Each year the CMA Award show has two separate categories for Vocal Group of the Year and for Vocal Duo of the Year and while I still think there are enough groups and duos working to make the category be filled with active bands or duos, each year there is seemingly one or two in each category that has one scratching their head. This year the Group category has The Eagles and while they weren’t inactive, they didn’t do all that much either, the same goes for Big & Rich. They toured a few places this year while releasing a Greatest Hits project. So we can effectively take both acts out of their respective categories which leaves both being four horse races.
Rascal Flatts may be the biggest name on the list but they are in serious danger of losing their title as Country Music’s Vocal Group of the Year. Lady Antebellum and the Zac Brown Band have both had remarkable years that rival the Flatts this year. In fact, the only thing the new acts don’t have that the Flatts have is a sold-out arena tour. It actually was a pretty good year to be a “vocal group” in country music as other vocal groups not on the nominee list like Gloriana, Eli Young Band and Lost Trailers all scored big radio hits while Little Big Town worked on a new album and toured. Still, it’s hard to fault Little Big Town’s inclusion on this list as they truly are one of the best vocal groups in any genre of music.
When it’s all said and done, I truly think that “Vocal Group of the Year” will come down to a race between Zac Brown Band and Rascal Flatts. While I love last year’s Best New Artist Lady Antebellum, I think that the “legacy” of Rascal Flatts makes them a ‘final 2’ while one of this year’s best new artist nominee’s Zac Brown Band, scored 2 #1 hits within the eligibility period while garnering “song” and “single of the year” nominations as well. In a close heat, I see the Zac Brown Band pulling out the upset to deservedly take this award home.
VOCAL GROUP OF THE YEAR
Eagles
Lady Antebellum
Little Big Town
Rascal Flatts
Zac Brown Band
Joey+Rory may not win this award but the fact that this duo, which has sold 200,000 copies of their Sugar Hill/Vanguard debut album The Life Of A Song with only one Top 30 hit (“Cheater, Cheater”), was enough to gain the attention of the CMA voters. Sugarland released a successful live CD/DVD that showcased the charm of their tour and while they are quite deserving to win the award, they will have a dogfight with Montgomery Gentry to battle for second place in this award show derby as Brooks and Dunn made a huge announcement this year that all but assured them this award. After a tour in 2010, the most successful duo in country music history will be calling it quits. This means that the CMA Voters are likely to throw their support behind them one last time, giving Brooks & Dunn another CMA Vocal Duo of the Year award, which will be like the 15th time in the last 18 years that they’ve taken it home, with Montgomery Gentry and Sugarland being the only other duos to take the award home between 1992 and now. The 2010 show may also be a chance for Brooks & Dunn to get a Vocal Duo and Entertainer of the Year nod as they embark on that farewell tour.
VOCAL DUO OF THE YEAR
Big & Rich
Brooks & Dunn
Joey + Rory
Montgomery Gentry
Sugarland
This year’s Best New Artist category is packed with talent. Each artist on this list has either a Top 10 hit or a Gold record to their credit while also giving Country music one of the better influxes of talent it has seen in twenty years. Randy Houser and Jamey Johnson are songwriting pals who came up in Nashville at the same time and ended up writing one of Trace Adkins’ biggest hits together before both scored their own record deals, Houser with Universal Records South and Johnson with BNA. Johnson’s deal with BNA got one record out with one hit single before being let go as part of the label merger with Sony Music Nashville. Undeterred, Johnson went in the studio with his friends and recorded That Lonesome Song. The album eventually found a home with Mercury Records which released it and saw it go gold and get nominated this year for Album of the Year while single “In Color” is nominated for single and song of the year as well. Houser’s album Anything Goes yielded a big #2 hit in “Boots On,” while providing fans with a great video that spliced the viral video footage of a toddler within Houser’s own performance of the song.” The video is nominated for Video of the Year and it may very well win that award.
Jake Owen is working on his second album for RCA Records with Easy Does It. While “Don’t Think I Can’t Love You” didn’t score a #1 spot, it did land in the Top 10, a place his previous single “Startin’ With Me” did as well. With current single “Eight Second Ride” moving up the charts, Owen has certainly found himself in a great place to be, this group of artists. Darius Rucker’s placement here is sort of an oddity because he not only has won multiple awards as a member of Hootie and the Blowfish but the singer also has sold tens of millions of records. Still, he’s a new artist in Country music so I guess he counts here. He’s also the holder of a platinum album for Learn To Live and his first three singles all went #1. He also has one of the best voices for country music of any artist singing today. The Zac Brown Band, which was chronicled above, rounds out this category.
So, with the knowledge of the artist’s histories taken into account, I think we can take Randy Houser and Jake Owen off of any serious contention here as they both don’t have enough to compete with Jamey Johnson, Darius Rucker or the Zac Brown Band. In the end I think this category will be a toss-up between the tree with Rucker likely to eek out the victory.
Best New Artist
Randy Houser
Jamey Johnson
Jake Owen
Darius Rucker
Zac Brown Band
Stay tuned next week for our final three previews which will lead-up to Wednesday night’s telecast of the 43rd CMA Awards show on ABC. It will be broadcast from 8-11pm Eastern/Pacific time zones.
Check out part one of the series by clicking here.
Check out part three of the series by clicking here.
Check out part four of the series by clicking here.
Check out part five of the series by clicking here.
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