The Academy of Country Music has announced some of the musicians, producers, engineers, venues and touring industry execs winners who will be celebrated at the 16th ACM Honors ceremony at the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville on Aug. 23. The show serves as a music-industry-centric adjunct to the ACM Awards telecast that is globally webcast in the spring.
The announcement of these winners precedes by a day the reveal of the big names that will receive special awards during the August program, along with forthcoming news of the show’s host and ticketing information.
Jay Joyce, the producer for Lainey Wilson, Ashley McBryde and many other artists, was named producer of the year for a sixth time. Justin Niebank has an even longer-running streak — he’ll be awarded as audio engineer for a ninth time.
Other winners in the studio recording award division include Derek Wells as the year’s top electric guitar player, Mark Hill as the featured bass player in the voting, Tim Galloway as acoustic guitar player, Dave Cohen as top keyboard player and fiddler Jenee Fleenor as specialty instrumentalist of the year. Galloway and Hill are first-time ACM winners in their categories.
Venue winners include the Grand Ole Opry House as theater of the year, Joe’s on Weed St. in Chicago as club of the year (for a sixth time), Bank of NH Pavilion as outdoor venue of the year, Country Thunder in Bristol, TN as festival of the year, Harveys Lake Tahoe as casino of the year (arena) and Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Florida as casino of the year (theater).
Joe’s on Weed St. club owner Ed Warm will pick up his fifth ACM Award for Promoter of the Year. Troy Vollhoffer of Premier Global Production is talent buyer of the year for the first time.
The winners were announced through a video rollout that included Mickey Guyton, Little Big Town, Dustin Lynch, Ashley McBryde, Jon Pardi, Thomas Rhett, Cole Swindell and Lainey Wilson.
A complete list of the winners of the Industry Awards and Studio Recording Awards:
INDUSTRY AWARD WINNERS:
- CASINO OF THE YEAR – THEATER: Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino – Hollywood, FL
- CASINO OF THE YEAR – ARENA: Harveys Lake Tahoe – Stateline, NV
- FESTIVAL OF THE YEAR: Country Thunder – Bristol, TN
- FAIR/RODEO OF THE YEAR: Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo – Houston, TX
- CLUB OF THE YEAR: Joe’s on Weed St. – Chicago, IL
- THEATER OF THE YEAR: Grand Ole Opry House – Nashville, TN
- OUTDOOR VENUE OF THE YEAR: Bank of NH Pavilion – Gilford, NH
- ARENA OF THE YEAR: Moody Center – Austin, TX
- DON ROMEO TALENT BUYER OF THE YEAR: Troy Vollhoffer – Premier Global Production
- PROMOTER OF THE YEAR: Ed Warm – Joe’s Live
STUDIO RECORDING AWARD WINNERS:
- BASS PLAYER OF THE YEAR: Mark Hill
- DRUMMER OF THE YEAR: Aaron Sterling
- ACOUSTIC GUITAR PLAYER OF THE YEAR: Tim Galloway
- ELECTRIC GUITAR PLAYER OF THE YEAR: Derek Wells
- PIANO/KEYBOARDS PLAYER OF THE YEAR: Dave Cohen
- SPECIALTY INSTRUMENT(S) PLAYER OF THE YEAR: Jenee Fleenor
- AUDIO ENGINEER OF THE YEAR: Justin Niebank
- PRODUCER OF THE YEAR: Jay Joyce