NASHVILLE — The annual CMA Touring Awards (formerly known as the SRO Awards) were bestowed at the Marathon Music Works in Nashville on Jan. 23 and included the inaugural CMA Touring Lifetime Achievement Award, presented to Randy “Baja” Fletcher by Brooks & Dunn (pictured here). Ed Wannebo (Kenny Chesney) and Tom Addison (Dierks Bentley) took home top CMA Touring honors, respectively, for Production Manager and Tour Manager of the Year.
Other CMA Touring Awards recognized those supporting the lighting, video and audio production for top country artists. The 2016 winners included Chris Reade (Lighting Director, Dierks Bentley), Jay Cooper (Video Director, Kenny Chesney), Billy Moore (FOH Engineer, Eric Church) and Phil Wilkey (Monitor Engineer, Keith Urban).
Five-time CMA Awards winner Kristian Bush hosted the awards event, and Dierks Bentley made a surprise appearance at the gala. Other celebs lauding the winners with big-screen video shout-outs included country artists Kenny Chesney, Luke Bryan, Eric Church, Keith Urban, Little Big Town, Darius Rucker, Jessi Colter, Dusty Hill, Adam Craig and Kelleigh Bannen and, in Fletcher’s honor, MLB standouts Rick Sutcliffe and Don Mattingly, according to reports.
“Honoring excellence throughout the industry is a key tenet of CMA,” said Sarah Trahern, CMA’s CEO. “Our touring members bring music directly to the fans night after night. It is an honor to celebrate the hard work and dedication of these professionals.”
CMA Touring Lifetime Achievement Award
Randy “Baja” Fletcher
- Bill Deal and the Rhondels
- ZZ Top
- Waylon Jennings (w/Johnny Cash, Merle Haggard, George Jones, Willie Nelson)
- Randy Travis
- Brooks & Dunn
- Keith Urban
Other Awards nominees and winners (in bold italic) included:
Production Manager of the Year
- Arthur Kemish (Taylor Swift)
- Ken Thomas (Florida Georgia Line)
- Ed Wannebo (Kenny Chesney)
Tour Manager of the Year
- Todd Bunch (Eric Church)
- Tom Addison (Dierks Bentley)
- Logan Kornegay (Thomas Rhett)
Lighting Director of the Year
- Philip Ealy (Kenny Chesney)
- Scott Cunningham (Florida Georgia Line)
- Chris Reade (Dierks Bentley)
Tour Video Director of the Year
- John Breslin (Garth Brooks)
- Milojko Dobrijevich (Jason Aldean)
- Jay Cooper (Kenny Chesney)
FOH (Front of House) Engineer of the Year
- Jared Blumenberg (Florida Georgia Line)
- Billy Moore (Eric Church)
- Chris Stephens (Jason Aldean)
Monitor Engineer of the Year
- Jordan Kolenc (Taylor Swift)
- Marc Earp (Eric Church)
- Phil Wilkey (Keith Urban)
Business Manager of the Year
- Cheryl Harris (O’Neil Hagaman, PLLC)
- Jamie Cheek (Flood, Bumstead, McCready & McCarthy, Inc.)
- Rob Taylor (Wiles + Taylor & Co., PC)
Manager of the Year
- Kerri Edwards (KP Entertainment)
- Clint Higham (Morris Higham Management)
- Clarence Spalding (Maverick)
Publicist of the Year
- Ebie McFarland (Essential Broadcast Media, LLC)
- Tyne Parrish (The GreenRoom)
- Jessie Schmidt (Schmidt Relations)
Talent Buyer / Promoter of the Year
- Ben Farrell (Lon Varnell Enterprises)
- Louis Messina (The Messina Group)
- Brian O’Connell (Live Nation)
Touring Musician of the Year
- Wyatt Beard — Keyboard (Kenny Chesney)
- David Cook — Keyboard (Taylor Swift)
- Dan Hochhalter — Fiddle (Dierks Bentley)
Coach / Truck Driver of the Year
- Ron Easley (Jason Aldean)
- Josh Easter (Kenny Chesney)
- Larry Phye, Jr. (Chris Stapleton)
Talent Agent of the Year
- Rob Beckham (WME)
- Kevin Neal (WME)
- Jay Williams (WME)
Tour Caterer of the Year
- Dega Catering
- HSG Catering
- Mike Maxwell + Co. Motion Picture Catering
Venue of the Year
- Bank of New Hampshire Pavilion at Meadowbrook (Gilford, NH)
- Bridgestone Arena (Nashville, TN)
- Ascend Amphitheater (Nashville, TN)
- Ryman Auditorium (Nashville, TN)
