Rob Potts to receive ACM Honors Jim Reeves International Award this August

We are thrilled and honored to announce that Rob Potts will be posthumously awarded the Academy of Country Music's Jim Reeves International Award at the ACM Honors this August in Nashville. The award is presented to an artist or industry leader for outstanding contributions to the acceptance of country music throughout the world. 

Rob Potts cultivated a country music connection between Australia and the United States, paving the way for American superstars to perform Down Under for thousands of new fans. Potts and his business partner Michael Chugg established the brand of CMC Rocks leading to festivals like CMC Rocks the Snowy, CMC Rocks the Hunter and CMC Rocks QLD. The latter became the first-ever sold-out country music festival in Australia, with 18,000 tickets sold for its 2018 lineup featuring Luke Bryan. Potts had worked as a booking agent and promoter for artists like Keith Urban, Tommy Emmanuel and Lee Kernaghan. He brought country talent like Jason Aldean, Brooks & Dunn, Dixie Chicks, Florida Georgia Line, Alan Jackson, Tim McGraw & Faith Hill, Dolly Parton, Taylor Swift and Zac Brown Band to the Australian market. In addition, Potts managed Warner Music Nashville artist Morgan Evans. In 2016, Potts launched FanGate Music, a joint label with Sony Music Entertainment Australia, in order to seek out and develop international country artists while still paying attention to emerging local talent. A partnership with Nashville-based Dreamlined Entertainment was announced in October 2017, less than two weeks before Potts died following a motorcycle accident in Australia. He was 65.

Past recipients of the Jim Reeves International Award include Joe Allison, Bill Boyd, Garth Brooks, Steve Buchanan, Joe Cates, Eric Church, Dick Clark, Roy Clark, Al Gallico, Merv Griffin, Jim Halsey, Alan Jackson, Ken Kragen, Lady Antebellum, Sam Louvello, Thurston Moore, Charlie Nagatani, Buck Owens, Dolly Parton, Rascal Flatts, Roy Rogers, Bob Saporiti, Louise Scruggs, Dinah Shore, Taylor Swift, Keith Urban, Jeff Walker, Jo Walker-Meador and Bill Ward.

Honorees will be celebrated during the 12th ANNUAL ACM HONORS™, an evening dedicated to recognizing the special honorees and off-camera category winners from the 53rd Academy of Country Music Awards. The Academy of Country Music Special Awards are voted on by the ACM Board of Directors for specific achievements. The event will take place Wednesday, August 22, 2018 at the historic Ryman Auditorium in Nashville, TN.