Tag Archives | Next Women Of Country

I have always been impressed with CMT, they are not afraid to try new things, take chances or offer support where it is needed.

Six years ago, CMT created the Next Women of Country initiative.  This initiative seeks out the most talented, up-and-coming women in country music.  Each year a new class is inducted into this musical sisterhood bringing them together and offering support.  They are celebrated with an elegant brunch held at City Winery where an ornate stage is set and each new inductee shares an original song during an acoustic round.

This initiative was created to support up-and-coming women in country music has been very successful.  More new women are breaking through on country radio now like Kelsea Ballerini, Maren Morris, and Lauren Alaina; all members of Next Women of Country inducted into it before they achieved success.  However, there is still a long way to go for women trying to break through on country radio.  Not nearly enough women are being played on radio.  Not in comparison to the men.  We just need it to be equal.  CMT seeks to change that with this program they have developed and in support of a yearly tour featuring some of the members of this group.

This past year, CMT took their support of women one step further with their annual Artists of the Year event held at the Schmerhorn Symphony Hall in downtown Nashville.

This elegant, televised, music industry-only event celebrated the best women of country music this year this past fall.  Carrie Underwood, Miranda Lambert, Hillary Scott of Lady Antebellum, Maren Morris, and Kelsea Ballerini all were honored for their contributions to country music.  The evening featured performances by them celebrating their music along with fun collaborations with well-known artists from other genres.

This event typically will feature men also like past honorees: Keith Urban, Luke Bryan, Jason Aldean, Florida Georgia Line, and more.  It spotlights the best of country music yearly.  However, since last year, it has become a more socially conscious event with the prior year focused on support & healing from the mass shooting at the Route 91 Festival in Las Vegas where the entire country music community was impacted one way or another and some healing was needed to try to overcome the sadness of this tragic event.

CMT also has the EMERGE program that seeks to support and gather together members along with supporters of the LGTBQ+ community to bring to the forefront issues surrounding members of the community within country music.

This past fall they held an event in their office hosted by CMT’s Cody Alan that featured leaders within the country music industry that are part of the LGTBQ+ community: Shane Tarleton, Anthony Barton, Katie Dean, and Chip Dorsch.  Artist Maggie Rose, who is a strong supporter of the LGTBQ+ community, was also featured on the panel to discuss issues around this community and performed a short set afterwards for attendees.

I hope CMT continues leading the way in country music as they have been doing these past few years by pushing the boundaries and supporting those they feel need it.  If it is a CMT endeavor, it is always guaranteed to be well-produced and high quality.  They are certainly worth supporting for their great efforts towards change and providing quality television programming along with playing country music videos.  This is why I will always give them my support.