The nominees for the 47th Academy of Country Music Awards were announced yesterday, and Kenny Chesney is the leading solo nominee with 9 nods. Taylor Swift is the leading solo female nominee with recognition in 3 categories and Lady Antebellum is the leading group nominee with 5 nods. Jason Aldean has 6 nominations, Brad Paisley got 4, and Eli Young Band, Toby Keith and Grace Potter and The Nocturnals each received 3 nominations. Kenny Chesney is proud to have helped Grace get those nominations: “To me, that just shows you how powerful music can be. You can meet a girl like Grace Potter—never met her before—she grew up in Vermont, I grew up in Tennessee. And I never met her until she walked in the studio, but it was as if—when we started singing together—it was as if we’d known each other our whole lives and it just worked.” The show will air Sunday April first on CBS and will be hosted by Reba McEntire & Blake Shelton. Here are the major category nominees - the entire list is on the ACM website.
Entertainer of the Year
Jason Aldean
Kenny Chesney
Brad Paisley
Blake Shelton
Taylor Swift
Female Vocalist of the Year
Sara Evans
Miranda Lambert
Martina McBride
Taylor Swift
Carrie Underwood
Male Vocalist of the Year
Jason Aldean
Kenny Chesney
Brad Paisley
Blake Shelton
Chris Young
Vocal Duo of the Year
Love and Theft
Montgomery Gentry
Steel Magnolia
Sugarland
Thompson Square
Vocal Group of the Year
The Band Perry
Eli Young Band
Lady Antebellum
Rascal Flatts
Zac Brown Band
Album of the Year
Chief – Eric Church
Four the Record – Miranda Lambert
Hemingway’s Whiskey – Kenny Chesney
My Kinda Party – Jason Aldean
Own the Night – Lady Antebellum
Song of the Year
“Crazy Girl” – Eli Young Band (Lee Brice, Liz Rose)
“Home” – Dierks Bentley (Brett Beavers, Dierks Bentley, Dan Wilson)
“Just a Kiss” – Lady Antebellum (Dallas Davidson, Dave Haywood, Charles Kelley, Hillary Scott)
“Threaten Me With Heaven” – Vince Gill (Amy Grant, Vince Gill, Dillon O'Brian, Will Owsley)
“You and Tequila” – Kenny Chesney feat. Grace Potter (Matraca Berg, Deana Carter)
Single Record of the Year
“Crazy Girl” – Eli Young Band
“Don’t You Wanna Stay” – Jason Aldean with Kelly Clarkson
“Red Solo Cup” – Toby Keith
“Tomorrow” – Chris Young
“You and Tequila” – Kenny Chesney feat. Grace Potter
Video of the Year
“Tattoos on This Town” – Jason Aldean
“Homeboy” – Eric Church
“Red Solo Cup” – Toby Keith
“Just a Kiss” – Lady Antebellum
“Mean” – Taylor Swift
Vocal Event of the Year
“Country Boy” – Aaron Lewis feat. George Jones & Charlie Daniels
“Don’t You Wanna Stay” – Jason Aldean with Kelly Clarkson
“Old Alabama” – Brad Paisley feat. Alabama
“Remind Me” – Brad Paisley duet with Carrie Underwood
“You and Tequila” – Kenny Chesney featuring Grace Potter
Songwriter of the Year
Rhett Akins
Dallas Davidson
Ben Hayslip
Luke Laird
David Lee Murphy
Keith Urban and Richard Marx celebrated their #1 collaboration, "Long Hot Summer," yesterday in Nashville. The two have written together before, but there was some friction, according to Keith. “We’d had an issue with each other. That’s all I’m gonna say. I learned a lot about the importance of friendship, and this guy was so incredibly gracious and good. And I wanted to really make it up to Richard. So, I said, ‘Please, I want to write together again. We should really do that.’ It wasn’t born of a quota to write a song, it was born of a want for us to reconnect.” Keith performs publicly for the first time since vocal fold surgery a week from tonight at the Grand Ole Opry.
It could be called the "Bluest Eyes" tour, but no one asked me! George Strait and Martina McBride hit the road for a winter tour tonight in Lafayette, Louisiana, and Martina is chomping at the bit to get out there - “We’re just so excited to be going out on the road again, ‘cause we’ve had some time off and really haven’t done a show in several weeks. I’m so excited about playing some new material, and it’s gonna be a lot of fun to be back out on stage.”
Blake Shelton and Miranda Lambert are both taking their Moms on the road with them as they resume touring after the death of Blake's Dad. Wednesday night, Miranda got choked up trying to sing "The House That Built Me" on her first night back out and a fan captured the moment.
And on the heels of the loss of her Dad-in-law, Miranda Lambert has lost a friend she's known since childhood. Overnight, she tweeted, "I have lost a friend I've had since 3rd grade today in a tragic accident. When will this pain end. Please pray for peace."
Second time's a charm - Merle Haggard is home in California after leaving a Macon, Georgia hospital a second time this week. He's expected to take at least a month off from touring as he recovers from pneumonia, stomach ulcers and diverticulitis of the esophagus.
Glen Campbell will perform with Blake Shelton and The Band Perry on the Grammy Awards on February 12th. He's a 5-time Grammy winner and Blake and TBP are nominees this year. Other country artists scheduled to perform are Jason Aldean and Taylor Swift.
Dolly Parton is on the David Letterman Show tonight.
Happy birthday to Tracy Lawrence, who turns 44 today.
The tweet of the day is from Zac Brown Band: "Sometimes you dunk the ball. Sometimes the ball dunks you."
