CHANGE IN THE AIR AT THE CMAs

Miranda Lambert and Blake Shelton have five new trophies for their mantelpiece, four belonging to Lambert, after winning nearly half of the 11 categories at last night’s CMA Awards in Nashville. It was especially fitting for country’s power couple that they won twin Vocalist of the Year awards, Lambert for the fifth straight year. She also prevailed in both the Album and Single of the Year categories with the prophetically titled Platinum and "Automatic."

Favorite Luke Bryan got Entertainer of the Year for his first CMA win, prompting him to acknowledge afterward, "I have long sought to have one of these in my hands."

But for us Yankees, the biggest takeaway was country maverick Kacey Musgraves’ Song of the Year win for the envelope-pushing "Follow Your Arrow," which she wrote with Brandy Clark and Shane McAnally.

"Do you guys realize what this means for country music?" said Musgraves as she accepted the award for a song that references same-sex relationships and smoking weed. Interestingly, a line about rolling a joint was censored during her performance of the song at last year's CMAs.

"I think I can speak for all of us when I say that this award means so much because our genre was built on simple, good songs about real life," Musgraves continued. "And that's what this was. And it was because of the fans that connected with it who spread it and took it farther than I ever could." "Follow Your Arrow" peaked at #49 on Country radio.

The elephant in the room was obviously the absent Taylor Swift, but co-hosts Brad Paisley and Carrie Underwood defused the tension during their opening bit by breaking out a song about "Postpartum Taylor Swift Disorder," or PPTSD. They also joked that Obama’s lack of concern about PPTSD contributed to Republicans winning the U.S. Senate on Tuesday. The live audience loved that one.

Paisley courted controversy in another bit of comedy by referencing a new ABC sitcom that usually airs after Modern Family on Wednesday nights. "If you were looking for Black-ish tonight, yeah, this ain't it," he quipped. "In the meantime, I hope you enjoy White-ish."

Now that’s funny.

Performances by Ariana Grande (with Little Big Town) and Meghan Trainor (with Lambert) underscored the impression that a sea change is underway in country music.

Entertainer of the Year
Luke Bryan

Female Vocalist of the Year
Miranda Lambert

Male Vocalist of the Year
Blake Shelton

Vocal Group of the Year
Little Big Town

Vocal Duo of the Year
Florida Georgia Line

New Artist of the Year
Brett Eldredge

Album of the Year
Platinum, Miranda Lambert

Single of the Year
"Automatic" Miranda Lambert

Song of the Year
"Follow Your Arrow" Kacey Musgraves (writers: Musgraves, Brandy Clark and Shane McAnally)

Vocal Event of the Year
"We Were Us," Keith Urban and Miranda Lambert

Video of the Year
"Drunk on a Plane" Dierks Bentley (directed by Wes Edwards)