There weren’t too many big surprises with the ACM nominations, which were released on March 2nd. Lady Antebellum led the way with 7 nominations, while Miranda Lambert and Carrie Underwood received 5 nominations each. Zac Brown Band and Taylor Swift are next with a total of 4 nominations and are both in the running for Entertainer of the Year. It is over a month away, but country music fans will have a lot to look forward to on April 18th. Here are some thoughts and predictions from Our Country Road.
Entertainer of the year: No real surprises here. This list encompasses all of the top country music artists. The only real surprise would be Zac Brown Band. It is rare that a newish band would get an entertainer of the year win. OCR Prediction: Kenny Chesney
Top Male Vocalist of the Year: Biggest surprise on the list should not be a surprise after the year Darius Rucker has had. Three #1 hits, another top 5 and a great country/blues voice that has taken the country music scene by storm. OCR Prediction: Keith Urban
Top Female Vocalist of the Year: Miranda Lambert makes the list on the strength of her first #1 single, “White Liar”, as well as her certified Gold album, “Revolution”. She would be a great choice for this award, but I think that Carrie Underwood’s consistency and the strength of vocals from “I Told You So” will help her. It is also great to see Reba on top of the charts again, as well as in this nomination. OCR Prediction: Carrie Underwood
Top Vocal Duo of the Year: Weird group here. Steel Magnoilia and Joey and Rory will be competing for top new duo, so that takes them out of the running for this category (though they probably were never really considered for this award). I did not like the choice of “Joey” as a single from Sugarland and Montgomery Gentry had an “ok” year but nothing spectacular. During their “Last Rodeo” how does Brooks and Dunn not get the award? OCR Prediction: Brooks and Dunn
Top Vocal Group of the Year: Ah yes, here is where it gets interesting. Perennial winner Rascal Flatts, hottest trio in all of music, Lady Antebellum and the throwback band of Zac Brown. It is a complete toss up. Each group deserves to win. Rascal Flatts is celebrating their 10th year, Lady A is celebrating their wildly successful single and album, “Need You Now” and Zac Brown Band burst onto the national scene at the Grammys last month by winning Best New Group. This is the award that I can not wait to see who wins. OCR Prediction: Zac Brown Band
Top New Solo Vocalist of the Year: Great group of newcomers. Jamey Johnson doesn’t really fit into this group for me. He has been around for a few years and his first big single, “The Dollar” was released in 2005. Is he considered a new artist because of his new facial hair? I love Jamey, but this does not work for me. Luke Bryan was able to get his first #1 single with “Do I” and Chris Young hit the top spot this past year also with, “Gettin’ You Home”. All three have an opportunity to be big artists in the future. Another toss up. OCR Prediction: Luke Bryan
Top New Vocal Duo: I can’t pretend to care too much about this category. Steel Magnolia have a popular song right now. Joey and Rory and Bomshel have not done much on the charts, so it is hard to give them an award. OCR Prediction: Steel Magnolia
Top New Vocal Group: Another tough category to get excited about. Gloriana has had some mainstream success. The Lost Trailers and Eli Young Band are both in the same position of having one top 15 song in their career and the search is on for another top 15 song. I actually liked The Lost Trailers’ follow up single to “Hollerback”, which was “How ’bout You Don’t”. Unfortunately both of these songs were in 2008. OCR Prediction: Gloriana (though it pains me)
Album of the Year: It’s hard to knock any of these albums. “Foundation”, “Revolution” and “Play On” probably have the most depth. Lady A will have to wait till next award show for this category when “Need You Now” will be in the running. Paisley continues to produce #1 hits, but his album lacks the depth of the others. OCR Prediction: “Foundation” – Zac Brown Band
Single Record of the Year: All great singles. David Nail had an impressive 42 week run on the charts with “Red Light”. Lambert received her first #1 with “White Liar”. “Toes” is a fun loving summer song and “People are Crazy” is another engaging and funny story time song from Billy Currington. Unfortunately for all of these great songs, “Need You Now” is an epic song from a group that is on top of the industry right now. OCR Prediction: “Need You Now” – Lady Antebellum
Song of the Year: Some crossovers from the last category, but Taylor Swift arriving in this category with her insanely popular “You Belong to Me” will make for stiff competition for the others. If Taylor doesn’t win, I think Miranda will get herself an award in this category. OCR Prediction: “You Belong to Me” – Taylor Swift
Video of the Year: Nothing beats that little kid in Randy Houser’s video, “Boots On”. It’s not worth talking about any of the rest of them. OCR Prediction: “Boots On” – Randy Houser
Vocal Event of the Year: I think this category comes down to two songs, “Hillbilly Bone” and “I Told You So”. The first being a fun-loving country livin’ theme song and the other a sentimental love gone wrong song. “I’m Alive” really didn’t impress me that much. Kenny and Dave were able to use their names to get the song up the charts. This category totally depends on what the academy is looking for; country boys having fun or tear jerking love song. OCR Prediction: “I Told You So” – Carrie Underwood and Randy Travis
What do you all think? Tell me where I have gone wrong. We can’t wait to hear from you!
