Swift takes home top honors at Nashville Music Awards

Taylor Swift was the big winner at the Nashville Music Awards on Wednesday night, collecting three trophies during a reception at the Cannery Ballroom.

The 19-year-old was named Artist of the Year and Songwriter/Artist of the Year, with her album Fearless also earning Country Album of the Year honors.

Presented by Leadership Music in partnership with Next Big Nashville, the Nashville Music Awards were established to recognize outstanding contributions in all genres of music and to celebrate the diversity and quality of artists and music professionals who call Nashville their home.

New Artist of the Year honors went to Lady Antebellum, with Brooke Waggoner claiming the Next Big Nashville Award for best emerging artist and Jack White named top instrumentalist.

Liz Rose was voted Songwriter of the Year on the strength of recent cuts by artists such as Jewel, Jypsi and frequent co-writer Taylor Swift. "The Time of My Life," written by Regie Hamm and sung by American Idol winner David Cook, was named Song of the Year.

In addition to Swift's Country album victory, genre album winners were the Steeldrivers (Bluegrass), Sarah Siskind (Americana), April Rucker (Urban), Jars of Clay (Gospel/Contemporary Christian), Take 6 (Jazz/Blues) and Kings of Leon (Pop/Rock).

The Made in Music City award for a Nashville recording made by a non-resident went to Elvis Costello's Secret, Profane and Sugarcane, produced by T Bone Burnett and recorded at Sound Emporium Studio.

The 2009 winners were chosen by popular vote via online balloting. Eligible recordings or projects must have been active in the marketplace between January 1, 2008 and June 30, 2009 and NMA awards are limited to persons and organizations residing in Davidson County and surrounding counties.

A complete list of 2009 Nashville Music Awards winners follows. For more information visit www.nashvillemusicawards.com.

ARTIST OF THE YEAR
Taylor Swift

BEST NEW ARTIST
Lady Antebellum

SONG OF THE YEAR
"The Time of My Life," written by Regie Hamm (Recorded by David Cook)

NEXT BIG NASHVILLE AWARD (Emerging Artist)
Brooke Waggoner

SONGWRITER OF THE YEAR
Liz Rose

SONGWRITER-ARTIST OF THE YEAR
Taylor Swift

POSTER/ALBUM ARTWORK/PACKAGING OF THE YEAR
Roy Orbison, The Soul of Rock and Roll Boxed Set, Latocki Team Creative

INSTRUMENTALIST OF THE YEAR
Jack White
MUSIC VIDEO/FILM OF THE YEAR
Rascal Flatts, "Here Comes Goodbye," directed by Shaun Silva

MADE IN MUSIC CITY AWARD (for a recording made in Nashville by a non-Nashville artist)
Elvis Costello, Secret, Profane & Sugarcane
T Bone Burnett, producer; Recorded at Sound Emporium studio

BLUEGRASS ALBUM OF THE YEAR
The Steeldrivers, The Steeldrivers on Rounder Records

COUNTRY ALBUM OF THE YEAR
Taylor Swift, Fearless on Big Machine Records

AMERICANA ALBUM OF THE YEAR
Sarah Siskind, Say It Louder on Request/Thirty Tigers Records

URBAN RECORDING OF THE YEAR
April Rucker, Here I Stand [EP] by One Staj Music Group

GOSPEL/CONTEMPORARY CHRISTIAN ALBUM OF THE YEAR
Jars of Clay, The Long Fall Back to Earth on Gray Matters/Essential Records

JAZZ/BLUES ALBUM OF THE YEAR
Take 6, The Standard on Heads Up Records (Telarc)

POP/ROCK ALBUM OF THE YEAR
Kings of Leon, Only by the Night on RCA

INNOVATOR
Landmark Digital Services, LLC for BlueArrow Audio Recognition

HERITAGE AWARD
The Fisk Jubilee Singers, accepted by Musical Director Paul Kwami