Mississippi Arts Commission To Honor Songwriter/Producer Craig Wiseman

Songwriter and producer Craig Wiseman will be honored by his home state of Mississippi during the 27th Annual Governor’s Arts Awards. Wiseman, founder of The Big Loud Shirt Industries, will receive the Excellence in Music Award on Thursday, Feb. 19.

“In Nashville most people know four things about me. I’m a songwriter, I wear big loud shirts, I have a toenail painted red and I’m from Mississippi. I have always proudly claimed Mississippi as my home. I am grateful to help carry the long tradition of Mississippians’ contribution to American music. It is an honor to receive this award from the State that has been woven in my words and melodies and my heart from the very beginning,” shares Wiseman. “I will return to the friends, the love and the warmth of my raising! Praise God, hallelujah and Amen. Now get some catfish cookin’!”

The Hattiesburg, Miss., native has garnered 24 chart-topping hits, and written more than 100 singles. Wiseman has taken home CMA and ACM Song of the Year awards, and was honored as NSAI’s Songwriter of the Decade in 2009. In November 2014, Wiseman received the prestigious ASCAP Heritage Award, in commemoration of ASCAP’s 100th anniversary.

Nominations for the Governor’s Arts Awards were made by the general public, and a group of industry peers served as judges to review and select recipients. The Mississippi Arts Commission is a state agency, funded by the Mississippi Legislature, the National Endowment for the Arts, the Mississippi Endowment for the Arts at the Community Foundation of Greater Jackson and other private sources.