UMG NASHVILLE ACM NOMINATIONS: Eric Church, Luke Bryan, Little Big Town, Lady A, Kacey Musgraves, Eric Paslay, Sugarland, David Nail, Vince Gill and more! (AUDIO)

The nominations for the 48^th Annual Academy of Country Music Awards were announced on Wednesday, and Eric Church leads the list with seven, including Male Vocalist, Album (Chief) and Video of the Year for “Creepin’.” He is twice nominated for Song of the Year for “Springsteen,” as both artist and composer. Church also earned nominations for Single of the Year for “Springsteen” and for Vocal Event of the Year for “The Only Way I Know” with Jason Aldean and Luke Bryan.

Luke Bryan received four nominations, including his first-ever Entertainer of the Year and Male Vocalist of the Year nominations. He also received nominations for Album of the Year for tailgates & tanlines and Vocal Event of the Year for “The Only Way I Know” with Jason Aldean and Eric Church.

Little Big Town are also up for four awards, including their seventh nomination for Vocal Group of the Year. They’re also nominated for Album of the Year, Single Record of the Year for “Pontoon” and Video of the Year for “Tornado.”

First-time ACM nominee, Kacey Musgraves is nominated for four awards including Female Vocalist of the Year, New Female Vocalist of the Year and twice for Video of the Year for “Merry Go ‘Round” as both artist and producer.

Lady Antebellum picked up their sixth nomination for Vocal Group of the Year. Lady A’s Hillary Scott tweeted, “So excited about our @ACMawards Vocal Group nom and that my fav Broke Girl @BethBehrs announced it!!!! Yay!!!” Vince Gill picked up a nod in the Vocal Event of the Year with Kelly Clarkson for “Don’t Rush,” while David Nail is also nominated in the same category with Sarah Buxton for “Let It Rain.” Eric Paslay also enjoys a nomination for writing “Even If It Breaks Your Heart” for Song of the Year, while Sugarland garners their eighth nomination for Vocal Duo. Sugarland’s Kristian Bush took to Twitter to give his reaction – “Excited about @ACMawards Duo nom this morning. Congrats, @JenniferNettles! It’s an honor to be nominated with you again.”

Luke Bryan will join Blake Shelton as co-host of the 48th Annual ACM Awards, which will be broadcast live from the MGM in Las Vegas April 7th on CBS.

For the sixth year, fans will help select the winner of the Academy’s most prestigious honor, Entertainer of the Year, and the winners will be announced live during the show.

Fan voting for New Artist of the Year and Entertainer of the Year begins on March 25th at 3pm ET/12noon PT at VoteACM.com. Fan voting for Entertainer of the Year will close during the third hour of the LIVE broadcast.

Nominees were revealed online via the second annual ACM digital press conference this morning on the Academy’s Facebook and Twitter pages. Iconic singer-songwriter Sheryl Crow, The Band Perry, 2 Broke Girls star Beth Behrs, Little Big Town, Scotty McCreery, Ryan Seacrest, The Talk’s Julie Chen, Sarah Gilbert, Sharon Osbourne, Aisha Tyler, and Sheryl Underwood, plus Entertainment Tonight co-anchors Nancy O’Dell and Rob Marciano all announced batches of nominations in video postings during the approximately 35 minute online event, which culminated in music fans announcing the nominees for the Academy’s biggest prize, Entertainer of the Year.

Entertainer of the Year

Jason Aldean
Luke Bryan
Miranda Lambert
Blake Shelton
Taylor Swift

Male Vocalist of the Year

Jason Aldean
Luke Bryan
Eric Church
Toby Keith
Blake Shelton

Female Vocalist of the Year

Miranda Lambert
Martina McBride
Kacey Musgraves
Taylor Swift
Carrie Underwood

Vocal Duo of the Year

Big & Rich
Florida Georgia Line
Love and Theft
Sugarland
Thompson Square

Vocal Group of the Year

The Band Perry
Eli Young Band
Lady Antebellum
Little Big Town
Zac Brown Band

NEW ARTIST OF THE YEAR PRESENTED BY KOHL’S DEPARTMENT STORES [Winners of New Male, New Female & New Vocal Duo or Group Of The Year]

Florida Georgia Line
Brantley Gilbert
Jana Kramer

ALBUM OF THE YEAR [Award to Artist(s)/Producer(s)/Record Company]

Blown Away – Carrie Underwood (19/Arista Nashville)
Produced by: Mark Bright

Chief – Eric Church (EMI-Nashville)
Produced by: Jay Joyce

Red – Taylor Swift (Big Machine Records)
Produced by: Jeff Bhasker, Nathan Chapman, Dann Huff, Jacknife Lee, Max Martin, Shellback, Taylor Swift, Butch Walker, Dan Wilson

tailgates & tanlines – Luke Bryan (Capitol Nashville)
Produced by: Mark Bright, Jeff Stevens

Tornado – Little Big Town (Capitol Nashville)
Produced by: Jay Joyce

Single Record of the Year [Award to Artist(s)/Producer(s)/Record Company]

Even If It Breaks Your Heart – Eli Young Band (Republic Nashville)
Produced by: Mike Wrucke

Over You – Miranda Lambert (RCA)
Produced by: Chuck Ainlay, Frank Liddell, Glenn Worf

Pontoon – Little Big Town (Capitol Nashville)
Produced by: Jay Joyce

Springsteen – Eric Church (EMI-Nashville)
Produced by: Jay Joyce

Wanted – Hunter Hayes (Atlantic/WMN)
Produced by: Hunter Hayes, Dann Huff

Song of the Year [Award to Composer(s)/Publisher(s)/Artist(s)]

A Woman Like You – Lee Brice
Composers: Phil Barton, Johnny Bulford, Jon Stone

Even If It Breaks Your Heart – Eli Young Band
Composers: Will Hoge, Eric Paslay

Over You – Miranda Lambert
Composers: Miranda Lambert, Blake Shelton

Springsteen – Eric Church
Composers: Eric Church, Jeff Hyde, Ryan Tyndell

Wanted – Hunter Hayes
Composers: Hunter Hayes, Troy Verges

Video of the Year [Award to Producer(s)/Director(s)/Artist(s)] *(Off Camera Award) [TIE]

Creepin’ – Eric Church
Producer: Iris Baker
Director: Peter Zavadil

Merry Go ‘Round – Kacey Musgraves
Producers: Perry Bean, Kacey Musgraves
Director: Perry Bean

Tornado – Little Big Town
Producer: Iris Baker
Director: Shane Drake

Wanted – Hunter Hayes
Producers: Stephanie Reeves, Eric Williams
Directors: Traci Goudie, Patrick Hubik

We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together – Taylor Swift
Producer: John Nguyen
Director: Declan Whitebloom

The Wind – Zac Brown Band
Producer: Ben Kalina
Director: Mike Judge

Vocal Event of the Year [Award to Artist(s)/Producer(s)/Record Company] *(Off Camera Award)

Don’t Rush – Kelly Clarkson Featuring Vince Gill (19/RCA/Columbia Nashville)
Produced by: Dann Huff

Easy – Rascal Flatts Featuring Natasha Bedingfield (Big Machine Records)
Produced by: Dann Huff, Brian Kennedy, Rascal Flatts

Feel Like A Rock Star – Kenny Chesney (Duet With Tim McGraw) (Blue Chair/BNA)
Produced by: Buddy Cannon, Kenny Chesney

Let It Rain – David Nail Featuring Sarah Buxton (MCA Nashville)
Produced by: Chuck Ainlay, Frank Liddell

The Only Way I Know – Jason Aldean With Luke Bryan & Eric Church (Broken Bow) Produced by: Michael Knox

AUDIO: Eric Church is the most nominated artist at this year’s ACM Awards with seven nods.

Eric Church (ACMs) OC: …get this done. :16
“I think it’s a testament to really fans that believed in the music and loved the music and told people about the music. 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: Luke Bryan, who picked up several nominations, including Entertainer of the Year, says there’s not a more gratifying feeling than to have the shows on his Dirt Road Diaries Tour sell-out.

Luke Bryan (sold-out shows) OC: …in the world. 1:00
“We felt like we were going to be really strong in certain places, but when I get an email or my management calls me or my promoter texts me and goes, ‘Dude, you just sold something out in five minutes.’ I mean, that’s where I always dreamed of being as an artist, to have music out there that you love playing every night. And every time I look on my set list and see what song I have next, I go, ‘Ooh, ooh, this is gonna be fun,’ and that’s such a blessing for me, I mean, just the vibe that’s going on. I love having Thompson Square and Florida Georgia [Line] out there. They’re killing it. It’s just a fun three hours for fans, and I never would’ve imagined that they’d have been selling out this quick. It’s like an inner peace that I’ve been searching for as an artist to roll into town, and it’s like, you know it’s sold-out. There’s no better feeling. It’s the most gratifying experience, really, in the world.”

AUDIO: Little Big Town’s Phillip Sweet says working on the band’s new album, Tornado, was a lesson in letting go and letting the music guide them.

LBT (album art of letting go) OC: …let go like that. :35
“This was the discipline and art of letting go, this album. It was like learning to be a little more free and not trying to control it so much and letting the music guide us. And we really didn’t have a lot of time on our hands to sift through it. We had to kind of go in the moment and get it and act fast. Go on your gut instinct, and I think that’s what we needed, of course – a challenge for us, because we’d always have time to work out the parts and meticulously spend way more time with it. It was a really fun process to do that, and to let go like that.

AUDIO: Kacey Musgraves talks about her debut single, “Merry Go ‘Round.”

Kacey Musgraves (Merry Go ‘Round) OC: …felt this way. :17
“So, ‘Merry Go ‘Round’ was inspired by growing up in a small, conservative Texas town. I think we all kind of grow up with expectations of breaking the cycle of life as we know it, trying to appear as if all is perfect under the surface. Coming from Texas, a small Texas town, I’ve definitely grown up with this. I think we’re all guilty of having something that keeps us distracted, no matter what the vice and our comfort zones kind of keep us settled, and I think there’s hope in knowing that everyone has felt this way.”