Ella Langley, Riley Green, Vince Gill Among Top Honorees at Nashville Songwriters Awards

The creative community that fuels many of Music City’s top biggest hits came out in force Tuesday night (Sept. 22) at the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville, as the ninth annual Nashville Songwriter Awards feted the songwriters who penned some of fans’ favorite songs of the year.

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“Choosin’ Texas,” written by Ella Langley, Miranda Lambert, Joybeth Taylor and Luke Dick, was named song of the year. During the evening, Langley surprised the crowd by taking the stage to join HARDY, Jordan Schmidt and Smith Ahnquist to perform her song “Be Her,” and later performed “Choosin’ Texas” alongside Taylor and Dick.

“I think it really is a testament to believing in your people,” Langley told the crowd. “As an artist, early on, you find your people that you write well with, not only that you write well with, but that believe you and your story… I’m just so grateful for songwriters that are able to help tell my story, and thank you so much for being there and writing this song with me.”

Riley Green, who just released his new album That’s Just Me, was named songwriter-artist of the year.

“I’m really honored to be here tonight with all you great songwriters and publishers and everyone involved in country music,” Green told the crowd. “My favorite part of country music is definitely the songwriting. I think I’ve always considered myself a songwriter first, and if I can be successful in any part of this business, which I’ve come to realize there’s a lot of parts to it, it would be writing songs.

“My granddaddy Buford was a witty guy,” he continued. “He wrote poems and always was really quick and had a comeback for everything and I think he would’ve been a great songwriter had he been alive when I started that journey in my life. I’m so honored to be here and accept an honor of any kind of recognition in that world, that means so much to me. I’ve been really fortunate enough over the last few years to have some major tours, some CMA Awards and ACM Awards… accolades I never thought I would achieve, but I truly appreciate this as much as anything. It means a lot.”

Green was also joined by Hannah McFarland to perform “Don’t Mind If I Do,” which was honored as one of NSAI’s “10 Songs I Wish I’d Written.”

Blake Pendergrass was honored as songwriter of the year, for his work on songs including the Morgan Wallen-recorded “20 Cigarettes” and “Just in Case,” which were both honored during the evening as part of the “10 Songs I Wish I’d Written” segment.

ASCAP president/chairman of the board and songwriter Paul Williams was honored with NSAI’s president’s keystone award. Williams, who co-penned classics like “Rainbow Connection” and “I’m Going to Go Back There Someday” for the 1979 film The Muppet Movie, followed the muppet Gonzo onstage to receive the accolade.

“We get to take what’s in the center of our chests and share it with the world,” Williams said of songwriters, noting they get to “strengthen and celebrate our human experience.”

Vince Gill was honored with the Kris Kristofferson lifetime achievement award. In accepting the honor, Gill remembered hearing his first band’s first song on the radio while driving on Interstate 40 in Oklahoma City as a teenager.

“What that did for me as a 17-year-old kid is it gave me hope. It gave me hope that, if I tried, you never know what could happen,” Gill said. “I went through periods of struggle, you know, but through all of that, I never, ever, even came close to losing that hope. That hope has stayed with me the whole time.”

This year’s legendary song honor was given to “The Gambler,” written by the late songwriting legend Don Schlitz. Steve Earle was on hand to perform the song in honor of Schlitz.

Throughout the evening, several artists and songwriters were on hand to honor the feted songs and writers. Rodney Crowell honored Gill by performing “One More Last Chance,” with Ashley McBryde performing “Hill People,” a song she co-wrote with Gill. Chris Stapleton was joined by Ricky Skaggs, Sonya Isaacs and Andrea Zonn to perform the Gill-written “Go Rest High On That Mountain.”

Pendergrass was honored with performances from Ethan Burdick (performing “865”), Warren Zeiders (“Betrayal”) and Vincent Mason (“Wish You Well”). Other performer highlights included ERNEST, a writer on two of the winning songs, Wallen’s “I’m the Problem” and “Just in Case,” as he performed “I’m the Problem.”

See a full list of this year’s recipients of the “10 Songs I Wish I’d Written” honors:

“20 Cigarettes”
Written by: Chris LaCorte, Chase McGill, Josh Miller, Blake Pendergrass / Recorded by: Morgan Wallen

“Bar None”
Written by: Ben Johnson, Hunter Phelps, Lydia Vaughan / Recorded by: Jordan Davis

“Backseat Driver”
Written by: Jacob Davis, Jordan Walker / Recorded by: Kane Brown

“Be Her”
Written by: Smith Ahnquist, Michael Hardy, Ella Langley, Jordan Schmidt / Recorded by: Ella Langley

“Country Song Came On”
Written by: Dan Alley, Ryan Beaver, Neil Medley / Recorded by: Luke Bryan

“Don’t Mind If I Do”
Written by: Riley Green / Recorded by: Riley Green feat. Ella Langley

“I’m the Problem”
Written by: Grady Block, Charlie Handsome, Jamie McLaughlin, Ernest Keith Smith, Morgan Wallen / Recorded by: Morgan Wallen

“Just In Case”
Written by: Alex Bak, John Byron, Charlie Handsome, Jacob Kasher Hindlin, Blake Pendergrass, Ernest Keith Smith, Josh Thompson, Morgan Wallen / Recorded by: Morgan Wallen

“Somewhere Over Laredo”
Written by: Andy Albert, Trannie Anderson, Harold Arlen, Yip Harburg, Dallas Wilson, Lainey Wilson / Recorded by: Lainey Wilson

“The Fall”
Written by: Ray Fulcher, Bobby Pinson, Jeremy Stover / Recorded by: Cody Johnson

“Weren’t for the Wind”
Written by: Johnny Clawson, Ella Langley, Joybeth Taylor / Recorded by: Ella Langley