The fifth annual Arkansas Country Music Awards recently took place for the second year in a row at the Reynolds Performance Hall on the University of Central Arkansas Campus in Conway, Arkansas on June 6th. 

This award show is a great event as it focuses a spotlight on all those from Arkansas including upcoming country music artists, musicians and individuals in the country music industry. It was hosted by country music historian, Charles Haymes and Miss Arkansas 2014, Ashton Gill.

Mae Estes at the 2022 Arkansas Country Music Awards

The 2022 Arkansas Country Music Awards gave out a variety of awards in twenty-six different categories. Some winners include Female Vocalist of the Year, Mae Estes, Male Vocalist and Entertainer of the Year, David Adam Byrnes, Country Artist of the Year, Lance Carpenter, Acoustic Act of the Year, Ryan Harmon, Young Artist of the Year, Sylamore Special, Fiddle Player of the Year, Jenee Fleenor, Steel/Dobro Player of the Year, Josh Matheny and Songwriter of the Year, Erin Enderlin.

It was a great night of award wins for the town of Jonesboro, Arkansas as well as 104.9 The Fox won Radio Station of the Year and 104.9 The Fox’s, Christie Matthews won Radio DJ of the Year! The Collins Theater which is right outside of Jonesboro in Paragould, also took home Venue of the Year. Along with that, Jonesboro, Arkansas native and country music artist, Cory Jackson won Video of the Year for his song, “Put Some Country In Your Country“, directed by Kenny Jackson!

Jeannie Seely at the 2022 Arkansas Country Music Awards

One of the awards given during the event was special as country music star and Grand Ole Opry Member, Jeannie Seely won Song Of The Year with “Yours”, a song Seely wrote and was recorded by Diane Berry and Joe Wade Smith. They were all thrilled with the win! Congratulations to all the nominees and winners this year! If you’d like to see a full list of winners from the 2022 Arkansas Country Music Awards, you can click the link HERE!

While waiting for the show to begin during the VIP hour, the 2022 Arkansas Country Music Awards showcased some fantastic upcoming country music artists including Anna Brinker, Ryan Harmon, The Gravel Yard, Maybe April and Posey Hill!

The 2022 Arkansas Country Music Awards featured several outstanding performances including from Sylamore Special, Huckleberry Jam, Debby Campbell, Mae Estes, Erin Enderlin, Lance Carpenter, Marybeth Byrd, David Adam Byrnes and Jenee Fleenor, Shawn Camp, Lee Ann Womack and many more!

Along with that, the 2022 Arkansas Country Music Awards honored four recipients with the Lifetime Achievement award including country artist, Lefty Frizzell, Radio DJ Bob Robbins, pianist, Floyd Cramer and country producer, Mark Wright. All four performances in honor of the recipients were beautiful! Lefty Frizzell’s brother, Allen Frizzell performed with Shawn Camp singing Lefty’s song, “I Love You A Thousand Ways” and Merle Haggard’s classic, “That’s The Way Love Goes.”

Susan Robbins & family at the 2022 Arkansas Country Music Awards

The Arkansas radio DJ, Bob Robbins’ wife, Susan Robbins and family came up on stage to share a beautiful speech about how much the Arkansas Country Music Awards and how the country music scene in Arkansas meant a great deal to the late Robbins. Many of the award winners mentioned Robbins as well in their speeches as the radio DJ left a big mark on the rising country music artists from Arkansas. “God bless Bob Robbins, he was my DJ,” exclaimed Erin Enderlin as she won Songwriter of the Year. Robbins’ family asked to help continue Bob’s Toy Hill fundraiser every year and in honor of Bob to “continue his legacy by continuing to promote, support, play, compose, sing, listen and dance to country music.” 

Along with those, the grandson of Floyd Cramer, Jason Coleman performed two songs on piano by himself which his grandfather was known for playing on entitled, “On The Rebound” and “Last Date.” The wife of Floyd Cramer, Mary Cramer shared a sweet speech to accept the award on behalf of her husband. Also, Coleman played the piano for another song which Cramer was pianist on as well and Coleman was accompanied by Opry Member, Jeannie Seely, Diane Berry and Joe Wade Smith to perform Skeeter Davis’ biggest hit, “The End Of The World.”

Lee Ann Womack at the 2022 Arkansas Country Music Awards

One more recipient to be recognized was Arkansas native and producer, Mark Wright. The country music singer, Lee Ann Womack came to perform two of her songs in honor of Wright including “A Little Past Little Rock” and her big hit song, “I Hope You Dance,” which Mark Wright produced along with many more songs in country music. Wright was in attendance at the award show and gave a touching speech to accept his award that included a woo-pig-sooie call to all Razorback fans which was definitely a memorable moment during the award show! He continued to talk about how much the Lifetime Achievement award meant to him and about his incredible career in the country music industry. 

The 2022 Arkansas Country Music Awards was a wonderful country music event in the natural state! It’s incredible to see the talent and the community that the Arkansas Country Music scene has all in one place. This year’s award show was fantastic with all the performances! If you haven’t, be sure to learn more about the Arkansas Country Music Awards!

Check out The CMBeat’s Instagram post below which features more photos from the show!

Be sure to follow the Arkansas Country Music Awards on their social media including on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. You can learn more about the Arkansas Country Music Awards by visiting their website HERE.

Did you attend the 2022 Arkansas Country Music Awards? What did you think of the show? I’d love to hear your thoughts, so leave me a comment below or on social media!