The nominees for Album of the Year are:
Luke Bryan: Crash My Party
Keith Urban: Fuse
Miranda Lambert: Platinum
Dierks Bentley: Riser
Eric Church: The Outsiders
The first two are clearly just catering to popularity. While Urban’s albums had a couple of standout tracks, like many of his contemporaries, Urban has drifted mostly into the pop realm, even going so far as to format the title of one of his songs “Even the Stars Fall 4 U.” Bryan’s album was almost completely bro-country.
My Hope: Riser
My Prediction: The Outsiders
The nominees for Female Vocalist of the Year are:
Miranda Lambert
Kacey Musgraves
Taylor Swift
Carrie Underwood
Martina McBride
I’ve very satisfied to see Martina being nominated for this award. It shows that the CMA is still willing to respect legacy acts. The other nominees are not a surprise at all, not even Taylor Swift, even though she has officially stepped away from country music (not that she was ever country to begin with). As much as I love Miranda Lambert, and Miranda winning the award wouldn’t be a disappointment, I’d like to see the CMA have some imagination and award this one to Kacey Musgraves this year.
My Hope: Kacey Musgraves
My Prediction: Miranda Lambert
The nominees for Male Vocalist of the Year are:
Dierks Bentley
Eric Church
Luke Bryan
Blake Shelton
Keith Urban
This is a tough one to pick from. While I like Dierks Bentley a lot, and as a vocalist, he's very strong, I don't know if he's going to actually win this one. I think Eric Church is a better vocalist than he is given credit for (take for example “Give Me Back My Hometown”). Luke Bryan has become a running joke for me, so I won’t bore you by going there again. Blake Shelton is probably the odds on favorite to win. And he’s shown he has some strong vocals when he’s not singing about the boys ‘round here.
My Hope: Eric Church
My Prediction: Blake Shelton
The nominees for Entertainer of the Year are:
Luke Bryan
Miranda Lambert
Blake Shelton
George Strait
Keith Urban
This one doesn’t seem like much of a contest. I think, and hope, the CMA will take what will probably be its last opportunity to award this one to George Strait. The ACM did it (apparently to Luke Bryan’s chagrin) and I think the CMA will as well.
My Hope: George Strait
My Prediction: George Strait
The nominees for Vocal Group of the Year are:
Eli Young Band
Lady Antebellum
Little Big Town
The Band Perry
Zac Brown Band
Five years ago, you could have counted on Rascal Flatts not only being nominated, but winning this award as well. Then Lady Antebellum came along and they became the odds on favorite to win each year. Now, their consistent wins seem to have passed as well. I think this one is going to come down to either Little Big Town or The Band Perry, though I still hold my hopes for Eli Young Band to win it (though I’m really PO’d, though not surprised, that Randy Rogers Band was again snubbed and not nominated).
My Hope: Eli Young Band
My Prediction: Little Big Town
The nominees for Song of the Year are:
"Automatic," Miranda Lambert
"Follow Your Arrow," Kacey Musgraves
"Give Me Back My Hometown," Eric Church
"I Don't Dance," Lee Brice
"I Hold On," Dierks Bentley
The group of songs here is actually pretty solid. Overall, this is the first category of the crop this year where I’m not disappointed with any of the nominees. Usually, Song of the Year category has some pretty solid nominees. I think “Follow Your Arrow” deserves to win, and while it may have been nominated, I don’t think the CMA is going to be quite ready to give the award to a song of its ilk, no matter how deserved it is.
My Hope: “Follow Your Arrow”
My Prediction: “Automatic”
The nominees for Music Video of the Year are:
"Automatic," Miranda Lambert
"Bartender," Lady Antebellum
"Drunk on a Plane," Dierks Bentley
"Follow Your Arrow," Kacey Musgraves
"Something Bad," Miranda Lambert & Carrie Underwood
Say what you want to about the song, but the video for “Something Bad” was fun and enjoyable. I don’t spend a lot of time watching many music videos. Therefore, my opinion on this one is not fully informed, but my favorite of the group is “Something Bad.”
My Hope: “Something Bad”
My Prediction: “Something Bad”
The nominees for New Artist of the Year are:
Brandy Clark
Brett Eldredge
Kip Moore
Thomas Rhett
Cole Swindell
While I’d love to see Brandy Clark win this award, I’m not sure it will happen. I will also admit to being a fan of Kip Moore (despite “Somethin’ Bout a Truck”) and I really liked his most recent single “Young Love.” Thomas Rhett and Cole Swindell are just more bro-country trash, but I have a bad feeling that Cole Swindell will walk away with this award.
My Hope: Brandy Clark
My Prediction: Cole Swindell
The nominees for Vocal Duo of the Year are:
Dan + Shay
Florida Georgia Line
Love and Theft
The Swon Brothers
Thompson Square
Do I have to choose?
My Hope: That it slips the CMA’s mind that this award has nominees
My Prediction: Florida Georgia Line
The nominees for Single of the Year are:
"Automatic," Miranda Lambert
"Drunk on a Plane," Dierks Bentley
"Give Me Back My Hometown," Eric Church
"Meanwhile Back at Mama's," Tim McGraw & Faith Hill
"Mine Would be You," Blake Shelton
The only oddball nominee here is “Drunk on a Plane.” I’ll admit to enjoying the song, but award-worthy, it is not. Personally, I’d like to see “Meanwhile Back at Mama’s” win this one.
My Hope: “Meanwhile Back at Mama’s”
My Prediction: “Automatic”
The nominees for Musical Event of the Year are:
"Bakersfield," Vince Gill & Paul Franklin
"Meanwhile Back at Mama's," Tim McGraw & Faith Hill
"Something Bad" Miranda Lambert & Carrie Underwood
"We Were Us," Keith Urban & Miranda Lambert
"You Can't Make Old Friends," Kenny Rogers & Dolly Parton
While I’ll admit to not being a huge fan of the song itself, it is great to see Kenny Rogers and Dolly Parton being nominated for CMA Awards again. And it’s definitely the most traditional song on the list of nominees. Though I think the CMA will shy away from actually giving them the award.
My Hope: "You Can't Make Old Friends,"
My Prediction: “Something Bad”
Overall, there have been worse years for the nominations, but again, a lot of pop/rock fluff has been nominated while a lot of great country music has been ignored. Strong artists like Randy Rogers Band are ignored. And Johnny Cash’s Out Among the Stars doesn’t even get any recognition. Sturgill Simpson is also ignored, though the CMA did actually take the initiative to nominate Brandy Clark, so there is some light in there.
The awards will be airing on ABC on November 5th, so we will see how things play out.