The 2023 ACM Awards LIVE Blog

Random Notes 124 Comments

Welcome ladies and gentlemen to the 2022 Academy of Country Music Awards LIVE Blog conducted by Saving Country Music.

Feel free to follow along as we razz performers for their bad music, poke fun of people for poor style decisions, and maybe give some praise for the good stuff that transpires as well. This is all unscripted, so apologies ahead of time for syntax errors, and make sure to bring a thick skin. This is all in good fun.

To watch the awards on Amazon Prime, CLICK HERE.

All times Central time.

WINNERS:

Entertainer of the Year – Chris Stapleton
Female Artist of the Year – Lainey Wilson
Male Artist of the Year- Morgan Wallen
Album of the Year – Lainey Wilson’s Bell Bottom Country
Group of the Year – Old Dominion
Duo of the Year – Brothers Osborne
Song of the Year – “She Had Me at Heads Carolina” – Cole Swindell
Single of the Year – “She Had Me At Head Carolina” – Cole Swindell
Musical Event of the Year – Hardy feat. Lainey Wilson – “Wait in the Truck.”
New Male Artist of the Year – Zach Bryan
New Female Artist of the Year – Hailey Whitters
Songwriter of the Year – Ashley Gorley
Artist-Songwriter of the Year – Hardy
Visual Media of the Year – Hardy feat. Lainey Wilson – “Wait in the Truck”



9:23 – Your first reaction to the 2023 ACM Awards is that it was NOT the 2022 CMA Awards, where you felt like country music really tried to turn over a new leaf, honor legends and the roots of the music, and put together a presentation that was relevant to everyone in country.

The 2023 ACMs felt forced and contrived, a little disjointed at times, too rushed without the aid of commercial breaks, and straining to make some sort of cohesive expression. The first 1/3rd of the presentation for everyone who taped it was downright terrible. Just skip it. But Miranda Lambert’s “Carousel” saved the day, along with very strong performances from Ashley McBryde and the “Lindeville” crew, The War & Treaty, Cody Johnson, and a couple others.

The big winner of the night once again is Lainey Wilson with Album of the Year and Female Artist of the Year. She is the future of women in country music, and that’s a future we can be proud of. And congratulations to Chris Stapleton, who was bound to win an Entertainer of the Year award once, and finally did. It’s hard to not be happy for him as his chances at winning it again might be diminishing in the coming years with so many major stars being launched.

Where the CMAs honored the past and present, the CMTs went woke, the ACMs just kind of came and went. It lacked some star power, and the “moments” were fleeting. It could have been worse, but these days sometimes bad is better than forgettable.

9:10 – Thanks everyone for following along! Thanks to all the commenters below! Gonna compose some final thoughts, run down the winners, and get out of here.

9:09 – Pretty sure Dolly was lip syncing in spots. But she’s Dolly.

9:07 – Dolly Rock: Queen’s “We Will Rock You” beat,” with a bit of Gospel, mixed with some fire and brimstone.

9:06 – “Don’t get me started on politics. They wouldn’t know the truth if it bit ’em in the ass.”



9:04 – Here we go, Dolly Rock!

9:03 – “By any imaginable metric, I don’t deserve this. But thank you.”

Stapleton gets shake voice during his speech. This is Stapleton’s FIRST Entertainer of the Year win in a career full of awards.

9:01 – WINNER – The 2023 ACM for Entertainer of the Year goes to Chris Stapleton.

8:59 – Not a bad performance from Jordan Davis. I just don’t get why that, and why there?

8:57 – How did the generic-ass Jordan Davis get this prime real estate right at the end of the presentation? Just one of the many nameless country males with a #1 that nobody can remember.

8:55 – Man, Lainey Wilson just had one hell of a rhyme at the end of her acceptance speech. Couldn’t type it all out here. She’s clearly the big winner tonight.

8:50 – WINNER – The 2023 ACM Album of the Year is “Bell Bottom Country” by Lainey Wilson.

8:48 – Lainey Wilson’s “Grease” is a perfect guilty pleasure, and she’s killing it here.

Still, it would have been cool to see her sing a country song here. This presentation needs more country songs.

8:45 – Not sure how I feel about that Jelly Roll / Lainey Wilson performance. Folks that write off Jelly Roll without a thought are missing that he’s got something people connect with. But I’m not sure that performance was the best example.

8:43 – Jelly Roll takes the stage. The stage groans.

8:42 – 1,000 think pieces just got written. I can’t wait to read what this means about America on The Daily Beast.

8:40 – WINNER – The ACM for Male Artist of the Year is Morgan Wallen.

8:37 – It’s like every presentation in country is contractually obligated to include Bobby Bones, and they just interject him into stuff without any need. He’s such a country music boner kill.

8:36 – You tell ’em ladies! Great performance from Lindeville.

8:32 – Give credit to the ACMs for featuring Ashley McBride and “Bonfire at Tina’s.” Amazing album, great song, but barely sold at all.

Brandy Clark, Caylee Hammack, and Pillbox Patti on the stage with Ashley.

This isn’t exactly a “prime time” song, but they’re letting it roll. That’s one of the benefits of streaming. No censors.

8:30 – And here comes Jason Aldean with his generic arena rock to ruin the buzz.

8:29 – Hard to not be happy for Lainey. Deserved.

8:28 – “I just met Dolly Parton!” says Lainey Wilson. “For all of the little girls out there, this stands for hard work. If you’re gonna be a dreamer, you’ve got to be a do-er.”

8:26 – WINNER – The ACM for Female Artist of the Year goes to Lainey Wilson.

8:25 – Wow, excellent a capella performance from Dolly Parton.

But is THAT the In Memoriam segment? You can’t even scroll some names on the screen while Dolly was singing?

8:23 – Man the pauses are pregnant in these dialogues.

8:22 – The War and Treaty just behind Miranda for the performance of the night.

8:20 – I probably would have selected “Lover’s Game” or “Yesterday’s Burn” for this performance from The War & Treaty. But one of the great things about them is that they can sing just about anything and make it rise.

8:18 – The War & Treaty!

8:16 – Well, at least Morgan Wallen’s voice is shot so we don’t have to suffer through that .

8:15 – You know, I’m hard on Bobby Bones, but he really is the greatest DJ in country music. Just ask him.

8:14 – By the way, Ed Sheeran just dropped a quote today that he wants to go country. So we have that to deal with at some point.

8:13 – Nothing against Ed Sheeran. Inoffensive, I guess. Pairs well with Luke Combs in that respect, like pasta and red wine. Just didn’t do much for me.

8:11 – Why does this remind me of a Marvin Gaye song?

8:09 – Is there a new Lord of the Rings installment on the way to cross promote? What’s up with the Hobbit on stage?

8:07 – Luke Combs gives you so little to criticize. Seems just like a good ol’ dude. But he also gives you little to hype.

8:05 – Another hour of this shit. Thanks for following along!

8:04 – Well shit. At least it wasn’t that Cole Swindell song.

8:03 – WINNER – The ACM for Musical Event of the Year goes to Hardee’s feat. Lainey Wilson “Wait in the Truck.”

8:01 – Oh how embarrassing. Mickey Guyton forgot her shirt backstage.

8:00 – Hailey’s fiddle player is super badass. She killed it when I saw her live.

7:59 – Hailey Whitters! Hard to not root for her. Help keep the momentum going, Hailey!

7:58 – “I don’t know what’s going on, y’all” — Cole Swindell

Neither do we, Cole. Neither do we.

7:57 – WINNER – The ACM Single of the Year is “She Had Me At Heads Carolina” – Cole Swindell

7:55 – Miranda Lambert just turned in the performance of the ACMs. Classy, understated, emotional without being overly sentimental. THAT’s how you deliver a song, and a “moment.”

7:51 – Great song choice by Miranda Lambert with “Carousel.” This could be good. Gonna shut up and listen.

7:49 – Man, even when these ACMs go classic country, there’s just something that’s off. What’s the relevant tie-in to this Cody Johnson performance. Willie’s birthday? This thing just feels like it has no pulse. It’s trying too hard.

7:48 – Cody Johnson singing “Mammas Don’t Let Your Babies”!

7:47 – Good gosh Cody Johnson, please save us from this mess!

7:46 – Good to see Willie, and good to see Willie not legitimize this mess with his actual presence.

7:45 – Dolly’s sex jokes are making never-offensive Garth Brooks feel uncomfortable.

7:44 – OOh, speaking of Zach Bryan, just saw him behind Keith Urbane, looking bored as hell.

7:43 – Not against Bailey Zimmerman. I just don’t know what the appeal is here. Organic rise, but generic, mainstream sound.

7:41 – Bailey Zimmerman is the rich kid’s Zach Bryan.

7:40 – Breland’s got so much nothing. He reminds me of a bug on a windshield.

7:39 – About the only thing that could make this ACM Awards worse would be an appearance from Bobby Bones.

And ladies and gentlemen ….

7:37 – What the fuck is this Old Dominion douchebag blathering about? It was like he was trying to make a political statement, but he didn’t have the balls to.

7:36 – WINNER – The ACM for Vocal Group of the Year goes to Old Dominion. Of course.

7:34 – Wow, this is just terrible. Pitchy, uncool. The exact opposite of what Hardy’s anti-star appeal is all about.

This is not going well folks!

7:32 – Wow, HORRIBLE song selection from Hardee’s. “Wrong Side of the Truck Bed” is arguably one of the worst songs from his new album. No energy here either.

7:31 – John Osborne looks like a kokopelli threw up on him.

7:30 – WINNER – The ACM for Vocal Duo of the Year goes to Brothers Osborne. Because of course it does.

7:28 – Dustin Lynch sucks.

7:26 – The 2nd stage on this presentation has remarkably worse audio than the first. It’s really a shame, because they’re running through Trisha’s hits.

7:25 – Trisha Yearwood!

7:24 – Throw a fiddle in there all you want, Kane. It doesn’t make up for the keytaur and head bangs. Bleh!

7:23 – Wow, this is NOT the CMAs. They’re leaving heavy on the younguns, and the lightweights. Is this Kane Brown supposed to be a “hit”? It just feels like the latest track gerrymandered to #1 by the industry.

7:22 – Kane Brown got an extended intro because he was lost backstage.

7:20 – Dude, the SONG OF THE YEAR is a rehash. WTF?

Go listen to the original, America.

7:19 – WINNER – The ACM for Song of the Year goes to “She Had Me At Heads Carolina” – Cole Swindell

7:15 – Oh great, Dak Prescott. Get the Heimlich ready could he could choke at any time.

7:14 – This “Heads Carolina, Tails California” performance with Schwindell and Jo Dee has all the energy of last year’s hit.

7:13 – You know you’re watching the ACM Awards when the audio of live performances is completely washed out.

7:12 – Gotta love Dolly for not knowing how to pronounce no name “Cole Schwindell.”

7:10 – I can tell the comedy writers are on strike from this monologue.

7:07 – At least Garth is naming off some country legends here. First time a lot of folks have ever heard these names.

Wow, he even said Randy Travis “saved country music.” I won’t argue.

7:06 – If you take a shot every time Garth Brooks acts insincere, you’ll be drunk before they hand out the first award.

7:04 – Waylon is rolling over in his grave at the idea of Keith Urban playing a knock-off of his leather clad guitar Urban scarffed off of eBay.

Oh, and now he’s doing the Peter Frampton vocal guitar things. Screw this dude.

7:03 – Appreciate folks, they’re holding this thing at the Dallas Cowboys practice facility because last year there were more empty seats than at a Breland concert.

7:02 – Man, Keith Urban looks so great at 55 years old, he could be the model on a Bud Light bottle.

7:01 -Thankfully, this thing is only two hours. Unfortunately though, there’s no commercials to catch my breath!

7:00 – Here we go!

6:55 – Due to the allegations of rape against Jimmie Allen today, he’s being replaced in the performance lineup tonight by Nelly.

6:50 – Ashley Gorley won for Songwriter of the Year in an effort by the country music industry to support women. Many in the country music industry were disappointed to find out later that Ashley Gorley is actually a man.

6:47 – Early ACM Award Winners:

New Male Artist of the Year – Zach Bryan
New Female Artist of the Year – Hailey Whitters
Songwriter of the Year – Ashley Gorley
Artist-Songwriter of the Year – Hardee’s
Visual Media of the Year – Hardee’s feat. Lainey Wilson – “Wait in the Truck”

7:04 – Waylon is rolling over in his grave at the idea of Keith Urban playing a knock-off of his leather clad guitar Urban scarffed off of eBay.

Oh, and now he’s doing the Peter Frampton vocal guitar things. Screw this dude.

7:03 – Appreciate folks, they’re holding this thing at the Dallas Cowboys practice facility because last year there were more empty seats than at a Breland concert.

7:02 – Man, Keith Urban looks so great at 55 years old, he could be the model on a Bud Light bottle.

7:01 -Thankfully, this thing is only two hours. Unfortunately though, there’s no commercials to catch my breath!

7:00 – Here we go!

6:55 – Due to the allegations of rape against Jimmie Allen today, he’s being replaced in the performance lineup tonight by Nelly.

6:50 – Ashley Gorley won for Songwriter of the Year in an effort by the country music industry to support women. Many in the country music industry were disappointed to find out later that Ashley Gorley is actually a man.

6:47 – Early ACM Award Winners:

New Male Artist of the Year – Zach Bryan
New Female Artist of the Year – Hailey Whitters
Songwriter of the Year – Ashley Gorley
Artist-Songwriter of the Year – Hardee’s
Visual Media of the Year – Hardee’s feat. Lainey Wilson – “Wait in the Truck”

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