The 2015 CMA Awards nominees were announced this morning and nearly each category had some surprise nominees (No Blake Shelton in Entertainer of the Year for starters) and represents a good wide variety that the mainstream of country music for late 2014 to mid 2015 had to offer (the eligibility period was July 1, 2014 to June 30, 2015).
The big surprise in the Female of the Year category is that Lee Ann Womack took the #5 slot with Kelsea Ballerini holding down the slot formerly occupied by Taylor Swift. Reba's latest album certainly made a case to have her on there and if we were going by chart success, Reba would be there instead of Lee Ann Womack but given the critically-acclaimed album The Way I'm Livin', Womack deserved the slot too.
In the Male Vocalist of the Year category, Dierks Bentley finally earned a nod but his slot, and the surprise nomination of Chris Stapleton, pushed out Jason Aldean, Keith Urban and Brad Paisley from consideration (not to mention CMA EOTY nominees Kenny Chesney and Garth Brooks). This does feel like a year that someone not named Blake Shelton will take home that category. Also, as always it seems, the category is the toughest to fill out, proving how much the general industry LOVES Chris Stapleton.
The only surprise in the Vocal Group of the Year category is that one could've easily swapped A Thousand Horses for Rascal Flatts or The Band Perry.
The vocal duo category has, for the first time in a long time, a list of nominees that are just filling it out. All are active and successful duos. This is where Maddie & Tae could take the slot over Florida Georgia Line. It just depends if the voters go for 'anti-bro' this year or not. We'll see.
Entertainer of the Year
- Garth Brooks
- Luke Bryan
- Kenny Chesney
- Eric Church
- Miranda Lambert
Female Vocalist of the Year
- Kelsea Ballerini
- Miranda Lambert
- Kacey Musgraves
- Carrie Underwood
- Lee Ann Womack
Male Vocalist of the Year
- Dierks Bentley
- Luke Bryan
- Eric Church
- Blake Shelton
- Chris Stapleton
Vocal Group of the Year
- Lady Antebellum
- Little Big Town
- Rascal Flatts
- The Band Perry
- Zac Brown Band
Vocal Duo of the Year
- Brothers Osborne
- Dan + Shay
- Florida Georgia Line
- Maddie & Tae
- Thompson Square
Album of the Year (goes to artist, producer, label)
- Old Boots, New Dirt, Jason Aldean
- Pageant Material, Kacey Musgraves
- Pain Killer, Little Big Town
- The Big Revival, Kenny Chesney
- Traveller, Chris Stapleton
Single of the Year (Award goes to singer/producer/label)
- "American Kids," Kenny Chesney
- "Girl Crush," Little Big Town
- "I Don't Dance," Lee Brice
- "Take Your Time," Sam Hunt
- "Talladega," Eric Church
Song Of The Year (Goes to songwriters)
- "American Kids," Rodney Clawson, Luke Laird and Shane McAnally (Artist: Kenny Chesney)
- "Girl Crush," Liz Rose, Lori McKenna and Hillary Lindsey (Aritst: Little Big Town)
- "Like A Cowboy," Randy Houser and Brice Long (Artist: Randy Houser)
- "Like A Wrecking Ball," Eric Church and Casey Beathard (Artist: Eric Church)
- "Take Your Time," Sam Hunt, Shane McAnally and Josh Osborne (Artist: Sam Hunt)
New Artist of the Year
- Kelsea Ballerini
- Sam Hunt
- Maddie & Tae
- Thomas Rhett
- Chris Stapleton
Musical Event of the Year
- Django And Jimmie, Willie Nelson And Merle Haggard
- "Lonely Tonight," Blake Shelton f/Ashley Monroe
- "Raise 'Em Up," Keith Urban f/Eric Church
- "Smokin' And Drinkin'," Miranda Lambert f/Little Big Town
- "Wild Child," Kenny Chesney w/Grace Potter
Video of the Year (goes to artist/director)
- "Biscuits," Kacey Musgraves
- "Girl Crush," Little Big Town
- "Girl In A Country Song," Little Big Town
- "Little Red Wagon," Miranda Lambert
- "Something In The Water," Carrie Underwood
Musician of the Year
- Sam Bush
- Jerry Douglas
- Paul Franklin
- Dann Huff
- Mac McAnally
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