The Country Music Association celebrated this year’s Triple Play Awards recipients in Nashville at an industry luncheon. The recipients were honored for writing three No. 1 songs within a 12-month period. Here’s what went down.
CMA Chief Executive Officer, Sarah Trahern, opened the lunch and Troy Tomlinson, the event’s host and Sony/ATV Music Publishing President and CEO and CMA Board member handed out the . Luke Combs, Jesse Frasure, Nicolle Galyon, Ashley Gorley, Tyler Hubbard, Josh Kear, Shane McAnally, Chase McGill, Josh Osborne Thomas Rhett were all honored.
“This award is the miracle. It doesn’t really matter how hard you work, it just takes so much to line up for this to happen,” Frasure said as he accepted the first award of the day. “So, this one is like the Super Bowl for us.”
Combs accepted his very first Triple Play Award and did so with a joke. “I’m Luke, by the way, if you guys didn’t know. I probably look like the guy who changes your oil, but I’m not,” he said. Combs then thanked his team saying, “This is truly an award that is not for me, it’s for the publishers, the promo teams, the fans in Country radio, the people that buy tickets to my concerts.”
Galyon was also honored with her first Triple Play Award.
“A number of people have liked to point out I’m the only woman up here but I was thinking today about how the really cool story about that is I’ve written with all of the men that are winning this award today [and] I’ve never been treated with anything but encouragement, like a sister. I’ve been empowered,” she said. “I’ve been so respected by all of my brothers in this business. I think that’s a story that we don’t hear enough. I’m just really proud to be a part of this community and the way that we all encourage and cheer for each other. Brothers and sisters alike.”
After thanking his family and team, Kear shared, “This is stunning… It’s hard to believe they ever line up properly. I’ve made my entire career out of writing fiction but not these three songs.”
Rhett later took the stage to thank his family for inspiring him. “I got to write ‘Life Changes’ with my dad, which was probably the coolest thing in the world to get to write a song about my life and then my dad to put perspective into watching me grow up.”
Following the luncheon, Galyon hosted a sold-out CMA Songwriters Series, joined by songwriters Combs, Gorley, Kear, McGill and Osborne. They performed songs they’ve penned including several of their CMA Triple Play Award-winning songs. They also shared never-before-told stories with the audience.
Kear and Galyon shared stories of what it’s like to be parents and songwriters. Kear joked about never winning a “Father of the Year” award since his daughter’s favorite song that he’s penned is Dierks Bentley’s “Drunk on a Plane.” Before playing her Dan + Shay hit “Tequila,” Galyon dedicated the song to her daughter stating, “My last song today goes out to my five-year-old daughter, who asked me the other day, ‘Why did God make tequila?’”
Combs reflected on what it meant to him to receive this award and he performed a new, unreleased song titled “Dear Today.” “For everyone here on stage, congratulations for getting the Triple Play, that’s super cool. I say that like I’ve done 100 of them. This is my first one so it’s really, really cool to win.”
Osborne, on the other hand, performed a familiar one and had the crowd singing along to “Body Like A Back Road.” This is an awesome thing to be a part of. My wife’s here tonight, her birthday is tomorrow, so I’ll do this one for her.”
Before playing “Break Up In The End,” McGill shared a story about the quiet morning he was out hunting when he received the call that he had been nominated for two Grammys. His excited reaction scared away all the deer.
The most decorated CMA Triple Play Award winner to date, Gorley, rounded out the show telling the audience how amazing it is for songwriters to get the opportunity to write about all types of subject matter.
“Country music in Nashville is a unique thing… it’s not just about making up and breaking up, it’s about tequila, it’s about a body like a back road, it’s about scratch-off tickets, it can be about the way you walk, the way you talk and there’s so much subject matter that we get to cover as writers because you’ve all been through that.”
Find out more about each song that got the songwriters these awards here.
CMA Songwriters Series Set List:
Nicolle Galyon – “All the Pretty Girls” (recorded by Kenny Chesney)
Josh Kear – “Woman, Amen” (recorded by Dierks Bentley)
Luke Combs – “Hurricane”
Josh Osborne – “Get Along” (recorded by Kenny Chesney)
Chase McGill – “Sunrise, Sunburn, Sunset” (recorded by Luke Bryan)
Ashley Gorley – “Marry Me” (recorded by Thomas Rhett)
Nicolle Galyon – “Consequences” (recorded by Camila Cabello)
Josh Kear – “Most People Are Good” (recorded by Luke Bryan)
Luke Combs – “When It Rains It Pours”
Josh Osborne – “Drinkin’ Problem” (recorded by Midland)
Chase McGill – “Lose It” (recorded by Kane Brown)
Ashley Gorley – “Dirt On My Boots” (recorded by Jon Pardi)
Nicolle Galyon – “Automatic” (recorded by Miranda Lambert)
Josh Kear – “Drunk On A Plane” (recorded by Dierks Bentley)
Luke Combs – “Dear Today”
Josh Osborne – “Hotel Key” (recorded by Old Dominion)
Chase McGill – “The Way I Talk” (recorded by Morgan Wallen)
Ashley Gorley – “Play It Again” (recorded by Luke Bryan)
Nicolle Galyon – “Tequila” (recorded by Dan + Shay)
Josh Kear – “Need You Now” (recorded by Lady Antebellum)
Luke Combs – “Beautiful Crazy”
Josh Osborne – “Body Like A Back Road” (recorded by Sam Hunt)
Chase McGill – “Break Up In The End” (recorded by Cole Swindell)
Ashley Gorley – “I Lived It” (recorded by Blake Shelton)
