This Is HUGE: Grammys Add Traditional Country Album Category
It’s hard to overstate how big this is, both in the present tense, and for what it could mean for the future. The Recording Academy has just announced that for the upcoming season of the Grammy Awards, there will no long just be a Best Country Album category. There will be a new “Best Traditional Country Album” award to go along with the “Best Contemporary Country Album” award.
This means that for the first time, traditional country music and its artists will finally be recognized by the Grammy Awards independent from popular, modern country music. This is something that’s been clamored and advocated for over many years, if not decades. And it has finally come to fruition.
But far from the conclusion of an important effort, this is just the very beginning of it, and the start of critical work that needs to be done by traditional country music artists, their representatives, and their fans to ensure this award is supported and remains around indefinitely.
Generally speaking, country music isn’t hurting for awards. With The CMA Awards each November operated by the Country Music Association, and the ACM Awards each spring from the Academy of Country Music, and a host of other startup or intermittent awards, it seems like there’s always an awards show in country music that just came or went.
But what makes the Grammy Awards unique is they’re a non-profit that instead of just recognizing the big mainstream names, has dozens of awards across more non-commercial genres that are more apt to recognize creative excellence over commercial success. Along with the Grammy’s categories covering country music, they also have what are called the American Roots categories.
American Roots includes things like Best Americana Album, Best Bluegrass Album, Best Folk Album, as well as a host of song and performance awards where you often see what many would consider traditional country artists get nominated and win. In fact, in 2025, Appalachian artist Sierra Ferrell virtually swept the American Roots categories, winning four Grammy awards, giving her a massive boost in her career.
But “Americana” has always been an imperfect definition for traditional country. Americana is supposed to be a mix of various American roots genres, while traditional country is the most pure form of country music. Nonetheless, Americana is where artists like Sierra Ferrell, Charley Crockett, Sturgill Simpson, Tyler Childers, and others have landed in the past. Tyler Childers once famously said, “Americana ain’t no part of nothin’,” speaking to how polarizing the term is considered by many country artists.
Though Americana is a great place for performers like Jason Isbell or Brandi Carlile who mix more rock or folk styles in with country influences, traditional country music now officially has a home in the Grammy process. And this home couldn’t come at a better time. The appeal of traditional country is currently surging behind a crop of young performers like Zach Top and The Castellows.
And as country’s popularity creates a cavalcade of superstars from other genres making “country” records, this new category helps ensure that the little boys and girls who grew up dreaming of making country and winning a Grammy for it don’t get locked out of the process. This award also opens up a greater possibility for women, Black and Brown, and other under-represented performers to nab a nomination or a win, helping to support these artists who are homegrown in country music as opposed to imported from other genres.
And just because there’s this new Traditional Country Album award doesn’t mean we shouldn’t continue to advocate for quality artists to win the Grammy’s Contemporary Country Album award, along with the other country awards for songs and performances. After all, historically, The Grammy have gotten it more right than country’s dedicated awards organizations.
Sturgill Simpson, Tanya Tucker, and Willie Nelson all have won the Best Country Album Grammy in recent memory. This isn’t about giving up the fight for the term “country” and what that means. It’s about opening up a new avenue so the best in traditional country is given an opportunity to be recognized each year as opposed to having to compete with contemporary performers.
The definition of the new Best Contemporary Country Album category still states, “the intent is to recognize country music that remains reminiscent and relevant to the legacy of country music’s culture, while also engaging in more contemporary music forms.”
The Best Traditional Country Album definition states, “Traditional country includes country recordings that adhere to the more traditional sound structures of the country genre, including rhythm and singing style, lyrical content, as well as traditional country instrumentation such as acoustic guitar, steel guitar, fiddle, banjo, mandolin, piano, electric guitar, and live drums. It also includes sub-genres such as Western, Western Swing, and Outlaw country.”
Now that the Grammy Awards have recognized traditional country, could we also see a scenario where something like the CMA Awards add a similar category, or even a couple or a few like Best Traditional Country Album, Song, and Artist? Why not. It’s been needed for years. And if the CMA’s do so, why wouldn’t the ACMs?
But let’s not get ahead of ourselves. First and foremost, we need to reward the wisdom of the Grammy Awards by making sure this new Traditional Country Album category is supported. It’s understandable if you’re a traditional country artist, performer, songwriter, or fan, you might feel like the Grammys and all these awards shows abandoned you years ago. But this is a big opportunity to change all of that.
This is where we all come in and have to do our part. The Grammy Awards don’t just select nominees out of thin air. Albums and songs have to be submitted to the Grammys. How the Recording Academy decides what categories to take away, and what categories to keep year after year has to do with how many entries each category receives. The more entries, the healthier the category is. The less entries, the more they must decide if they want to take it away, or perhaps combine it with another category.
There used to be a dedicated award for Western swing, for example. But due to a lack of interest, it was removed. Luckily for Western swing performers though, they will now qualify for the new Traditional Country Album category.
The eligibility period for the next cycle of Grammy Awards is August 31st, 2024, to August 30th, 2025. So if you are an artist with an album you believe qualifies as traditional country and was released in that time period, do what you can to make sure it’s submitted to the Grammy Awards. If you’re a fan or representative of such an artist, let them know this new category exists, and to submit their album. The entry period for the Grammy Awards starts on July 16th, and ends on August 29th.
And even though there isn’t currently a “Best Traditional Country Song” or “Best Traditional Country Performance” award, traditional country artists should still submit their songs to the current Grammy country song and performance categories too. That way if there’s enough songs and momentum, we open up the possibility of a traditional country song category in the future as well.
Ironically, one of the most under-supported categories in the Grammy Awards process is Best Country Album. Why is that? In part it’s because Nashville major labels don’t submit their entire catalogs to the Grammys. They only submit a select few albums they hope will win, thinking their other selections might compete with the titles they’re trying to push. In the Americana world, it’s the opposite. The labels submit their entire catalogs. That’s one of the reasons Americana is one of the most crowded categories in the Grammy process.
Some will tell you that awards don’t matter. And for sure, music doesn’t have to win some trophy to make an impact or to be validated. But we saw the wild success Sturgill Simpson enjoyed after winning a Grammy Award. We’re seeing that same success with Sierra Ferrell as we speak. Since mainstream radio and the CMAs/ACMs continue to ignore many traditional country artists, this new award just gives us another tool in the arsenal to take the best in traditional country, and make sure it doesn’t get overlooked.
But even deeper than this new award itself is the possibility of creating a whole new avenue for traditional country artists to be recognized in. No different than how you have classic rock, modern rock, and heavy metal, country music is a massive genre and growing by the minute. It’s time to start being more intentional in what we call it, and how we categorize country music. George Strait is not making the same music as Jelly Roll. And it’s about time The Grammy Awards and all these big organizations start recognizing this.
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June 12, 2025 @ 9:25 am
With the crappie award shows and Country Music Hall Of Fame inductions. This is a move in a good direction.
June 12, 2025 @ 9:31 am
Great now Laney Wilson and Jelly Roll can BOTH win.
June 12, 2025 @ 9:39 am
Good move. Though, I think one of the dumbest decisions the Grammys made was eliminating the male and female performance awards within the genres. Five nominees combined isn’t enough. They should expand to ten. I think you can find ten performances with contemporary and traditional to warrant nominations. If the nominees all end up being male or female (which happens now sometimes anyway), then so be it. But I think the category needs to be opened up. I’m looking forward to seeing how the album categories shake out.
June 12, 2025 @ 9:39 am
Estatic
June 12, 2025 @ 9:42 am
Looking forward to Cowboy Carter winning next year.
June 12, 2025 @ 9:55 am
This is great news!!! 👏🏼🙌🏼💛🤠🎻
June 12, 2025 @ 10:01 am
The new category is great, but don’t also understate how awesome it is for them to give an official name for Pop-Country (they’ve gone with Contempary Country). Thats huge, its a line in the sand that says, you no longer get to claim to be “country”. We have a name for you now, and on the biggest stage, so it has a chance to filter down.
It would have been easy for them to go with the categories “Country” and “traditional Country”, the move they made is huge, and I can’t imagine its going down well in Nashville pop-country mills.
June 12, 2025 @ 11:17 am
If I’m at a major label in Nashville, I’m happy about this. How do you think they feel when Sturgill Simpson, Willie Nelson, or Tanya Tucker jumps in and nabs a Grammy from one of their more contemporary artists? Also, artists like Scotty McCreery, Cody Johnson, Josh Turner, Jamey Johnson, etc. now have a greater chance of winning.
I also don’t think this would have happened if the Nashville major labels decided to put their foot down about it. This is five more opportunities for a nomination, and another opportunity for a win.
June 12, 2025 @ 11:37 am
You may be right. If we see Lainey Wilson and Luke Combs in this category (who are both on the more traditional end of pop country) then this exercise will be one big disappointment.
June 12, 2025 @ 10:44 am
I wonder if turnpike can get any push for this. Pretty likely they released the best album that will be eligible in this category
June 12, 2025 @ 11:19 am
I think the new Turnpike Troubadours album would be an excellent candidate for this kind of category. They’re not cool enough for Americana, and not commercial enough for the previous “Best Country Album” category. Now, they have a lane.
That’s why this is so significant. There’s been a gaping hole in the Grammy process that’s now being filled.
June 12, 2025 @ 2:14 pm
What’s to prevent Chris Stapleton from claiming both trophies? Heck, I wouldn’t be surprised if MCA suggests he put out both a contemporary-leaning and a traditional-leaning album every year.
June 12, 2025 @ 3:31 pm
Because an album can only be entered into one category, and any entry has to be over 50% of the genre that it’s being entered in.
This is one of the great things about this being an album category as opposed to a song category. We’ve seen superstars enter various songs in all kinds of different genres, and win. You can’t do that with an album.
Man, folks really want to talk themselves out of this being good news.
June 12, 2025 @ 10:51 am
Seems unnecessary and not really a big deal.
June 12, 2025 @ 10:57 am
“….and the award goes to..Jelly Roll!”
June 12, 2025 @ 10:58 am
Same people that gave Jethro Tull best metal album over Metallica. coming soon, “best traditional country album goes to Shaboozy”!!!!!!
June 12, 2025 @ 11:24 am
That happened 36 years ago. That’s like saying America sucks because Bill Clinton is President.
The Grammys get it wrong way too often. But this gives traditional country artists a new opportunity to be recognized. The whole point in also renaming the current category to “Contemporary” is to make it perfect for Shaboozey, Jelly Roll, etc.
June 12, 2025 @ 2:32 pm
the point is jethro tull should have not even been nominated for that award, but, due to clueless voters, they were. that was smack dab in the middle of metal’s heyday commercially speaking, and jethro tull was not a part of it. the only tull album that was really “heavy” (for it’s time) was aqualung in ‘71. it would be great to see some actual country artists get more recognition nowadays from outlets like the grammys, but i can totally see artists like jelly roll being in the traditional category, where straight pop artists getting pushed as country (sam hunt, beyonce, etc.) making up the nominee list for the contemporary category. hope i’m wrong!
June 12, 2025 @ 3:35 pm
Not going to try and defend the Jethro Tull pick at all. It was terrible. The Grammys have made some terrible picks over the years. We all know that. But bringing up the Jethro Tull thing 36 years later is the thing you do to make small talk with someone you don’t know sitting next to you at a bar. It’s not the reason to shit on the fact that the Grammys listened to the country community, and created an award that is better insulated from people outside the genre winning it. It’s a bromide.
June 12, 2025 @ 11:14 am
I think it’s a poor decision. The new category will be even more divisive than the broader generic category. One mans traditional is another mans Jellyroll.
June 12, 2025 @ 11:21 am
Yeah, you’re the 3rd person naming Jelly Roll here, when I can’t imagine Jelly Roll would qualify for this category whatsoever according to the criteria. That’s the whole point of renaming the existing category to “Contemporary Country.” Let Jelly Roll compete there. He’s going to compete somewhere. Better that he’s now not competing with Charley Crockett, the Turnpike Troubadours, and Jamey Johnson.
June 12, 2025 @ 12:46 pm
My guess is that Morgan Wallen or JR wouldn’t qualify but Laney would and would likely win over the artists you mentioned.
June 12, 2025 @ 1:51 pm
Man you’re obsessed with Lainey Wilson.
We’ll have to see, but if we’re talking about her last record, I don’t see it qualifying. Jay Joyce production is way too contemporary for what that category is going for.
June 12, 2025 @ 2:27 pm
I held back from saying anything bad here but I am slightly obsessed with what the industry is pushing vs what is objectively good and how that trickles down to what I am seeing on social media and in real life.
June 12, 2025 @ 11:44 am
There are mutliple billboards in Columbia TN (40 mins south of Nashville) with Jelly Roll and “face of new country” or some BS like that.
June 12, 2025 @ 11:36 am
This is awesome until the nominees are Morgan Wallen, Jellyroll, Keith Urban, Jason Aldean, & Thomas Rhett.
June 12, 2025 @ 11:59 am
The Grammy’s are just about total shi*.
Their program needs to be torched and rebuilt, with at least a modicum of integrity.
June 12, 2025 @ 12:25 pm
I do like that this is going to be a thing, but I find myself asking if this is ultimately a good thing, or does it represent a wholesale “eff it” attitude toward having anything resembling parameters around what country music is?
There is a legitimate chance that, in the coming years, “Best Contemporary Country Album” will have a list of nominees that fit into 5 different musical genres, none of which are country. That is insane.
June 12, 2025 @ 1:57 pm
Five years from now? That’s what happened this year with Post Malone, Beyonce, Kacey Musgraves, Chris Stapleton, and Lainey Wilson all as nominees.
That’s the whole point of this category. The country nominees last time is probably what led to all of this.
And that takes me to another point. All the folks who complain here when I write long-winded think pieces about the Grammys or whatever, THIS is the whole reason I do that. It’s to enact change. It’s to put pressure on these institutions to give representation to actual country artists. And guess what, this time it worked. Country fans felt disenfranchised with the Grammy process. And they listened. This not only means we get a new Grammy category. It illustrate why country fans should speak up and advocate for themselves and their favorite artists across a host of concerns. We take a lot of losses in this effort. But when you get a win, it can make a major difference.
June 12, 2025 @ 1:57 pm
I suppose it is good news. Perhaps I am just too cynical. They lost all credibility with the Beyoncé country award and now they are trying to get it back? I am not sure it is enough to do so. Easy to lose credibility, not so easy to win it back.
June 12, 2025 @ 2:31 pm
this right here
June 12, 2025 @ 2:59 pm
A nice touch, but good luck finding the contenders.
June 12, 2025 @ 3:18 pm
While I have pretty much written the Grammies off, this is actually a good move.
They did this in the R & B field a while back so that the more old school sounding records could get some shine, particularly since they didn’t get the airplay and exposure that the younger artists were getting.
Bringing back the male and female categories to all genres would be the next thing I’d do. Having everyone together is already in the album categories. Having someone like Adele or Miley Cyrus winning everything because they’re the prevailing flavor in the culture is tiresome.
June 12, 2025 @ 3:20 pm
Is this an acknowledgement by the Grammies that Country is no longer country?
June 12, 2025 @ 3:35 pm
Vice versa. Country is country. Americana is Americana.
June 12, 2025 @ 6:47 pm
What about Sierra Ferrell? I say traditional country! Though there is certainly an argument for her being more Americana, I think if her sounds were coming from someone less eccentric, everyone would consider her traditional country.
June 12, 2025 @ 8:12 pm
I would consider Sierra Ferrell’s album to be traditional country. But the case could be made for Americana too. She can enter it wherever she wants. But now she has an option that’s not Americana.
The other thing about this is it’s a big win for Americana artists too. Since that category has become basically a dumping ground for anything and everything, it’s one of the most crowded fields in the Grammys. Now actual “Americana” artists like Jason Isbell, Brandi Carlile, Town Mountain, etc. won’t have to compete with big traditional country names.
June 12, 2025 @ 4:20 pm
This is great! I hope it gives actual recognition to actual traditional country artists and gives them a bigger platform. This gives room for everyone. My brother who listens to a lot of country has streamed all the Morgan Wallen albums but had never heard of Zach Top. There’s big artists out there than Top 40 radio will play.
June 12, 2025 @ 4:21 pm
Would Grammys consider Zach Top trad or contemporary?
June 12, 2025 @ 5:27 pm
I would definitely consider him traditional country. But Zach Top can submit in whatever category he chooses, and then they screen each entry, sometimes moving things to different categories.
June 12, 2025 @ 4:29 pm
Finally a category to make us old farts and jackasses happy 🙂
June 12, 2025 @ 7:15 pm
What are the odds of Colter Wall winning?
June 12, 2025 @ 7:55 pm
No worries. The Grummy’s will politicize and virtue signal even with this category.
June 13, 2025 @ 3:35 am
on the surface a decent idea, but on second thought this just may open more fruitless and more endless debates about what really – or real – country music is (supposed to be). sometimes less really is more. i can’t help but thinking this could be proof of that wisdom.
if the zach tops of this world need more (easy) recognition, just earn it. and if the crossover guys etc. want that too, likewise. nothing gets more competitive – or creative in this case – by dilution or divison. cutting a mars bar into halves doesn’t double the enjoyment in sum, does it?
June 13, 2025 @ 6:07 am
Blues, R&B, and pop already have “Contemporary” and “Traditional” categories. The fact that it took so long for this category to be added to country should be the controversy. This category should have been around two decades ago. The fact that they’re finally adding it isn’t “diluting” anything. It’s righting a wrong, however belated.
And as I said in the article, we’re not giving up on the term “country” or even “contemporary country.” We’re just adding a new opportunity for traditional country to be highlighted and supported.
I’ve noticed there’s some fans nay saying this idea. What I’ve also noticed is I’ve not seen a single artist, or anyone in the independent country industry—or even the mainstream industry for that matter—criticize this idea. I completely understand why so many fans have become so cynical. That is why I started this website, and why it’s been able to survive for so long. But this is a SOLUTION. Not just complaining about the problems. In an ideal world, yes, we could wave a magic wand and make all the music that calls itself country that’s not go away. But we can’t do that. What we can do is make efforts to make sure actual country music is supported. This is a huge step in that direction.
June 13, 2025 @ 8:53 am
…i’m fine with that decision, although it’s a fundamentally lame distinction. that applies to the other genres too in my book, by the way. something that is fit doesn’t need crutches.
so, what are we gonna do with guys like zach top? his success is very much contemporary – happening now and hopefully in the future too – but it is undoubtedly rooted in the 90s (mostly). does that make him traditional or contemporary? one could easily make a case for both. again, if country music is any good, it can make a case for itself by delivering undisputable quality. this longing for the more traditional mainly goes back to the late 70s and saw a correction in the mid-80s already, which came pretty natural/evolutionary rather than being the result of ongoing protests from the traditional or reactionary audience at the time. some of the 80s stuff is still among the best loved country music by many – not to mention the 90s. the (dollar) figures don’t lie.
trying to preserve traditional country music is a commendable but unnecessary effort. it is like setting up a zoo for an endangered species that is very much alive and well in reality. what’s going on right now is a point in case. roots, americana and country are thrieving in their own right. why interfering, when there’s no need for that as history teaches?
and really, i’m already bored beyond belief just thinking about the mostly undecided, constructed debates, whether the traditional or the contemporary best country album is superior after the next grammys have been handed out. who in the world would take beer to munich?
June 13, 2025 @ 9:20 am
I think you’re way overthinking this Tom. This is five more nominations, and another award for a (hopefully) deserving country artist, commensurate with other genres that use the “traditional” and “contemporary” tags to distinguish music. Zach Top would probably go into the “traditional” category. Or, the category wouldn’t exist at all, and he’d not even be considered for a nomination in lieu of Ed Sheeran, Lana Del Rey, and Post Malone’s second country album.
I can’t control who gets nominated or voted in the “Best Country Album” category, and neither can the Grammys. It’s up to the voters. But this gives an avenue for artists who otherwise not receive a Grammy award or nomination to get an opportunity.
June 13, 2025 @ 9:33 am
…perhaps you’re right, trigger, and i’m just not the kind of guy, who takes much interest in divisonal titles, when there is one big one to be won. undoubtedly, anything that increases the reach and perception of country music is basically to be applauded.
June 13, 2025 @ 10:18 am
Well the big one would be the Grammy’s Album of the Year.
What a lot of folks are overlooking is that a lot of the greatest albums in country music aren’t even being submitted under the current system. Many traditional country artists just don’t bother because they feel like they don’t have a place in the Grammys. They’re not commercial enough for the Best Country Album, and they don’t want to call their music “Americana.” If you look at the numbers, the submissions to country categories is way down from where it should be, and Americana has more entries than any other category. Even the mainstream labels are only submitting small portions of their roster.
June 14, 2025 @ 6:58 am
…actually, our different points of view has inspired me to write a “pro and con”-piece about that decision of the recording industry. at the end, i turned to ai just for an unbiased opinion on how big this is. just for fun, this is how microsoft’s copilot sees this decision:
“Whether this is a long-overdue decision or an unnecessary categorization ultimately depends on one’s perspective. However, one thing is certain: The Grammys are writing a new chapter in the history of country music.”
June 14, 2025 @ 8:12 am
I certainly wouldn’t approach AI as an oracle. All it’s doing is pulling info from articles like this (without giving credit, btw, slowly bleeding me dry), and reconstituting it. It’s a colloquial auto-complete. But I would agree it’s a “new chapter in the history of country music.” Or at least, it could be. This is not just an award. This is about diffusing some of the conflict inherent in country music, because everyone is fighting over the same word. That was the reason I made a country music Dewey Decimal System. That’s the reason this could be so significant. But only if its a start.
June 15, 2025 @ 3:55 pm
Perplexity gives credit. And I generally find it to be the most useful.
June 13, 2025 @ 3:41 am
Finally, I am glad, but knowing the Grammys, they will give the award to Eminem. Calling his next album traditional country.
June 13, 2025 @ 3:58 am
I’m truly glad to see this development. As others have said, they need to add two additional categories: best traditional country song and best traditional country performance. Since Dale Watson’s Ameripolitan is faltering right now, at least this will enable traditional and TRUE country to have its place in the tapestry of music.
June 13, 2025 @ 4:21 am
A category for the ‘not that good but better than what you hear on country radio’ acts that we hear so much about.
It will be the equivalent of adding a second hole to the music row shithouse.
June 13, 2025 @ 4:55 am
I agree that there are already so many categories, but I am a traditionalist when it comes to country music, and I’m glad to see the new category. Keep on twangin’, y’all! 🤠
June 13, 2025 @ 6:29 am
I have never understood the appeal of the Grammy’s, but this is a highly significant distinction to bring traditional country back into the mainstream.
June 13, 2025 @ 6:34 am
Ok, so who’s in the “traditional country” electoral college, and who chairs it?
June 13, 2025 @ 6:40 am
In a way, we can almost be grateful to Beyoncé and the machinery behind her. Cowboy Carter just wasn’t country and the awards fuss was so unworthy that a change had to come. The fact that the terrible pop singer Morgan Wallen can’t possibly be described as country in the true sense after the gigantic inflated musical diarrhea of ”I’m the Problem” may have helped too. There are too many good, real country musicians out there. It can’t be longer justified to these pop guys mentioned above Country in the real sense.
June 14, 2025 @ 4:06 am
https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=sierra+ferrell+alone+with+you
Faron Young cover
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d_zDMnFTOWw
Connie Smith cover
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wXBgV5fGBWc\
Buck Owens cover
I hesitate to predict what direction Sierra Ferrell will choose in future!!! But she’d TOTALLY be in contention for the “Traditional” category if she put her mind to it.
June 14, 2025 @ 4:49 pm
I dont know. Im not exactly convinced this is a good thing. Maybe time will prove me wrong.
June 15, 2025 @ 5:03 am
Obviously due to the Beyonce win which is neither contemporary nor traditional country but somehow won even when she herself said “this ain’t no country album”. Of course on another site they’re crying racism now.
June 15, 2025 @ 8:47 am
Yep just read an article where beyonces fans are all complaining about moving the goal post to support white artist. Crazy.
June 15, 2025 @ 8:54 am
Yeah, there have been a ton of articles simply sourcing Beyonce fans posting on social media complaining about this, but nobody autonomously laying out why this is a bad idea, and making an intellectual case. Beyonce won the Grammy’s Album of the Year and Best Country Album. They literally couldn’t have given “Cowboy Carter” any more.
June 15, 2025 @ 9:03 am
Traditional Country – where is it?? Only place I can find it is in Texas. Guys like Justin Trevino or Darrell McCall. Other wise, as far as I’m concerned it died a long time ago.
June 16, 2025 @ 4:09 pm
The “Best Traditional Country Album” is:”Cowboys And Dreamers” by George Strait. Trigger, if you know American history and Country Music at all then you should know that there is no other artist to win this category except the King of Country Music—recognize by his peers and Nashville—-George Strait yet there is no mention of George Strait as a contender why?