night's musical tribute to Hall featured recent chart-toppers The Avett Brothers, who took the stage to deliver That's How I Got To Memphis; bluegrass power duo Dailey & Vincent, who performed Can You Hear Me Now; Justin Townes Earle, who sang Homecoming and Toby Keith who sang Faster Horses (The Cowboy And The Poet) accompanied by Scotty Emerick.

"Tom T. Hall's outstanding contributions of expertly crafted songs earned him the nickname The Storyteller, and as his songs have transitioned through traditional broadcasts and digital mediums, BMI has been proud to make that journey with him every step of the way, said BMI President & CEO Del Bryant. "Tom T. is the perfect example of why BMI's determination and commitment to safeguard the value of music is so important."

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