Warner/Chappell Nashville boss Ben Vaughn and team pose with ACM Songwriter of the Year Rhett Akins, the father of 28 #1 singles and Thomas Rhett. The pubbery's Music City division had much to celebrate, including Chris Stapleton's Album of the Year and Male Vocalist wins, Midland's trophy as New Vocal Group, Single of the Year "Body Like a Back Road" (co-penned and produced by Zach Crowell), Brothers Osborne's Vocal Duo and Video wins and "The Fighter" (written and produced by busbee) prevailing as Vocal Event of the Year.

It's also worth noting that the new Carrie and Miranda singles, "Cry pretty" and "Keeper of the Flame," were both penned by the great Liz Rose. In all, W/C writers played a role in the composition of 16 out of 24 songs performed during the highly rated broadcast. That's 2/3 or 66.6%, we think, though we don't have an abacus handy.

"There’s no community like the Nashville community," reads an appreciative memo from Vaughn to his staff. "Watching them pull together as a family to show the strength of our music, and seeing the success in the ratings and the socials is so gratifying. A special thank you to the hardworking people of ACM who put in countless hours to make sure that ‘the week that Vegas goes country’ was such a smashing success for everyone. If anyone needs me, I'll be at the blackjack table for a few hours, and then under it."

Seen wondering who'd be first to ink a pub deal with Stapleton's twins are (l-r) Vaughn, Akins and W/C's Jessi Vaughn, Will Overton and Ryan Beuschel.