19th CMA Touring Awards Celebrate Country Music’s Touring Community
The country music industry honored those who get (and keep) country music’s top shows on the road on Monday night (March 3), as the 19th CMA Touring Awards were held in Nashville, as members of Nashville’s country music industry elite gathered at Marathon Music Works.
The annual awards ceremony honored winners in 20 categories, in addition to honoring one touring individual with the lifetime achievement award. Notably, the touring sector represents the largest category of CMA membership.
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CMA CEO Sarah Trahern called artists’ touring crews “the backbone of country music’s incredible live experience.” Singer-songwriter-entertainer Keith Urban, who has twice won the CMA’s entertainer of the year honor, served as host for the event for a third year.
Luke Combs’s Growin’ Up and Gettin’ Old Tour crew won the lion’s share of the evening’s trophies, including the evening’s most coveted honor, the crew of the year. Members of Combs’s team and crew also won in categories including tour manager of the year, production manager of the year, lighting director of the year and publicist of the year.
Host Urban said jokingly at one point, “Welcome to the Luke Combs touring awards.” Combs’ record-breaking 2024 stadium tour — which broke attendance records in its first three weekends — has further cemented two-time CMA entertainer of the year winner Combs’s superstar status.
“This is one of the coolest nights of my career,” Combs said as he took the stage and welcomed his entire touring crew onstage with him. “I have done so many incredible things, played os many incredible shows in so many incredible places and none of that happens without these people up here… I owe everything that I have to these guys onstage and so many other people who couldn’t be here with us tonight.” He also thanked all of the touring crews of all country artists for all their hard work behind the scenes.
Last year’s crew of the year winner, Chris Stapleton’s “All-American Road Show Tour” crew, took the trophy with them around the world on Stapleton’s tour. Combs promised to carry on the tradition, saying, “We are going to take this thing to some places that country music has never been this year.”
More touring members were honored in categories including lighting director, tour video director, tour videographer/photographer, stage manager and tour manager. Guitarist Charlie Worsham, who picked up the CMA’s musician of the year honor in November, was named touring musician of the year, for his role on the road with Dierks Bentley.
The evening also highlighted the importance of caring for mental health, as the CMA’s senior vp, industry relations and philanthropy Tiffany Kerns led a segment of the evening devoted to spotlighting the trade organization’s work to help touring crews care for their mental health. They also spotlighted the work of organizations Amber Health, All Access Onsite, MusiCares, Backline, Music Health Alliance and Porter’s Call. The evening also spotlighted the CMA’s Touring Mentorship Program, which aims to give early-career touring professionals access to guidance from experienced touring professionals (applications for mentors and mentees for the CMA’s Touring Mentorship Program are open until March 12).
“A healthy professional leads to a healthy community,” Kerns said.
Later in the evening, the late concert promoter Ben Farrell was honored with the CMA Touring Awards’ lifetime achievement award. The accolade is reserved for an individual who has achieved the highest level in the country music field of touring. Farrell began his country music career in 1970 and worked in the industry for 52 years. He remained at Varnell Enterprises for the entirety of his career. Notably, during that time, he also served three decades as a concert promoter for Garth Brooks, first joining Brooks in 1989.
Brooks was among several people who took part in a video tribute to Farrell, with Brooks noting, “I knew him, I loved him, and if you knew him, you loved him, too.”
Over the years, Farrell also worked with such artists as The Statler Brothers, Merle Haggard, Randy Travis, Kenny Chesney, George Strait and Charley Pride. Among those honoring Farrell’s legacy Monday night were his wife Autumn, daughter Ella Grace and Morris Higham president/partner Clint Higham.
Higham was also feted as a winner during the evening, being named manager of the year. Higham is known for his decades of work with artists including four-time CMA entertainer of the year winner Chesney, as well as other Morris Higham clients including seven-time CMA group of the year winners Old Dominion, Country Music Hall of Famer Barbara Mandrell and estate work for late music legends Kris Kristofferson and Roger Miller.
See the full list of CMA Touring Awards winners below:
Business manager of the year: Julie Boos (Flood, Bumstead, McCready & McCarthy)
Coach/truck driver of the year: Wendy Holt (Lainey Wilson)
Venue of the year: Ryman Auditoriium (Nashville)
Publicist of the year: Carla Sacks (Sacks & Co.)
Lighting director of the year: Kevin Northrup (Luke Combs)
Tour video director of the year: Tyler Hutcheson (Luke Combs)
Tour Videographer/photographer of the year: Andy Barron (Chris Stapleton)
Talent agent of the year: Austin Neal (The Neal Agency)
Front of House engineer of the year: Todd Lewis (Luke Combs)
Monitor engineer of the year: Michael Zuehsow (Luke Combs)
Support services company of the year: Dega Catering
Backline technician of the year: Derek Benitez (Chris Stapleton)
Touring musician of the year: Charlie Worsham (Dierks Bentley)
Talent buyer/promoter of the year: Adam Weiser (AEG Presents)
Manager of the year: Clint Higham (Morris Higham Management)
Production manager of the year: Jerry Slone (Luke Combs)
Stage manager of the year: Donnie Floyd (Morgan Wallen)
Tour manager of the year: Ethan Strunk (Luke Combs)
Unsung hero of the year: Robin Majors (Kenny Chesney)
Crew of the year: “Growin’ Up and Getting’ Old Tour” Crew (Luke Combs)
Lifetime achievement award: Ben Farrell
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