The ASCAP Foundation is pleased to announce ASCAP member Katie Herzig as the recipient of this year's Sammy Cahn Award for her song "Closest I Get" (lyrics by Katie Herzig, music by Katie Herzig and Cason Jay Cooley). The Award, created in 1995, commemorates the life and career of the great lyricist and ASCAP Board member, Sammy Cahn.
Katie joins a group of distinguished past recipients that include John Mayer, Josh Ritter, Lori McKenna, Daniel Mackenzie, Chris Keup, Cinco Paul and John Francis.
Katie grew up in a musical family and began writing songs in college. After initially fronting the Colorado-based band Newcomers Home she released her first solo album, Watch Them Fall, followed by Weightless two years later. Several songs from the album found their way onto network television shows, notably Grey's Anatomy and Smallville.
Following the release of Weightless, Herzig moved to Nashville where she immediately started to catch the attention of her fellow artists and was invited to perform as part of the new talent showcased on the Hotel Café and Ten Out of Tenn tours. In 2008 she released her third album, Apple Tree, followed by Live in Studio: Acoustic Trio, a bare-bones 2009 re-imagining of some of her material.
She is currently on tour with American Songwriter magazine's Ten Out of Tenn tour. Herzig's fifth album, The Waking Sleep is due to be released in September of 2011.
The 2011 Sammy Cahn judges were Christine Lavin, Steve Seskin and Dan Wilson. The ASCAP Foundation Sammy Cahn Award is funded by Sammy's wife, Tita.
