FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

TEXAS COUNTRY MUSIC ASSOCIATION ANNOUNCES

FINALISTS FOR THE 2020 TEXAS COUNTRY MUSIC AWARDS

23 Texas Country Music Awards To Be Presented September 20th

At Billy Bob’s Texas in the Fort Worth Stockyards

FORT WORTH, TX (May 28, 2020) -- The Texas Country Music Association announced today the Top 5 Finalists in 21 of the 23 categories for the 2020 Texas Country Music Awards as a result of nominations that were made between April 1 and May 15, 2020.  The 2020 TCMA Songwriter Contest top 10 Finalists in each the Country and Christian Country categories will be announced in late June.

Final Round Voting is between June 1 and July 15, 2020 on the TCMA website atwww.texascountrymusic.org.  The winners will be announced at the 2020 Texas Country Music Awards which will take place on Sunday, September 20 in the Fort Wort Stockyards at Billy Bob’s Texas.  Many industry professionals and artists will be on hand to announce the winners and present the Awards to the recipients.

The 2020 Texas Country Music Awards is brought to you by title sponsor The Hotel Drover in the Fort Worth Stockyards and Stockyards Heritage, and is presented by Texas Country Music Association with the help of many sponsors including .  Media sponsors for 2020 are 92.1 HANK-FM and 95.9 KFWR The Ranch.  

The Awards ceremony will be hosted by TCMA Spokesperson and Texas Country Artist, Brandon Rhyder, who will also perform at the event.  Co-hosting the Awards ceremony is Malone Ranger, on-air personality with 95.9 FM The Ranch.

There will be performances by not only Brandon Rhyder but also Curtis Grimes, Zane Williams, Holly Tucker and several others to be announced as schedules are confirmed.  The Awards’ ceremony headliner as well as pre-show showcase performers will be announced at a later date.

In addition to the 23 Awards presented at the 2020 Texas Country Music Awards, the Texas Country Music Association’s  prestigious “Trailblazer Award” will be presented to Mr. Radney Foster for his long-standing career and the unprecedented success he’s obtained in songwriting, singing and performing.  "TCMA is very excited and pleased to be presenting Radney the 2020 Trailblazer Awardas part of the Awards Ceremony," says Linda Wilson, President and Founder of the Texas Country Music Association. "I met and have been following Radney since the 90's, and he’s certainly ‘blazed the trail’ and been an inspiration for so many artists and songwriters through his successes, and he deserves the honor and recognition.” She continues, “Texas is so blessed to have such spectacular talent.  There were literally thousands of nominees – each one gifted and unique -- and we are very honored to be able to work on ALL their behalf on an ongoing basis.”

The Texas Country Music Awards has been recognized as the only one of its kind by the State of Texas, and the Texas Country Music Association is by far the largest and most influential and energizing Country Music Awards and Association in Texas.  “We work daily and diligently on behalf of everyone in the industry through the many established  ongoing and future programs we’ve developed.  The Texas Country Music Awards is a blast – like a huge family reunion, and you won’t want to miss it!  After a long and grueling spring with this pandemic, we’re all going to be ready for one big party come September 20^th!” says Wilson.

Tickets to the 2020 Texas Country Music Awards will go on sale in June at www.billybobstexas.comor through a link onwww.texascountrymusic.org.  TCMA Executive Vice President, Richard Wilson states, “Every year the Texas Country Music Awards is awesome and gets better every year.  Last year’s Awards at Billy Bob’s was off the chain.  We expect to exceed that this year though.”

Red Carpet Interviews begin at 3:00pm the day of the Awards with Red Carpet host and TCMA Vice President Kris Young.  The doors open to the public at Billy Bob’s at 2:00pm, and at 4:00pm there will be an Awards Pre-Show showcasing just a few of the TCMA Member Artists, and Musician Awards will also be presented.   The official Awards Ceremony will begin at 6:00pm.   The official TCMA “after-party” location will be announced later.

The 2020 Texas Country Music Awards will be covered by media from all over Texas and filmed for future broadcast on the Texas Country Network and other TCMA affiliated broadcast outlets. Several radio stations will also live broadcast the ceremony and highlight the festivities.

The finalists and their award categories are:

Entertainer Of The Year:

Josh Ward

Randall King

Zane Williams

Curtis Grimes

Holly Tucker

Female Artist of the Year:

Season Ammons

Kaitlin Butts

Sarah Hobbs

Holly Tucker

Bri Bagwell

Male Artist of the Year:

Jon Stork

Wynn Williams

Will Carter

David Adam Byrnes

Kaleb McIntire

Country Band or Duo of the Year:

Eleven Hundred Springs

Hill Country

Saints Eleven

Chad Cooke Band

Darrin Morris Band

Roots/Alternative

Giovannie & The Hired Guns

The Powell Brothers

Jamie Lin Wilson

Squeezebox Bandits

Jake Hooker & The Outsiders

Emerging New Artist:

Jade Marie Patek

Jon Stork

George Navarro

Hayden Haddock

Aaron Copeland

Country Album Of The Year:

Randall King, Randall King

Live at Billy Bob’s, Josh Ward

Good Bad Idea, Will Carter

Radio Cowboy, Jon Stork

Still Some Kind of Crazy, Kaleb McIntire

Country Single of the Year:

Whatever It Takes, Chad Cooke Band

Facts and Lies, Jon Stork

Good Country Song, Robert Ray

Whiskey’s Working Well, Jamie Richards

River Road Dream, Curtis Grimes

Christian Country Artist of the Year:

Curtis Grimes

Crystal Yates

Michael Knight

Justin Todd Herod

Tommy Brandt

Christian Country Single Of The Year:

Preacher Man, Darrin Morris

That’s What I Was Thinking, Heather Smith

Bible On My Dash, Michael Knight

I Found Jesus, Chad Roland

Come On Down, Barry Lee White

Young Artist (18 & Under):

Bailey Rae

Jack Barksdale

Graycie York

Macy Dot Neal

Austin Michael

Terrestrial Radio Station of the Year:

95.9 KFWR FM The Ranch – Fort Worth

99.3/98.5 KOKE FM– Austin

106.9 The Ranch – Corsicana

100.9 KVMK FM, College Station

104.3 KFYN FM The River, Paris

Broadcast Personality Of The Year:

Ben Ryan – 95.9 KFWR FM The Ranch Fort Worth

Eric Raines - 99.3/98.5 KOKE FM Austin

Mike “Crowman” Crow, 92.9 KMRX Shooter FM, Waco

Corliss, 100.9 KVMK FM College Station

Brave Dave, 99.7 FM KSTAR Country, Montgomery

Internet Radio Station of the Year:

RealTexasRadio.com (Michael White, Owner)

TexasHomeGrownRadio.com (Jody Caudle, Owner)

TexasRedHotRadio.com (Judith Merck, Program Director)

TroubadourCountryRadio.com (Jim Alvarado, Owner)

PureCountry100.com (Kenny Schneebeli, Owner)

Live Music Venue of the Year:

Gruene Hall – New Braunfels

Love & War in Texas – Plano

Moore’s Store – Ben Wheeler

Billy Bob’s Texas – Fort Worth

Twisted J Bar – Stephenville

Bassist of the Year:

Colton James

Sean Rodriguez

Colt Lawhon

Blake Watson

Chase Satterwhite

Drummer of the Year:

Nate Coon

Christian Dorn

David Cates

Jeremy Moore

Eddie “Danger” Barnot

Fiddler of the Year:

Milo Deering

Heather Stalling

George Navarro

David Varnado

Rico Gonzales

Guitarist of the Year:

Jeff Grossman

Andy Rogers

Brendan Gilman

Justin Todd Herod

Glen Mead

Keyboard/Pianist of the Year:

Sam Jones

Drew Harakel

Zachary Lee

Allen Huff

Vernon Emshoff

Steel Guitarist of the Year:

Kevin Skrla

Milo Deering

Samuel Fields

Bob Ogle

Haystack Novak

To place your Votes for the 2020 Texas Country Music Awards beginning June 1, go towww.texascountrymusicassociation.org/2020vote.  Voters do not need to be a member of the Texas Country Music Association; however, TCMA Members’ votes are doubled. 

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The Texas Country Music Association’s mission is to promote, energize and enhance the Texas Country Music industry, its artists, musicians, songwriters, venues, media, businesses and all those behind the scenes to make it all happen.  “We have already implemented many huge projects and have more big plans for the future that will certainly help the Texas Country Music industry and all involved in it.” says Linda Wilson, who also mentioned that the 2018 development of the “Texas Country Music Chart” has met with huge success.  The Texas Country Music Chart is a Texas based chart that uses the highest technology available to digitally monitor all qualifying public radio streams and accurately track Texas Country airplay of songs released by artists.

More information about the TCMA, its purpose, plans, membership and goals as well as

SponsorshipsandSouvenir Program advertisingopportunities available for the 2020 Texas Country Music Awards is available atwww.texascountrymusic.org.  TCMA Members receive advance notice of everything TCMA, ticket and hotel discounts and many other perks and advantages throughout the year.

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NOTE TO MEDIA:  To apply for media credentials for the 2020 Texas Country Music Awards, go towww.texascountrymusicassociation.org/2020mediacredentials.  Note:  There are a limited number of media credentials available and TCMA Members are given first option.

MEDIA CONTACT:
Linda Wilson, President

Texas Country Music Association

903-472-8008

tcma@texascountrymusicassociation.org