Ashley Gorley Named ASCAP Country Music Songwriter Of The Year For 8th Time As 2020 ASCAP Country Music Awards Kick Off As Four-day Social Media Event, November 9 - 12

NASHVILLE, Tenn., Nov. 9, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Beginning today, the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP) will honor the writers and publishers of country music's most-performed songs of the past year during the 58^th Annual ASCAP Country Music Awards, presented in a creative virtual format across all social media platforms. Using the hashtag #ASCAPAwards, exclusive honoree photos, videos, acceptance speeches and even a few surprises will be posted @ASCAP on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram allowing fans, friends and industry peers to be a part of this special event. Digital content will be updated daily, and the celebration will run through Thursday, November 12.

Lauded hitmaker Ashley Gorley is named ASCAP Country Music Songwriter of the Year for an astounding eighth year for chart-topping songs: "Catch," "Good Vibes," "I Don't Know About You," "Living," "One Big Country Song," "Remember You Young" and "Ridin' Roads." Gorley recently celebrated his 51st #1 single (Lee Brice's "One of Them Girls") making him the only songwriter in any genre to claim the top spot that many times in the history of the Billboard and Mediabase airplay charts.

Avenue Beat, an up-and-coming social media sensation that is signed to Gorley's Tape Room Music, will appear in their own singular video tribute to the hit songwriter. Gorley will accept his award via video to be shared as part of the social media event.

Old Dominion's "One Man Band" receives ASCAP Country Music Song of the Year honors. The hit was written by Old Dominion members Matthew Ramsey, Trevor Rosen and Brad Tursi with songwriter Josh Osborne. The four were presented with the honor in a surprise virtual visit from ASCAP Chairman of the Board and President Paul Williams that will be featured on ASCAP social media later today, as well as an exclusive performance of the song by the four winners.

Warner Chappell Music earns the ASCAP Country Music Publisher of the Year Award for the eighth consecutive time for publishing some of the most-performed ASCAP country songs of the past year, including "One Man Band," "10,000 Hours," "After a Few," "Raised on Country" and "God's Country" among many others. Warner Chappell Music Nashville President Ben Vaughn, accepting the award on video from his car in front of ASCAP Nashville headquarters, said "We wanted to say thanks to ASCAP, thanks to Guy (Moot) and Carianne (Marshall) for all their support, thank you to our songwriters for being amazing and also our team wants to say thanks to everyone." The video wraps up with a montage of "thank yous" from 16 Warner Chappell Music team members.

Paul Williams will kick off the social media event with special remarks for the Nashville community on video: "So many of our greatest country songs deal with struggle, loss and heartbreak. But they also give us messages of hope, resilience, joy and the happiness we find in our everyday lives through our loved ones, friends and community. This past year the world needed your music more than ever. And you delivered the goods…Your songs lifted our spirits, brought meaning to our lives and inspired us to keep going."

The 2020 ASCAP Country Music Awards will also feature special performances on @ASCAP of two other top award-winning songs. CMA New Artist of the Year nominee Carly Pearce will deliver an acoustic performance of her CMA-nominated hit "I Hope You're Happy Now" and Matt Stell will share exclusive performance footage of "Prayed for You."

A complete list of winners can be found on the ASCAP website: www.ascap.com/countryawards20.

About ASCAP
The American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP) is a professional membership organization of songwriters, composers, and music publishers of every kind of music. ASCAP's mission is to license and promote the music of its members and foreign affiliates, obtain fair compensation for the public performance of their works and to distribute the royalties that it collects based upon those performances. ASCAP members write the world's best-loved music and ASCAP has pioneered the efficient licensing of that music to hundreds of thousands of enterprises who use it to add value to their business – from bars, restaurants and retail, to radio, TV and cable, to Internet, mobile services and more. The ASCAP license offers an efficient solution for businesses to legally perform ASCAP music while respecting the right of songwriters and composers to be paid fairly. With more than 775,000 members representing more than 11.5 million copyrighted works, ASCAP is the worldwide leader in performance royalties, service and advocacy for songwriters and composers, and the only American performing rights organization (PRO) owned and governed by its writer and publisher members. Learn more and stay in touch at www.ascap.com, on Twitter and Instagram @ASCAP and on Facebook.

SOURCE ASCAP

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