By: Chris Talbott
© 2015 CMA Close Up® News Service / Country Music Association®, Inc.
Kix Brooks struggled mightily with the idea somebody wanted to spend an entire night talking about how great he is.
“Can you imagine what it feels like to be me tonight?” Brooks asked the crowd as he accepted the CMA Foundation Humanitarian Award on Monday night at City Winery in Nashville.
The acclaimed artist, radio personality, and member of the CMA Board of Directors took in an hour of video salutes and personal tributes as close friends like Reba and Terry Bradshaw, as well as representatives from organizations he’s helped over the years gathered to honor the first winner of the Country Music Association’s newest award. “Tonight we’re so glad to be here to help celebrate the guy in the black hat who’s also wearing a white hat,” said CMA Chief Executive Officer Sarah Trahern.
Brooks told the crowd he had spent a lot of time in the last week wondering how to take the celebration. It wasn’t so much the attention, “That’s why I’m a hillbilly singer in the first place,” as it was the idea what he does is special in an organization full of philanthropists.
“I can pull out every person in this room and tell you something they have done that is so significant and so meaningful to some organization or something in their community, something they’ve given to, something they’ve put their heart into, and to be singled out in this group of people is embarrassing to me,” said Brooks.
He finally decided he could live with it because the night was an excuse to get together and encourage each other to give more.
“This is a good thing that we’re doing,” he said. “Now all the sudden this feels right to me. Not because it’s about me, but because it’s about us.”
Brooks, one half of legendary Country duo Brooks & Dunn, is involved in a number of charitable activities that have directed millions of dollars and countless volunteer hours to the Vanderbilt Children’s Hospital, the Monroe Harding Children’s Home, the USO, Operation Finally Home, Louisiana Tech, and many other organizations. And at CMA he’s been proactive in focusing the organization’s mission, helping to organize programs to fund music education in Nashville schools, and provide health insurance for members.
Dr. John Branch told the crowd of Brooks’ impact on the Children’s Hospital: “Kix is basically the Pied Piper of the Children’s Hospital. He’s inspired so many people to get involved in what we are and what we do.”
Reba presented the award to her close friend. She noted they’ve been friends for more than 20 years, before leaning against the lectern and saying, “I’ve got a few stories on Kix.” “We’re running short on time,” Brooks shouted from the crowd.
Brooks told the crowd one of his father’s favorite stories: The one about the chicken and the pig who wanted to cook breakfast for their kindly farmer. “The chicken says, ‘Awesome, I’ll cook a couple of eggs up here and you provide the bacon.’ The pig says, ‘Well, for you that’s a gift. For me that’s a full commitment.’ My dad had a thing he’d say when you were bragging about the little gift that you’ve done for the world, he would say, ‘You need to be a little more piggish.’
“I’m a chicken, OK? That’s the truth of the matter and I’m not afraid to stand here an admit it. But the fact that all of you are here tonight and think that I’m a little bit more than that, I’m going to leave here tonight and I’m going to go back out into the world and I’m going to be a little more piggish.”
Reba (l) honors Kix Brooks with the CMA Foundation Humanitarian Award.
Photo credit: Donn Jones / CMA