6th Annual Nashville Songwriter Awards Return To Ryman Auditorium September 26, 2023
Bobby Braddock, David Israelite, and Tim McGraw Revealed as First Honorees
June 15, 2023 (Nashville, Tenn.) -- The Nashville Songwriters Association International (NSAI) proudly reveals first details for the upcoming 6th annual Nashville Songwriter Awards! Presented by City National Bank, the awards will return to Ryman Auditorium on September 26th, 2023 for an evening filled with performances to celebrate the '10 Songs I Wish I'd Written' awards, NSAI's Song, Songwriter, and Songwriter-Artist of the Year, and will include special segments to honor three organizational award recipients - Bobby Braddock, David Israelite, and Tim McGraw.
The organization’s highest honor, the Kris Kristofferson Lifetime Achievement Award, will be presented to legendary songwriter and producer Bobby Braddock, who has earned the honor for his lifetime of songwriting achievement with works like "He Stopped Loving Her Today" (George Jones), "I Wanna Talk About Me" (Toby Keith), and "Time Marches On" (Tracy Lawrence) that have made a significant contribution to the American songbook, inspiring the careers of others.
"Bobby Braddock is one of the greatest songwriters in any genre, in any era," said Bart Herbison, NSAI Executive Director. "His legacy of iconic hit songs over many decades speaks for itself. We are honored to bestow him the Kris Kristofferson Lifetime Achievement Award."
The NSAI Advocacy Award, given to an individual who has significantly served the American songwriting community, will be awarded to the well-deserving David Israelite, President & CEO of the National Music Publishers' Association.
"David Israelite is the architect of the Music Modernization Act and was the quarterback of recent Copyright Royalty Board (CRB) proceedings that will bring billions of dollars in new streaming revenue to songwriters over the next five years. Couple that with a myriad of other accomplishments including getting digital media platforms from Twitch to Peloton to compensate songwriters, we are proud to present him with the NSAI Advocacy Award." - Bart Herbison
The final organizational award of the evening will be presented to Tim McGraw who was personally selected by NSAI's Board President, Steve Bogard, to receive the President's Keystone Award in honor of his significant contributions to the industry for the betterment of all songwriters.
"Tim McGraw has been recording great songs by Nashville Songwriters for over three decades," said Steve Bogard, NSAI Board President. "On hit after hit, whether rocker or ballad, his artistry and moving performances brings our stories to life and take Nashville's music across genres and platforms around the world."
Information regarding ticket on-sale and scheduled performers will be announced at a later date. Up-to-date information can be found at www.nashvillesongwriters.com or by following @nsaiofficial on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.
The Nashville Songwriter Awards is made possible by City National Bank and our event partners: Loeb & Loeb LLP, Nashville Convention & Visitors Corp, Renaissance Nashville Hotel, Jack Daniel’s, Recording Academy Songwriters & Composers Wing, SoundExchange, Tennessee Association of Broadcasters, and The Mechanical Licensing Collective.
About Bobby Braddock
One of country music’s most prolific and successful songwriters, Bobby Braddock has had No. 1 hits spanning five decades of Billboard’s country charts. As a young boy in rural central Florida, however, he wasn’t the biggest fan. “My older brother and his friends loved what we called ‘hillbilly music,’” he recalls, “and I remember thinking, ‘I could write that stuff myself!’” All that changed when young Bobby was in junior high.
Braddock moved to Nashville in 1964, intent on making it in the country music business. He worked for a while as Marty Robbins’s pianist and, after Robbins took his song “While You’re Dancing” to No. 21 on the charts, signed with Tree Publishing as a staff writer. It was with Tree that Braddock saw his first Top 10 hits, beginning with the Statler Brothers’ “Ruthless” and “You Can’t Have Your Kate and Edith, Too.”
In 1968, Braddock collaborated with writer Curly Putman on the first of several hits: Tammy Wynette’s “D-I-V-O-R-C-E,” which shot to No. 1 on the country charts in less than a month. Perhaps the duo’s most famous collaboration, however, was George Jones’s mega-hit, “He Stopped Loving Her Today”— a tour de force that revitalized Jones’s career, earned Braddock and Putman CMA awards for Best Song of the Year in 1980 and 1981, and has been named “the greatest country music song of all time” on multiple lists. Other hits written or co-written by Braddock include “Golden Ring” (Wynette and Jones), “I Believe the South’s Gonna Rise Again” (Tanya Tucker), “Come On In” (Jerry Lee Lewis), “Faking Love” (T. G. Sheppard), “Time Marches On” (Tracy Lawrence), and “I Wanna Talk About Me” (Toby Keith).
In 2001, Braddock discovered Blake Shelton, securing a record deal for him with Electra and serving as his producer. Together they had multiple No. 1 hits, including Shelton’s debut single “Austin,” which spent five weeks atop the country charts.
In 2011 Bobby Braddock was the first inductee in a new songwriter category for the Country Music Hall of Fame. That same year BMI honored him with their coveted Icon award, citing nine of his songs that have been played on the radio over a million times. He has written two well-received memoirs, Down in Orburndale: A Songwriter’s Youth in Old Florida (2007, Louisiana State) and Bobby Braddock: A Life on Nashville’s Music Row (2015, Vanderbilt).
Photo credit: Dennis Carney
About David Israelite
David M. Israelite is President and CEO of the National Music Publishers’ Association (NMPA), a position he has held since February 2005.
Israelite is responsible for overseeing all aspects of NMPA’s operations, from legal strategy and implementation to government affairs and advocacy. His leadership has produced revolutionary successes on behalf of publishers including the largest CRB rate increase in history, groundbreaking industry collaboration in royalty rate agreements, landmark settlements and model licenses with streaming platforms, and ultimately raising the profile of the publishing community. Additionally, Israelite was instrumental in guiding the effort to modernize copyright laws culminating in the Music Modernization Act (MMA) and the subsequent creation of the Mechanical Licensing Collective (MLC).
He has been named to Billboard’s Power 100 multiple times and serves on the boards of the Songwriters Hall of Fame, the Country Music Association and Special Olympics DC. He also serves as the President of the NMPA S.O.N.G.S. Foundation (Supporting Our Next Generation of Songwriters) which supports songwriters through funding scholarships and direct services, among other assistance.
Prior to leading NMPA, Israelite held senior positions in various capacities for the U.S. government including at the Department of Justice where he served as Deputy Chief of Staff and Counselor to the Attorney General of the United States and was appointed Chairman of the Department’s Task Force on Intellectual Property. He also worked in the U.S. Senate where he was Administrative Assistant (Chief of Staff) for Missouri Senator Kit Bond. Previously, Israelite also practiced law in the Commercial Litigation Department at the firm of Bryan Cave, LLP in Kansas City, Missouri.
Israelite earned his Juris Doctor from the University of Missouri and his undergraduate degree from William Jewell College.
About Tim McGraw
Tim McGraw has sold more than 92 million records worldwide and dominated the charts with 46 No. 1 singles and 19 No. 1 albums worldwide. McGraw scored a No. 1 country radio single and a No. 1 country album in 4 straight decades (1990’s, 2000’s, 2010’s and 2020’s). His most recent No. 1 single at Mediabase, “7500 OBO,” extended his record for the most weeks all time at No. 1 on their country singles chart (a total of 73 weeks). He’s won 3 Grammy Awards, 19 Academy of Country Music Awards, and 14 Country Music Association Awards. His iconic career achievements include being named BDS Radio’s Most Played Artist of the Decade for all music genres and having the Most Played Song of the Decade for all music genres (“Something Like That”). He has had two singles spend 10 weeks or more at No. 1 on airplay charts (“Live Like You Were Dying” and “Over and Over”). Known for his high energy concerts, he is one of the top touring artists of all time including the record-setting “Soul2Soul” tours with his wife, Faith Hill.
An acclaimed actor, McGraw starred in and narrated the hit movie “The Shack” and co-wrote and performed the closing credit song for the Oscar winning documentary "Free Solo." His other movie credits include blockbuster hits “Friday Night Lights” and “The Blind Side.” McGraw starred as the lead in three-time Emmy nominated 1883 where he appeared alongside Sam Elliott and Faith Hill. McGraw has co-authored two New York Times Best Selling books, Songs of America: Patriotism, Protest and the Music that Made a Nation with Jon Meacham and fitness book Grit & Grace: Train the Mind, Train the Body, Own Your Life. As part of the host committee, McGraw welcomed the largest outdoor crowd in Nashville history to his performance at the 2019 NFL Draft. He also appeared in the NFL Tailgate Party for Super Bowl LII and the College Football Playoffs 2020.
Photo credit: Robby Klein
About City National
With $95.4 billion in assets, City National Bank provides banking, investment and trust services through 69 branches, including 21 full-service regional centers, in Southern California, the San Francisco Bay Area, Nevada, New York City, Nashville, Atlanta, Washington, D.C. and Miami*. In addition, the company and its investment affiliates manage or administer $94.5 billion in client investment assets.
City National is a subsidiary of Royal Bank of Canada (RBC), one of the world’s leading diversified financial services companies. RBC serves more than 17 million personal, business, public sector and institutional clients through offices in Canada, the United States and 27 other countries.
For more information about City National, visit the company’s website at cnb.com.
*City National Bank does business in Miami and the state of Florida as CN Bank.
About Nashville Songwriters Association International (NSAI)
The Nashville Songwriters Association International (NSAI) is the world's largest not-for-profit songwriters trade organization. Established in 1967, the membership of more than 5,000 spans the United States and 10 foreign countries. For over 55 years, NSAI has been dedicated to protecting the rights of and serving aspiring and professional songwriters in all genres of music. For more information, visit nashvillesongwriters.com.