Brad Paisley, Ben Hayslip Receive Top Honors at ASCAP Awards

Written by SLN Staff Writer November 7, 2011

The 49th Annual ASCAP Awards were held Sunday evening at the Gaylord Opryland Resort and Convention Center in Nashville. The annual event honors the work of songwriters and publishers and recognizes the year’s most performed songs on country radio.

Brad Paisley and songwriter Ben Hayslip took home the night’s top honors. Paisley received his second ASCAP Country Songwriter/Aristist of the Year Award and Hayslip received his first ASCAP Songwriter of the Year Award.

Hayslip wrote/co-wrote five of ASCAP’s most performed songs at country radio in the past year- “All About Tonight” (Blake Shelton), “All Over Me” (Josh Turner); “Farmer’s Daughter” (Rodney Atkins), “Gimme That Girl” (Josh Nichols) and “The Shape I’m In” (Nichols).

“It’s unbelievable, it really is,” Hayslip said (quote via The Tennessean). “I dreamed of being a lot of things in my life, from an NFL quarterback to a songwriter, but I don’t think I ever dreamed of having five hit songs in a year. Maybe I didn’t think it was possible.”

Keith Urban, Little Big Town and Lee Ann Womack were on hand to honor Don Williams, the recipient of ASCAP’s Golden Note Award. Urban and LBT performed “We’ve Got a Good Fire Goin’” and Womack serenaded the crowd with “Lord, I Hope This Day is Good.” Dierks Bentley, last year’s Songwriter/Artist of the Year, opened the ceremony with a performance of his latest single, “Home.”

ASCAP Country Music Awards- Top Honors:

Songwriter of the Year: Ben Hayslip

Songwriter/Artist of the Year: Brad Paisley

Country Song of the Year: “The House That Built Me,” written by Allen Shamblin; published by Built On Rock

Publisher of the Year: Sea Gayle Music

Golden Note Award: Don Williams

Vanguard Award: The Civil Wars

Global Impact Award: Josh Kear

[rmore type=”more”]Click the MORE button to view additional photos from the event…[/rmore]