The 13th Annual Hog's Breath Key West Songwriters Festival looms enticingly on the horizon. Presented by Cherry Heart Music and proudly supported by charter sponsor BMI, the event is slated for April 30 through May 4 in Key West, Florida. The festival revolves around five days and nights of more than 20 free shows, staged at an array of the island's most popular drinking holes and hot spots. Informal adaptations of Nashville's signature in-the-round acoustic showcases dominate much of the schedule, while this year, a street concert Saturday, May 3 featuring the Jeffrey Steele Band and Robert Earl Keen adds a Mardis Gras fillip to the mix.

BMI songwriters dominate the diverse lineups. Americana trendsetters including Robert Earl Keen, Raul Malo, Kim Richey and John Oates will perform alongside Nashville's most engaging and prolific hitmakers, including Jeffrey Steele (Rascal Flatts' "What Hurts the Most"), John Scott Sherrill (Steve Wariner's "Some Fools Never Learn"), Wendell Mobley (Rascal Flatts' "Fast Cars & Freedom"), Jamey Johnson (George Strait's "Give It Away"), Scotty Emerick (Toby Keith's "As Good As I Once Was"), David Lee (Tim McGraw's "I Need You," featuring Faith Hill), Keith Follese (Tim McGraw's "Something Like That"), Jim Beavers (Gary Allan's "Watching Airplanes"), Heather Little (Miranda Lambert's "Gunpowder and Lead"), Steve Bogard (Dierks Bentley's "Every Mile A Memory"), Bobby Pinson (Sugarland's "Want To"), Doug Johnson (Randy Travis's "Three Wooden Crosses"), Chas Sandford (John Waite's "Missing You"), Chuck Cannon (Toby Keith's "How Do You Like Me Now"), Max T. Barnes (Diamond Rio's "That's How Your Love Makes Me Feel"), Chuck Jones (Chris LeDoux's "Cadillac Ranch"), Rodney Clawson (Jason Aldean's "Why"), Gary Hannan (Joe Nichols's "Tequila Makes Her Clothes Fall Off"), Billy Yates (George Jones's "Choices"), Jerrod Niemann (Garth Brooks' "Good Ride Cowboy") and Dallas Davidson (Trace Adkins's "Honky Tonk Badonkadonk"), with Curb recording artist Lee Brice (Garth Brooks' "More Than A Memory"), singer/songwriters Heather Morgan, Stephanie Chapman and Lauren Lucas and Orange County rock outfit Lit's Jeremy Popoff.

For a complete list of sponsoring hotels, local businesses, schedules and participating songwriters, please visit www.keywestsongwritersfestival.com or call 305.296.4222.

Key West and country music’s thirteen year love affair is anything but secret, and the Hog’s Breath Key West Songwriters Festival, presented by Cherry Heart Music and BMI, serves as the 13th annual spring rendezvous.

Live music bliss and a favorite of Key West locals, the event introduces brimming crowds to the songwriters behind smashes. Diverse lineups deliver rare, “Key West only” moments: Hit makers including Jeffrey Steele (Rascal Flatts’ “What Hurts the Most), Jamey Johnson (George Strait’s “Give It Away”) and Scotty Emerick (Toby Keith’s “As Good As I Once Was”) will perform alongside Americana trendsetters including Robert Earl Keen and Raul Malo. The festival revolves around five days and nights of more than 20 free shows, staged at an array of the island’s most popular drinking holes and hot spots. Informal adaptations of Nashville’s signature in-the-round acoustic showcases dominate much of the schedule, while this year, a street concert Saturday, May 3 featuring the Jeffrey Steele Band and Robert Earl Keen adds an enticing Mardis Gras fillip to the mix.

For a complete list of sponsoring hotels, local businesses and participating songwriters, please visit www.keywestsongwritersfestival.com or call 305.296.4222.

Country Music Hall of Famer and inaugural BMI Icon Bill Anderson and retro honky tonk crooner turned hit songwriter Jamey Johnson shared Song of the Year honors for "Give It Away." A wry story song with a soft underbelly, "Give It Away" was recorded by fellow Country Music Hall of Fame member George Strait.

A visibly elated Sugarland snagged their first Vocal Duo of the Year award, while Rascal Flatts took home Vocal Group of the Year bragging rights for the fifth consecutive year. 17 year-old Taylor Swift nabbed the Horizon Award - a fitting trophy marking the teenager's grin-inducing breakout year.

Musician of the Year went to dobro master Jerry Douglas, while Tim McGraw shared in the spoils of the Vocal Event of the Year award for his contribution to No. 1 hit "Find Out Who Your Friends Are." Elite producer Tony Brown also celebrated a big win, taking home the Album of the Year award for his production of It Just Comes Natural.

In 1958, CMA was the first trade organization formed to promote a type of music.  Its membership includes nearly 6,000 companies and music industry professionals around the globe.

2007 BMI CMA Winners

FEMALE VOCALIST OF THE YEAR
Carrie Underwood

VOCAL GROUP OF THE YEAR
Rascal Flatts

VOCAL DUO OF THE YEAR
Sugarland

HORIZON AWARD
Taylor Swift

ALBUM OF THE YEAR
It Just Comes Natural
Produced by Tony Brown
MCA Nashville

SINGLE OF THE YEAR
"Before He Cheats"
Carrie Underwood
19 Recordings Limited/Arista Records

SONG OF THE YEAR
"Give It Away"
Bill Anderson / Jamey Johnson
Sony/ATV Tree / EMI Blackwood / Run Slow Music

MUSICAL EVENT OF THE YEAR
Featuring Tim McGraw
"Find Out Who Your Friends Are"
Rocky Comfort Records/CO5

MUSICIAN OF THE YEAR
Jerry Douglas - Dobro

The BMI Country Awards turned a spry 55 years old as they were held tonight, Tuesday, Nov. 6, at the performing right organization's Music Row offices in Nashville. Broadcast Music, Inc. (BMI) - the first home for country music - was also the first U.S. organization to honor the genre's songwriters and publishers with their own awards show in 1953. BMI President & CEO Del Bryant and Jody Williams, Vice President of Writer/Publisher Relations, Nashville, hosted the black-tie ceremony toasting the writers and publishers of the past year's 50 most-performed country songs in the BMI repertoire.

2007 BMI Country Awards: Award Winning Songs

Jeffrey Steele received his second Country Songwriter of the Year title, while his poignant composition "What Hurts The Most" earned the coveted Song of the Year crown. Sony/ATV Music Publishing Nashville snagged Publisher of the Year bragging rights for the sixth consecutive year, and a tribute to Willie Nelson recognized the newest BMI Icon's unifying music and humble dignity.

"What Hurts The Most," co-written by Jeffrey Steele and published by Gottahaveable Music and Bug Music/Songs of Windswept, landed the 39th Robert J. Burton Award, presented to the most performed country song of the year. Recorded by crossover titans Rascal Flatts, the nostalgic ballad earned a slew of accolades including two Grammy nominations, and became the group's fifth no. 1 single.

Nashville's best-selling artists have come to rely on 2007 Country Songwriter of the Year Jeffrey Steele's uncanny hitmaking prowess. Steele secured his first Country Songwriter of the Year win in 2003, and has spent the past four years enriching his bejeweled catalog, which includes five of this year's most performed songs: Rascal Flatts' "My Wish," "Me and My Gang," and "What Hurts the Most," Steve Holy's "Brand New Girlfriend" and Keith Anderson's "Every Time I Hear Your Name."

With 17 songs among this year's top 50, Sony/ATV Music Publishing Nashville (through its companies Sony/ATV Acuff Rose, Sony/ATV Songs LLC, Sony/ATV Melody and Sony/ATV Tree) picked up its sixth consecutive Publisher of the Year win. The publishing powerhouse accumulated the highest percentage of copyright ownership thanks to award songs including "Give It Away," "Would You Go With Me," "Every Mile A Memory," "Tim McGraw" and "Kerosene."

The capstone of the evening took the form of the Icon tribute to beloved legend Willie Nelson, featuring performances by fellow pioneers Kris Kristofferson and Emmylou Harris, along with contemporary country trendsetters Toby Keith, Josh Turner and Keith Urban. Willie Nelson's ascendance to internationally-renowned treasure is a singular path marked by self-belief and musical brilliance. As a BMI Icon, Nelson will perhaps be recognized most for his songwriting, which has long enraptured the entire world. His love of the offbeat and heedlessness of conventional time signatures have made Nelson an innovative and inimitable guitarist. As a singer, his deft phrasing and naked sincerity are irresistible. A romantic aesthete, Willie Nelson makes all that he touches beautiful. The Texas native's "Crazy," "Angel Flying Too Close to the Ground," "Funny How Time Slips Away," "On the Road Again" and "Good Hearted Woman" merely skim the surface of a catalog stacked with unvarnished classics. Famous for his ceaseless touring, Nelson is an untiring philanthropist and humanitarian, most visibly through Willie-coined events including Farm Aid.

The 2007 BMI Country Awards also honored hit songwriters Brett Beavers, Rodney Clawson, Jamey Johnson, Tony Martin, Bill Anderson, Steve Bogard, Scotty Emerick, Toby Keith, Wayne Kirkpatrick, Bobby Pinson and the Warren Brothers, who each supplied two or more songs to the top 50 list.

Publishers EMI Blackwood Music, Inc; Warner-Tamerlane Publishing Corp.; Jeffrey Steele Music Group; Bug Music/Songs of Windswept; Universal Music Publishing Group; Big Gassed Hitties; Brett Beavers Music Group; Gold Watch Music; Music of Stage Three and StyleSonic Music each took home three or more awards.

Bob DiPiero, Lester Flatt & Earl Scruggs and Hank Williams, Jr. were honored for their songwriting contributions and welcomed to the esteemed ranks of the Nashville Songwriters Hall Fame during the 38th Annual Hall of Fame Dinner and Induction Ceremony held Sunday, October 14.  Members of the Nashville songwriting and publishing community filled the ballroom of the Renaissance Nashville hotel to celebrate the musical contributions of the newest inductees.

During the evening's ceremonies, each new member of the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame was inducted by a fellow artist, friend or family member, while star-studded performances highlighted their respective repertoires.

Bluegrass icons Lester Flatt & Earl Scruggs were inducted by Marty Stuart, who joined Flatt's band at the age of 13.  The Grammy®-winning Del McCoury Band took the stage to perform the Flatt & Scruggs hits "If I Should Wander Back Tonight," "Earl's Breakdown," "Little Cabin Home on the Hill," "Don't Get Above Your Raisin'" and the Martha White jingle before Stuart joined them on "Foggy Mountain Breakdown."  Flatt's widow Gladys Flatt and granddaughter Tammy Brumfield joined Scruggs to accept the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame Manny Award.  "It's been a wonderful ride," Scruggs said.  "Thank you all very much."

Hank Williams, Jr. was inducted in "family tradition" by his daughter, Holly Williams.  "It's a surprise that I'm inducting my dad tonight," she said.  "I'm a songwriter myself. It's my passion, and I am a true fan of my dad."  She then performed three of his songs-"Feelin' Better," "Whiskey Bent and Hell Bound" and "Blues Man"-before country chart-topper Gretchen Wilson took the stage to perform the Bocephus classic, "All My Rowdy Friends Have Settled Down."  With his induction, Williams joins his legendary father as the only father/son members of the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame.  As he accepted his award, Williams told the crowd that he had taken banjo lessons from Scruggs at the age of 19.  "I'm from the old school," he said.  "I know a lot of you are saying that these awards don't mean anything to old Hank, but this one is special.  I need this, thank you, and I need y'all."

Bob DiPiero's career began when he arrived in Music City in 1979 and found an early supporter in Amy Kurland, owner of the renowned Bluebird Café, so it was fitting that she presided over his induction.  DiPiero's friends in the Hit Men of Music Row-Craig Wiseman, Tony Mullins and Jeffrey Steele-performed a medley of his hits including "American Made," " Take Me As I Am" and "Blue Clear Sky" before Neal McCoy performed his #1 hit "Wink," which was named BMI Country Song of the Year in 1995. "Coming from Youngstown, Ohio, I thought I might be indicted, but not inducted," DiPiero quipped as he accepted his award.   "I definitely didn't get here by myself," he said, before acknowledging a long list of supporters, mentors and fellow writers.  "I love all of you.  Thank you for this honor."

In addition to the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame inductions, the hall's sister organization, the Nashville Songwriters Association International (NSAI), presented its annual Songwriter Achievement Awards.  The organization's professional songwriter members named "Bless the Broken Road," by Bobby E. Boyd, Jeff Hanna and Marcus Hummon, their Song of the Year.  BMI singer/songwriter Taylor Swift shared the Songwriter/Artist of the Year honor with Alan Jackson. 2007 was a breakthrough year for Swift, who wrote or co-wrote every song on her platinum-selling eponymous debut. Taylor is the youngest recipient of the award to date.

NSAI's Professional Songwriters Division also voted for their favorite songs of the year. Informally dubbed "The Songs I Wish I'd Written," members select 10 hits each year that fit the bill. Bobby E. Boyd, Jeff Hanna and Marcus Hummon's "Bless the Broken Road," recorded by Selah with Melodie Crittenden; Casey Beathard and Ed Hill's "Find Out Who Your Friends Are," recorded by Tracy Lawrence; Bill Anderson and Jamey Johnson's "Give It Away," recorded by George Strait; Luke Bryan's "Good Directions," recorded by Billy Currington; Bobby Pinson and Trent Tomlinson's "One Wing in the Fire," recorded by Tomlinson; Sarah Buxton's "Stupid Boy," recorded by Keith Urban; Merle Haggard's "The Seashores of Old Mexico," recorded by George Strait; and John Scott Sherrill and Shawn Camp's "Would You Go With Me," recorded by Josh Turner all scored the colleague-voted nods.