Chris Stapleton Leads Nominees for the 2016 CMA Awards (+ Predictions)
“High school pageantry, meat parade award show bullshit…”
–Sturgill Simpson
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The nominees for the 50th Annual CMA Awards have been announced, and Chris Stapleton, Eric Church, and newcomer Maren Morris lead the field each with five nominations. Stapleton continues to be the big surprise, picking up a nomination for the evening’s biggest prize, Entertainer of the Year, and four other nominations despite not releasing a new record in the CMA eligibility cycle.
Maren Morris did release a new reocord, and despite it being decidedly pop, the critical wooing of the starlet continues, and translates into nominations for Album of the Year, Song of the Year, Female Vocalist of the Year, and others. Eric Church, who released his latest album Mr. Misunderstood the day of the 2015 CMA Awards, also makes his mark in the nomination field, including for Album of the Year, but falls short of an Entertainer nomination some thought might be coming to him in 2016.
For those who love to root for underdogs, despite being considered in multiple categories, Sturgill Simpson and Margo Price did not make the final cut, though Sturgill has made it patently clear he wouldn’t attend even if he was nominated. However Joey + Rory did pick up a nomination for Vocal Duo of the Year, bolstered by the surprising sales of their recent release Hymns, and the interest in the duo in the aftermath of Joey Martin Feek’s passing.
Also of note, there are NO nominations for either Blake Shelton or Jason Aldean. This year’s field does symbolize a shift, however slowly, in country in a more positive direction.
Below is the complete list of nominees and knee jerk reactions. NOTE – These are not recommendations or SCM’s personal picks. They are predictions of winners.
Entertainer of the Year
This still remains Luke Bryan’s to lose, but a strong case can be made for Garth Brooks after he’s amassed incredible numbers during his comeback tour. Carrie Underwood also has to be given strong consideration, and there is a sense out there it could be “her year” to win this. Simply picking up a nomination is big for her, as it is for Chris Stapleton who can’t be ruled out. Since he’s basically won everything he’s been nominated for, who knows? He’s very well loved among the CMA voters, we know that for sure. Only Urban doesn’t have a chance in this otherwise strong field in 2016.
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Garth Brooks – Other Potential Winner
Luke Bryan – WINNER
Chris Stapleton – – Other Potential Winner
Carrie Underwood – – Other Potential Winner
Keith Urban
Single of the Year
Tim McGraw’s “Humble & Kind” will win something, but Single is usually reserved for the commercial powerhouse, while Song goes to the critical favorite. With all the love streaming to Maren Morris, she has to be considered a favorite. Except for Thomas Rhett, this is an otherwise curiously strong field for this award, and signals that things are changing in the mainstream. Though Maren is decidedly pop, “My Church” is decidedly organic and refreshing, and would make a fine winner.
“Die a Happy Man,” Thomas Rhett
“Humble and Kind,” Tim McGraw
“My Church,” Maren Morris – WINNER
“Nobody to Blame,” Chris Stapleton
“Record Year,” Eric Church
Album of the Year
Let’s pray neither Dierks Bentley or Keith Urban win this after both turn in the worst records of their careers. Mr. Misunderstood could swoop in and win this, but there’s a lot of momentum behind both Carrie Underwood and Maren Morris this year too. Tough field to call. Really anyone could win, but Eric Church probably should.
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Black, Dierks Bentley
Hero, Maren Morris – Other Potential Winner
Mr. Misunderstood, Eric Church – WINNER
Ripcord, Keith Urban
Storyteller, Carrie Underwood – Other Potential Winner
Song of the Year
This should (and likely) will go to “Humble & Kind.” If so, this is huge for the sole songwriter, Lori McKenna.
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“Burning House,” Camaron “Cam” Ochs, Tyler Johnson, Jeff Bhasker
“Die a Happy Man,” Sean Douglas, Thomas Rhett, Joe Spargur
“Humble and Kind,” Lori McKenna – WINNER
“My Church,” busbee, Maren Morris
“Record Year,” Eric Church, Jeff Hyde
(Award goes to songwriters)
Female Vocalist
No disrespect to Miranda Lambert, but if she wins yet again this year, we know the fix is in. Really, Miranda fans should not even want her to win, so that accusation doesn’t follow all of her CMA and ACM wins around. Nothing against her, but she’s done so little for a while now, it’s just hard to justify her as the recipient. This will likely go to Carrie Underwood, but don’t completely rule Maren Morris out. She’s set up to have a Chris Stapleton-style night if everything rolls right.
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Kelsea Ballerini
Miranda Lambert
Maren Morris – Dark Horse
Kacey Musgraves
Carrie Underwood – WINNER
Male Vocalist
Interesting to see Tim McGraw re-emerge in this category, and if anything was just in the world, he, Chris Stapleton, or Eric Church will win this. As said above, the new Dierks and Keith Urban efforts are awful, though they can’t be ruled out. Eric Church is more an Album guy, and may not be likeable enough to walk away with this. Stapleton will still be the voter’s favorite. But watch out for McGraw, who’s been mounting a slow and steady comeback since signing with Big Machine. Hard field to call on this one.
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Dierks Bentley
Eric Church
Tim McGraw – Potential Winner
Chris Stapleton – Potential Winner
Keith Urban
Vocal Group
Horrible field. Hopefully nobody wins. Lady Antebellum has been on hiatus, and Rascal Flatts might as well have been. Big fear that Old Dominion sweeps into a weak field and walks away with this, but voters love Little Big Town.
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Lady Antebellum
Little Big Town – Potential Winner
Old Dominion – Potential Winner
Rascal Flatts
Zac Brown Band
Vocal Duo
Glad Joey + Rory got a nomination, but this is where the ride ends. This category continues to be a no brainer, unfortunately.
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Brothers Osborne
Dan + Shay
Florida Georgia Line – WINNER
Joey + Rory
Maddie & Tae
New Artist
Interesting that Kelsea Ballerini made it back on this list—a casualty of Chris Stapleton’s massive 2015 CMA’s. But is her momentum still strong enough to best Maren Morris? Maren feels like the hot hand right now.
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Kelsea Ballerini
Brothers Osborne
Maren Morris – WINNER
Old Dominion
Cole Swindell
Musical Event
Cool to see a song from the Dave Cobb-produced Southern Family get a nomination, and Morgane Stapleton can now boast being officially nominated for a CMA. But this will go to someone else. Beyond that, hard to call.
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“Different for Girls,” Dierks Bentley featuring Elle King
“Home Alone Tonight,” Luke Bryan featuring Karen Fairchild
“The Fighter,” Keith Urban featuring Carrie Underwood
“Think of You,” Chris Young with Cassadee Pope
“You Are My Sunshine,” Morgane Stapleton with Chris Stapleton
Music Video
Anyone but Dierks please. ANYONE but Dierks. Chris Stapleton had an excellent video for “Fire Away,” and it should win, but Cam’s video was strong too. The “Humble & Kind” video fell flat, but could still garner the sympathy vote, and “Record Year” was not bad. Usually this field is terrible, this year it’s quite strong, once again signaling positive changes in the mainstream.
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“Burning House,” Cam – Potential Winner
“Fire Away,” Chris Stapleton – Potential Winner
“Humble and Kind,” Tim McGraw
“Record Year,” Eric Church
“Somewhere on a Beach,” Dierks Bentley
Musician
Mac McAnally won this seven straight years, and now he’s not even nominated. Anyone should win except Dan Huff. But he will based not off of his playing, but his production work.
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Jerry Douglas (Dobro/lap steel)
Paul Franklin (steel guitar)
Dann Huff (guitar) – WINNER
Brent Mason (guitar)
Derek Wells (guitar)
August 31, 2016 @ 8:38 am
If FGL is truly all mature country now, let them decline the nomination and let the award go to Joey + Rory like it ought to.
August 31, 2016 @ 8:45 am
“‘You Are My Sunshine,’ Morgane Stapleton with Chris Stapleton”
Aww, yay! 🙂 At least something from ‘Southern Family’ is getting recognized…
Also rooting for “Humble & Kind” for Song of the Year (go, Lori!), and “Fire Away” for Best Video.
August 31, 2016 @ 9:05 am
I’m not rooting for You are My Sunshine, only because it’s inclusion in this category is ridiculous (though allowable under the rules). Chris has no solo part on the song, and she is part of his band – they always perform together!
Otoh I want anything other than Diff for Girls to win, for any category in which it is nominated.
August 31, 2016 @ 8:46 am
Some good, mostly awful. Glad Chris got the EOTY nomination, even happier that Carrie got it (she is headlining a mostly sold out arena tour, he isn’t). Shocked Keith got a nom (& he prob doesn’t deserve it). Surprised Dierks didn’t get the nomination. Eric/Blake/Kenny were snubbed a little here, but meh.Carrie should win, but won’t.
The FVOTY category has some new names, but was really hoping to see Cam, Margo Price, or Brandy Clark get a nomination. Miranda will probably win, & I hate the CMA’s.
The MVOTY award will probably go to Chris so whatever. Was hoping to see Sturgill get a nomination. Nobody in this category is younger than 38, at some point younger generation needs to start coming through.
AOTY: Eric will probably win this, and that’s fine. Ripcord, and Black are terrible albums. Maren’s album is good, but not even remotely country. Was really hoping to see Sturgill, some more critically acclaimed albums in here. Overall the noms in this category really piss me off.
August 31, 2016 @ 9:14 am
I was hoping Sturgill would at least eek out a nomination for New Artist, or maybe Album of the Year and sow a little chaos in the awards this year. But even the fact that he was considered will make things spicy, especially now that he’s come out a torched the whole enterprise.
August 31, 2016 @ 8:57 am
Really bummed Brandy Clark got snubbed in the Female Artist category…she had a great sophomore album. Hoping Carrie gets the award and not Miranda who doesn’t deserve it for just being alive.
August 31, 2016 @ 10:48 am
100% agreed on both counts.
August 31, 2016 @ 1:00 pm
One of the best albums of the year..
September 2, 2016 @ 2:19 pm
Yeah just re listened to it … it’s criminal she didn’t get a nod for AOY and Female artist … Just such a complete album
August 31, 2016 @ 8:58 am
Would like to see Chris win a few of the ones he has not gotten like EOTY and Collaboration, however I want some of the either quality projects to win the other awards, such as Eric Church and Tim McGraw. I just think it is good when quality work is awarded, because I think it gives the artist more incentive to keep producing it and if only Stapleton keeps winning it almost makes it seem like an anomaly. If other artists are winning with quality work, I feel like the establishment is more likely to see it as a trend and start looking to create better music.
August 31, 2016 @ 9:17 am
This is a good point Brian. These awards aren’t just about cheering for laundry like in sports, especially the awards for albums and songs. We all have our favorite artists, but really we should all just want quality to shine through overall, whatever that is. I think in both the Song, Single, and Video category, there’s a good chance for that this year
August 31, 2016 @ 9:22 am
Agree, when you have artists go on 5/6 year winning streaks, I think it actually diminishes the value of the award. Chris S is the best MV in country music…but he didn’t put out a new album this year, and his singles have had only limited success: both commercially & on radio. Arguably, he doesn’t deserve the award THIS year.
Now for EOTY, I can make a better case for Chris, because that is more about consumption/commercial appeal. His album (though put out last year) has sold the most copies this cycle, and he is gaining momentum as a performer.
August 31, 2016 @ 8:58 am
FYI, Joey Martin Feek passed, not Rory. Just thought I would let you know, not to be rude or anything. Also dang, I was hoping we would get an underdog in the lineup. Happy for Stapleton!
August 31, 2016 @ 9:30 am
What a crap list of nominees..
I will say the Eric Church album exceeded my expectations and it has had a lot of listens to in my house. Solid.
I guess I understand Carrie..
I do like the Cam’s Burning House as a song.. That may be a surprise win.. But probably not because it is well written and serious.
I am happy Stapleton is still getting respect.
Come on? Maren Morris?????????????
This is what they consider tops??
Dierks album is f’in terrible
Terrible.. Just a f’in joke.
August 31, 2016 @ 9:51 am
Maren Morris’ “My Church” is a great song with a fine vocal delivery, even though the rest of the album is pop/soul/r&b. And, yes, Dierks and Keith should not have received any nominations. Otherwise, this is actually a pretty good list of nominees, especially considering how horrendous this past year has been for the quality of “country” radio.
August 31, 2016 @ 12:29 pm
Maren Morris is like a complete bait and switch with a decent ‘country-ish’ single to start with then the album comes out and it’s basically a Kelsea Ballerini replay. Then the first ‘country-ish’ song gets nominated for a bunch of awards and voila we have critical acclaim. So now everytime somebody says something negative about her the come back is ‘but what about ‘My Church’?
Foolproof!
August 31, 2016 @ 4:22 pm
But “My Church” counts for two of her nominations, and it is clearly the biggest reason why she has the other three nominations. So it’s fair to acknowledge that it’s a good song and, in my opinion, deserving of recognition. But sure, I can see your point about bait and switch. It reminds me of Dustin Lynch’s “Cowboys and Angels,” his traditional-leaning debut single before quickly becoming a groovy r&b singer with a cowboy hat. However, Maren Morris is actually good at pop/soul/r&b. It’s a natural fit for her, unlike the embarrassment of Jason Aldean in “Burnin It Down” and numerous other examples from Luke and the other idiots on the radio.
August 31, 2016 @ 6:25 pm
Right, but do you think that if ‘My Church’ sounded like the typical song on the rest of the album that she would have got as much buzz for the album and just in general? So they built off of the sound and substance of that song to get some of these nominations and I agree that is a pretty good song.
And yes it may be a natural fit for her but then she shouldn’t be categorized as a country performer.
September 1, 2016 @ 12:18 pm
Everyone got on the Maren Morris bandwagon, including me, with “My Church.” But in my opinion after only a couple listens it really is just a lot of nothing. Hopefully “Record Year” takes song of the year. I think it’s excellent.
August 31, 2016 @ 10:24 am
anyone else shocked at the lack of luke bryan nominations except for entertainer (not that that’s a bad thing)
August 31, 2016 @ 5:33 pm
Not shocked, but disappointed. The thing with Luke is you can’t judge him purely from the singles he releases. Prior to Tailgates & Tanlines, his singles were for the most part good, sure, “Rain Is A Good Thing” was pretty bro-ish, but it was a little bit of a guilty pleasure for me. Since his Tailgates & Tanlines release though, his singles have been god-awful (aside from two off the top of my head: Drink A Beer and Huntin’, Fishin, and Lovin’ Everyday). But his albums always featured “true” country songs that he helped to write that came from someplace special in his heart.
I’ll take a Luke Bryan album over anything FGL, Thomas Rhett, Keith Urban, or Cole Swindell releases, and every single album Luke’s released is better than the latest from Dierks Bentley and Blake Shelton.
August 31, 2016 @ 10:49 am
Unfortunate, as it appears Kacey Musgraves got the slot that Brandy Clark should have filled. Her album should easily be in consideration for AOTY.
August 31, 2016 @ 11:18 am
It sucks that Cole Swindell and Kelsea Ballerini got the new artist slots over Jon Pardi.
August 31, 2016 @ 11:21 am
To tell you the truth, I’m half tempted to sit out this year because I’m getting a little burned out by the bad performers while waiting for the one good guy or girl to show up. Just saying.
August 31, 2016 @ 11:42 am
Find it odd eric church isn’t up there for entertainer of the year even though I think garth will win. Also why isn’t Jon pardi in the mix for new artist! Any who I hope to see some major shocks in this year’s awards and hopefully the people in the running that are deserving clean house
August 31, 2016 @ 1:01 pm
Church hasn’t had a full fledge tour this year..
August 31, 2016 @ 1:02 pm
I love Church as much as anybody, but I do think Entertainer of the Year should be a touring award and Eric has been taking most of 2016 off, playing mostly just weekend festivals. Hopefully next year will be his year with a massive tour and his attempts to beat scalping and keep ticket prices low for fans.
August 31, 2016 @ 12:06 pm
Really wanted a Cam nod instead of Ballerini. Hoped Brandy would get Album nom but too much to hope for I guess. Ecstatic that Shelton didn’t get any nominations. His album was awful soft rock pop & his current single is just dreadful.
August 31, 2016 @ 1:02 pm
Cam writes too much of her own music and has a brain.
August 31, 2016 @ 12:07 pm
The only way to watch this show is to dvr it so you can fast forward to the chris stapleton prefromance that will most likely be at the end
August 31, 2016 @ 12:31 pm
…or follow along with Saving Country Music’s LIVE blog (shameless plug).
August 31, 2016 @ 12:13 pm
Sam Hunt is nowhere to be seen, which is fantastic-
Here’s to hoping that Chris Stapleton wins Entertainer of the Year-
August 31, 2016 @ 12:23 pm
There’s a second point I need to get across that I missed last time-
I really get the sense that the 2015 CMA Awards where a tipping point for the genre- a now or never chance to save the genre.
Chris Stapleton’s win has saved it to some degree so far, although the recovery has been slower than I expected.
Hopefully, this award season will further push country into the traditional realm.
August 31, 2016 @ 12:45 pm
As far as album of the year is concerned eric should be a dark horse the only others i would pick are carrie and maren morris and the second one isn’t even really country. As many others have pointed out the other two choices don’t stand a chance in hell keith urban’s isn’t country either it’s more electropop than anything and dierks is just terrible and unfortunately could mean the beginning of a downfall now that he’s becoming more successful than when he started but at the cost of losing a few fans. Album goes to eric church.
Now let’s just be thankful we’re not getting the change on song of the year voting like the acms did earlier in the year where they let the artists vote on the nominees and the winner, the only good thing that came out of that was chris stapleton added another award to his resume. That being said i’m very surprised he’s not in that category as i expected he’d get a nom for nobody to blame again or maybe parachute now that it’s gotten enough radio play to get into the top 30. As far as picks i’ll predict single and song together. For single my head says my church but my heart says record year so i’ll go with record year because i feel it deserves to win something. For song i’ll go with humble and kind because even though she won for girl crush last year lori mckeena deserves an award that’s just hers and the song is great even if radio overplayed it however it could easily go to my church as it also got a lot of critical acclaim when it was released.
New artist goes to maren morris but old dominion could also take this based off of chart success. However i see old dominion definitely beating little big town since they haven’t released anything major especially after that god awful pop experiment bombed.
male vocalist, female vocalist, and entertainer will be the same but they could shock the world and give stapleton entertainer
August 31, 2016 @ 1:49 pm
I’m kinda surprised Maren got the Album nomination. She’s sold less than 100K and the critical acclaim isn’t nearly enough to warrant the nomination in my opinion.
Seems like they’re trying to give her a “Musgraves moment.” She and Musgraves are similar in fashion and appearance but Maren doesn’t have quality music to justify her nomination.
August 31, 2016 @ 2:45 pm
Kelsea Ballerini has only sold about 167,000 copies of her debut album over the course of these past fifteen months sinceits release in May 2015. Old Dominion have fared no better: selling about 132,000 copies since last November.
Maren’s only chart rival that has outperformed her is Cole Swindell, but we know he shouldn’t even qualify anyway seeing that his eponymous debut has garnered a Platinum certification (it has actually only sold about half a million physical copies, but when including streaming it amounts to Platinum status) already.
August 31, 2016 @ 2:04 pm
Also it seems like CAA/AEG flexed some muscle this year. Carrie got an EOTY nod, and WME/LN was REALLY pushing Dierks for EOTY, but looks as if Keith (CAA) got the last spot instead. Also Tim & Keith are both in at MVOTY & both CAA (Luke & Blake, both WME, are out).
UMG – Nashville also did a very good job pushing candidates this year.
Side note: I somewhat wonder if Blake (or another artist) leaves WME. CAA’s roster isn’t nearly as deep, so they keep pushing for awards even as clients get older. WME graduates guys to make room & Blake & Jason definitely got pushed out for Dierks this year. They’ve done it in the past to Vince Gill & Brad. I don’t know enough to know if this was something Blake & Jason agreed to or not.
August 31, 2016 @ 2:37 pm
Wow, kind of shocked that Eric Church got snubbed for Entertainer of the Year. I figured he was in for a competitive three-way with Chris Stapleton and Luke Bryan.
At any rate, I’m inclined to agree an Album of the Year accolade will make up for that. “Hero” hasn’t been out that long, and we know Carrie Underwood isn’t signed to William Morris Endeavor Entertainment so she is at a strategic disadvantage there. Eric Church has to be viewed as the favorite there.
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Miranda Lambert will likely deserve another sure shot for Female Vocalist next year, but she has been decidedly inactive up until late June so it would be inconceivably absurd if she wins again. Carrie Underwood clearly deserves it this time around even if I personally didn’t care for “Storyteller” as a whole. Maren Morris could later present a challenge, but she’s not there yet.
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Maren Morris does have a clear opening for Best New Artist, though. And as much as I have mixed feelings on “Hero”, she clearly deserves it more than Kelsea Ballerini or Old Dominion any day off of her ability to stimulate conversation alone. Kelsea and Old Dominion may have technically had more chart presence over the course of this past year, but they remain anonymous when it comes to water cooler conversation.
August 31, 2016 @ 3:49 pm
Eric didn’t do a full tour this year. Outside of Garth/Luke/Chris, WME was really behind Dierks for EOTY, they’re trying to push him to full A-list status. That’s why I’m really surprised he didn’t get the nomination. You have to wonder though if it backfired on them, & they wouldn’t have been better off pushing Eric or Blake. Instead Keith & CAA slipped in for a second EOTY spot (with Carrie).
August 31, 2016 @ 3:53 pm
It’s pretty stupid that 4 of the nominations for “Single of the Year” are also nominated for “Song of the Year”. If they are supposed to be different awards for different this (commercial success vs critical success), then they’re should be different nominees. Viewers already don’t know the difference, and this won’t help.
August 31, 2016 @ 6:59 pm
I don’t have anything against Miranda Lambert but I hope she don’t win female vocalist of the year. She hasn’t done anything past year and a half. Zac Brown Band should win Group, FGL will get duo (ehh) Carrie for female, Tim McGraw for Male, album and new artist is Maren Morris, single is My church, song is Humble and Kind, and Chris for Entertainer. video: who cares, and vocal event I rather see something else.
August 31, 2016 @ 7:10 pm
I just wanna say I don’t really care because country music is dead but I don’t know if I’ve seen a more screwed up nominations for a country award show ever. I mean ever. Sure there are always wtf moments- you know like that time the lady from Trick Pony went out on her own and was nominated for all these awards and she rightfully didn’t win any of them. So, I’ll let it pass that Maren Morris was nominated for album of the year though she didn’t do anything commercially so far (I liked both of her first two singles but she only had one top five single). It’s like when Lee Ann Womack won album of the year for “Last Call.” The winner of that award is always one of those “you guys just don’t get it” (Grammy Awards Syndrome). Urban’s “Ripcord” was just released…it gets a nod for album. Fine.
How in the heck did they come up with the nominees for Male Vocalist? They are Bentley, McGraw, Chris Statement-ton (pun intended) and Keith Urban. None of these guys should be nominated. Listen- I love Statement-ton- but we have to give the award to the most deserving (COMMERCIALLY). I know most of you just cringed on that and just got angry with me. It should have been Puke Bryan, BS, Aldean, Thomas Rhett and Sam Hunt (and I hate really all of them except BS personally). Fair is fair though.
EOTY they got two right: Bryan (the winner) and Underwood. The other three: Garth (I know the concert sales but come on. Shouldn’t you have to have a no. 1 single within the last ten years to be nominated?), Keith Urban (2 songs?) and Chris Statement-ton (again gotta get a top 5 song man). Sidenote: I love “Fire Away” and “Parachute” (has done 0 on the singles charts though). My other three nominees were BS, Aldean (um I think he’s on the way down thankfully but didn’t that guy just WIN eoty at ACM’s a few months ago??? Now he’s at 0 nominations?) and FGL. FGL had a huge year and “Holy” (which is pagan and I don’t like it) is STILL number one (though I get it may have missed the cut off date). What is funny is that my two darkhorses for eoty weren’t on the list either: Rhett and Hunt.
I only assume one thing; whoever is voting for the CMA’s are the same people who shocked the world last year with Chris Statement-ton winning all these awards and they are sticking their fingers up at bro music again (which I deep down secretly love).
Last thing. Although I’m for awarding commercially successful people, there is no way I’m putting any of these bozo/bro music artists in the Country Music HOF…
August 31, 2016 @ 7:41 pm
Wife got me tickets to Kenny Chesney with Miranda Lambert this summer, and I was shocked to see Old Dominion open the show, followed by Jake Owen. Both were just total fluff soft rock bro party acts (which I guess fits in with KC tbh). Miranda was by far the biggest talent that night.
So is Old Dominion really a big deal in the radio world? I can’t imagine, in a just world, them winning any awards ever. I’m sure there are better bands at my kid’s high school even.
August 31, 2016 @ 8:09 pm
Garth for entertainer of the year, no tour in ANY genre, has gotten close to the numbers he’s been putting up.
September 1, 2016 @ 7:57 am
I’d give the list of nominees overall as a pleasant surprise that its not just terrible and disappointing. So it cleared a low hurdle.
Dierks has put out SO much better music over the past dozen years and now he’s getting all kinds of award noms for Black?! Ugh. It’s certainly him, and others, the wrong feedback in terms of what is good and what will get rewarded. Give me almost any record of his over Black. By a lot. Especially as we talk about what is country music.
September 1, 2016 @ 4:52 pm
I can’t believe that “Girl Crush” wasn’t nominated in any category. I say that tongue in cheek because obviously it’s old but damn it seemed like it won every award it was nominated for on every awards show for two years.
September 4, 2016 @ 3:55 am
I would have liked to have seen John Pardi nominated for something. His album is good. May be it came out too late to be considered for the album category?
September 4, 2016 @ 8:53 am
Jon Pardi’s success with “Head Over Boots” came way to late in the voting process to woo voters. His brightest days are in the future. Remember, it took until they were 36-38 for Sturgill, Isbell, and Stapleton to solidify.
September 5, 2016 @ 3:00 am
Still would have been nice to see him get a little recognition.
As for Maren Morris, I have nothing against her but just don’t get the hype. I saw her in concert in a small club just after My Church was released. Based on that song I was expecting more musical substance, instead I just got a lot of run of the mill pop songs, and not great ones either.
It was ironic as the warm up act was a funk group and began by apologizing for not being country and asked the audience not to hold that against them! Well they were as much country as the main act!
I still did buy her album but it just confirmed what I heard in the concert.
I find it a little odd that the industry suddenly decides to really put their full weight behind a new artist and really promote them based on no real substance that I can observe. Her new single isn’t doing that great on radio either. I am somewhat baffeled as to why they believe she is going to be a major star.
If Carrie Underwood does not win female vocalist of the year this time it’ll be a disgrace!!