Washington native Lee Cherry was singled out at an awards ceremony in the heart of country music.

Cherry attended the Nashville Universe Awards ceremony on Nov. 7 in Nashville, where he was awarded Promoter of the Year. The organization is a grassroots effort to connect new talent with listeners, primarily through social media.

The awards ceremony was hosted at the Wildhorse Saloon in Nashville and hosted by Great American Country network’s host Storme Warren.

“It was incredible. It was nice. They told me I needed to show up and I said, ‘Well, I’ll try to make and it,’ and they said, ‘No sir. You need to show up,’” Cherry laughed. “It was kind of shocking I beat those people out in Nashville.”

Cherry has worked in the entertainment and radio industry for the past 20 years, but it was only in 2008 that he began focusing on promoting new artists.

“I’m more of a radio promoter, so I promote their music to radio stations all over the world,” Cherry said.

Through Lee Cheery Entertainment, Cherry promotes new country music to over 400 radio stations worldwide. He also works on a new artist-development management team that focuses on new artists for the industry.

He said he’s broadening his horizons by partnering with the United Kingdom-based management and touring company FATE Entertainment to bring American artists overseas and vice versa. Earlier this year, Cherry hosted “Jammin’ for the Vets,” a fundraiser for American Legion Post 15 in Washington, that featured several up and coming musicians.