56th Annual ASCAP Country Music Awards Takes Over Nashville Ahead of CMA Awards

The 56th Annual American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers (ASCAP) Country Music Awards took over Downtown Nashville on Monday (November 12).

Kicking off “CMA Week,” Music City’s hottest songwriters graced the red carpet at the Renaissance Hotel including honoree Lee Ann Womack, Dierks Bentley, Carly Pearce, Drake White, Jordan Davis, Midland, Dan + Shay’s Dan Smyers, The Cadillac Three, Cassadee Pope, Clare Dunn, Jillian Jacqueline.

So how exactly does songwriting work? And what comes first — the lyrics or the music? According to Adam Hambrick, “everybody asks that and nobody has a straight answer.”

It looks like there’s no clear cut formula for songwriting, and just like anything else, it takes A LOT of practice. Nearly every star classified their first song ever as “terrible,” “awful,” or as Jordan Davis says, “in the trash.” Cale Dodds laughs, “I was 11 or 12 [when I wrote my first song]. Nothing rhymed and it was really, really long.”

Seth Ennis, who fittingly strutted the red carpet with his adorable momma by his side, revealed that it only took him and fellow friend/songwriter, Michael Hardy, 30 minutes to pen out his latest single “Call Your Momma.”

“My mom likes to get on the phone and talk with me for a long time,” says Ennis. “She texted me one day, a couple times in a row, so I called her to see what was going on. We ended up talking about some small town drama and whatever else she had to get off her chest, so I wrote down the title and ended up writing the full song with my buddy Michael Hardy in 30 minutes. It was the fastest we’ve ever written a song, and it turned out pretty well.”

Keep scrolling to see the full list of honorees at the 56th ASCAP Country Awards and watch more interviews from the red carpet via the playlist at the bottom of the post.

MOST PERFORMED SONGS

*** Indicates a Top 3 ASCAP country song

A Girl Like You
Recorded by Easton Corbin
Written by Ashley Gorley
Published by Combustion Music, Round Hill Songs, Warner/Chappell Music Publishing

All On Me
Recorded by Devin Dawson
Published by Two Sixteen Publishing, Warner/Chappell Music Publishing

All the Pretty Girls
Recorded by Kenny Chesney
Written by Josh Osborne
Published by Anderson Fork in the Road Music, Smacksongs

Black
Recorded by Dierks Bentley
Written by Dierks Bentley, Ashley Gorley
Published by Combustion Music, Kobalt Songs Music Publishing, Round Hill Songs, Warner/Chappell Music Publishing

***Body Like A Back Road
Recorded by Sam Hunt
Written by Zach Crowell, Sam Hunt, Josh Osborne
Published by Anderson Fork in the Road Music, Combustion Music, I Love Pizza Music, One77 Songs,
Sam Hunt Publishing, Smacksongs, Tape Room Music, Universal Music Corporation,
Warner/Chappell Music Publishing

Boy
Recorded by Lee Brice
Written by Jon Nite
Published by Sony/ATV Music Publishing

Broken Halos
Recorded by Chris Stapleton
Written by Chris Stapleton
Published by Sea Gayle Music, Spirit Music Nashville, Warner/Chappell Music Publishing

Craving You
Recorded by Thomas Rhett
Written by Dave Barnes
Published by BMG Gold Songs, Lawnwranglers

Do I Make You Wanna
Recorded by Billy Currington
Written by Zach Crowell, Jerry Flowers, Ashley Gorley, Matt Jenkins
Published by Combustion Music, One77 Songs, Tape Room Music, Warner/Chappell Music Publishing

Drinkin’ Problem
Recorded by Midland
Written by Jess Carson, Josh Osborne, Mark Wystrach
Published by Songs of Black River, Spirit Music Nashville, Tiptop Music, Tropical Cowboy Publishing, Warner/Chappell Music Publishing

Every Little Thing
Recorded by Carly Pearce
Written by Carly Pearce
Published by BMG Gold Songs, For the Kids Gold, Redfeather Publishing

Every Time I Hear That Song
Recorded by Blake Shelton
Written by Chris Lindsey
Published by Chris Lindsey Songs, Universal Music Corporation

Everything’s Gonna Be Alright
Recorded by David Lee Murphy & Kenny Chesney
Written by David Lee Murphy
Published by N2D Publishing Company Inc, Old Desperadoes LLC

Five More Minutes
Recorded by Scotty Mccreery
Written by Frank Rogers
Published by Sea Gayle Music, Spirit Music Nashville

Fix a Drink
Recorded by Chris Janson
Written by Chris Dubois, Ashley Gorley
Published by Combustion Music, Round Hill Songs, Sea Gayle Music, Warner/Chappell Music Publishing

For Her
Recorded by Chris Lane
Written by Matt Dragstrem
Published by Big Loud Songs, Round Hill Songs

For the First Time
Recorded by Darius Rucker
Written by Scooter Carusoe, Derek George, Darius Rucker
Published by BMG Gold Songs, Carnival Music, Funky Friar Music, Growingmusic Publishing, Rezonant Music, Sony/ATV Music Publishing, Warner/Chappell Music Publishing

Get to You
Recorded by Michael Ray
Written by Pavel Dovgalyuk, Abe Stoklasa
Published by Big Yellow Dog Music, Ole Green Vinyl Music

God, Your Mama, And Me
Recorded by Florida Georgia Line feat. Backstreet Boys
Written by Josh Kear, Hillary Lindsey, Gordie Sampson
Published by BMG Gold Songs, Big Yellow Dog Music, Champagne Whiskey Publishing, Rezonant Music

Happens Like That
Recorded by Granger Smith
Written by Andy Albert, Jordan Schmidt
Published by Buzz Light Beer Music, Downtown DLJ Songs, Tree Vibez Music, Warner/Chappell Music Publishing, We-Volve Music

I Could Use a Love Song
Recorded by Maren Morris
Written by Jimmy Robbins
Published by Extraordinary Alien, Round Hill Songs

I’ll Name the Dogs
Recorded by Blake Shelton
Written by Matt Dragstrem, Ben Hayslip
Published by Big Loud Songs, Matt Drag Music, Pinetucky Road Publishing, Round Hill Songs, This Music, Warner/Chappell Music Publishing

In Case You Didn’t Know
Recorded by Brett Young
Written by Kyle Schlienger, Brett Young
Published by Big Machine Music, Caliville Publishing, Kyle Schlienger Productions

It Ain’t My Fault
Recorded by Brothers Osborne
Written by John Osborne, TJ Osborne
Published by King Pen Music, Songstein Publishing, Trampy McCauley, Warner/Chappell Music Publishing

Legends
Recorded by Kelsea Ballerini
Written by Kelsea Ballerini, Hillary Lindsey, Forest Glen Whitehead
Published by BMG Gold Songs, KNB Music, Rezonant Music, Songs of Black River, Write Me Like You Mean It Music

Light It Up
Recorded by Luke Bryan
Written by Brad Tursi
Published by Big Deal Music Group, Wooden Ships

Like I Loved You
Recorded by Brett Young
Written by Brett Young
Published by Big Machine Music, Caliville Publishing

Losing Sleep
Recorded by Chris Young
Written by Chris DeStefano
Published by CDS Words & Music, Sony/ATV Music Publishing

Marry Me
Recorded by Thomas Rhett
Written by Ashley Gorley
Published by Combustion Music, Round Hill Songs, Warner/Chappell Music Publishing

More Girls Like You
Recorded by Kip Moore
Written by David Garcia, Kip Moore, Steven Lee Olsen
Published by Cornman Music, D Soul Music, Point Break Publishing, Universal Music Corporation, Warner/Chappell Music Publishing

My Girl
Recorded by Dylan Scott
Published by Curb|Word Music Publishing, Songs of Black River

No Such Thing As A Broken Heart
Recorded by Old Dominion
Written by Matthew Ramsey, Trevor Rosen, Brad Tursi
Published by Big Deal Music Group, Carrot Seed Songs, Rehits Music, Rezonant Music, Smacksongs, Unfair Entertainment, Wooden Ships

Ring On Every Finger
Recorded by Locash
Written by Josh Kear
Published by Big Yellow Dog Music, Champagne Whiskey Publishing

Singles You Up
Recorded by Jordan Davis
Written by Jordan Davis, Steven Dale Jones
Published by Curb|Word Music Publishing, Jordan Davis Music, ole Red Cape Songs, Son of Austin Songs, Warner/Chappell Music Publishing

***Small Town Boy
Recorded by Dustin Lynch
Written by Ben Hayslip
Published by This Music, Warner/Chappell Music Publishing

Somebody Else Will
Recorded by Justin Moore
Written by Adam Hambrick
Published by Red Like the Sunset Music, ole Red Cape Songs

Take Back Home Girl
Recorded by Chris Lane feat. Tori Kelly
Written by David Garcia, Hillary Lindsey
Published by Birb Music, BMG Gold Songs, D Soul Music, Rezonant Music, Universal Music Corporation

They Don’t Know
Recorded by Jason Aldean
Written by Kurt Allison, Josh Mirenda
Published by BMG/This Is Magic Mustang Music, Cornman Music, Makena Cove Music, Warner/Chappell Music Publishing

Unforgettable
Recorded by Thomas Rhett
Written by Ashley Gorley
Published by Combustion Music, Round Hill Songs, Warner/Chappell Music Publishing

Up Down
Recorded by Morgan Wallen feat. Florida Georgia Line
Written by CJ Solar
Published by Sea Gayle Music

***What Ifs
Recorded by Kane Brown
Written by Jordan Schmidt
Published by Tree Vibez Music, We-Volve Music, Warner/Chappell Music Publishing

Written in the Sand
Recorded by Old Dominion
Written by Matthew Ramsey, Trevor Rosen, Brad Tursi
Published by Big Deal Music Group, Carrot Seed Songs, Rehits Music, Rezonant Music, Smacksongs, Unfair Entertainment, Wooden Ships

You Look Good
Recorded by Lady Antebellum
Written by Hillary Lindsey
Published by BMG Gold Songs, Hillarodyrathbone Music, Lake Allegan Pub Club, Rezonant Music, Universal Music Corporation

Yours If You Want It
Recorded by Rascal Flatts
Written by Jonathan Singleton
Published by Big Machine Music, Jett Music