Chris Stapleton honored with Vanguard Award at 54th ASCAP Country Music Awards

Chris Stapleton

ASCAP, the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers, presented acclaimed country singer, songwriter and performer Chris Stapleton with the ASCAP Vanguard Award at the 54th annual ASCAP Country Music Awards. The awards celebration, which honors the songwriters and publishers of ASCAP’s most performed country songs of 2015, took place at the historic Ryman Auditorium in downtown Nashville on October 31st.

“Every so often, someone comes along with songwriting so masterful, a voice so powerful and a presence so captivating, that it stops you in your tracks,” says ASCAP President Paul Williams. “Chris Stapleton does just that. By distilling Southern sounds and themes into potent songs, he has brought raw soul back to the country charts, and established himself as one of the most respected and original artists in American music today. We are thrilled to honor him with the ASCAP Vanguard Award.”

The Vanguard Award recognizes the impact of outstanding ASCAP members on musical genres that will help shape the future of American music. Previous recipients include Walk The Moon, St. Vincent, fun., The Civil Wars, Third Day, Band of Horses, Sara Bareilles and more.

Chris Stapleton’s acclaimed album, Traveller, was released in May 2015 on Mercury Records Nashville and debuted at #2 on the Billboard Country Albums chart. With more than 27,000 albums sold, it was the best-selling first week by a debut country artist that year. The album also received immediate and extensive critical acclaim that helped land Stapleton bookings on “Late Show with David Letterman,” “The View,” “Late Night with Seth Meyers” and “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert,” among others.

Following an historic turn on the 2015 CMA Awards – Stapleton was the first artist to win Album of the Year, Male Vocalist of the Year and New Artist of the Year at the same awards – Traveller became the first album to re-enter the Billboard 200 all-genre album chart at #1, where it stayed for two weeks. Stapleton also performed a “show-stealing” (Rolling Stone) duet on the live awards show with superstar, friend and fellow ASCAP member Justin Timberlake, which Entertainment Weekly called “an unapologetic display of abnormal levels of talent.”

Stapleton capped off his record year with four nominations and two wins at the 58th Annual Grammy Awards — Album of the Year (nominee), Best Country Album (winner), Best Country Song (nominee) and Best Country Solo Performance (winner). He is currently nominated for Entertainer of the Year, Single of the Year, Male Vocalist of the Year and Music Video of the Year, as well as Musical Event of the Year, alongside his wife, Morgane Stapleton, for their performance of “You Are My Sunshine” from producer Dave Cobb’s acclaimed Southern Family compilation, at the 50th annual CMA Awards, to be held November 2nd in Nashville.

Renowned and respected in Music City, Stapleton has also co-written six #1 hits for some of country music’s biggest stars and has continually worked as an in-demand session musician, providing masterful backup vocals and guitar work to countless pieces of music. ASCAP has featured Stapleton, a longtime member, at many ASCAP events during his career, including the Sundance ASCAP Music Café, the ASCAP “I Create Music” EXPO, the ASCAP “We Write the Songs” showcase on Capitol Hill, the ASCAP Country Music Awards and more.

Tom T. Hall to have estate sale of antiques and music memorabilia

Tom T. Hall speaking about the Country Music Highway in Kentucky in 2011. - Photo by Jessica Bray.

Kentucky country music songwriting legend, Tom T. Hall is having an estate sale on October 22, 2016.  He is in the process of selling his estate and his home, which is known as Fox Hollow.  Fans can bid online on items owned by Tom T. Hall and his late wife, Dixie Hall.  The estate sale by Northgate Gallery in Brentwood, TN, includes a wide variety of valuable antique items from furniture to decorative items.  There are quite a few fox related items from the "Fox on the Run" songwriter.  There are also items presented to him by the Grand Ole Opry and Country Music Hall of Fame.  Click here to view the items. 

Tom T. Hall had seven No. 1 singles, all self-penned: 
“A Week in a Country Jail” (1969–70)
“The Year That Clayton Delaney Died” (1971)
“(Old Dogs, Children and) Watermelon Wine” (1972–73)” 
“I Love” (1973–74)
“Country Is” (1974)
“I Care” (1974–75)
“Faster Horses (the Cowboy and the Poet)” (1976). 

The Grammy winner also wrote hits for others, including “Harper Valley P.T.A.,” which Jeannie C. Riley took to No. 1 on country and pop charts in 1968, as well as “The Pool Shark,” a chart-topper for Dave Dudley; “(Margie’s at) the Lincoln Park Inn" and “That’s How I Got to Memphis,” recorded by Bobby Bare; and “Little Bitty,” which was a big hit for Alan Jackson in the late 1990s. 


In total, Hall has earned 31 BMI Awards for songwriting spanning country and pop genres, and six of his songs have accumulated more than one million performances each. In 2008, he was welcomed into the Country Music Hall of Fame.  In 2011, he was inducted into the Kentucky Music Hall of Fame alongside his wife, Dixie.

Darrell Scott releases new song in tribute to Montana doctor

Darrell Scott is an internationally well-known singer-songwriter that calls Laurel County in southeast Kentucky his hometown.  You might recongize his talents with "You'll Never Leave Harlan Alive."

Darrell Scott is working on a new project in tribute to Ben Bullington, a small-town doctor in Montana.  He was also a songwriter loved by many.  Scott has released a video for one of the songs in the musical collection, 'Lone Pine.'  It will be part of the collection, "10 -- Songs of Ben Bullington" that is set for release on May 19th.  Check it out below: