New York, NY (Top40 Charts / ASCAP) ASCAP President Paul Williams said: "Rodney Crowell is one of the most treasured voices in American music. For decades, whether writing #1 country hits and collaborating with some of the world's top artists, or exploring his own musical soul in rich, literary detail, he has crafted a brilliant body of work marked by powerful intimacy, epic scope and profound insight into the human experience. He is a masterful storyteller and musician who continues to elevate the songwriters' art, and we are honored to present him with the ASCAP Founders Award."
The Founders Award is one of ASCAP's highest honors and is presented to songwriters and composers who have made pioneering contributions to music by inspiring and influencing their fellow music creators. Each recipient is a musical innovator who possesses a unique style of creative genius, which will enrich generations to come. Previous recipients include Ricky Skaggs,
George Strait, Alan Jackson, Jackson Browne, Emmylou Harris, Garth Brooks, Bob Dylan, Tom Petty,
Melissa Etheridge and Neil Young, among others.
Rodney Crowell is a multiple Grammy Award-winning singer-songwriter who has written or recorded 15 #1 songs on the country music charts. He has won five Americana
Music Awards, including the Lifetime Achievement Award for Songwriting in 2009, and is a member of the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame. His songs have been recorded by country legends (Johnny Cash,
Waylon Jennings, Willie Nelson,
George Strait), current country chart toppers (Tim McGraw, Keith Urban), blues icons (Etta James) and rock and roll legends (Van Morrison, Bob Seger). Crowell's latest album, Close Ties, was released in March on New West Records to critical acclaim.
The 55th annual ASCAP Country
Music Awards will feature presentations of the ASCAP Country
Music Songwriter of the Year, Songwriter-Artist of the Year, Song of the Year and Publisher of the Year. The evening will include live performances of some of the past year's most performed songs by award-winning songwriters and/or the artists who recorded them.
About ASCAP
The American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP) is a professional membership organization of songwriters, composers and music publishers of every kind of music. ASCAP's mission is to license and promote the music of its members and foreign affiliates, obtain fair compensation for the public performance of their works and to distribute the royalties that it collects based upon those performances. ASCAP members write the world's best-loved music and ASCAP has pioneered the efficient licensing of that music to hundreds of thousands of enterprises who use it to add value to their business - from bars, restaurants and retail, to radio, TV and cable, to Internet, mobile services and more. The ASCAP license offers an efficient solution for businesses to legally perform ASCAP music while respecting the right of songwriters and composers to be paid fairly. With more than 625,000 members representing over 10 million copyrighted works, ASCAP is the worldwide leader in performance royalties, service and advocacy for songwriters and composers, and the only American performing rights organization (PRO) owned and governed by its writer and publisher members. Learn more and stay in touch at www.ascap.com, on Twitter and Instagram @ASCAP and at www.facebook.com/ascap.
