SESAC Nashville Music Awards: 'Fancy Like' and Josh Jenkins win top honors

CMA Awards week is as close to black-tie as Music City gets all year – and Nashville’s country music community picked a perfectly ironic song to honor on opening night.

The Walker Hayes hit “Fancy Like” – a rap-tinged country tune about the ways an average Joe goes all out on date night, including dinner at Applebee’s – was named Song of the Year at the SESAC Nashville Music Awards, held Sunday at the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum.

In fact, “Fancy Like” dominated and defined the evening, as its co-writer Josh Jenkins was named Songwriter of the Year, recognizing a banner period for the songsmith that also included co-writing the Jordan Davis/Luke Bryan smash “Buy Dirt.”

Plus, Nashville’s SMACK Songs was named Publisher of the Year, recognizing a catalog of recent hits that includes – you guessed it – “Fancy Like.”

Performing rights organization SESAC — which collects royalties for songwriters, alongside BMI and ASCAP — holds the annual awards show to celebrate its most successful country and Americana songwriters.

This was the first Songwriter of the Year win for Jenkins, and “Fancy Like” was his first No. 1 hit. The song’s ascent owed much to TikTok, where Hayes helped spark a massive dance trend.

“You work so hard to make something happen in this business,” Jenkins said. “And that was a perfect example of (something that) just took off. And it broke down a bunch of doors.”

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Among Jenkins’ “Buy Dirt” co-writers was his brother, Matt Jenkins. Josh credited their father with igniting the songwriting spark.

“’If you're gonna play music, write songs,’” he remembers their dad telling them. “…Your own voice is special.”

SESAC went the extra mile to salute Jenkins and “Fancy Like” – as the tune was named Song of the Year, servers handed out Oreo milkshakes with two straws in each glass to the crowd (a nod to its lyrics).

Other treats included musical performances by Lee Brice and Blanco Brown (who opened the night with their “Soul” remix) and Megan Moroney, whose viral hit “Tennessee Orange” centers a Romeo and Juliet love story around fans of rival college football teams.

SESAC’s ceremony was the first of three to be held this week in Nashville leading up to Wednesday’s CMA Awards. Their competitors, ASCAP and BMI, will hold their own galas on Monday and Tuesday, respectively.

Along with the marquee prizes, SESAC recognized 17 of its most-performed country and Americana songs on Sunday, including Zac Brown Band’s “Same Boat,” Jimmie Allen’s “Freedom Was a Highway” and Keith Urban’s “Wild Hearts."

Sunday’s show wrapped up before 9 p.m., which must have been music to the ears of those attendees prepping for four straight nights out. But for others, the evening may have just gotten started.

“We’re double-fisting Oreo Shakes tonight,” Jenkins exclaimed from the podium.

This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: 'Fancy Like' and Josh Jenkins win big at SESAC Nashville Music Awards