The Texas Country Music Association, Inc. announced the Top 5 Finalists in each of the award categories for their 2018 Texas Country Music Awards on June 30. These Finalists came as a result of nominations that were made between May 1 and June 22, 2018. Final Round Voting that took place between July 1 and August 5. The winners will be announced at the 2018 Texas Country Music Awards which will take place on the evening of Monday, October 15 at the Will Rogers Auditorium in Fort Worth, TX.
The 2018 Texas Country Music Awards is brought to you by Hotel Drover at the Fort Worth Stockyards, an Autograph Collection Hotel opening on Mule Alley in the spring of 2020. A destination boutique hotel in the tradition of the great ranches of Texas, the new Hotel Drover will offer rustic comfort and the truly special brand of genuine hospitality only Texas can deliver.
Radio Station 92.1 HANK-FM in Fort Worth is the event’s media sponsor. Other sponsors include Love and War in Texas, Justin Boots, Cinch Jeans, The Rustic, OnPoint Roofing, Firestone & Robertson Distillery/TX Whiskey, Texas Silver Rush, Penner Construction, NRS (National Roper’s Supply), Legal Draft Beer Co., Vibe9Monitors and others.
The Awards ceremony will be hosted by TCMA Spokesperson and Texas Country Artist, Brandon Rhyder, who will also perform at the event. Co-hosting and also performing at the Awards is Jenn Ford, also a Texas Country Music Artist who co-hosted the 2017 Awards with Rhyder.
There will be performances by not only Brandon Rhyder and Jenn Ford, but also Curtis Grimes, Doug Stone, Brian Black, Kadie Lynn, Doug Supernaw, Freddie Pate, Richard Wilson, Steve Helms, Christian Country Artists Del Way and Justin Todd Herod. The Entertainer of the Year Finalists who will be participating are Cameran Nelson, Bri Bagwell, Chris Colston and Holly Tucker.
Assisting with Trophy presentations are 2018 Miss Texas US Andrea Fox, All Around Champion Cowboy Tuf Cooper, Texas Music Office Director Brendon Anthony and many others. For some comedy relief, Mark “Festus” Staggs will be on hand.
Red Carpet Interviews begin at 3:00pm the day of the Awards with Red Carpet Host Kris Young. Doors open to the public for access to the auditorium at 4:30pm, and at 5:00pm there will be an Awards Pre-Show showcasing just a few of the TCMA Member Artists The Awards Ceremony will begin at 7:00pm.
Along with the 26 Awards presented at the 2018 Texas Country Music Awards, TCMA’s prestigious “Trailblazer Award” will be presented to Mr. Red Steagall for his long-standing career and the unprecedented leadership and success he’s obtained. “TCMA is very excited and pleased to be presenting Mr. Steagall the 2018 Trailblazer Award as part of the Awards Ceremony,” says Linda Wilson, President and Founder of the Texas Country Music Association, Inc. “He’s certainly ‘blazed the trail’ and been an inspiration for so many artists, 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 is by far the largest Country Music Awards in Texas, and our organization works daily on behalf of everyone in the industry. You won’t want to miss it so come early, watch the Red Carpet interviews and enjoy the beer garden hosted by Coburn’s catering.”
The 2018 Texas Country Music Awards will be covered by media from all over Texas. The event will be filmed and live-streamed by professional videographer Chris Romain and his team from Jet Danger Entertainment. Footage will also be edited for television to air at a later date. Hank-FM 92.1 will be live on remote, and several internet radio stations such as CoyoteCountryRadio.com and TexasCountryMusicRadio.org will also live stream the ceremony.
The finalists and their award categories are:
Entertainer Of The Year:
Bri Bagwell, Cameran Nelson, Chris Colston, Josh Ward, Holly Tucker
Male Vocalist of the Year:
Chris Colston, Curtis Grimes, Darrin Morris, Josh Ward, Will Carter
Female Vocalist of the Year:
Bri Bagwell, Holly Tucker, Sarah Hobbs, Sunny Sweeney, Vanessa Lynn Bird
Country Band of the Year:
Jody Booth Band, Flatland Cavalry, Darrin Morris Band, Shane Smith & The Saints, Uncle Lucius
Cajun Country Artist of the Year:
Freddie Pate, John Thibodeaux, Kevin Anthony, Aston Dupre’, Dustin Sonnier
Duo of the Year:
Texwestus, Treble Soul, Hannah & Hailee, The Teccas, Shotgun Rider
Young Artist (16 & Under):
Abigail Taylor, Hannah & Hailee, Kadie Lynn, Macy Dot Neal, Jack Barksdale
Emerging New Artist:
Aliza Ford, Grace Tyler, John Hord, John Thibodeaux, Hayden Baker
Country Album Of The Year:
Vaquero – Aaron Watson, Palo Duro – Shotgun Rider, Don’t Forget Where You Came From – Kyle Park, Gone – Chris Colston, Coffee Days & Whiskey Nights – Robynne Shayne
Country Single of the Year:
Dance With The Devil – Nick Bakay, Drunk Enough – Robert Ray, Keep On Rollin’ – Michael Gutierrez, Can I Buy You A Country Song – Steve Helms, Tuggin On My Heart Strings – Randall King
Terrestrial Radio Station of the Year:
95.9 The Ranch – Fort Worth, 99.3 KOKE – Austin, 99.7 KSTAR – Conroe, 95.2 KHYI – Plano, 105.7 KYKX – Longview
Broadcast Personality Of The Year:
Curtis McKinney & Brad Hennington – Cranked Up Country Syndicated, Rickey Green – KSCK 100.5 Sterling City, Eric Raines – 99.3 KOKE FM Austin, Brett Dillon – 95.3 KHYI The Range Plano, Bruce Allen – texas46radio.com
Internet Radio Station of the Year:
CoyoteCountryRadio.com, RealTexasRadio.com, TrueTexasRadio.com, Texas46Radio.com, TroubadourCountryRadio.com
Live Music Venue of the Year:
Love & War in Texas – Plano, Redneck Country Club – Stafford, Honky Tonk Texas – Silsbee, Dosey Doe -The Woodlands, Banita Creek Hall – Nacogdoches
Christian Country Artist of the Year:
Curtis Grimes, Jackie Cox, John Randolph, Justin Todd Herod, Michael Knight
Christian Country Single Of The Year:
Believe – Wild Fire, Born To Die – Curtis Grimes, Slow Time Down – John Randolph, Sometimes Good People Happen To Bad Things – Justin Todd Herod, You Can Have It All – Michael Knight.
Bassist of the Year:
Blake Watson, Cody Wood, Christopher Smith, Stormy Cooper, Dale Kirk
Fiddler of the Year:
Kevin Anthony, Lacie Carpenter, Mike Calley, Milo Deering, David Varnado
Guitarist of the Year:
Brendan Gillman, Freddie Pate, Justin Todd Herod, Michael Olson, Tom Kindle
Keyboard/Pianist of the Year:
Chris Bergeron, David Young, Marty Erwin, Chris Cockburn, Scott Moody
Steel Guitarist of the Year:
Bobby Texas Gardner, Jim Hall, Laine Thibodeaux, Milo Deering, Billy McCoy
Drummer of the Year:
Christian Dorn, Chad Polnick, Eddie Danger Barnot, Albert Gonzales, Jr.,
Brandon Lemond
Country Songwriter of the Year Finalists:
Billy Holloway – Texas Moon
Cameran Nelson, Greg Bates & Aaron Scherz – Home Wasn’t Built In A Day
Hannah (Hannah Kay) Blackwell & Jerry Flowers – Cuz I Ain’t
John Thibodeaux – Don’t Want To Love Her Any More
Justin Todd Herod – 100 Proof
Justin Tod Herod – Red White & Blue Ain’t Black & White
Kelly Kenning & David Chamberlain – The Heart Knows
Madison (Madison Paige) Urbanowski – Stand Tall
Steve Mays, David Glass, Justin Glass – She Don’t Love Him Anymore
Will Carter & Shane Stevens – House of Cards
Christian Country Songwriter of the Year Finalists:
Allison Gilliam – Just Wait For The Morning
Justin Todd Herod – Sometimes Good People Happen To Bad Things
Kayla Iutzwig & Kelli Iutzwig – Believe
Kelly Kenning – All In The Family
Kelly Kenning – Jesus Is My King
Michael Knight – I Got Saved
Michael Ryan – In Your Pasture
Scott Tecca – I Believe
Scott Tecca – I Will Follow You
Trinity Wennerstrom & Corey Lee Barker – Shine Big Shine Bright
The Texas Country Music Association, Inc.’s mission is to promote and enhance the Texas Country Music industry, its artists, musicians, businesses and those behind the scenes to make it all happen. “We have big plans for the future that will certainly continue to energize the Texas Country Music industry and all involved in it.” says TCMA Vice President Richard Wilson. He mentions two projects already live are the new Texas Country Music Chart, Texas Country Music Radio online, and Texas Country Music Television online.