ACADEMY OF COUNTRY MUSIC® ANNOUNCES
57TH ACM INDUSTRY AWARD AND STUDIO RECORDING AWARD WINNERS
AT THE GRAND OLE OPRY HOUSE, AS OPRY HELPS ANNOUNCE WINNERS
(Left: Executive Producer and Vice President of the Opry Dan Rogers, Charlie Worsham, ACM CEO Damon Whiteside, and ACM Manager of Awards & Membership Haley Montgomery on the Opry stage after Charlie received his award on Friday evening, May 13; Right: Charlie Worsham with his first ACM Award on stage during Friday’s Grand Ole Opry. Photo credit: © Grand Ole Opry, photos by Chris Hollo)
CHARLIE WORSHAM SURPRISED WITH FIRST ACM AWARD ON OPRY STAGE,
BASEMENT EAST CLUB RECEIVES FIRST-EVER ACM AWARD
FOLLOWING 2020 NASHVILLE TORNADO DESTRUCTION,
RYMAN AUDITORIUM RECEIVES 7TH ACM AWARD,
AND MUSICIAN PAUL FRANKLIN RECEIVES 17TH CAREER ACM AWARD
WINNERS TO BE CELEBRATED AT 15TH ACADEMY OF COUNTRY MUSIC HONORS™
PRESENTED BY CITY NATIONAL BANK
WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 24, 2022
AT NASHVILLE’S HISTORIC RYMAN AUDITORIUM
The Academy of Country Music® announced the Industry Award and Studio Recording Award winners from the 57TH ACADEMY OF COUNTRY MUSIC AWARDS™ at the Grand Ole Opry House Friday night in a special moment. In between songs during Charlie Worsham’s performance, he was interrupted by a special announcement that surprised the guitarist-singer-songwriter with news that he won his first-ever ACM Award for ACM Acoustic Guitar Player of the Year. Dierks Bentley sent a video message to Worsham congratulating him on his win, and Worsham gave a tearful speech to the packed Opry crowd, while giving heartfelt praise to the other nominees in his category. The Opry continued to announce the remaining winners to the applause of the audience. All Industry Award, Studio Recording Award, and soon-to-be-announced Special Award recipients will be celebrated during the 15th Academy of Country Music Honors™ on Wednesday, August 24, 2022 at the historic Ryman Auditorium in Nashville, TN. City National Bank is the presenting partner of the evening. Performers, host, and ticket on-sale information will be announced in the coming weeks.
Other winner highlights include Basement East receiving their first-ever ACM Award for ACM Club of the Year following the venue’s destruction during the March 2020 Nashville tornadoes and subsequent rebuild, marking a resilient comeback for the Nashville staple. The Ryman, which just celebrated its 130th anniversary, receives their 7th lifetime ACM Award. Pedal steel guitar player Paul Franklin receives his 17th career ACM Award, his first win for Specialty Instrument(s) Player of the Year. Promoter Brian O’Connell and producer Dann Huff each receive their 10th career ACM Award.
In addition to Charlie Worsham and Basement East, other first-time ACM Award recipients include Chicago’s Windy City Smokeout Festival, San Antonio Rodeo, audio engineer Jim Cooley, drummer Evan Hutchings, and piano/keyboard player David Dorn.
Below is a complete list of the winners of the Industry Awards and Studio Recording Awards from the 57th Academy of Country Music Awards:
INDUSTRY AWARD WINNERS:
- CASINO OF THE YEAR – THEATER: Choctaw Casino & Resort – Durant, OK
- CASINO OF THE YEAR – ARENA: Mohegan Sun Arena – Uncasville, CT
- FESTIVAL OF THE YEAR: Windy City Smokeout Festival – Chicago, IL
- FAIR/RODEO OF THE YEAR: San Antonio Rodeo – San Antonio, TX
- CLUB OF THE YEAR: Basement East – Nashville, TN
- THEATER OF THE YEAR: Ryman Auditorium – Nashville, TN
- OUTDOOR VENUE OF THE YEAR: Red Rocks Amphitheatre – Morrison, CO
- ARENA OF THE YEAR: Bridgestone Arena – Nashville, TN
- DON ROMEO TALENT BUYER OF THE YEAR: Todd Boltin – Variety Attractions
- PROMOTER OF THE YEAR: Brian O’Connell – Live Nation
STUDIO RECORDING AWARD WINNERS:
- BASS PLAYER OF THE YEAR: Jimmie Lee Sloas
- DRUMMER OF THE YEAR: Evan Hutchings
- ACOUSTIC GUITAR PLAYER OF THE YEAR: Charlie Worsham
- ELECTRIC GUITAR PLAYER OF THE YEAR: Tom Bukovac
- PIANO/KEYBOARDS PLAYER OF THE YEAR: David Dorn
- SPECIALTY INSTRUMENT(S) PLAYER OF THE YEAR: Paul Franklin
- AUDIO ENGINEER OF THE YEAR: Jim Cooley
- PRODUCER OF THE YEAR: Dann Huff
ACM Industry Awards recognize venues and talent buyers/promoters who have bought or promoted a predetermined number of Country Music concerts and helped promote Country Music ticket sales. Nominees are selected by a professional panel of judges approved by the ACM Officers, with ACM members classified in the Artist/Musician/Producer/Engineer, Venue, Manager, Talent Agent, Talent Buyer/Promoter categories voting to decide the winner. For more information on Industry Awards eligibility and nominees, view here.
The Academy’s Studio Recording Awards recognize the creators behind the music. To be eligible, each artist, musician, producer, and engineer must have played a part in a commercially released single or album embodying the creator’s performance that achieves Top 20 chart position or better during the eligibility period. Nominees are then selected by a professional panel of judges approved by the ACM Officers before being voted on by members classified in the Artist-Entertainer/Musician-Bandleader-Instrumentalist categories and the Producer-Engineer-Studio Manager categories. For more information on Studio Recording Awards eligibility and nominees, view here.
To search the Academy’s database and view the full list of previous winners for each category, visit here.
For more information on the ACM Awards and all ACM events, visit www.ACMcountry.com. You can like Academy of Country Music on Facebook or follow on Twitter at @ACMawards and Instagram @ACMAwards for more immediate updates.
About the Academy of Country Music:
Founded in Southern California in 1964 as a regional trade organization, the ACADEMY OF COUNTRY MUSIC (ACM) has grown in the almost-60 years since into a leading association for the Country Music industry. Today, the Academy boasts more than 5,000 professional members nationwide and serves as a powerhouse advocate for Country fans, artists, and all facets of the business, as well as a supporter of philanthropic work through charitable arm ACM LIFTING LIVES®, which works to improve lives through the power of music. 2022 will be a landmark year for the Academy, with a relocation from Los Angeles, CA to Nashville, TN and its iconic Academy of Country Music Awards™ streaming on Amazon Prime Video live from Las Vegas’ Allegiant Stadium, in a historic partnership, the first time a major awards show has been streamed exclusively. For more information, log onto www.ACMcountry.com or www.ACMLiftingLives.org.
The Academy of Country Music Social Handles:
Twitter: @ACMawards
Instagram: @ACMawards
Facebook: @AcademyofCountryMusic
TikTok: @ACMAwards
#ACMawards