2022 Midwest CMO Award Nominees

After reviewing over 3,000 nominations, listening to hours and hours of excellent original music, and deliberating in over a dozen meetings, the Midwest CMO Nomination Selection committee is proud to present the nominees for the year of 2022! This is a fun and rewarding but difficult process, however, we truly feel that we did our very best to provide the top 5 in each category. If your name appears here you should be proud and humbled to be considered at the top of such an incredible group of artists and musicians. If your name doesn’t appear on this list, that means NOTHING–Music is a form of art and art can be very subjective. You should continue to create music and inspire more people through your stories and songs as that is what really matters…we promise you that.


It should be noted that this is the most geographically diverse set of nominees that we’ve ever had with artists from home states of Iowa, Minnesota, Wisconsin, & South Dakota all represented and we hope this is a trend that continues with the growth of our young organization!


We will soon turn it over to the members to cast their votes and we ask that YOU as a member utilize the same diligence that we used to finalize the nominees. We will be editing this page and providing you with some of the sample works and songs that these nominees are being judged by and we ask that you spend the time to familiarize yourself with their work, just as they would for you.


All votes will be tabulated and revealed for the first time
~Midwest CMO Nomination Selection Committee

Entertainer

Of The Year

Nominees

Anderson Daniels

Chris Kroeze

Jake Nelson Band

Monica Austin

Shane Martin Band

Brad Morgan

Chris Kroeze

Shalo Lee

Shane Martin Band

Tim Sigler

Male Vocalist

Of The Year

Nominees

Aaron Simmons

Anderson Daniels

Ben Johnson

Brad Morgan

Robert Deitch

Female Vocalist

Of The Year

Nominees

Ali Gray

Dariann Leigh

Hailey James

Julie Eddy

Sarah Morris

Band

Of The Year

Nominees

Cory Waller & The Wicked Things

Derek Jones & the 50 South

Lake & Lyndale

Pat Watters Band

Tim Sigler Band

Album

Of The Year

Nominees

A Stone’s Throw – Robert Deitch
Anything But Casual – Erin Grand
Country & Midwestern: Side A – Anderson Daniels
Bootleggin’ at the Flower Shoppe – Maygen & The Birdwatcher
Mama was a Bandit – The Foxgloves

Song

Of The Year

Nominees

A Tale of Two Mountains–Ben Johnson

I Gave It All To You– Ali Gray

Invisible–Dayna Koehn

Man on a Mountain–Danny Grause

Nobody’s Home in Wadena–Aaron Simmons

New Artist

Of The Year

Nominees

Adam Brandt

Angela Meyer

Bryan Anderson

Dan Lepien

Scott Kirkhart

Americana Artist

Of The Year

Nominees

Chad Johnson & The Minnesota Transplants

Frank Martin Busch

Gregg Hall

Maygen & The Birdwatcher

The Foxgloves

Songwriter

Of The Year

Nominees

Anderson Daniels

Ben Johnson

Danny Grause

Hailey James

Robert Deitch

Maverick

Award

Nominees

Jesse Wilson

Joe Flip

Red Dirt Renegade

Ted Hajnasiewicz

Zak “Poppa Bear” Norton

Tribute Act

Of The Year

Nominees

All Churched Up–Tim Sigler & Ali Gray

Folsom Prison Experience–Jay Ernest & Tom Pickard

Songs of the South–Shane Martin Band

The Music of Patsy Cline–Joyann Parker

Tribute To Stevie Ray Vaughan–Joe Flip

Studio Engineer

Of The Year

Nominees Announced Friday, March 31st

Live Sound Engineer

Of The Year

Nominees Announced Friday, March 31st

Content Creator

Of The Year

Nominees Announced Friday, March 31st

Radio Station

Of The Year

Nominees Announced Friday, March 31st

Venue

Of The Year

Nominees Announced Friday, March 31st

Event/Music Festival

Of The Year

Nominees Announced Friday, March 31st

2022 Entertainer of the year NOMINEES

Brad Morgan

Chris Kroeze

Shane Martin Band

Tim Sigler

2022 male vocalist of the year NOMINEES

Ben Johnson

Chris Kroeze

Derek Jones

Jake Nelson

Russ Parrish

2022 female vocalist of the year NOMINEES

Dariann Leigh

Erin Grand

Joyann Parker

Maygen Lacey

Sarah Morris

2022 Band of the year NOMINEES

Gregg Hall & The Wrecking Ball

Lake & Lyndale

Pat Watters Band

Shalo Lee Band

Shane Martin Band

2022 Album of the year

Bring Me Home
Ben Johnson

Hellfire, Holy Water
Brooke Lynn

One Night at the Crystal Lounge
Luke Hendrickson

Moonshine
Maygen and the Birdwatcher

Ain't That Something
MoeDeLL