The nominations for the 50th Annual Grammy Awards were announced, and Keith Urban picked up three nods, including Best Country Solo Performance and Best Country Song for his current smash, “Blue Ain’t Your Color,” while his album, RipCord competes for Best Country Album.

Keith received the news while he’s been overseas touring in Australia. “It’s 2am, and I’m just coming down from a crazy great show overseas,” he said in a statement. “I’m totally blown away with these nominations. Making RipCord was really a collaborative labor of love both for the music and all the people that helped me bring my vision to life. I’ll stay up anytime to hear news like this…just not sure of how to get to sleep now!!”

I’m totally blown away with these nominations… – KU #GRAMMYs pic.twitter.com/dvSSfSR9V3

— Keith Urban (@KeithUrban) December 6, 2016

Brothers Osborne earned a Grammy nom for Best Country Duo/Group Performance for their recent single, “21 Summer,” competing with Dierks Bentley and Elle King for “Different for Girls.”

The Brothers, who just won their first CMA Award for Duo of the Year, tweeted out their reaction, saying “We’ll never take these moments for granted. Ever. Thank you @RecordingAcad.”

We'll never take these moments for granted. Ever. Thank you @RecordingAcad

#DifferentForGirls Nominated Best Country Duo/Group Performance! #GRAMMYs pic.twitter.com/ScU8H5DPCa

— Dierks Bentley (@DierksBentley) December 6, 2016

 

Vince Gill scored a couple of nominations, including Best Americana Roots Song for penning “Kid Sister,” which is also the title of his Best Americana Album with his band The Time Jumpers.

Hillary Scott & the Scott Family are nominated for Contemporary Christian Song for “Thy Will” and their album, Love Remains.

Y'all, #LoveRemains is nominated for Best Contemporary Christian Album…thank you @thegrammys… https://t.co/SxJofM2XQ0

— Hillary Scott (@HillaryScottLA) December 6, 2016

The 50th Annual Grammy Awards, hosted by James Corden, will air live from the Staples Center in L.A. February 12th at 8pm ET on CBS.

Best Country Solo Performance:
“Love Can Go To Hell” — Brandy Clark
“Vice” — Miranda Lambert
“My Church” — Maren Morris
“Church Bells” — Carrie Underwood
“Blue Ain’t Your Color” — Keith Urban

Best Country Duo/Group Performance:
“Different For Girls” — Dierks Bentley Featuring Elle King
“21 Summer” — Brothers Osborne
“Setting The World On Fire” — Kenny Chesney & P!nk
“Jolene” — Pentatonix Featuring Dolly Parton
“Think Of You” — Chris Young With Cassadee Pope

Best Country Song:
“Blue Ain’t Your Color” —  Clint Lagerberg, Hillary Lindsey & Steven Lee Olsen, songwriters (Keith Urban)
“Die A Happy Man” — Sean Douglas, Thomas Rhett & Joe Spargur, songwriters (Thomas Rhett)
“Humble And Kind” — Lori McKenna, songwriter (Tim McGraw)
“My Church” — busbee & Maren Morris, songwriters (Maren Morris)
“Vice” — Miranda Lambert, Shane McAnally & Josh Osborne, songwriters (Miranda Lambert)

Best Country Album:
Big Day In A Small Town — Brandy Clark
Full Circle — Loretta Lynn
Hero — Maren Morris
A Sailor’s Guide To Earth — Sturgill Simpson
Ripcord — Keith Urban

Audio / Keith Urban talks about recording the song, “Blue Ain’t Your Color,” from his new album Ripcord.

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Keith Urban (Blue Ain’t Your Color) OC: …of space. :50
“With this record, I think I was also trying to find songs and write songs to what I had done in the past, just that felt different for me. This song called ‘Blue Ain’t Your Color’ came along, and again, it was just one of those that I loved immediately. I loved the lyric. I loved the melody, the feel, and it’s basically a waltz, you know, like a one, two, three, two, two, three, a one, two, three, two, two, three. But I didn’t want it to feel like a waltz, you know? So, when we recorded the song at Starstruck Studios here in Nashville, we kept it a little more robotic sounding, so it wasn’t a straight band. It was a little more machinery, rhythmically, and I think it kept, hopefully for me at least, it kept it in a unique place to allow the story to have a lot of space.”

Audio / John and TJ Osborne of Brothers Osborne explain how they work together as a duo.

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Brothers Osborne (duo) OC: …in country music. :56
TJ: “[For] most duos it’s built on singing. I mean, John’s an incredible guitar player and to not try to follow in anyone’s footsteps and just kind of do it our own way, it’s really built off of me singing and John playing the guitar. So, I think it is unique and fun and cool, and it kind of gives two kind of parallels that I think work really nicely together. It’s really fun in a live setting too.” JOHN: “It’s kind of an old-school rock approach, you know. In country music, you have two singers that sing a lot of harmonies and stuff together, and we do that as brothers – sing a lot together – but his voice in the band is his voice and my voice is guitar. We look back at a lot of old rock bands like Aerosmith to The Allman Brothers and guys like that, where it’s like a lead singer and the sideman guitar player. That’s the approach that we’re going for, and it seems to be really working for us. It’s kind of carving our path in country music.”

Audio / Dierks Bentley talks about having Elle King sing on the song, “Different For Girls” on his new album, Black.

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Dierks Bentley (Elle King) OC: …new place. :36
“Well, I love Elle King’s voice. I mean she has such a unique voice, and you never know if her voice is going to blend with your voice. I didn’t found out until I went down to the studio in Austin, and right away it was just a really natural sounding blend. Her voice just lifted up this song. The lyrics of this song are pretty strong and her voice on this particular song really takes the song to a whole other level. I really wanted to find a way for her not to just be background vocals. I wanted to find a way to really get her included in the song, so I gave her the second verse and made the song more of a conversation as opposed to just background vocals. And it really, it just took the song to a whole new place.”

Audio / Hillary Scott says the new album, Love Remains, is about leaving a mark and the person she wants to be.

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Hillary Scott (leaving a mark) OC: …leaving a mark. 1:20
“I have always really tried to be an open book, you know? And I think everybody can see that. Over the years of being in the public eye, and if you’re a friend in my personal life, ya know outside of work. I think for me, a lot of this record is just about wanting to say something that is real, and authentic and wanting, I feel like I’ve always tried to be truly who I am to people. It doesn’t get more ‘me’ than these songs…and a lot of it is the me I’m trying to be. It’s not the me that I necessarily am right now. It’s the me that I hope to continue to grow into and, I think now as a mother to a beautiful little girl, you think a lot about what you’re gonna leave behind. Even though, I just had a birthday, and I’m not that old [LAUGHS]…but it’s just, like what you want to teach your children, what you want them to teach their friends, and their children, and with my family on it, I think that is an even more a part of the heart of this project. I mean, this isn’t just me leaving a legacy, this is my parents leaving a legacy. And in honor of the life that they’ve lived, and the loss that they’ve had, and the dreams that they’ve had come true, all of it. It’s about leaving a mark.”