Country stars share how music teachers changed their lives. Top moments from CMA Foundation awards
Tuesday night the CMA Foundation honored a selection of music teachers from across the country at its annual CMA Foundation Music Teachers of Excellence event held at the Country Music Hall of Fame.
In its eighth year, this year's event featured performances and heartfelt speeches by country musicians who represent the masses in the music industry who have been impacted by a music teacher along the way.
Since the inception of the Music Teachers of Excellence Awards, the event has honored 178 music educators and donated $1.3 million to support music education. That money comes from donors and a portion of the proceeds from CMA Fest.
Tiffany Kerns, executive director of the CMA Foundation, told the crowd that the foundation believes every student deserves the opportunity to explore the world of music and experience the transformative power of music.
"Our commitment to music education is rooted in the belief that it is a fundamental right and we are dedicated to removing the barriers that prevent access to this instrumental resource," she said. "To reach a student, you must invest in a teacher."
Story Behind the Song: Post Malone revives this 2004 hit song by Sara Evans at Stagecoach Festival
Backstory: Walker Hayes, Charles Kelley and Morgan Wade share thoughts on beginning a sobriety journey
Here are our top moments from Tuesday night's awards:
Walker Hayes opens show with a chorus of students
Hayes, perched on a stool armed with his acoustic guitar, opened the show by telling the crowd that this effort is near and dear to his heart. Being the last of nine kids, he joked that he was also the "worst" of the nine — until he discovered music.
"My identity was acting out and getting in trouble," he said. "Honestly, all of that changed when I met a man named Mr. Powell. He was a choir director at my high school and he had no business putting me in a school play, but he did and I was terrible at it, but I had a decent voice. But he accepted me, loved me well and quite frankly changed my life."
In addition to helping Hayes discover and expand his musical abilities, he also facilitated an introduction to a fellow school play actor named Laney Beville, who would later become his wife.
"Mr. Powell changed the course that my life was on. To all the music teachers being celebrated tonight, obviously there's going to be a lot of gratitude in this room, but I just hope y'all leave knowing how powerful your impact is."
Hayes and his Metro Nashville Public School music students behind him, played a simple-yet-powerful rendition of Hayes' song "Father Time," which received the first standing ovation of the night. But it wouldn't be the last.
Charlie Worsham shares amazing full-circle moment
Country musician Charlie Worsham shared the story of the music teachers that impacted his life and even gets a little emotional as he tells the story of Mr. Wallace and Miss Dugan.
"After I struck out at tee ball, ran the wrong way down the soccer field, and chickened out on punching lumber with my bare knuckles in karate, my parents made the merciful decision to point my extracurricular pursuits in a new direction: piano lessons."
Lessons with Miss Dugan and subsequent recitals would give Worsham his first taste of public performance.
"I couldn't stand on stage today at Red Rocks, or Nissan Stadium, or any of the marvelous venues around the world where I've been lucky to perform, had I not first learned to deal with nerves in the Grenada, Mississippi Public Library every Christmas."
Next came Mr. Wallace. Every Wednesday after school, Worsham said his mom would drive him and hour and 15 minutes each way to spend "foundational and transformative time with a bona fide banjo master."
The summer Worsham turned 11, Mr. Wallace invited him to Nashville to hear him perform at the Ryman Auditorium. But Wallace had bigger plans for the young prodigy.
"Unbeknownst to me, Mr. Wallace had a plan to include me in the encore that night," Worsham said with a smile. "With a nudge of the elbow, I was invited to stand center stage in the Mother Church of country music alongside my heroes, adding my own personal twang to country music's most sacred song, 'Will the Circle Be Unbroken.' This was my point of no return. Throughout my teenage years, I progressed from Beethoven to the Beatles, Bill Monroe to the Black Crowes, playing in bar bands most weekends, but I never lost sight of the lessons my two most important teachers instilled in me."
After sharing his transformational experience, Worsham introduced Miss Cindy Dugan and Mr. Larry Wallace, who were both in attendance. They were saluted with a rousing standing ovation from the crowd.
Alana Springsteen surprises Nashville music teacher
This top moment from the event actually happened behind-the-scenes and before the show even started. Musician Alana Springsteen, having heard that music educator Allen Kennedy from Hume–Fogg Academic High School in Nashville needed keyboards for his students, decided to gift him one.
"The piano was a very special instrument to me growing up," Springsteen said. "So when I heard that was one of the things his kids needed for their performances, I knew I needed to find a way to make this happen. So we pulled it together and it just I hope some of your kids just fall in love with it and have some special memories with it."
She added that after hearing about Kennedy's need, she felt like it was the least she could do to help in some small way and show love in a way that meant something to her.
Kennedy responded to the gift by saying even the smallest things can have huge effects.
"This means everything because it was a need for my students and now the need has been met," he said. "This won't only be useful now, but for students to come. I think, just the small ripples have huge effects, and sometimes we never know how far that can affect people."
Applications for the 2025 Music Teachers of Excellence are available at cmafoundation.org/music-teachers-of-excellence-apply.
Melonee Hurt covers music and music business at The Tennessean, part of the USA TODAY NETWORK — Tennessee. Reach Melonee at [email protected], on X @HurtMelonee or Instagram at @MelHurtWrites.
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Walker Hayes, Alana Springsteen celebrate music teachers in Nashville
