NASHVILLE, Tenn. – (OCTOBER 10, 2016) – Platinum-selling recording artist andCMA New Artist of the Year nominee Cole Swindell received the Songwriter/Artist of the Year award from the Nashville Songwriters Association International (NSAI). The Songwriter Achievement Awards were presented last night during the sold-out 46th Anniversary Hall of Fame Gala held at the Music City Center.
“It’s the biggest honor of my career by far because I moved to this town to be a songwriter…All I ever wanted to do was to write songs,” said Swindell via video message. He was unable to attend as he is currently on the West Coast on the Florida Georgia Line Dig Your Roots Tour.
Click HERE for Swindell’s video acceptance.
Since signing his record deal just over three years ago (July 13, 2013), Swindell has been the writer on eight No. 1 songs including five as a solo artist. His latest No. 1 included his career-defining Platinum-certified “You Should Be Here,” co-written with the NSAI Songwriter of the Year winner Ashley Gorley. The song joins Swindell’s first four No. 1 consecutive singles as a solo artist (including Gold-certified “Let Me See Ya Girl,” along with Platinum-certified hits “Hope You Get Lonely Tonight,” “Ain’t Worth The Whiskey” and “Chillin’ It”) from his Platinum selling self-titled debut album which tops his own record of being the only solo artist in the history of Country Aircheck/Mediabase to top the chart with his first FIVE singles.
When Swindell moved to Nashville he immersed himself in songwriting and fell in love with the process and hoping one day he would be able to write songs like some of his biggest artist/songwriter influences (Luke Bryan, Dierks Bentley, Eric Church). He was given a chance to have his songs heard and he signed his publishing deal and as he says, “it has been wide open from there.” Just last year, Swindell was awarded CMA’s “Triple Play Award” in 2015 for having (at least) three No. 1 songs in twelve months, and was the only performer to claim the title this year. He was also a four-time BMI Award winner last year for No. 1 hits he wrote for Thomas Rhett (“Get Me Some of That”), Luke Bryan (“Roller Coaster”), Florida Georgia Line (“This Is How We Roll”) as well as his own No. 1 “Hope You Get Lonely Tonight.”
Meanwhile, Swindell continues to immerse himself in the craft he loves. His current self-penned single “Middle of a Memory,” off of his second album You Should Be Here, is sitting at No. 5 on both the Billboard and Country Aircheck/Mediabase charts and still climbing.
Swindell continues on tour with Florida Georgia Line’s Dig Your Roots Tour through October 22. He will then kick off his own headlining CMT on Tour Presents the Cole Swindell Down Home Tour on October 26 in Tulsa, OKin tandem with the October 28 release of his EP, Down Home Sessions III.
ABOUT COLE SWINDELL:
Cole Swindell, Platinum-selling recording artist and record-breaking five-time No. 1 hit maker, released his second album You Should Be Here and itshot to No. 1 on the iTunes Top Country Albums Chart and No. 3 All Genre within hours of release. Its lead single and title track held a four week run on top of Billboard’s Hot Country songs chart (tally of digital streams, radio airplay and sales) in addition to multiple weeks sitting at No. 1 on country airplay. His Platinum-certified “You Should Be Here” already boasts over 65 million streams, 1 MILLION tracks equivalents and almost 30 million YouTube views. The career-defining single surpassed over 1 BILLION audience impressions (Mediabase audience: 1.1b, On-demand audio/video streams: 65m, digital track sales: 750,000+). The song joins Swindell’s first four No. 1 consecutive singles as a solo artist (including Gold-certified “Let Me See Ya Girl,” along with Platinum-certified hits “Hope You Get Lonely Tonight,” “Ain’t Worth The Whiskey” and “Chillin’ It”) from his Platinum selling self-titled debut album which tops his own record of being the only solo artist in the history of Country Aircheck/Mediabase to top the chart with his first FIVE singles.
In 2015 the Georgia native won the ACM New Artist of the Year, was named to Billboard’s Top New Country Artists, awarded CMA’s “Triple Play Award” for having (at least) three No. 1 songs in the past twelve months, and was the only performer to claim the title in 2015. He was nominated for CMA Awards' “New Artist of the Year” and named Music Row’s Breakthrough Songwriter of the Year, with celebrated songwriting credits which include not only his own five No. 1 hits but “This Is How We Roll” by Florida Georgia Line, “Get Me Some of That” by Thomas Rhett, and several songs with Luke Bryan such as his No. 1 single “Roller Coaster,” among others. He is currently touring with Florida Georgia Line’s “Dig Your Roots Tour.” Swindell will begin his headlining tour, Down Home Tour Presented by CMT on October 26, after opening for Florida Georgia Line’s Dig Your Roots Tour. The Down Home Tour coincides with the October 28 release of his third and newest EP, Down Home Sessions III. To date, Swindell has sold over 1.5 million total album equivalents in the three years since his debut, including 5 million+ tracks sold and 400 million on-demand streams.