Perfunctory Post on the 2021 ACM Awards Nominations
“I gotta cover the 2021 ACM Awards nominations, and I sure do dread it.”
Didn’t we just endure an installment of the ACM Awards just a few short months ago? Well yes we did. But thanks to COVID-19 the last cycle was protracted, and here it has come back around again. Whoopee. Get ready for (mostly) the same parade of names that get nominated every year, and the assholes on Twitter to use it as a springboard for proclaiming country music sexist and racist no matter what transpires.
Leading the nominations with six a piece are Chris Stapleton (yawn) and Maren Morris (ick), and Miranda Lambert gets five nominations as well, just like she’s done nearly every year for the last decade. There’s a couple of cool names in the “Best New Artist” categories, and it’s cool to see Ashley McBryde get so much love (and Sam Hunt to not get any). But overall, it’s par for the course.
Below find the nominations, and some knee jerk observations and predictions. NOTE: The Predictions are NOT saving Country Music picks.
ENTERTAINER OF THE YEAR:
WhErE ArE tHe WoMeN! Yeah, you would’ve thought these morons would at least throw a bone to Carrie Underwood. After all, she’s the reining ACM Entertainer of the Year … oh wait, CO-Entertainer of the Year with the stove-headed Thomas Rhett. Remember that messy moment at the end of the last ACMs?
Hard one to call here. Thomas Rhett and Luke Bryan shouldn’t even be in contention, which means they’ll both probably win it. Luke Bryan’s career has been in a tailspin. Chris Stapleton deserves it on past merit, as does Eric Church, who recently won this at the CMAs. But if we’re being honest, Luke Combs is the biggest artist at the moment in country music, and should win, which means he probably won’t.
Luke Bryan
Eric Church
Luke Combs
Thomas Rhett
Chris Stapleton
FEMALE ARTIST OF THE YEAR:
Another tough category to pick. Miranda has had a bit of a rebound lately, and the latest Maren Morris singles have been significantly lagging. Are Ballerini, McBryde, or Carly Pearce big enough yet for this? It’s going to really come down to whose label is willing to horse trade more for votes, meaning Maren Morris or Kelsea Ballerini are probably your top contenders.
Kelsea Ballerini
Miranda Lambert
Ashley McBryde
Maren Morris
Carly Pearce
MALE ARTIST OF THE YEAR:
No contest.
Dierks Bentley
Eric Church
Luke Combs – WINNER
Thomas Rhett
Chris Stapleton
DUO OF THE YEAR:
Dan + Shay would be the big commercial front runners. But we know how this works. With T.J. Osborne’s recent revelation, and the way awards shows have favored the brothers in the past, they will be strong contenders. Still the problem for Brother Osborne is they are just not fielding the hits these days, despite the favorable press coverage.
Brooks & Dunn
Brothers Osborne – Other Potential Winner
Dan + Shay – WINNER
Florida Georgia Line
Maddie & Tae
GROUP OF THE YEAR:
Old Dominion has been strangely dominating this category lately, even though the average American (or dedicated country music blogger) can’t name you even one of their songs off the top of their head. The Highwomen would be an interesting pick here as well. A win for them would be the perfect opportunity for Amanda Shires to renounce the award and declare us all racists, while ignoring the groups own dubious past.
Lady A
Little Big Town
Old Dominion – WINNER
The Cadillac Three
The Highwomen – Other Potential Winner
SINGLE OF THE YEAR
Yes, all women, and some really worthy nominees here. But considering this is “Single” of the Year and commercial applicability is premier, you’d have to give it to “I Hope” by Gabby, which has been a monster on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart for months and months. And hey, it’s a good song, just bad production. The Ingrid Andress song would be a better pick, but probably an outsider.
“Bluebird” – Miranda Lambert
“I Hope” – Gabby Barrett – WINNER
“I Hope You’re Happy Now” – Carly Pearce & Lee Brice
“More Hearts Than Mine” – Ingrid Andress
“The Bones” – Maren Morris
SONG OF THE YEAR
Another decent field, and a wide open category. Hard to call, but don’t get too married to the idea of Ashley McBryde winning this. She probably deserves it, but is unlikely to get the votes.
Bluebird – Miranda Lambert
One Night Standards – Ashley McBryde
Some People Do – Old Dominion
Starting Over – Chris Stapleton
The Bones – Maren Morris
ALBUM OF THE YEAR
Wow, a side project mix tape from Kane Brown gets a nomination here? And Luke Bryan’s album which pretty much relegated him to the second tier of country males? Yikes. And yes, you have to consider Brothers Osborne a contender here because … well … we all know why. But that album was a misstep, and has sold absolutely horribly. It doesn’t deserve to win.
The one consolation for this weak category is it really gives Ashley McBryde the opportunity to step up and have a serious shot at winning this thing, which would be a huge victory, and windfall for McBryde. If her label horse trades for votes here and goes all in, she could pull it off. And it’s by far and away the one that deserves it, right behind Chris Stapleton. This will be a very interesting award to watch.
Born Here Live Here Die Here – Luke Bryan
Mixtape Vol. 1 – Kane Brown
Never Will – Ashley McBryde – Very well could win
Skeletons – Brothers Osborne
Starting Over – Chris Stapleton
NEW MALE ARTIST OF THE YEAR:
Folks down in Texas are super excited for Cody Johnson and Parker McCollum, but that’s probably pie in the sky. Dad bod HARDY and Jimmy Allen are your contenders.
Jimmie Allen – WINNER
Travis Denning
HARDY – Other Potential Winner
Cody Johnson
Parker McCollum
NEW FEMALE ARTIST OF THE YEAR:
Frankly, I feel it’s kind of insulting to consider Mickey Guyton a “new artist” at this point. Nonetheless a pretty strong field here. Tenille Arts is pretty great, and doesn’t get enough attention. But Gabby’s the one who’s put up the monster numbers.
Ingrid Andress
Tenille Arts
Gabby Barrett – WINNER
Mickey Guyton
Caylee Hammack
VIDEO OF THE YEAR
Better Than We Found It – Maren Morris
Bluebird – Miranda Lambert
Gone – Dierks Bentley
Hallelujah – Carrie Underwood and John Legend
Worldwide Beautiful – Kane Brown
MUSIC EVENT OF THE YEAR
Meh.
Be A Light – Thomas Rhett featuring Reba McEntire, Hillary Scott, Chris Tomlin, Keith Urban
Does To Me – Luke Combs featuring Eric Church
I Hope You’re Happy Now – Carly Pearce & Lee Brice
Nobody But You – Blake Shelton featuring Gwen Stefani
One Beer – HARDY featuring Lauren Alaina & Devin Dawson
One Too Many – Keith Urban, P!nk
SONGWRITER OF THE YEAR:
Ashley Gorley
Michael Hardy
Hillary Lindsey
Shane McAnally
Josh Osborne
February 26, 2021 @ 11:54 am
“MUSIC EVENT OF THE YEAR
Meh.
Be A Light – Thomas Rhett featuring Reba McEntire, Hillary Scott, Chris Tomlin, Keith Urban
Does To Me – Luke Combs featuring Eric Church
I Hope You’re Happy Now – Carly Pearce & Lee Brice
Nobody But You – Blake Shelton featuring Gwen Stefani
One Beer – HARDY featuring Lauren Alaina & Devin Dawson
One Too Many – Keith Urban, P!nk”
I wish there was a way for me to make a dry heave sound through a keyboard.
February 26, 2021 @ 4:18 pm
Carly Pearce deserves this one.
That collaboration was perfect!!
February 26, 2021 @ 12:12 pm
All of these are meh, even for me who’s a fan of most of these artists
February 26, 2021 @ 12:36 pm
So do Brooks & Dunn just get nominated for the rest of their lives as a lifetime achievement thing? Are they still putting out music?
February 26, 2021 @ 1:48 pm
Hey, I’d rather Brooks & Dunn than some others. But generally speaking it’s the sign of a weak field.
February 27, 2021 @ 7:08 am
I remember back in the early 2000s, when a blogger who’s name escapes me used to refer to Brooks and Dunn as country music’s version of Wham. I laugh at it because Brooks and Dunn are the Statler Brothers compared to the likes of Dan and Shay.
I would like to see Maddie and Tae win, being they have become one of the few somewhat bright spots in mainstream “country” music today, but once again, that is wishful thinking.
February 26, 2021 @ 12:45 pm
I could see Brothers Osbourne winning duo just cause of coming out and the ACM’s will get good press out of it.
February 26, 2021 @ 4:04 pm
They win several undeserved awards because of it. Exactly why he came out now. To revitalize a flagging career.
February 26, 2021 @ 4:05 pm
I love Brothers Osborne but even I can see what’s going on here.
February 27, 2021 @ 8:33 pm
There’s a lot of really good music on Skeletons and if BO performs Dead Man’s Curve it will be the performance of the night. They deserve some attention.
February 26, 2021 @ 1:00 pm
This list looks like death.
February 26, 2021 @ 1:27 pm
I’d rather watch paint dry.
February 26, 2021 @ 1:34 pm
I don’t understand “Die From a Broken Heart” not getting any recognition. Also, a little surprised “Better Together” didn’t get any nods. Thank God for no Dan + Shay or Sam Hunt nominations outside of duo.
February 26, 2021 @ 1:49 pm
I know it’s not nominated and was on the horrible platform Disney plus, plus it’s not country, but “Folklore, the Long Pond Sessions” was to me way more organic and folk and country-ish than any of the other stuff on these nominations. So for me personally it was music event of the year.
February 27, 2021 @ 8:25 am
Music Event is just a fancy term for “collaboration” but if they want to gain some buzz they can nominate Exile or No Body, No Crime in that category.
February 27, 2021 @ 8:30 am
Still, Taylor shouldn’t be nominated whatsoever. Not that she ain’t worthy, but many women in country should be prioritized first.
February 26, 2021 @ 2:43 pm
I could have gone a lifetime without knowing who was responsible for the atrocity that is “One Beer”. HARDEE’S looks like the human manifestation of a cigarette smoke-filled Walmart snack bar from the early 90s, including the crunched-up nacho cheese chips, spilled cherry ICEE, and soiled napkins under each booth.
February 26, 2021 @ 3:46 pm
Why the hate for One Beer? I thought it was a refreshingly realistic depiction of how life goes for some young couples.
February 26, 2021 @ 4:03 pm
“Two Pink Lines” already covered that territory in a smartly written way.
Unlike that “One Beer” abomination.
February 26, 2021 @ 4:21 pm
CountryKnight gets the gist of my dislike. Even Kenny Chesney’s “There Goes My Life” does it better than HARDEE’S does, who makes light of drunken irresponsibility in the most laundry-list, country cliché way possible (and that’s not even getting into the whole “ability to consent while drunk” debate). If you like the song, that’s perfectly all right, but I can’t take any artist seriously that creates the following dreck, especially in music video form:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sn2RBKPMpU0
February 28, 2021 @ 7:27 pm
Rednecker is a satire on modern Country Music.
March 1, 2021 @ 8:00 am
Doesn’t satire require some level of self-awareness… and for it to actually be funny? If anything, “One Beer” confirms that “Rednecker” was not satire but HARDEE’S actual MO; brutish, ignorant, and trashy.
February 26, 2021 @ 4:09 pm
PERFECT characterization!
February 26, 2021 @ 3:39 pm
Glad to see Ashley nominated in those categories. I do hope she wins them. Because if not now when? Trig few years ago you wrote a piece about how award shows can help newer artists to reach that next level. And if you nominate/award the same artists how can you promote that talent. Ashley is 37. She’s been at this awhile. I really want to see her rewarded for her hard work. As for ETOTY. I read ACM criteria and really only Luke Combs checked off those boxes. There were others but as par for the course weren’t nominated. Have to say none of these awards shows are fun to watch anymore. Sorry you will have to.
February 26, 2021 @ 4:06 pm
If I were Ashley McBryde’s label, I would put all my chips behind her for Album of the Year, and it just might be the moment that launches her career. I don’t think it would be a 2015 CMA Awards-level moment. But she is significantly under-the-radar, and that’s an excellent album that would ingratiate her to a huge amount of fans if they only knew it existed.
February 27, 2021 @ 10:20 am
Can’t the same thing be said about UMG with Pardi? He’s always under the radar too. He can benefit greatly from more exposure like album of the year.
Instead last year both award shows honored Combs’ album. Does Luke need more exposure?
February 27, 2021 @ 10:44 am
Well, there’s also something to be said about riding the hot hand.
All I’m saying is the ACMs are notorious for bloc voting and horse trading. If I were Ashley McBryde’s team and label, I would cede Female Vocalist and Song of the Year, which she’s unlikely to win anyway, and go after Album of the Year in such a weak field. She not only deserves it, but it could really help put her on the national map. The truth is most mainstream fans still have no idea who she is. She is like Stapleton before his big wins.
February 27, 2021 @ 8:36 pm
The combination of winning Album of the Year and opening for Luke Combs could propel Ashley but the label really needs to release Hang in there Girl.
February 26, 2021 @ 3:51 pm
I want Mickey Guyton and Blake and Gwen to win. I like all the female entertainers so happy for any of them. Other than that, don’t really care, I mostly watch awards shows for fashion. I hope they test everybody so they can have a proper show, no zoom.
February 26, 2021 @ 4:13 pm
How did “More Hearts than Mine” get a single of the year nomination w/o a song of the year nom? I would have expected it to be the other way around.
February 26, 2021 @ 4:16 pm
I sound like a broken record …
But “Ain’t Always the Cowboy” definitely deserved to be nominated for Song or Single of the Year
February 26, 2021 @ 4:58 pm
* it was also very Politically Correct because the song is all about women leaving men to chase their dreams!!
February 26, 2021 @ 4:24 pm
Nice to see Luke Bryan’s album nominated. It’s his best album he ever released. Go check out “A Little Less Broken” – incredible song! Half the album is great, the other half is meh..
February 27, 2021 @ 8:57 am
It’s just too bad that he’s made the “meh” half all of the radio singles so car this cycle. And just when you think that he’s gonna HAVE to pick one of the decent songs left to send to radio after “Down to One”……he announces a deluxe edition. Of course.
April 5, 2021 @ 2:36 pm
So many being ignored. Carrie, Blake, Keith….on and on. Will skip this show like i did last time.
February 26, 2021 @ 4:38 pm
Where the heck is Jon Pardi? The record he made in his shed isn’t a favorite of mine, but at least he made an effort to reach out to fans during the pandemic. What happened to Midland? Were they a novelty act and the novelty wore off? I guess The Highwomen replaces them as a “woke” choice. Why on EARTH is The Bones still getting nominations?! Why no love for Carrie Underwood? Her very vocal fans are gonna be pissed! And, I love Brothers Osborne, but Port St Joe deserved more recognition. Skeletons gets a nom but PSJ didn’t? Hmmmmm….
Rant over!
February 26, 2021 @ 4:56 pm
Heartache Medication was nominated last year for Album.
That Live EP he released last summer is just a side project. That would never get nominated, nor should it.
I was hoping for Ain’t always the Cowboy to be nominated for something.. heck even for Music Video. Anything
This means Jon won’t be asked to perform come April… Tequila Little Time deserves to be heard on national broadcast Primetime TV.. Oh well.
Jon has NEVER performed a full performance of any of HIS songs at any televised Award show… They occasionally ask him to do a tribute to Joe Diffe or Alan Jackson.. Even to collaborate on Thomas Rhett or Luke Bryan’s songs… But never his own song. It’s Pardi’s time to shine.. He’s still an underdog but he’s been around for nearly 10 years already. I hope his career can continue to grow. He’s no Easton or Josh Turner
February 26, 2021 @ 7:38 pm
I didn’t think the side project should be nominated but I really felt he deserved to be in the Male Vocalist category.
February 26, 2021 @ 5:02 pm
Maren Morris is a real knockout upside down.
February 26, 2021 @ 5:36 pm
Kelsea Ballerini is no vocalist. Nice girl, but way too breathy on everything she sings. Meanwhile, nobodies like Sarah Buxton or Cassadee Pope are 10x the vocalists. It’s crazy how marginal talent succeeds so frequently in music.
February 26, 2021 @ 5:49 pm
I do not dread the ACM awards at all because I don’t give a rat’s ass about them and will not lower myself to take part in watching them. I can also get politics elsewhere. And make no mistake, there will be a subtle “woke” narrative in this crap-show. However, I wish the best for Ashley McBryde.
February 26, 2021 @ 7:32 pm
1. Wow, Carrie goes from Entertainer of the Year to not even getting nominated for Female Vocalist. Ouch.
2. Nice to see Carly Pearce up for Female Vocalist.
3: Why does Old Dominion keep getting nominated for Song of the Year???
That’s all I got. Very meh otherwise.
February 26, 2021 @ 8:42 pm
Trigger,
How long will it be before corporate Trashville, which includes these awards shows, goes back to prioritizing money, over the feelings of pasty, Jasmine rice-skinned, Casper-The-Ghost-toned, lily-as-heck white people, and reinstates Wallen?
You think it’ll be more than 1 year?
February 26, 2021 @ 9:41 pm
Well, a Knoxville radio station just added him back after a poll found 92% of listeners wanted it, and Spotify also quietly added him back to one of their playlists. The thing is, the guy is the biggest thing in all of music at the moment. His numbers continue to remain incredible. I think it will be a while before the rest of the industry caves. But I think people are starting to see they’re causing no injury to him, they’re only causing injury to themselves, while if anything, they’re elevating Morgan’s profile.
February 26, 2021 @ 10:05 pm
Yeah, it’s crazy; the corporate scum destroyed C(c)ountry music for money, with what I imagine was exceeding gladness. So the thought of them willingly forsaking crap-tons of money, just to dry the soy-infused, salty tears of people so doughy, so pasty, and so snowy white that you’d have to put on sunglasses on to view them naked, is really perplexing.
February 26, 2021 @ 8:44 pm
This might be a strange opinion, but I read an interesting story today questioning why Dolly Parton wasn’t nominated for Entertainer of the year. With no one touring, how much more could Dolly have done this year with Christmas album, movies, television special and being the best ambassador to country music. Would anyone really have been pissed off with this choice?
I also have to question if Morgan Wallen would have been in Album, Single, Song, Entertainer and Male if he hadn’t been “suspended.”
I’m hoping for some upsets because I am not sure how many more walks to the stage Miranda can make without me getting bored. This is Carly or Ashley’s year. The duet with Lee Brice was a good song. Speaking of, why is Lee never nominated?
February 26, 2021 @ 9:45 pm
I think Dolly Parton would have made a smart pick. But currently, there’s a strange backlash against her as being a bastion for “whiteness,” hence the blocking of the effort to erect a statue of her in Nashville recently. My prediction is the next country artist to be canceled will be Dolly. And no. I’m not kidding.
Morgan Wallen would have probably received one or two nominations. I don’t think he would have been a big name in the the ACM nominations, seeing how his current album isn’t eligible. But he probably would have picked up a song nomination, and perhaps Male Artist of the Year nom in lieu of Dierks maybe.
February 27, 2021 @ 2:04 am
If they cancel Dolly then this world has officially lost it’s freaking mind. All you have to do is look at what Dolly has done and who she has supported over her career to know that’s crazy town stuff.
February 27, 2021 @ 4:55 pm
Good luck canceling Dolly. If they try going after her, Dolly will cancel cancel culture.
February 27, 2021 @ 5:33 pm
We are in the midst of it as we speak.
Just yesterday from VOX:
“Dolly Parton is in the midst of a career revival that has seen her hailed as a kind of secular country-pop saint. But there’s a dark side to Dolly’s ability to appeal to everyone at all times”
https://twitter.com/voxdotcom/status/1365511195093065729
February 27, 2021 @ 6:44 pm
I went beyond the tweet and read the article. I’m assuming you did, too. It’s quite long. Here’s a paragraph toward the end,
Dolly Parton is a brilliant artist, and she also seems to be a nice lady who is doubtless doing her best for all her many fans. But asking her to solve America’s fractured social landscape and calling her Jesus is putting a lot on her. It’s putting a lot on anyone. And Parton knows it.
February 27, 2021 @ 7:07 pm
I’m not really reading that as an attempt to cancel her but rather as a piece of “dialectical journalism”: “Everybody is saying that Dolly is the greatest, but is that really so?” For every widely accepted thesis, somebody will try to launch a counter-thesis. You know, approaching-something-widely-accepted-from-a-new-angle sort of thing.
February 27, 2021 @ 8:05 pm
Look, I’m not trying to say that article is an effort to cancel Dolly Parton. But it is a clunky effort to attempt to answer the rising sentiment on Twitter to question Dolly Parton’s role as a leader and cultural icon, including a very real effort to eradicate her legacy by individuals who see her as a threat as someone who attempts to unite individuals, which these days, can and is being characterized as an act of violence.
This goes much deeper, and I’ll probably have more on this soon. But it is an example of laying the groundwork for a re-evaluation of Dolly Parton’s legacy.
February 28, 2021 @ 9:09 am
Trigger, did you see that SCM got a quote in that Vox article? The article itself attempted a balance between the pontification of Dolly and the 2020 lens of race and politics. Though these sort of pieces often seek to sow seeds of doubt to start the cancel process, it is oddly insightful and asks some fair questions, though it is still a bit on-the-nose with its leanings. https://www.vox.com/platform/amp/culture/22287463/dolly-parton-explained
February 28, 2021 @ 10:12 am
I didn’t mean to stimulate a whole discussion here in the comments section about this. There’s a lot more going on than simply this Vox story. Yes, I read it, but the reason I posted a link specifically to the Twitter post and Vox’s Twitter blurb was because that’s how they couched the story and it’s currently getting lots of buzz on Twitter. I do think there is a very real concern of Dolly Parton being in trouble in the coming weeks and months, but this Vox story is just a tiny portion of it. The fact that she was supposed to receive a statue at the Tennessee State Capitol and it was undermined specifically by country journalists decrying it on Twitter is the biggest concern.
February 27, 2021 @ 6:30 am
Why would Underwood be nominated for anything? Tour ended pre pandemic and no new album since 2018, nothing warrants a nom. Hopefully she won’t be back.
February 27, 2021 @ 11:55 am
Because of the Wallen situation this will be the WACM Virtue Signaling Awards show of the year. All of the products will be climbing all over each other to prove their virtue is bigger and better than the others so you will buy their music, their swag and whatever other crap they can make money off of. Should be a real cringe fest this time. Well it kind of is a cringe fest every time now but this one will be real special. The W is for woke or whack either one fits.
February 27, 2021 @ 11:16 pm
Someone else said it better:
“In a cubicle in nashville half past noon
There’s a computer cranking out
Brand new Luke Bryan tunes
An algorithm of trucks, cutoff jeans and bikini tops
Reboot the system, a new single drops”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Y2MtDkXVcQ
February 28, 2021 @ 5:18 am
It’s unfortunate that “none of the above” is not a voting option in each category. I would have to write in Billy Joe Shaver as male singer and Jackson Taylor and the Sinners as entertainer of the year.
February 28, 2021 @ 10:55 am
Dragging down Old Dominion again. Surprise, surprise. Their music videos have millions and millions of views but most people couldn’t name one of their songs? Yeah right!!! About time you found someone else to drag down. What an absolute muppet you are
February 28, 2021 @ 12:30 pm
If Mickey Guyton wins I hope her speech includes something along the lines of, “I would like thank my family and most importantly all the woman in country music that held me back and shut me out. I’m better than you left me.”
March 1, 2021 @ 8:44 am
I know I will get bashed here for saying this (called a snowflake liberal or something), but it does seems strange to me that in a year where there has been no concerts and no touring, that the artists who dominated song, single, and album of the year categories (Lambert, Morris, and Mcbryde) weren’t deemed worthy of an EotY nominations. I mean, without touring, what exactly was the criteria?
March 1, 2021 @ 9:42 am
I think this is a good point. I think in many disciplines, there were people that rose to the challenges to the pandemic, and those that didn’t. I’ve seen Dolly Parton’s name floated as a good Entertainer of the Year nominee, and I concur. I think Luke Combs really stepped up with his regular acoustic releases and songs that spoke to the pandemic specifically, which should put him in top contention. And yes, without touring to factor in, who put out the landmark album, who put out an important song or blockbuster? Ashley McBryde probably had the most critically-acclaimed album. Gabby Barret had the biggest song. But I don’t really see either of those rising to “Entertainer of the Year” status. That would upset the apple cart too much.
March 1, 2021 @ 5:00 pm
I have been seriously thinking about this, and I have to tell you I’m totally confused.
Church and Combs are the only two in the EotY category who even remotely deserve nominations. I mean again, I ask, with no touring, what is the criteria? Because if it is actually ENTERTAINING and outreach/connection to fans during this awful last year, then yes, Dolly would have been a good pick. So would Brad Paisley. Hell, even Keith Urban (I know you dislike him, but with all those videos and songs from his house, he really kept fans happy) or Miranda Lambert (with the podcast and the multiple media performances) would be better picks. If the criteria is quality of the work, then Mcbryde certainly deserves a nod (upset apple cart or not).
Sorry, but this really feels to me like they put some names in a hat and pulled 5 out. I see no justification for that list of nominees.
April 5, 2021 @ 3:21 pm
Trigger,
The Performance lineup for the 2021 ACM Awards were just announced today and they are:
Kelsea Ballerini, Dierks Bentley, Lee Brice, Brothers Osborne, Kane Brown, Luke Bryan, Kenny Chesney, Eric Church, Luke Combs, Dan+Shay, Mickey Guyton, Ryan Hurd, Jack Ingram, Alan Jackson, Elle King, Miranda Lambert, Little Big Town, Ashley McBryde, Maren Morris, Carly Pearce, Jon Randall, Thomas Rhett, Blake Shelton, Chris Stapleton, The War And Treaty, Carrie Underwood, Keith Urban, CeCe Winans and Chris Young.
What do you think?.
April 5, 2021 @ 9:05 pm
I may have something on the performers and more on the ACMs closer to the event. I try to keep my ACM Awards coverage to a minimum.
June 15, 2021 @ 2:13 pm
Trigger,
This year’s ACM Cliffie Stone Icon Award recipients have been announced and it’s going to industry icon Joe Galante (former label head of RCA Nashville and Sony Music Nashville) as well as Rascal Flatts.
What do you think?.
June 15, 2021 @ 2:41 pm
I think the ACMs are trying to deflect from the news that CBS has refused to renew their contract. That’s the bigger story in my opinion.