Major Hit Parade

Bentley’s Not The Only One Who Wants To Have Fun
Eight years to the day after his first single “What Was I Thinkin'” claimed the No. 1 spot, Dierks Bentley and co-writers Jim Beavers and Jon Randall were feted by ASCAP and BMI for the success of their chart-topping single “Am I The Only One.” The Sept. 27 party was held on the deck of popular watering hole Loser’s. It is Bentley’s eighth No. 1 and the first single off his upcoming sixth Capitol Nashville studio project.

(L-R): Sony/ATV Publishing’s Terry Wakefield, co-writer Jim Beavers, Dierks Bentley, Wrensong Music’s Ree Guyer Buchanan, co-writer and producer Jon Randall, ASCAP’s Mike Sistad and BMI’s Clay Bradley. Photo: Eric England

Atkins Takes Back Road To Big Hit
Curb Records’ Rodney Atkins scored his sixth No. 1 with “Take A Back Road” recently. Downloads of the track were already past the 600,000 mark when he released the album of the same name this week. For the project, he re-teamed with producer Ted Hewitt. BMI saluted the writers of “Take A Back Road,” Luke Laird and Rhett Akins, who penned the song during their first co-writing session together, resulting in the seventh chart-topper for both.

(L-R): BMI’s Jody Williams, Curb Records’ Kelly Lynn Janson, co-writer Rhett Akins, Rodney Atkins, co-writer Luke Laird, Curb Records’ Mike Curb, producer Ted Hewitt, EMI Music Publishing’s Tom Luteran, and Universal Music Publishing’s Pat Higdon and Kent Earls. Photo: Rick Diamond

Bryan’s Gold Night In Georgia
During last night’s Farm Tour show in Statesboro, Ga., Luke Bryan was surprised in front of a crowd of over 8,000 fans with a Gold plaque for his current album tailgates & tanlines. He also received a plaque for his first Platinum single— the album’s lead smash hit “Country Girl (Shake It For Me),” which Bryan co-wrote with fellow Georgian Dallas Davidson.

(L-R): Red Light Management’s Kerri Edwards, songwriter Dallas Davidson, Bryan, Capitol Records Nashville Director of Marketing Dustin Eichten, producer Jeff Stevens, Red Light’s Waylon Weatherholt