The nominees are in.
This morning, the Country Music Association announced its picks for the 60th annual CMA Awards. After what seems like well over a decade of head-scratching nominations, snubs and wins, many were wondering if they would finally diverge from the mainstream stranglehold that they’ve so clearly found themselves in despite the growth of the independent and alt. country scene over the past five years.
The nominees are in, and I have to admit, it’s equally as head-scratching as it is encouraging.
Following the trend set by the past two CMA Awards, women absolutely dominate this year’s set of nominees. To absolutely no one’s surprise, Ella Langley is riding the highs of her record-shattering success with “Choosin’ Texas” to a staggering nine nominations. These nominations include her first-ever Entertainer of the Year nod, Album of the Year for Dandelion, Single and Song of the Year for both “Be Her” and “Choosin’ Texas,” Female Vocalist of the Year, Music Event of the Year (“I Can’t Love You Anymore” with Morgan Wallen) and Music Video of the Year (“Choosin’ Texas”).
Right behind her with seven is “Choosin’ Texas” co-writer and superstar, Miranda Lambert, who snagged seven nominations. These include her work on both Langley’s Dandelion and “Choosin’ Texas” as well as Female Vocalist of the Year, and two Musical Event of the Year nods for “A Song to Sing” with Chris Stapleton and “Horses and Divorces” with Kacey Musgraves.
Speaking of Musgraves, she made her grand return to the top of the nominations at the CMAs with five. This year, she scored Female Vocalist of the Year, Album of the Year for Middle of Nowhere, Song and Music Video of the Year for “Dry Spell” and the aforementioned Musical Event of the Year for “Horses and Divorces” with Lambert.
Leading the charge for the men are the likes of Chris Stapleton, Cody Johnson and Stephen Wilson Jr with four nominations. In particular, Wilson Jr. is primed to have a huge night. As a fan-favorite amongst many alt. country fans and us here at Whiskey Riff, the “I’m a Song” singer snagged four nods, including his first-ever Male Vocalist of the Year mention, New Artist of the Year and Song and Music Video of the Year for “Gary.”
Unsurprisingly, the Vocal Duo and Group of the Year leaves a lot to be desired. In an era filled with some of the most exciting bands in the alt. country scene, the only two notable nominees in both categories are The Red Clay Strays and Muscadine Bloodline.
The Group of the Year nominees, in particular, are simply baffling, with Lady A, Little Big Town and Old Dominion continuing to receive nominations. Duos, on the other hand, are also as boring as ever, with Brooks & Dunn receiving their auto-bid alongside Thelma & James, Dan + Shay and Brothers Osborne.
On the opposite side of the spectrum, Album of the Year is shaping up to be one of the better set of nominees we’ve seen in years. Here, Parker McCollum’s self-titled record will compete against the likes of Zach Top’s Ain’t In It For My Health, Langley’s Dandelion, Musgraves’ Middle of Nowhere and Luke Combs’ The Way I Am.
One major artist left off of both Entertainer and Male Vocalist of the Year is none other than Morgan Wallen. Despite Wallen being the biggest artist in the genre — save for Langley — over the past two years, he was left off the two biggest categories. The “Last Night” singer does, however, receive two nominations for Music Event of the Year for both “I Can’t Love You Anymore” and “McArthur” with HARDY, Eric Church and Tim McGraw.
Finally, Entertainer of the Year will see Langley, Johnson and Stapleton compete against Luke Combs and Lainey Wilson for the night’s biggest honor.
The 60th annual CMA Awards airs live from the Bridgestone Arena in Nashville on Wednesday, November 18th on ABC, Disney+ and the next day on Hulu.
You can see the full list of nominees below.
Entertainer of the Year
- Luke Combs
- Cody Johnson
- Ella Langley
- Chris Stapleton
- Lainey Wilson
Album of the Year
- Ain’t In It For My Health – Zach Top
- Dandelion – Ella Langley
- Middle of Nowhere – Kacey Musgraves
- Parker McCollum – Parker McCollum
- The Way I Am – Luke Combs
Song of the Year
- “Choosin’ Texas” – Ella Langley
- “Be Her” – Ella Langley
- “Beautiful Things” – Megan Moroney
- “Dry Spell” – Kacey Musgraves
- “Gary” – Stephen Wilson Jr.
Single of the Year
- “Choosin’ Texas” – Ella Langley
- “Be Her” – Ella Langley
- “I Knew It, I Knew You” – Taylor Swift
- “Somewhere Over Laredo” – Lainey Wilson
- “The Fall” – Cody Johnson
Male Vocalist of the Year
- Luke Combs
- Cody Johnson
- Chris Stapleton
- Zach Top
- Stephen Wilson Jr.
Female Vocalist of the Year
- Miranda Lambert
- Ella Langley
- Megan Moroney
- Kacey Musgraves
- Lainey Wilson
New Artist of the Year
- Avery Anna
- Carter Faith
- Emily Ann Roberts
- Tucker Wetmore
- Stephen Wilson Jr.
Vocal Duo of the Year
- Brooks & Dunn
- Brothers Osborne
- Dan + Shay
- Muscadine Bloodline
- Thelma & James
Vocal Group of the Year
- Lady A
- Little Big Town
- Midland
- Old Dominion
- The Red Clay Strays
Musical Event of the Year
- “A Song to Sing” – Miranda Lambert & Chris Stapleton
- “Horses and Divorces” – Kacey Musgraves & Miranda Lambert
- “I Can’t Love You Anymore” – Ella Langley & Morgan Wallen
- “If I Don’t Leave I’m Gonna Stay” – Carly Pearce & Riley Green
- “McArthur” – Hardy, Eric Church, Morgan Wallen & Tim McGraw
Music Video of the Year
- “Choosin’ Texas” – Ella Langley
- “Dry Spell” – Kacey Musgraves
- “Gary” – Stephen Wilson Jr.
- “The Fall” – Cody Johnson
- “White Horse” – Chris Stapleton
Musician of the Year
- Tom Bukovac – Guitar
- Jenee Fleenor – Fiddle
- Paul Franklin – Steel Guitar
- Rob McNelley – Guitar
- Charlie Worsham – Guitar
