ACM Announces Industry Awards Nominees

– ACM Awards

The Academy of Country Music has announced the nominees for its 2018 Industry Awards, to be voted on by its professional members and presented at ACM Honors in the fall.

The awards ceremony will take place Aug. 22 at Nashville’s Ryman Auditorium and will also include the ACM’s Studio Recording Awards and Special Awards. This will be the 53rd ACM Awards.

The Industry Awards range from venues to professionals like Talent Buyer and Promoter of the Year.

This year’s nominees for Promoter of the Year are: Allen Anders of AEG Presents; Ben Farrell of Lon Varnell Enterprises; Charlie Goldstone of Frank Productions; Ali Harnell of AEG Presents; and Brian O’Connell of Live Nation. Last year’s winner in this category was Ed Warm of Joe’s Live.

The Don Romeo Talent Buyer of the Year award for 2018 will go to one of the following: Billy Brill of Billy Alan Productions; Amy Bryan of REACH, LLC; Nina Rojas of Neste Marketing Events; R. J. Romeo of Romeo Entertainment Group; and Billy Truitt of Peppermill Casino. The honor went to Lenore Kinder of AEG Live in 2017, before she made the jump to Paradigm.

Festival of the Year nominees are: Country Concert in Ft. Loramie, Ohio; Country Thunder in Florence, Ariz.; Faster Horses in Brooklyn, Mich.; WE Fest in Detroit Lakes, Minn.; and

Last year Pete Fisher, longtime member of the board of directors and former GM of the Grand Ole Opry, took over as ACM CEO in January after Bob Romeo stepped down in 2016 and the Academy launched a search for a new exec.

The venue winners last year were: Foxwoods Resort and Casino in Mashantucket, Conn., as Small Capacity Casino of the year; The Joint at The Hard Rock Hotel & Casino and Las Vegas, Nev., as Medium Capacity Casino of the Year; Joe’s live in Rosemont, Ill., as Nightclub of the Year; Ryman Auditorium as Small Capacity Venue of the Year; Red Rocks Amphitheatre in Morrison, Colo., as Medium Capacity Venue Of the Year; and Bridgestone Arena in Nashville as Large Capacity Venue of the year.

To see all of the nominees for the ACM Industry Awards, visit the ACM’s website at acmcountry.com/industryawards.