2025 CMA Touring Awards Nominees Revealed
Veteran artist manager Jim Halsey will be honored with the CMA touring lifetime achievement award at the January ceremony.
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Keith Urban will return for a fourth consecutive year to help the Country Music Association celebrate those behind the year’s top country tours, when the 2025 CMA TouringAwards are held Jan. 27 in Nashville.
The nominations were revealed Monday (Nov. 24) for the upcoming awards ceremony, which honors touring musicians, managers, touring managers, stage managers, backline technicians, lighting directors, production managers, performance venues and many other touring professionals.
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Final round voting for the 2025 CMA Touring Awards opening Monday, Dec. 1, and closes Tuesday, Dec. 16, at 6 p.m. CT.
Veteran artist manager Jim Halsey will be honored with the CMA touring lifetime achievement award, which is presented to an individual who has positively impacted and contributed to the growth of country music touring. During the course of more than six decades, Halsey has guided the careers of artists including Roy Clark, Reba McEntire, Merle Haggard and The Oak Ridge Boys, and expanded country music’s international impact, helping the genre to rise to a global stage.
“Recognizing the incredible work of our touring community is one of the highlights of our year,” Sarah Trahern, CMA chief executive officer, said in a statement. “Our road warriors are the heart and soul of our business, bringing their spirit to audiences everywhere with creativity and passion. The growth of country music would not be possible without the dedication of each of our nominees, and we can’t wait to celebrate their achievements in January.”
“I love touring, always have, always will,” Urban shared in a statement. “And that only happens with so many people behind the scenes out there on the road making it happen every night. The CMA Touring Awards is where we turn the spotlight on our road families and celebrate the hard work they all do for all of us. It’s an honor to host, and I’m glad to be back.”
The CMA Touring Awards (originally called the Standing Room Only Awards) were launched in 1990 by the CMA Board of Directors to recognize outstanding professional achievements in the touring industry; the ceremony was renamed the CMA Touring Awards in 2016.
See the full list of nominees below:
Crew of the year
All-American Road Show Tour crew – Chris Stapleton
Am I Okay? Tour crew – Megan Moroney
Broken Branches Tour crew – Dierks Bentley
I’m the Problem Tour crew – Morgan Wallen
Jim Bob World Tour crew – HARDY
Live on Tour crew – Kelsea Ballerini
On the Road Tour crew – Tyler Childers
Whirlwind World Tour crew – Lainey Wilson
Backline technician of the year
Patrick Boyle – Tyler Childers
Dalton Ray Brown – Lainey Wilson
William Coats – Eric Church
Casey Ervin – Jelly Roll
Terry Fox – Kenny Chesney
Matt Kennedy – Morgan Wallen
Hunter Lamb – HARDY
Chris Miller – Keith Urban
Business manager of the year
Stephanie Alderman – Farris, Self & Moore, LLC
Renee Allen – Arnie Barn, Inc.
Legina Chaudoin – O’Neil Hagaman, LLC
Duane Clark – Flood, Bumstead, McCready & McCarthy, Inc.
Jen Conger – Flood, Bumstead, McCready & McCarthy, Inc.
Stephanie Mundy-Self – Farris, Self & Moore, LLC
Kris Wiatr – Wiatr & Associates, LLC
Dwight Wiles – Wiles + Taylor & Co., PC
Coach/truck driver of the year
Chad Allison – HARDY
Tim Barrett – Kane Brown
Dustin Bringham – Parker McCollum
Steve Carmack – Megan Moroney
Greg Cook – Riley Green
Caleb Garrett – Luke Bryan
Jason Humphrey – Jason Aldean
Nick Wagner – Morgan Wallen
Front of house engineer of the year
Ryan Dell – Lainey Wilson
Chris Diener – Kelsea Ballerini
David Loy – Kane Brown
James “Pugs” McDermott – Dierks Bentley
Jeff “Pig” Parsons – Blake Shelton
Robert Scovill – Kenny Chesney
Todd Wines – Miranda Lambert
Ian Zorbaugh – Old Dominion
Lighting director of the year
Ben Bearden – Chris Stapleton
Nick Chang – Kelsea Ballerini
Zac Coren – Morgan Wallen
Justin Kitchenman – Luke Bryan
Andy Knighton – Rascal Flatts/Jason Aldean
Kevin Lichty – Old Dominion
Alex Sanchez – Parker McCollum
Alec Takahashi – Thomas Rhett
Manager of the year
Narvel Blackstock – Starstruck Entertainment
Hayley Corbett – PunchBowl Entertainment
Enzo DeVincenzo – 377 Management
Kerri Edwards – KP Entertainment
Troy “Tracker” Johnson – TRACK Management
Chris Kappy – Make Wake Artists
Mandelyn Monchick – Red Light Management
Zach Sutton – Red Light Management
Monitor engineer of the year
Beau Alexander – Morgan Wallen
Curt Armstead – Lainey Wilson
Brad Baisley – Blake Shelton
Cory Benson – Tyler Childers
Chris Daniels – Luke Bryan
Logan Hanna – Brothers Osborne
Chris Newsom – Kelsea Ballerini
Phil Wilkey – Keith Urban
Production manager of the year
Chris Alderman – Blake Shelton
John Garriott – Chris Stapleton
Jeff “Goofy” Greeninger – Jon Pardi
Adam Groeninger – Dierks Bentley
Chad Guy – Morgan Wallen
Brent Maxon – Parker McCollum
Earl Neal – Jason Aldean
Ed Wannebo – Kenny Chesney
Publicist of the year
Janet Buck – Essential Broadcast Media
Zach Farnum – 117 Entertainment Group
Asha Goodman – Sacks & Co.
Olivia Hanceri – OH Creative
Tyne Parrish – The GreenRoom
Jessie Schmidt – Schmidt Relations
Wes Vause – Press On Publicity
Jennifer Vessio – 1220 Entertainment Publicity
Stage manager of the year
Shaun Carswell – Dierks Bentley
Alex Church – Megan Moroney
Sam “Sambo” Coats – Eric Church
Todd Green – Chris Stapleton
Matt Hornbeck – Luke Combs
Josh “Dude” Marcus – Jason Aldean
Allison Noah – Carly Pearce / Lainey Wilson
Lonnie Taylor – Jon Pardi
Support services company of the year
ASCOT Travel Services – Nashville
Bandit Lites – Nashville
Clair Global – Nashville
Crom Tidwell Merchandising – Nashville
Moo TV – Nashville
Pioneer Coach – Nashville
Richards & Southern – Goodlettsville, Tenn.
Sound Image – Nashville
Talent agent of the year
Becky Gardenhire – WME
Chad Kudelka – CAA
Keith Levy – Wasserman Music
Braeden Rountree – WME
Adi Sharma – The Neal Agency
Elisa Vazzana – UTA
Hunter Williams – CAA
Jay Williams – WME
Talent buyer/promoter of the year
Bridget Bauer – Messina Touring Group
Todd Boltin – Variety Attractions
Patrick McDill – Live Nation Nashville
Brian O’Connell – Live Nation Nashville
Rich Schaefer – AEG Presents
Aaron Spalding – Live Nation Nashville
Stacy Vee – Goldenvoice
Ed Warm – Joe’s Bar
Tour manager of the year
Matt Anderson – Old Dominion
Kyle Crownover – Tyler Childers
Dustin DeRosier – Kelsea Ballerini / Little Big Town
Jeff Gossett – Morgan Wallen
Mike McGrath – Keith Urban
Meg Miller – Lainey Wilson
Mark Oglesby – Post Malone
Chelsae Partosan – Megan Moroney
Touring musician of the year
Mark “Taco” Annino (Drums) – Morgan Wallen
Jody Bartula (Fiddle) – Cody Johnson
JT Cure (Bass Guitar) – Chris Stapleton
Jenee Fleenor (Fiddle) – George Strait
Aslan Freeman (Guitar) – Lainey Wilson
Kenny Greenberg (Guitar) – Kenny Chesney
Kurt Ozan (Multi-Instrumentalist) – Luke Combs
Jesse Welles (Multi-Instrumentalist) – Tyler Childers
Tour videographer/photographer of the year
Mason Allen – Old Dominion
Alex Alvga – Kane Brown
Zach Belcher – Dierks Bentley
Caleb Cockrell – Jordan Davis
Sam Crabtree – Riley Green
Tanner Gallagher – HARDY
Zack Massey – Luke Combs
Catherine Powell – Kelsea Ballerini
Tour video director of the year
Dave Bergfeld – Lainey Wilson
Houston Creswell – Dierks Bentley
Adam Cline – Morgan Wallen
Milojko Dobrijevich – Little Big Town
Ron Etters – Chris Stapleton
Jordan Karow – HARDY
Justin Stein – Parker McCollum
Jake Zobrist – Cody Johnson
Venue of the year
BankNH Pavilion – Gilford, N.H.
Bridgestone Arena – Nashville
Fenway Park – Boston
Grand Ole Opry House – Nashville
Greek Theatre – Los Angeles
Moody Center – Austin, Texas
The Pinnacle – Nashville
Red Rocks Amphitheatre – Morrison, Colo.
Unsung hero of the year
Holly Atherton (Production Assistant) – Chris Stapleton
Chase Butler (Road Manager) – Riley Green
Michael Corcoran (General Manager) – mtheory
Kayla Carter Greear (Production Assistant) – Luke Bryan
Jeff “Bean” Griffin (Road Manager) – HARDY
Lolo Kinser (Logistics Coordinator) – Post Malone
Diana “Lemonade” McBride (Backstage Hospitality) – Grand Ole Opry
Mel Murphy (Road Representative) – Live Nation Nashville
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