Randy Owen photo courtesy of Broken Bow Records.
March 5, 2009 — Randy Owen received the Country Radio Broadcasters’ annual Artist Humanitarian Award Wednesday during the opening ceremony at the 40th annual Country Radio Seminar in Nashville. In a fitting moment, he was introduced by a fellow artist whose very first concert as a kid came when he attended an Alabama show.
Two decades ago, Randy challenged CRS attendees to use their broadcast signals in a radiothon that would raise money for St. Jude Children’s Hospital in Memphis. He’s regularly had a hand in the event, which has since raised a whopping $310 million.
"I didn’t know what I was doin’ here," Randy said when he was handed the award. "In fact, I kept askin’ the kids that’s workin’ backstage, ‘Why am I here?’ I appreciate that very much. I just wanna warn you, though, that if we don’t get all the cancers cured, I’ll be here 40 years from now."
Clay Walker, who won the humanitarian honor last year, recalled that when he was still in elementary school, his mother met Randy at a gas station on a day when his band was in town for a show. Randy gave her a T-shirt and tickets, and it was Clay’s first experience as a concert-goer.
"Not only is Randy Owen an icon in our music," Clay said, "but he is a hero to me and to my mom."
Emerson Drive sang the national anthem a capella at the ceremony, which also featured a presentation by John Rich and performances by Emma Jacob and Phil Vassar, who wrote a blues piece specifically for the seminar’s 40th anniversary: "40 years of fun/And 40 million beers."
CRS attracts hundreds of broadcasters whose decisions about what songs get played on their stations directly impact the careers of country’s artists. As a result, labels and performers make an effort to gain the attention of the conference’s registrants. While Jamey Johnson played a free lunchtime concert outdoors, other acts — including Randy Houser, Trent Tomlinson and newcomers Love And Theft and the Roys — wandered through the lobby at the Renaissance Hotel, some stopping to autograph guitars for charity. In addition, beleaguered Mindy McCready showed up with Billy McKnight, the boyfriend who was charged with beating her several years ago. According to WKRN-TV, the couple has reunited and recorded a duet titled "Sweeter."
In one of the most interesting promotional plans ever, the Universal Music Group placed advertisements in the wall urinals in the men’s room. The plastic Team UMG discs had the phrase "urine good hands" printed on the top. The mini-ads also delivered a sonic message, telling the visitor that Universal’s MCA and Mercury labels are where the "hits flow strong."