Nashville, TN (June 4, 2026)—Last year, country star Lainey Wilson took home the CMA Award for Album of the Year for Whirlwind and was named CMA Entertainer of the Year; now her touring team has a few CMA-related awards, too. At the 20th annual CMA Touring Awards, personnel on Wilson’s 2025 Whirlwind World Tour cleaned up, taking home seven of the 20 awards, including Crew of the Year.
Held at The Pinnacle in Nashville on June 2, the CMA Touring Awards were once again hosted by Keith Urban, marking his fourth year of presiding over the festivities. Joining him were country stars and past hosts Kristian Bush, Kix Brooks, and Jon Pardi; artists in attendance included Kelsea Ballerini, Parker McCollum, Randy Travis and Wilson. Legendary artist manager Jim Halsey was honored with the CMA Touring Lifetime Achievement Award, while Urban was caught by surprise when he was presented with CMA’s Founding President’s Award.
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Winners in the various categories were determined by current professional voting members of the CMA in the Affiliated, Artist, Composer, Entertainment Services, Musician, Personal Manager, Record Company, Talent Agent, Advertising/Marketing/Communications, Venue, Talent Buyer/Promoter and Touring Personnel categories of membership. Nominees were based on shows taking place between October 1, 2024 and September 30, 2025.
In all, the winners were:
Crew of the Year: Lainey Wilson’s Whirlwind World Tour Crew
Support Services Company of the Year: Clair Global (Nashville, TN)
Front of House Engineer of the Year: Ryan Dell (Lainey Wilson)
Monitor Engineer of the Year: Curt Armstead (Lainey Wilson)
Tour Manager of the Year: Meg Miller (Lainey Wilson)
Production Manager of the Year: Chad Guy (Morgan Wallen)
Stage Manager of the Year: Allison Noah (Carly Pearce/Lainey Wilson)
Backline Technician of the Year: Dalton Ray Brown (Lainey Wilson)
Lighting Director of the Year: Zac Coren (Morgan Wallen)
Coach/Truck Driver of the Year: Caleb Garrett (Luke Bryan)
Manager of the Year: Kerri Edwards (KP Entertainment)
Business Manager of the Year: Jen Conger (Flood, Bumstead, McCready & McCarthy)
Publicist of the Year: Olivia Hanceri (OH Creative)
Talent Agent of the Year: Becky Gardenhire (WME)
Talent Buyer/Promoter of the Year: Ed Warm (Joe’s Bar)
Touring Musician of the Year: Kurt Ozan (Luke Combs)
Tour Videographer/Photographer of the Year: Catherine Powell (Kelsea Ballerini)
Tour Video Director of the Year: Dave Bergfeld (Lainey Wilson)
Venue of the Year: The Pinnacle (Nashville, TN)
Unsung Hero of the Year: Diana “Lemonade” McBride (Grand Ole Opry)
