When country singer-songwriter Chad Bushnell returned to his Shasta County home from the 11th annual Josie Music Awards in Nashville, he carried a prize he couldn’t wait to show his dad.
The 35-year-old Anderson man won the independent music organization’s Country Artist of the Year award at the JMAs on Nov. 2 at the Grand Ole’ Opry.
His father, Wade Bushnell of Red Bluff, was “pretty excited,” said the soft-spoken music artist, who worked at shoeing horses in his youth. “He shook my hand and said, ‘Good job.’”
Bushnell “just got off the boat … and headed straight to Nashville” after performing on a country music themed cruise with Royal Caribbean in late October. “I got three nominations” — the other two for Vocalist of the Year and Extended Play of the Year — “so I thought I’d go attend,” he said.
Shasta County country music singer songwriter Chad Bushnell and his wife Stephanie Bushnell attend the 11th annual Josie Music Awards at the Grand Ole’ Opry in Nashville on Nov. 2, 2025. A Red Bluff native, Chad Bushnell won Country Artist of the Year at the awards show after garnering three JMA nominations for his music.
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As has been the case throughout his career, his mother Donna Vann Bushnell and wife of 7 years Stephanie were at his side at the awards ceremony. “After, we went to the Scoreboard music bar in downtown Nashville … to get a bite to eat and watch some music,” Bushnell said.
Red Bluff native Chad Bushnell’s rise to country music fame
The 2025 award marks Bushnell’s third Josie in five years. He won vocalist of the year 2020, and modern country song of the year for his hit “Fallin’ in Love” in 2023.
The 2020 win caught him off guard. He was so sure he wouldn’t win, he sat down with the other nominees when they called his name. So his mother Donna jolted him out of his musings. “I said, ‘Chad, they announced your name!’ He got up again,” she told the Record Searchlight.
At the kickoff of Kool April Nites, Chad Bushnell, center, and his band members perform on stage during the Spring Fest Car and Bike Show in downtown Redding on April 19, 2024.
Meet Chad Bushnell: Rising country music artist hails from Red Bluff
Bushnell became a national name in country music when his song “What Would Jesus Do?” topped Christian Music Weekly’s country music chart in December 2019. The song sat in the top 20 for two months. Three more of his songs have topped charts since then, he said.
Bushnell had another surprise this year. He and his wife are expecting a baby in February.
A Red Bluff-raised cowboy, Bushnell said he likes living in Anderson because it’s 15 minutes in either direction to Redding and his parents home in Tehama County.
Country singer-songwriter and Red Bluff native Chad Bushnell poses at the Anderson River Park amphitheater on March 2, 2020. He’s been performing at North State venues, including at the amphitheater, and elsewhere for more than 15 years.
He’ll return to his hometown this weekend to perform at the Red Bluff State Theatre. His fourth annual Honky Tonk Throwdown opens at 7 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 15. Guest artists include Craig Lynn Boyde, season seven winner on “The Voice.”
Not one to stay on the road 24/7, he still shoes horses in his spare time, he said; “It gives me a breather.”
JMAs honor more than 240 indie music artists at awards show
The largest independent music award show in the world, the JMAs honor the best in the independent music across genres, handing out 244 awards this year.
More: Red Bluff man wins Vocalist of the Year at JMAs
The JMAs were created in 2015 by mother-daughter team Josie Passantino-Boone and Tinamarie Passantino for independent music artists, songwriters and industry professionals to celebrate their work.
Jessica Skropanic is a features reporter for the Record Searchlight/USA Today Network. She covers science, arts, social issues and news stories. Follow her on Twitter @RS_JSkropanic and on Facebook. Join Jessica on Record Searchlight Facebook groups Get Out! Nor Cal , Today in Shasta County and Shaping Redding’s Future. To support and sustain this work, please subscribe today. Thank you.
This article originally appeared on Redding Record Searchlight: Shasta musician Chad Bushnell wins Country Artist of the Year Josie
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