Eric Church tops the list of final nominees for “The 46th Annual CMA Awards” with five nominations. The reigning CMA Female and Male Vocalist of the Year Miranda Lambert and Blake Shelton each received four nominations. Jason Aldean, Dierks Bentley, Kenny Chesney, Little Big Town and Taylor Swift each received three nominations for Country Music’s Biggest Night™.
“The 46th Annual CMA Awards” will be hosted for the fifth time by Brad Paisley and Carrie Underwood and broadcast live from the Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Thursday, Nov. 1st (8:00-11:00 PM/ET) on the ABC Television Network.
For the seventh year, the announcement of the final nominees in five of the 12 CMA Awards categories was made live on ABC News’ “Good Morning America” with Aldean and Luke Bryan (who filled in for Lady Antebellum whose plane was delayed) delivering the news from the heart of New York City’s Times Square. They then dashed to nearby B.B. King Blues Club and Grill to announce the finalists in the remaining seven categories during a press conference that was made available across the world via live stream at CMAworld.com.
Church received his first CMA Awards nomination last year for New Artist of the Year. A year later, he tops the list of nominees with five including Male Vocalist; Album for Chief, which was produced by Jay Joyce; Single of the Year for “Springsteen,” also produced by Joyce; Song of the Year for “Springsteen,” written by Church, Ryan Tyndell, and Jeff Hyde, a member of Church’s band; and Music Video of the Year for “Springsteen,” directed by Peter Zavadil.
There was no place like Home for Dierks Bentley. He received three nominations including Album of the Year for Home, produced by Brett Beavers, Luke Wooten, and Jon Randall Stewart; Single of the Year for “Home,” produced by Beavers and Wooten; and Song of the Year for “Home,” written by Bentley, Beavers, and Dan Wilson, lead singer of Semisonic.
Little Big Town made a splash with “Pontoon” in 2012. The popular group was nominated for Vocal Group of the Year in addition to capturing nominations for Music Video and Single of the Year for “Pontoon,” directed by Declan Whitebloom and produced by Jay Joyce respectively.
Church was not the only artist making his debut in the Male Vocalist category. Luke Bryan enters the elite list for the first time in 2012. Bryan also picked up a second nomination for Album of the Year for tailgates & tanlines, produced by Jeff Stevens and Mark Bright. Check out his reaction on People.com. “Man, that was a blast announcing the CMA nominations with my buddy Jason Aldean. I am so honored to be nominated in two great categories!” Bryan posted on his Facebook page following the show.
Previously, Church and Bryan received only best new artist nominations. Both made a splash – earning spots on the male vocalist and album of the year lists, joining Aldean, Shelton and Keith Urban.
And they also shook up the album of the year list – Bryan for “Tailgates & Tanlines” and Church for “Chief.” Other nominees in that category included Lambert’s “Four the Record,” Bentley’s “Home” and Lady Antebellum’s “Own the Night.”
“Those are just really, really important categories and stuff that really anytime I get nominated and I look at the company that I’m in it’s pretty amazing,” Bryan said.
Keith Urban, completes the Male Vocalist of the Year category. Urban won the trophy three times (2004, 2005, and 2006).
Lady Antebellum, who is the reigning Vocal Group of the Year for the past three consecutive years, also earned a nod in the Vocal Group of the Year. Lady A is also nominated for Album of the Year for Own The Night, which the group produced with Paul Worley making them eligible to receive a second trophy for producing the nominated record.
The Song of the Year trophy is presented to and celebrates the songwriters. Nominees in addition to those previously mentioned include “Even if It Breaks Your Heart” by Will Hoge and Eric Paslay (recorded by Eli Young Band). The song was the first No. 1 for Hoge, who is a solo artist in his own right. Paslay also has a blossoming solo career and has penned songs for Lady Antebellum, Jake Owen, and Love and Theft. This is their first CMA Awards nomination.
The Musical Event of the Year category always provides an eclectic mix of talent and unique collaborations and 2012 was no exception. In addition to the nominations for Chesney and Swift, Alan Jackson and Zac Brown were nominated for “Dixie Highway”; Willie Nelson, Snoop Lion (formerly Snoop Dogg), Kris Kristofferson, and Jamey Johnson received a nomination for “Roll Me Up And Smoke Me When I Die”; and Lionel Richie and Darius Rucker were nominated for “Stuck On You.”
Jackson’s nomination ties him with George Strait for the most career CMA Awards nominations with 81 each.
Winners of “The 46th Annual CMA Awards” will be determined in a final round of voting by eligible voting members of the Country Music Association. CMA Awards balloting is officiated by the international accounting firm of Deloitte & Touche LLP. The third and final ballot will be emailed to CMA members Thursday, Oct. 4. Voting for the CMA Awards final ballot ends Monday, Oct. 22 (5:00 PM/CT).
Tickets for “The 46th Annual CMA Awards” go on sale to the public Saturday, Sept. 29 (10:00 AM/CT).
Single of the Year
(Award goes to Artist and Producer(s))
“Dirt Road Anthem”
Jason Aldean
Produced by Michael Knox
Broken Bow Records
“God Gave Me You”
Blake Shelton
Produced by Scott Hendricks
Warner Bros. Records
“Home”
Dierks Bentley
Produced by Brett Beavers and Luke Wooten
Capitol Records Nashville
“Pontoon”
Little Big Town
Produced by Jay Joyce
Capitol Records Nashville
“Springsteen”
Eric Church
Produced by Jay Joyce
EMI Records Nashville
Album of the Year
(Award goes to Artist and Producer(s))
Chief
Eric Church
Produced by Jay Joyce
EMI Records Nashville
Four The Record
Miranda Lambert
Produced by Frank Liddell, Chuck Ainlay, and Glenn Worf
RCA Nashville
Home
Dierks Bentley
Produced by Brett Beavers, Luke Wooten, and Jon Randall Stewart
Capitol Records Nashville
Own The Night
Lady Antebellum
Produced by Paul Worley and Lady Antebellum
Capitol Records Nashville
tailgates & tanlines
Luke Bryan
Produced by Jeff Stevens and Mark Bright
Capitol Records Nashville
Song of the Year
(Award goes to Songwriter(s))
“Even If It Breaks Your Heart”
Will Hoge and Eric Paslay
“God Gave Me You”
Dave Barnes
“Home”
Dan Wilson, Brett Beavers, and Dierks Bentley
“Over You”
Miranda Lambert and Blake Shelton
“Springsteen”
Eric Church, Ryan Tyndell, and Jeff Hyde
Male Vocalist of the Year
Jason Aldean
Luke Bryan
Eric Church
Blake Shelton
Keith Urban
Vocal Group of the Year
Eli Young Band
Lady Antebellum
Little Big Town
The Band Perry
Zac Brown Band
Musical Event of the Year
(Award goes to each Artist)
“Dixie Highway”
Alan Jackson featuring Zac Brown
ACR/EMI Records Nashville
“Feel Like A Rock Star”
Kenny Chesney (duet with Tim McGraw)
Blue Chair Records/Columbia Nashville
“Roll Me Up and Smoke Me When I Die”
Willie Nelson with Snoop Dogg, Kris Kristofferson, and Jamey Johnson
Legacy Recordings
“Safe & Sound”
Taylor Swift (featuring The Civil Wars)
Big Machine Records/Universal Republic Records
“Stuck On You”
Lionel Richie (with Darius Rucker)
Mercury Records Nashville
Music Video of the Year
(Award goes to Artist and Director)
“Come Over”
Kenny Chesney
Directed by Shaun Silva
“Over You”
Miranda Lambert
Directed by Trey Fanjoy
“Pontoon”
Little Big Town
Directed by Declan Whitebloom
“Red Solo Cup”
Toby Keith
Directed by Michael Salomon
“Springsteen”
Eric Church
Directed by Peter Zavadil
AUDIO: Eric Church is shocked at receiving the most nominations for this year’s CMA Awards.
Eric Church (CMA nominations 2012) OC: …get this done. 1:13
“I really don’t know what to say. The funny part of the story is I’ve been on vacation for the last week and I lost my phone in the Gulf of Mexico when I was swimming. And I had no clue that even the CMA nominations were today and just landing on an airplane, and really just been unplugged and not paying attention to what’s going on in the world. I got whisked to my management office and they had a screen up that said we were the most nominated artist, so I’m still a little bit in shock. I’m truly speechless. I think it’s a testament to really fans that believed in the music and loved the music and told people about the music. Otherwise, we don’t really have really the track record to be the most nominated artist at this point in time in our career for the path that we’ve taken. I think it’s truly because of the fans and because they did something that’s, I think, really going to be judged as pretty special and pretty unique that we were able to get this done.”
AUDIO: The members of Little Big Town express their excitement over their 3 CMA nominations.
LBT on CMA nominations OC: (Phillip) …cloud nine right now. :22
“[SCREAMS] JIMI: “We were freaking out! It kinda sounded like that.” KIMBERLY: “Yeah, it did.” KAREN: “We’re so thrilled and so honored. The Group of the Year category is fierce, fierce. We’re so honored to be a part of it.” PHILLIP: “We literally were jumping up and slapping and high fives and hugging each other. I mean, we’re so thrilled. This is the best. Living on cloud nine right now.”
AUDIO: Dierks Bentley talks about the diversity of songs on his CMA-nominated album, Home.
Dierks Bentley (diversity of songs) OC: …I am, musically. :27
“I think what’s cool about this record, and one thing I tried to capture on it is a diversity of the music but it all falls within the confines of who I am as a country singer as far as loving the country sounds, the bluegrass sounds, loving some of the rock sounds and energy and mixing it all together on a record. I think it’s all there so I think there’s a diversity of subject matter and sounds but in a way that it all kind of gels together pretty well and it’s a good description of who I am, musically.”
AUDIO: Lady A’s Charles Kelley says the band wrote songs about their experiences and real life for their CMA-nominated album, Own the Night.
Lady A (write what we know) OC: …relate to, you know? :09
“We just write about what we know, you know. We don’t know much about changing the world or politics, so we stick to love songs. And I think it’s stuff everybody can relate to, you know?”
AUDIO: Luke Bryan says his CMA-nominated album, tailgates & tanlines, is more than just a collection of party songs.
Luke Bryan (more than a party) OC: …live shows. :26
“I think it has serious stuff too. It’s a deeper deal too than just a party. I mean, I think what’s important to be able to do those fun songs but then to hit fans with a big thought song that really gets ‘em. People want to come and have a good time and I think that what you need to do with your albums. You can’t overload your album with it but you certainly need it for the live show and want it to happen in the live shows.”
