Performing rights organization SESAC has named Luke Combs’ hit ballad “Even Though I’m Leaving” its Song of the Year for its 2020 Nashville Music Awards, which went online this year due to the pandemic. SESAC affiliate songwriter Wyatt Durrette III, who also helped pen Zac Brown Band’s “Chicken Fried,” co-wrote “Even Though I’m Leaving” with Combs and Ray Fulcher.
In addition, Matt McGinn was named SESAC’s Songwriter of the Year, his second time to win the honor. McGinn was responsible for the recent hits “Homesick” and “Cool Again,” which were recorded by Kane Brown, as well as the Brown and Marshmello collaboration “One Thing Right.” McGinn also penned Kane Brown’s 2016 and 2017 hits “What Ifs” and “Heaven.”
“Although we can’t be together in person, we are deeply honored to celebrate the creative achievements of our affiliates in a new way,” Kelli Turner, President and COO of SESAC Rights Management, said in a statement. “Not only are we grateful for their craft of songwriting, we value their work and its connection to the human experience, which ultimately lifts our spirits.”
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“Even Though I’m Leaving,” “Homesick,” “Cool Again,” and “One Thing Right” are also among the songs being honored for significant commercial success at SESAC’s Nashville Music Awards this year. Others include Matt Stell’s “Prayed for You” and “Everywhere But On,” Ashley McBryde’s “One Night Standards,” Tim McGraw’s “I Called Mama,” Chris Young’s “Drowning,” and Margo Price’s “Letting Me Down.”
SESAC’s Nashville Awards:
“Even Though I’m Leaving,” recorded by Luke Combs
“Prayed for You,” recorded by Matt Stell
“Homesick,” recorded by Kane Brown
“What If I Never Get Over You,” recorded by Lady A
“Make Me Want To,” recorded by Jimmie Allen
“Every Little Thing,” recorded by Russell Dickerson
“One Night Standards,” recorded by Ashley McBryde
“Cool Again,” recorded by Kane Brown
“Everywhere But On,” recorded by Matt Stell
“I Called Mama,” recorded by Tim McGraw
“Got What I Got,” recorded by Jason Aldean
“One of Them Girls,” recorded by Lee Brice
“Drowning,” recorded by Chris Young
“The Git Up,” recorded by Blanco Brown
“One Thing Right,” recorded by Marshmello & Kane Brown
“The Rock and the Hill,” recorded by Allison Moorer
“Blind Leading the Blind,” recorded by Mumford & Sons
“Letting Me Down,” recorded by Margo Price
“Bad Trick,” recorded by Ray Wylie Hubbard with Ringo Starr, Don Was, Joe Walsh, & Chris Robinson
“Tell the Truth,” recorded by the Avett Brothers
“Victory,” recorded by the Avett Brothers