CMA FEMALE VOCALIST OF THE YEAR

There were a dozen years during which the Female Vocalist of the Year category was dominated by Carrie Underwood with five trophies and Miranda Lambert with seven, but the last four have all seen first-time winners: Kacey Musgraves (2019), Maren Morris (2020), Carly Pearce (2021) and Lainey Wilson (2022). While getting a record up the radio chart isn’t any easier for women, the space for female vocalists making an impact feels as if it’s starting to open up—and several very singular women have walked through that door.

Frustrated by the difficulty of access to the format’s most obvious delivery portal, each has created a musical identity that reflects who they are instead of “what radio will play.” Refusing to follow a template has allowed them to make meaningful impact through streaming, in the media and on the road.

Wilson, whose “Heart Like A Truck” speaks for women earning their way for themselves everywhere, appears to be the woman to beat. Not only has her Bell Bottom Country album helped propel a serious summer on the road, her features with HARDY (“Wait In The Truck”) and Jelly Roll (“Save Me”) add an emotional current to her strong woman country that suggests real nuance. With “Things A Man Ought To Know” taking the 2022 Academy of Country Music Song of the Year, she seized that momentum and swept the 2023 ACM Awards with wins for Album, Vocal Event, Video and Female Vocalist.

Triple Country Album of the Year Grammy nominee Ashley McBryde might well be the next first-time Female Vocalist. Having won the Vocal Event/Country Performance by a Duo or Group Award at the CMA, ACM and Grammy awards with Pearce, the woman whose Welcome To Lindeville was a song cycle capturing the soap operas that define small town life will release The Devil I Know this September. Carrying her creative momentum to new heights, she’s an industry favorite in the same way Brothers Osborne and Chris Stapleton have always been.

Pearce, who’s spent the year on tour with Blake Shelton and released a live album in the spring, is digging into new music with a duet recorded with six-time CMA Male Vocalist Stapleton, “We Don’t Fight Any More.” Currently working on a follow-up to the CMA Album of the Year-nominated 29:Written in Stone, she continues building her own kind of country. Direct and straightforward, the Dollywood-honed vocalist’s roots—and music—run deep.

Underwood, who unveils a brand new “Waiting All Day For Sunday Night” kickoff for NBC’s Sunday Night Football telecast, released her co-produced Denim & Rhinestones this year to acclaim. More importantly, she continues delivering intense Mariah/Whitney/Christina-caliber vocal performances on the road, whether her massive arena tour or Vegas residency.

Lambert, who celebrated her label independence by recording a sultry duet with Leon Bridges, continued making her high-impact, musicianship-forward brand of Texas maverick country with two more runs at her Vegas residency. Flexing a special guest triple play of Elle King, Bridges and Avril Lavigne at CMA Music Fest’s stadium show, Lambert remains one of country’s boldest cross-pollinators. The songwriter-artist, who has recorded with the B-52s, Jon Randall and Jack Ingram (their Grammy-winning campfire sessions, The Marfa Tapes), and mainstream forces like Keith Urban and Underwood, continues exploring country music’s potential beyond her life-derived songs.

Five-time nominee Kelsea Ballerini could return to the category after a three-year absence. Taking the unconventional approach of a commercial project with a hit single in “If You Go Down (I’m Going Down Too)” at country radio, she also released a deeply personal, more organic EP Rolling Up The Welcome Mat. Together, they demonstrate her versatility, but her EP suggests the depth and gravitas of an artist finding her voice.

There’s always room for surprises. Reba has enjoyed a masterful resurgence this year. Announcing a book and a Dave Cobb-produced stripped down “greatest hits” with a new song, energy is strong around the Country Music Hall of Famer, who returned to her longtime home at Universal.

Hailey Whitters has become a hard country charmer. The New Yorker, The New York Times, Vulture and NPR all sing the praises of the young woman from Iowa. She picked up the ACM’s New Female Artist this spring, showing a real spark in her satellite stage performance. As “Everything She Ain’t” solidifies at radio, timing might be right for the songwriter who’s been making a lot of friends over the last several years.

Megan Moroney exploded with the viral “Tennessee Orange,” which became a No. 1, and her CMT Breakthrough Female Video of the Year win. Her 2022 self-released Pistol Made of Roses EP created a meaningful base, even before the songwriter-artist dropped her debut album Lucky on Columbia in May. Not since Taylor Swift has a young writer cored the teen/20-something experience with such tart humor—about mean girls and stupid guys—and a compassionate—to herself and her friends—heart.

WILD CARDS: Reba McEntire, Megan Moroney, Hailey Whitters

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PHOTO CREDITS
Lainey Wilson: Kevin Winter/Getty Images
Carrie Underwood: Jeremy Cowart
Miranda Lambert: Jay Blakesberg via EB Media
Carly Pearce: Allister Ann
Ashley McBryde: Katie Kauss
Megan Moroney: David McCliste