CMA To Honor John Huie With CMA Touring Lifetime Achievement Award

CMA TO HONOR JOHN HUIE WITH CMA TOURING LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD

Keith Urban Set to Host Ceremony in Nashville Jan. 30

CMA will honor Creative Artists Agency (CAA) Music Agent and Co-Founder of the CAA Music Nashville office John Huie with its 2022 CMA Touring Lifetime Achievement Award. Huie received the news during a surprise Zoom call and spoke exclusively with Pollstar.

Twelve-time CMA Awards winner and two-time CMA Entertainer of the Year Keith Urban will host the 2022 CMA Touring Awards, taking place Monday, Jan. 30 at Nashville’s Marathon Music Works.
As the premier trade association for the Country Music industry, CMA is committed to honoring excellence across all professions within the genre. The CMA Touring Awards, one of many annual industry accolades presented by the organization, recognize vital behind-the-scenes members of the Country touring community.

“It’s a humbling experience,” shared Huie. “It gave me a sense of pause and reflection. It’s an exclamation mark on a career. It’s nice to be honored and humbly accepted.”

Huie is a Music Agent at leading entertainment and sports agency CAA and co-founded the CAA Music Nashville office alongside Ron Baird and Rod Essig, where he represents many of the world’s leading musicians, including Zac Brown Band, Amy Grant, Faith Hill, Lady A, Sugarland, Kelsea Ballerini, Michael W. Smith, and Dwight Yoakam, among many others.

He began his career at CAA in 1992, joining Ron Baird in opening the first satellite office for CAA. Since that time, the CAA Nashville office has grown to become a dominant industry force. He has helped guide the growth of the agency’s Music City operations from two employees to more than 80 specializing in booking, tour marketing, and brand partnerships.

In 1978, Huie began his career in Macon, GA, at The Paragon Agency, where he booked tours for acts like The Charlie Daniels Band and The Allman Brothers.  After a year, he moved to New York City and opened Frontier Booking International (F.B.I.) with Ian Copeland. While at F.B.I., Huie was instrumental in breaking artists such as The Police, The Go-Go’s, and Joan Jett. In 1984, he left F.B.I. and created his own agency, H-1, where he led the Contemporary Christian music industry in crossing over artists such as Amy Grant and Michael W. Smith into mainstream appeal. In 1987, H-1 was purchased by International Creative Management (ICM) and Huie moved to Los Angeles where he ran ICM’s Contemporary Music division for five years.

In 1999, Huie won a Grammy Award for Best Southern, Country, Or Bluegrass Gospel Album for
THE APOSTLE soundtrack, for which he served as a producer. He has been honored numerous times throughout his career, including being named Pollstar’s Third Coast Agent of the Year eight times.
In 2015, he was inducted into the Georgia Music Hall of Fame. In 2022, he was awarded the GMA Leadership Award.

Huie served on the Country Music Association Board of Directors as well as the CMA Foundation Board, which focuses on equitable access to music education. He is President of the Southern Chapter of the T.J. Martell Foundation for Cancer Research and serves on the boards of The Onsite Foundation and The Jack & Jill Late Stage Cancer Foundation. Additionally, he is an Advisory Board member of Lipscomb University’s College of Entertainment & The Arts and Porter’s Call, a counseling service for artists.

The CMA Touring Lifetime Achievement Award is for an individual who has accomplished the highest level in the Country Music field of touring. The Award was established to recognize an individual who has achieved both prominence and stature at the highest level. The individual receiving this Award has positively impacted and contributed to the growth of touring throughout a course of years that have proven to have an unprecedented historical impact on Country Music fans and the industry alike, and whose presence will have a long-term positive impact on Country Music and CMA for generations to come.

Urban has spent the better part of his life harnessing a deep-seated passion for music. He has won 12 CMA Awards, four Grammy Awards,15 ACM Awards, three American Music Awards, two People’s Choice Awards and celebrated nine consecutive Gold, Platinum, or multi-Platinum albums.

November 2022 brought news of Urban’s Las Vegas residency at the Zappos Theater at Planet Hollywood Resort & Casino. The all-new show launches March 3, 2023 and will include 16 performances in March, June, and July.

He has long supported numerous charities. His “All For The Hall” benefit concerts for the Country Music Hall of Fame® and Museum have raised over $4.2 million. He is an Artist Ambassador of the CMA Foundation, an advisory board member at the St. Jude’s Children’s Hospital, and is a longtime supporter of The Mr. Holland’s Opus Fund and The Grammy Foundation.

See below for the final nominees for the 2022 CMA Touring Awards. CMA members in the following membership groups were eligible to vote on the 15 categories up for awards: Advertising/Public Relations/Media, Affiliated, Artist, Entertainment Services, Marketing/Digital, Musician, Personal Manager, Record Label, Talent Agent, Talent Buyer/Promoter, Touring, and Venue.

CATEGORY 1 – BUSINESS MANAGER OF THE YEAR

• Renee Allen – Arnie Barn, Inc.
• David Boyer – Flood, Bumstead, McCready & McCarthy, Inc.
• Jamie Cheek – Flood, Bumstead, McCready & McCarthy, Inc.
• Duane Clark – Flood, Bumstead, McCready & McCarthy, Inc.
• Stephanie Mundy Self – Farris, Self & Moore, LLC

CATEGORY 2 – COACH/TRUCK DRIVER OF THE YEAR

• Ronnie Brown – Zac Brown Band
• Rhett Evens – Thomas Rhett
• Caleb Garrett – Luke Bryan
• Jon Long – Dierks Bentley
• John Stalder – Kenny Chesney

CATEGORY 3 – FOH (FRONT OF HOUSE) ENGINEER OF THE YEAR

• Aaron Lain – Morgan Wallen
• Todd Lewis – Luke Combs
• Robert Scovill – Kenny Chesney
• Frank Sgambellone – Luke Bryan
• Trey Smith – Thomas Rhett
  

CATEGORY 4 – LIGHTING DIRECTOR OF THE YEAR

• Zac Coren – Morgan Wallen
• Philip Ealy – Kenny Chesney
• Kevin Northrup – Luke Combs
• Chris Reade – Dierks Bentley
• Alec Takahashi – Thomas Rhett
  

CATEGORY 5 – MANAGER OF THE YEAR

• Clint Higham – Morris Higham Management
• Mary Hilliard Harrington – Red Light Management
• Chris Kappy – Make Wake Artists
• Marion Kraft – ShopKeeper Management
• John Peets – Q Prime South
  

CATEGORY 6 – TOUR MANAGER OF THE YEAR

• David Farmer – Kenny Chesney
• Luke Holton – Brothers Osborne
• Curt Jenkins – Miranda Lambert
• Ethan Strunk – Luke Combs
• Jon Townley – Thomas Rhett
  

CATEGORY 7 – MONITOR ENGINEER OF THE YEAR

• Jimmy Nicholson – Thomas Rhett
• Phillip Robinson – Kenny Chesney
• Scott Tatter – Dierks Bentley
• Phil Wilkey – Keith Urban
• Michael Zuehsow – Luke Combs
  

CATEGORY 8 – PRODUCTION MANAGER OF THE YEAR

• Chris Alderman – Blake Shelton
• Erik Leighty – Miranda Lambert
• Jerry Slone – Luke Combs
• Kevin Twist – Thomas Rhett
• Ed Wannebo – Kenny Chesney

CATEGORY 9 – PUBLICIST OF THE YEAR

• Janet Buck – Essential Broadcast Media
• Ebie McFarland – Essential Broadcast Media
• Tyne Parrish – The GreenRoom
• Jensen Sussman – Sweet Talk Publicity
• Jennifer Vessio – 1220 Entertainment Publicity

CATEGORY 10 – TALENT AGENT OF THE YEAR

• Mike Betterton – Wasserman Music
• Joey Lee – WME
• Austin Neal – The Neal Agency
• Nate Towne – WME
• Jay Williams – WME

CATEGORY 11 – TALENT BUYER/PROMOTER OF THE YEAR

• Jered Johnson – Pepper Entertainment
• Louis Messina – Messina Touring Group
• Brian O’Connell – Live Nation Nashville
• Aaron Spalding – Live Nation Nashville
• Adam Weiser – AEG Presents
  

CATEGORY 12 – TOUR VIDEOGRAPHER/PHOTOGRAPHER OF THE YEAR

*Due to a tie in this category, there are six nominees.

• Zach Belcher – Dierks Bentley
• David Bergman – Luke Combs
• Tanner Gallagher – HARDY
• Grayson Gregory – Thomas Rhett
• Jeff Johnson – Carrie Underwood
• Jill Trunnell – Kenny Chesney

CATEGORY 13 – TOUR VIDEO DIRECTOR OF THE YEAR

• John Breslin – Garth Brooks
• Jay Cooper – Kenny Chesney
• Ron Etters – Chris Stapleton
• Tyler Hutcheson – Luke Combs
• Phil Nudelman – Keith Urban
  

CATEGORY 14 – TOURING MUSICIAN OF THE YEAR

• Jimmie Deeghan – Kane Brown
• Dan Hochhalter – Dierks Bentley
• Harmoni Kelley – Kenny Chesney
• Jimmy Mattingly – Garth Brooks / Trisha Yearwood
• Josh Reedy – Thomas Rhett
  

CATEGORY 15 – VENUE OF THE YEAR

• Ascend Amphitheater – Nashville, TN
• Bank of New Hampshire Pavilion – Gilford, NH
• Bridgestone Arena – Nashville, TN
• Red Rocks Amphitheatre – Morrison, CO
• Ryman Auditorium – Nashville, TN