49th ACM Awards - Sunday, April 6, 2014

[Markus Meyer]

Every other artist in that category was more worthy than Justin. He's been the most successful, by far, but come on, this is ridiculous. That said, I hope he wins. It would embarrass the ACM's.

[Lizl]

Feb 11, 2014 12:07:02 GMT -5 avalyn said:

New Artist Nominees were just announced.

Brett Eldredge
Justin Moore
Kip Moore

Dang, I've been voting for Thomas Rhett. Oh well, maybe next year, or next next next year. Maybe they'll still consider him new artist. ;) I hope Charlie Worsham will be nominated too. Even as a semi-finalist only just for him to be recorgnized. I love his album.

[countrygirl918]

Feb 11, 2014 17:57:46 GMT -5 Markus Meyer said:

Every other artist in that category was more worthy than Justin. He's been the most successful, by far, but come on, this is ridiculous. That said, I hope he wins. It would embarrass the ACM's.

I'm actually tempted to vote for him just to help show how ridiculous the ACM's are.

[onebuffalo]

Justin Moore ACM Clarification:

theboot.com/acm-justin-moore-new-artist-of-the-year-nomination/

[avalyn]

^ I actually posted the music row article on the last page about that.

[onebuffalo]

Feb 13, 2014 15:12:36 GMT -5 avalyn said:

^ I actually posted the music row article on the last page about that.

Because there is additional information in my last post, I am keeping it. I know it is basically the same information, though.

[Deleted]

Got some time to kill, so some early predictions for me:

Video of the Year:

1) “Better Dig Two” – The Band Perry
2) “Blowin’ Smoke” – Kacey Musgraves
3) “Highway Don’t Care” – Tim McGraw featuring Taylor Swift & Keith Urban
4) “I Drive Your Truck” – Lee Brice
5) “Mama’s Broken Heart” – Miranda Lambert
6) “Two Black Cadillacs” – Carrie Underwood

A cool category, but not as much of a 'major' award so I'll get this one out of the way first. I think all these songs had pretty solid videos and this is often an unpredictable category, but I'll say that they go with HDC here since its video was really presented as a little mini film (and it was well-done).

Vocal Event of the Year:

1) Blake Shelton featuring the Pistol Annies & Friends – “Boys ‘Round Here”
2) Florida Georgia Line featuring Nelly – “Cruise” [Remix]
3) Tim McGraw featuring Taylor Swift & Keith Urban – “Highway Don’t Care”
4) Darius Rucker featuring Lady Antebellum – “Wagon Wheel”
5) Keith Urban & Miranda Lambert – “We Were Us”

I really don't think the ACM will award the "Cruise" remix here (or maybe that's just me hoping and praying), so I think it's probably a battle between "Boys 'Round Here" and "Highway Don't Care", namely because of the names attached and the fact that both songs were huge hits. "Wagon Wheel" could also figure into the picture as well but since it's never been marketed as "Darius featuring Lady A" until now, I have a hard time seeing it win this one (and frankly I find it odd that they suddenly decided to include it here). "We Were Us" was a pretty big hit but not quite as big as the others. I'll predict another win for HDC here, although the combo of Blake/Pistol Annies could win as well.

Song of the Year:

1) “Every Storm (Runs Out Of Rain)” – Gary Allan; written by Gary Allan, Hillary Lindsey, and Matt Warren
2) “I Drive Your Truck” – Lee Brice; written by Jimmy Yeary, Jessi Alexander, and Connie Harrington
3) “Mama’s Broken Heart” – Miranda Lambert; written by Kacey Musgraves, Brandy Clark, and Shane McAnally
4) “Mine Would Be You” – Blake Shelton; written by Deric Ruttan, Jessi Alexander, and Connie Harrington
5) “Wagon Wheel” – Darius Rucker; written by Bob Dylan and Ketch Secor

It's great to see Gary Allan getting a nomination here, and it would be even cooler if he won, but I think the competition will prove to be too strong, aside from Blake's mundane "Mine Would Be You". Lee's "I Drive Your Truck" won this award at the CMA's last fall, but since it shares 2/3 writers with "Mine Would Be You", that could cause some vote-splitting here. Furthermore, the ACM's might want to differentiate themselves from the CMA's by crowning a different song here. I certainly think "I Drive Your Truck" has a great chance here but I'm going to give the slight edge to "Mama's Broken Heart", in large part because of the momentum Kacey has (at least in terms of industry/critical acclaim, despite a lack of significant airplay). "Wagon Wheel" is right up there as well but again I will give a slight edge to MBH over both WW and IDYT.

Single of the Year:

1) “Cruise” – Florida Georgia Line
2) “Highway Don’t Care” – Tim McGraw featuring Taylor Swift & Keith Urban
3) “I Drive Your Truck” – Lee Brice
4) “Mama’s Broken Heart” – Miranda Lambert
5) “Wagon Wheel” – Darius Rucker

I hate it when the Song & Single categories are overly similar. I feel like Single should be for the biggest hit of the year and Song for a song that may have also been a big hit but more importantly received a good deal of critical acclaim. I generally try to base my predictions off of this notion. All of these 5 singles were big hits, with the cross-over success of "Cruise" making it the biggest. "Cruise" won this award at the CMA's last fall but again, the ACM's may choose to go a different route just for the sake of being different (and I hope they have enough sense to not give any more love to "Cruise"). Out of the remaining 4 choices, it's really hard for me to pick a front-runner, so I'm going to throw Darius a bone here. "Wagon Wheel" was both a huge hit and a critics' favorite, and it topped both Billboard's Hot Country Songs & Country Airplay charts, as well as the Country Aircheck/Mediabase chart. And finally, Darius won a Grammy for that song, so that could help his cause as well. So, I'll give the slight edge to Darius over the other 4.

Album of the Year:

1) Based On A True Story… - Blake Shelton
2) Crash My Party – Luke Bryan
3) Here’s To The Good Times – Florida Georgia Line
4) Same Trailer Different Park – Kacey Musgraves
5) Two Lanes Of Freedom – Tim McGraw

The Blake, Luke, and FGL albums have dominated in terms of commercial success, and each of them--especially the Luke and FGL albums--has received at least moderately decent reviews. Tim's album is certified Gold and it produced 3 big hits in 2013 while receiving some pretty good reviews and a strong push from Big Machine. But Kacey's album is the one that really got the critics talking. She won the Grammy for Best Country Album, but country radio has unfortunately shied away from her deeper and more complex tunes. I'm picking Kacey in an 'upset', so to speak, since she's not as big of a name, and I'm basing this off my hopes that the ACM's will reward quality over quantity (ie, higher sales numbers for the other 4 albums). But if it's not Kacey, then Blake will probably get rewarded for an album that I find to be fairly mediocre, which would of course him that the music he's making is actually good...

Vocal Duo of the Year:

1) Big & Rich
2) Dan + Shay
3) Florida Georgia Line
4) Love And Theft
5) Thompson Square

This is by far the easiest category to predict. Voters might not know what to do with FGL in other categories (given their cross-over hip-hop/rap/country/pop/rock sound that hasn't really received any critical acclaim), but FGL's tremendous success makes them tower over the other 4 nominees here. Sure, Thompson Square had a #1 with "If I Didn't Have You", but it's been mostly forgotten by country radio--all 4 of FGL's hits so far are getting way more recurrent airplay. Thompson Square has another top 10 hit that could go #1, but it's taken the bulk of a calendar year to do so. FGL had 4 massive hits, all of them spending multiple weeks atop the charts. Big & Rich and Love and Theft are not big names, and both duos were relatively quiet for most of the year. And while Dan + Shay has a very promising future, it's too early for them to win this award yet, despite the rigorous efforts by Warner Bros. Short answer: FGL winds in a landslide.

Vocal Group of the Year:

1) Eli Young Band
2) Lady Antebellum
3) Little Big Town
4) The Band Perry
5) Zac Brown Band

This is a pretty tough category once again this year, but for different reasons. Little Big Town has been the obvious favorite (and winner) the last couple of years, but after "Tornado" peaked at #1 MB/#2 BB nearly a full year ago, they've really cooled off at radio. Lady Antebellum had a hot streak right out of the gate a couple years ago, when they were brand new, but they aren't as popular right now. "Downtown" was a big #1 and "Compass" is closing in on #1, but "Goodbye Town" didn't resonate as well. The Band Perry had a big hit with the critically-acclaimed "Better Dig Two", as well as a #1 with "Done" and a #2 with "Don't Let Me Be Lonely", but their album and single sales haven't been nearly as high as the numbers they were seeing with their debut album. Zac Brown Band's most-recent album also hasn't been as big of a radio or commercial success, although the hits have still been fairly big--multi-week #1 "Goodbye In Her Eyes", #2 hit "Jump Right In", and #1 "Sweet Annie". Finally, Eli Young Band was between albums for the middle part of the year, following only the minor hit "Say Goodnight" early in the year. They of course returned with the recent #1 "Drunk Last Night".

If the ZBB was ever going to win this award, this might be their best chance, largely because the other groups haven't had the spectacularly big years that they've had in the recent past. Still, I can't help but feel that the ZBB won't quite get over the hump. Therefore, I feel like it will come down to LBT and TBP here. UMG has really thrown their full support behind LBT at the last few award shows, and if that continues here they have a chance to win despite 2 singles not reaching the top 20. On the other hand, this might be an opportunity for UMG to throw all their weight behind Lady A again, especially if they don't think LBT will be able to top The Band Perry. BMLG will no doubt push TBP pretty hard here, and for the first time, I'll give TBP the slight edge over both LBT and Lady A (mainly because I don't know which of the groups UMG will back this year).

Female Vocalist of the Year:

1) Sheryl Crow
2) Miranda Lambert
3) Kacey Musgraves
4) Taylor Swift
5) Carrie Underwood

Miranda will more than likely win this for the 5th straight year, but I'm going with Kacey for the upset. I guess it's just because I so badly want to believe that the ACM will recognize her for the music she's made (not that the other 4 haven't made good music). She's the only UMG artist here, too, but a few questions remain: is it too early for Kacey to win this? Will her critical acclaim be enough to give her an edge? And, assuming UMG really backs her, will that be enough to topple Miranda's reign, given her support from Sony, her overall popularity, and all the connections/affiliations she has with voters? It's hard to see Kacey as a clear winner, and so that's why my prediction is more of an upset. I think Carrie is more deserving than Miranda here, and perhaps more-so than Kacey as well, but Carrie's on a little hiatus once again, and even though the eligibility period is December through November, I don't think it'll help Carrie that she's basically been quiet all winter (aside from The Sound Of Music). Plus, for whatever reason(s), she must not be as 'buddy-buddy' with as many of the voters as Miranda is. And Sony has supported Miranda over Carrie year after year now. Anyway, I feel like Kacey made the best music this past year, so I am hoping for the upset.

Male Vocalist of the Year:

1) Jason Aldean
2) Lee Brice
3) Luke Bryan
4) Blake Shelton
5) Keith Urban

This is always a tough category, in large part because country radio plays far more men than women. The FVOTY nominations are usually easy to predict, but with the men, there are always plenty of really big stars that can't even get nominated. For this year, see Tim, Brad, Kenny, Hunter, Dierks, Eric, etc.

Jason Aldean won this award last year, after years of nominations but no wins. BBR has definitely become the biggest indie label aside from Big Machine, but can they come up with another push big enough to give Jason the win? Maybe, but my gut tells me this will either go to Luke or Blake. Lee Brice's inclusion is an impressive feat for him and his Curb team, but I don't think he has much of a chance at winning this. And Keith has had a pretty big year, plus more exposure on American Idol, but his commercial impact isn't nearly as big as Blake's or Luke's (Keith was that big 9-10 years ago already). Brad Paisley's 5-year streak ended 3 years ago, and Blake won this award 2 years ago...will Blake get it again, or will Luke pick up his first win here? I think it'll be incredibly close between the two of them, but I'll go with Luke by a hair.

Entertainer of the Year:

1) Luke Bryan
2) Miranda Lambert
3) Blake Shelton
4) George Strait
5) Taylor Swift

Time for the big category. These are all huge names and all of them are well-liked by the industry. I think Miranda is the biggest underdog here, statistically-speaking. And the fan-vote merged with the industry vote complicates things. Luke won it last year but I could see George giving him a strong run this year, and if Swifty's fans come out in droves then she's got as good of a shot as anybody else. I can't see either Blake's fan-base or Miranda's fan-base keeping them in the running. I'll guess Taylor comes in a close 3rd, with Luke barely managing to beat George, largely because of the fan-vote (though I expect Strait to do very well with fan-voting as well).

[onebuffalo]

^Love your predictions except for the Entertainer one.

[jughead]

If Entertainer is solely based on fan-vote then Taylor will almost certainly win. But I think the ACM voting block still has a lot of say when it comes to who wins.

[matty005]

Feb 13, 2014 23:23:32 GMT -5 jughead said:

If Entertainer is solely based on fan-vote then Taylor will almost certainly win. But I think the ACM voting block still has a lot of say when it comes to who wins.

Luke Bryan won last year so Taylor isn't a shoe in.

[jughead]

Feb 13, 2014 23:28:56 GMT -5 matty005 said:

Feb 13, 2014 23:23:32 GMT -5 jughead said:

If Entertainer is solely based on fan-vote then Taylor will almost certainly win. But I think the ACM voting block still has a lot of say when it comes to who wins.

Luke Bryan won last year so Taylor isn't a shoe in.

Wasn't last year's not solely based on fan-vote? I remember Taylor being revealed as the top vote-getter but the ACM voting block went for Luke.

[Deleted]

It's not solely based on fan-vote. The industry has a say as well. I am not sure how much weight each aspect carries, though. But I believe it's the same as last year and like matty005 said, Luke won...and not only that, I think many people expected him to.

[14887fan]

Taylor's voting fanbase at Country music has diminished with the Red era. I don't know if that's simply due to her Pop crossover or not, but judging by the fact that she has, far and away, one of the largest fanbases in the music industry (surpassing every other artist in Country handily) and lost to Luke Bryan at the ACMs last year for EOTY + 2 consecutive years of losses at the CMT Music Awards (all of these losses were fan-voted sans the ACM EOTY, which includes some voting industry input) says something.

[justme60]

I just have to make a comment to 14887fan....that is the most beautiful avatar of Carrie... she is breathtaking. Don't ever change it! ;)

[zaclord 🌈]

Most of Taylor's fans aren't country fans so most of them could care less about voting for a country music award show where they don't care about any of the other nominees. That's why she loses at the CMT awards and other fan-voted country award show awards.

[onebuffalo]

You decide:

theboot.com/acm-awards-fair-or-biased/

[onebuffalo]

Early winners:

ACM RADIO AWARDS LOOK EAST
The winners list for the Academy of Country Music ‹ACMŒ Radio Awards, announced Feb. •¥, is heavily weighted toward east of the Mississippi River with nine of •• radio station and on-air personality winners clustered in the Southeast and the Northeast.
Three of the four local air talent winners hail from North Carolina or Tennessee:
WKKT Charlotte, N.C., morning team Paul Schadt, Meg & Jeff
‹major marketŒ, WQDR Raleigh, N.C., afternoon personality Lisa McKay
‹large marketŒ and WIVK Knoxville, Tenn., morning team Andy Ritchie & Alison West and producer Jimmy Holt ‹medium marketŒ.
A tie in the national category yielded two more personality winners from the Southeast, both based in Nashville: the “Bobby Bones Show” team of Bobby Bones, Amy and Lunchbox—syndicated from flagship WSIX Nashville—and Lon Helton of “Country Countdown USA.”
Radio stations of the year included four Eastern signals—WCTK Providence,
R.I. ‹large marketŒ; WBBS Syracuse, N.Y. ‹mediumŒ; WUSY Chattanooga,
Tenn. ‹smallŒ; and WXTU Philadelphia, which tied with KUPL Portland,
Ore., for major market.
Small-market on-air personality went to the team of Bill Barrett, Tim Fox & Tracy Berry of KKNU Eugene, Ore.
Schadt’s ACM win was just one of his accomplishments that day. He was also among six honorees scheduled for the Country Radio Hall of Fame ceremony
on the evening of Feb. •¥.

[avalyn]

Via ACM's:

The Academy of Country Music and dick clark productions have announced ACM PRESENTS: AN ALL-STAR SALUTE TO THE TROOPS, a concert event featuring some of the biggest names in country music paying tribute to our armed forces, will be broadcast Tuesday, May 20 (9:00-11:00 PM, ET/PT) on the CBS Television Network. The special will be taped Monday, April 7 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas. Country music superstars Merle Haggard, George Strait, Carrie Underwood, Florida Georgia Line, Lady Antebellum and The Band Perry are the first artists to be added to the all-star lineup of performers for the event. The concert will honor the country’s remarkable servicemen and women and include special moments and stories of incredible bravery and integrity.

[Fanofctrymusic]

[14887fan]

Mar 4, 2014 22:07:34 GMT -5 Omega Redneck said:

So I' going with Here's To The Good Times, as I believe it is the better of the albums nominated.

Well, I'm always down to hear out some new opinions. What do you feel makes it better of the albums nominated? (Welcome to PMB, btw.)

[mylifeback]

From People.com today:

Academy of Country Music Award nominees Jason Aldean, Luke Bryan, Miranda Lambert, Blake Shelton, George Strait, Keith Urban and The Band Perry will be among the performers on the April 6 telecast, PEOPLE can reveal.

Did we already know this & I missed it?

[countrygirl918]

Mar 6, 2014 9:44:25 GMT -5 mylifeback said:

From People.com today:

Academy of Country Music Award nominees Jason Aldean, Luke Bryan, Miranda Lambert, Blake Shelton, George Strait, Keith Urban and The Band Perry will be among the performers on the April 6 telecast, PEOPLE can reveal.

Did we already know this & I missed it?

Not officially, but it's not like any of those performers are shockers since they perform at every country award show.

I will be interested to see which newer artists are given performance slots this year.

[Lizl]

NEW ACMs PROMOS!


From the ET website:

With Luke, Blake, Miranda Lambert and Tim Mc Graw


Radio.com Inside ACM Entertainer Of The Year Nominee Recap:



Inside the Entertainer of the Year nominees:

Luke Bryan

Miranda Lambert

Blake Shelton

George Strait

Taylor Swift

[leilamaurizia]

ACM Awards Lineup: Eric Church, Toby Keith, Lady Antebellum and Stevie Nicks Added

Country stars Eric Church, Toby Keith and Lady Antebellum with special guest Stevie Nicks have been added to the performers lineup at the 49th annual Academy of Country Music, The Hollywood Reporter has learned exclusively. The Academy of Country Music and Dick Clark Productions made the joint announcement Friday.

They join previously announced performers Jason Aldean, Luke Bryan, Miranda Lambert, Blake Shelton, George Strait, Keith Urban, Florida Georgia Line and The Band Perry. Bryan and Shelton co-host this year's event, broadcast from the MGM Grant Garden Arena in Las Vegas on Sunday, April 6, at 8 p.m. ET/PT on CBS.

Additional performers and presenters will be announced in the coming weeks.

Lambert and Tim McGraw lead this year's crop with seven nominations apiece, while Urban is close behind with six. Shelton, Lee Brice, Taylor Swift and Kacey Musgraves follow with five nominations.

The Academy of Country Music Awards honors and showcases the biggest names and emerging talent in the country music industry. Allen Shapiro, Mike Mahan, R.A. Clark and Barry Adelman serve as executive producers, with Bob Romeo for the Academy of Country Music.

Dick Clark Productions was purchased in 2012 by Guggenheim Partners, parent company of THR and Billboard.

[Spacey_Kacey]

That must mean Golden is the next single, right?! Mini-freak out right now that they might be continuing the era from the standard edition.

[pumpkinswirl]

Here's who all I think SHOULD win.

Entertainer of the Year - Luke Bryan
Male Vocalist - Luke Bryan
Female Vocalist - Kacey Musgraves
Vocal Duo - Florida Georgia Line
Vocal Group - Little Big Town
Best New Artist - Thomas Rhett
Album of the Year - Crash My Party, Luke Bryan
Single of the Year - "Cruise", Florida Georgia Line
Song of the Year - "I Drive Your Truck", Lee Brice
Vocal Event of the Year - "Wagon Wheel", Darius Rucker ft. Lady Antebellum

[layne]

Mar 14, 2014 10:24:45 GMT -5 Spacey_Kacey said:

That must mean Golden is the next single, right?! Mini-freak out right now that they might be continuing the era from the standard edition.

That would be my assumption as well. However, as much as I like that song, I don't feel it's a good choice going into summer.

[Spacey_Kacey]

Mar 14, 2014 10:28:51 GMT -5 layne said:

Mar 14, 2014 10:24:45 GMT -5 Spacey_Kacey said:

That must mean Golden is the next single, right?! Mini-freak out right now that they might be continuing the era from the standard edition.

That would be my assumption as well. However, as much as I like that song, I don't feel it's a good choice going into summer.

Agreed, it should've been Better Off/All for Love/Long Teenage Goodbye in the summer and Golden/It Ain't Pretty/Can't Stand the Rain to end the era. As much as I like "And the Radio Played", I don't find it single-worthy like many here. Too much name dropping for a radio single that will permanently be in their discography. I'd rather look back on any of the other 6 I listed as part of their career hits.

[layne]

Mar 14, 2014 10:43:00 GMT -5 Spacey_Kacey said:

Mar 14, 2014 10:28:51 GMT -5 layne said:

That would be my assumption as well. However, as much as I like that song, I don't feel it's a good choice going into summer.

Agreed, it should've been Better Off/All for Love/Long Teenage Goodbye in the summer and Golden/It Ain't Pretty/Can't Stand the Rain to end the era. As much as I like "And the Radio Played", I don't find it single-worthy like many here. Too much name dropping for a radio single that will permanently be in their discography. I'd rather look back on any of the other 6 I listed as part of their career hits.

I think "And The Radio Played" is one of the best written most clever songs I've heard in a long time. That said, I just don't today's radio climate is going to connect with that song. I think they wasted the song by putting it on this current Album though if they weren't planning on performing it and releasing it.

[zjames]

Mar 14, 2014 10:57:02 GMT -5 layne said:

Mar 14, 2014 10:43:00 GMT -5 Spacey_Kacey said:

Agreed, it should've been Better Off/All for Love/Long Teenage Goodbye in the summer and Golden/It Ain't Pretty/Can't Stand the Rain to end the era. As much as I like "And the Radio Played", I don't find it single-worthy like many here. Too much name dropping for a radio single that will permanently be in their discography. I'd rather look back on any of the other 6 I listed as part of their career hits.

I think "And The Radio Played" is one of the best written most clever songs I've heard in a long time. That said, I just don't today's radio climate is going to connect with that song. I think they wasted the song by putting it on this current Album though if they weren't planning on performing it and releasing it.

I 100% agree. I haven't listened to the deluxe album yet, but I gave "And The Radio Played" a few listens based on the positive reception here. While I personally enjoy its recollection and incorporation of the past decades of country music, I don't see it being a huge radio hit. I'm not sure most listeners would even know the songs that are referred to in "And The Radio Played".