Kenner a nominee for Josie Awards in Nashville
Singer-songwriter Caleb Kenner, formerly of Hebron, is a 2026 double nominee for the 12th annual Josie Music Awards, set to take place in Nashville, Tenn., at the Grand Old Opry House Sept. 20. Kenner has been nominated in the Fan’s Choice for males and Songwriter’s Personal Portfolio categories.
The Josie Music Awards celebrates independent, or Indy, artists. It was established in 2015 and this year’s stage schedule includes Vince Gill, Tony Orlando and Billy Yates.
Kenner said the Fan’s Choice category with just 11 nominees means he received votes from fans around the country who enjoy his music.
He was surprised when he received the email that informed him of the nomination as he navigates a busy schedule of performances, one of which will be on the Thayer County Fair stage Aug. 8 with Joe Nichols and Casey Donahew, and works on two upcoming releases, “Too Much is Not Enough” and “I Like You That Way.”
The first pays homage to the military and emergency responders, such as police and EMT’s, and is due for release this month or early September. The second is about falling in love, imperfections and all, and Kenner expects it to be released in late fall or winter.
His second nomination for Songwriter’s Personal Portfolio covers all his songs that are written by Kenner himself. He explained artists will perform songs written by other people, but he has chosen his own pen for lyrics, like in his first release “Back Then,” as Kenner uses social media for self-promotion.
“I always say to myself if I don’t do this, no one else is going to,” he explained. “Tik Tok is best for discovery—it’s a discovery platform. A lot of people just like generic content, like if you’re at home performing. They relate better to you as an individual.”
Last October, Kenner started taking Tik Tok seriously and had 310 followers. Last week, he had more than 5,300 organic followers with another 250 added in just one week.
“Self promotion is 75 percent of what I’m doing and it’s helped tremendously,” Kenner said. One of his three-way posts attracted 7,000 views, 700 likes and 126 comments. “Once you start doing it and are consistent, you get better at it.”
It’s like a spider web that starts small and branches out with followers reposting.
“People talk, too, and you feel the connection that builds momentum. They follow on your streaming platform and it just snowballs,” he said.
Kenner has also submitted for a chance to perform a song on the Opry stage during the music awards.
“If I get selected, that could be pretty big. I should hopefully know soon,” he said. Submissions were due by July 30.
For the nominations, Kenner is grateful to his co-writer Joshua Cole; producers who mix his songs, Luke Mills and CR Pendleton and definitely his wife Abby for “letting me do this crazy thing.” He also paid tribute to his band.
“It’s just really cool, the fact I’ve done this for nearly three years promoting myself. I’m now going to Nashville to receive an award,” he said.
He will perform “I Like You That Way” at the Thayer County Fair that sounds great live, he said.
Kenner was recently on stage at the Hear Grand Island outdoor festival. After the county fair, he will perform in Louisville Cornhusker Country Music Theater Aug. 29, followed up by a big showcase with other artists at the Nebraska State Fair Sept. 2. Later he will travel to Deadwood, S.D. for the Trail’s of Tales Oct. 15-17.
