AUBURN — Maine country music pioneer Slim Andrews of Auburn set an airplay record for a Maine country music artist.

Andrews received a Certificate of Achievement on Jan. 6 from Triplestrand Productions, an independent country music compilation label from Minnesota, documenting his 115,355 spins on the International Independent Country Music Radio Network in 2018.

This is the first time in Maine country music history that an 87-year-old artist has reached this level of airplay that reaches millions of listeners around the world.

Andrews also had a great year reaching the Top 200 Artists Chart consistently month after month.

Andrews has been prominent in independent country music at the grassroots level for more than seven decades. He played a strong leadership role in creating the Maine Country Music Association and the Maine Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum at the Silver Spur in Mechanic Falls.

Andrews is a member of the Maine Country Music Hall of Fame and the Massachusetts Country Music Awards Association Hall of Fame. He is chairman of the Maine Country Music Induction Committee and continues to give tours of the Maine Country Music Hall of Fame Museum. Although Andrews has retired from live performances, his recorded music is being played somewhere in the world every day.

Maine country music artist Slim Andrews. (Sun Journal file photo by Daryn Slover)