Platinum-selling recording artist and CMA 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 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.
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 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.
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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 12 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 Oct. 22. He will then kick off his own headlining CMT on Tour Presents the Cole Swindell Down Home Tour on Oct. 26 in Tulsa, OK in tandem with the Oct. 28 release of his EP, Down Home Sessions III.
For more information and tour dates, visit coleswindell.com.
