Brad Paisley Takes Top ASCAP Honors

The 49th Annual ASCAP Country Awards were held at the Opryland Hotel Nov. 6. It was a big night for Brad Paisley, who won Songwriter/Artist of the Year for the second time. Brad's publishing company, Sea Gayle Music was named Publisher of the Year for the second year in a row.
 
Last year's Songwriter/Artist winner, Dierks Bentley, opened the show this year with a performance of his song, "Home." Dierks said that the ASCAP event honored his "favorite crowd of people in Nashville." He told The Boot that the most important people in Nashville are the songwriters and publishers. 
 
Ben Hayslip won Songwriter of the Year for writing hit songs, such as Josh Turner's, "All Over Me," Blake Shelton's, "All About Tonight," Joe Nichols', "Gimmie That Girl," and Rodney Atkins', "Farmer's Daughter."
 
Ben told The Boot, "It's an unbelievable honor. I dreamed of being a lot of things in my life from a major league baseball player to an NFL quarterback to a songwriter, but never, ever did I dream about being Songwriter of the Year. I didn't think it was possible."
 
A few of the biggest awards went as follows:
 
Songwriter/Artist of the Year: Brad Paisley
 
Publisher of the Year: Sea Gayle Music
 
Songwriter of the Year: Ben Hayslip
 
Country Song of the Year: "The House That Built Me," written by Allen Shamblin and recorded by Miranda Lambert
 
Vanguard Award: The Civil Wars
 
Golden Note Award: Don Williams
 
Global Impact Award: "Need You Now" by Lady Antebellum