Alan Jackson, Brad Paisley Share Honors

Alan Jackson performs at the Nightly Concert on the Vault Concert Stage LP Field Saturday, June 7 in Downtown Nashville during the 2008 CMA Music Festival. Photographer: John Russell / CMA

Oct. 27, 2008 — Two male artists with a sly wit and strong traditional grounding, Alan Jackson and Brad Paisley, shared Songwriter/Artist of the Year honors during Sunday’s NSAI Awards, presented by the Nashville Songwriters Association International at Music City’s Renaissance Hotel.

The awards come at an interesting juncture for both performers. Alan’s current album, Good Time, features a whopping 17 songs, and for the first time in his career, he wrote every one of them on his own. Alan’s written or co-written most of hits through the years, and this summer, he got a huge payoff: His record company threw a party celebrating 50 million career album sales. Brad’s likewise written or co-written most of his material, and he’s now tackling a new writing venture: He’ll be taking part in script-writing as he’s set to co-host "The 42nd Annual CMA Awards" with Carrie Underwood on Nov. 12.

The Trace Adkins hit "You’re Gonna Miss This" secured Song of the Year honors for composers Ashley Gorley and Lee Thomas Miller during the NSAI event. Casey Beathard earned Songwriter of the Year in the wake of such hit titles as "Cleaning This Gun (Come On In Boy)," "Don’t Blink," "Find Out Who Your Friends Are" and "Ready, Set, Don’t Go."

The NSAI, comprised primarily of professional songwriters, also recognized the year’s best material as members singled out 10 Songs I Wish I Had Written. Those titles included:
• "Better As A Memory," Scooter Carusoe, Lady Goodman, writers (Kenny Chesney, artist)
• "Cleaning This Gun (Come On In Boy)," Casey Beathard, Marla Cannon-Goodman (Rodney Atkins, artist)
• "Don’t Blink," Casey Beathard, Chris Wallin (Kenny Chesney, artist)
• "I Saw God Today," Rodney Clawson, Monty Criswell, Wade Kirby (George Strait, artist)
• "If You’re Reading This," Tim McGraw, Brad Warren, Brett Warren (Tim McGraw, artist)
• "Letter To Me," Brad Paisley (Brad Paisley, artist)
• "Love Me If You Can," Chris Wallin, Craig Wiseman (Toby Keith, artist)
• "Stealing Cinderella," Rivers Rutherford, George Teren, Chuck Wicks (Chuck Wicks, artist)
• "Watching Airplanes," Jim Beavers, Jonathan Singleton (Gary Allan, artist)
• "You’re Gonna Miss This," Ashley Gorley, Lee Thomas Miller (Trace Adkins, artist)