CMA TAKEAWAYS: COUNTRY SWINGS OPEN ITS DOORS

Morgan Wallen gets seven. Cody Johnson and Chris Stapleton notch five apiece. But the real swing factor for the 58th Annual Country Music Association Awards is brand-new country force and first-time nominee Post Malone, who pulls in four nominations—in Song, Single, Video and Musical Event—for “I Had Some Help,” his exuberant duet with Wallen.

At a time when country is facing an inflection point with new media, outlier artists having an impact and criticism for its lack of diversity, Malone—along with Shaboozey, who scores nods for Best New Artist and Single of the Year for “A Bar Song (Tipsy)”—represents the hip-hop integration of Music Row. Intriguingly, both artists have spent time around Nashville and the country-music rooms, demonstrating a willingness to be part of the genre’s creative community.

It's hard to argue with the infectiousness and impact of both songs. Clearly roots-dependent, both “Help” and “(Tipsy)” brought hip-hop influences and country flair to a place where their commingling felt fresh, free and almost organic. All these factors explain why voters voted for the two artists and their songs.

Wallen, alongside collaborators Louis Bell, Charlie Midnight and Hoskins, who each score nods for Song, Single and Musical Event, really benefited from the Posty wave. The Teflon superstar, who’s spent his summer in stadiums, also scored an Entertainer, Male Vocalist and second Musical Event for “Man Made a Bar” featuring Eric Church, demonstrating the breadth of recognition the East Tennessean has achieved.

Johnson, the staunch Texas traditionalist, whose classic American-values ode “Until You Can’t” won 2022’s Single and Video of the Year, earns his third Male Vocalist nod, while also being nominated for Album for Leather, Single for “Dirt Cheap.” In addition, he and director Dustin Haney snagged Video nods for “Dirt Cheap” and “The Painter”; both songs are also nominated for Song of the Year, honors that would go to writers Josh Phillips and Benjy Davis, Kat Higgins and Ryan Larkins, respectively.

Stapleton’s presence remains ubiquitous. The 21-time CMA winner, whose previous kudos include seven Male Vocalist and three Album of the Year scores, appears in Entertainer, Male Vocalist, Album for Higher and Song and Single for “White Horse.” The fiercely soulful songwriter has forged a space based on creative standards that defy standard Nashville hit-brokering. Like Willie Nelson, his gift transcends conventional wisdom—and the voters continue to recognize his Southern-rock/bluegrass/songwriting-driven hybrid.

Lainey Wilson, who swept the 2023 CMAs, winning Entertainer, Album and Female Vocalist, plus Music Video and Event for “Wait in the Truck” with HARDY, receives nominations for Entertainer, Single (“Watermelon Moonshine”), Video (“Wildflowers and Wild Horses”) and Female Vocalist, which she’s won the last two years. A voice for hardscrabble working-class people, especially women, Wilson has always been more country than most, and voters have responded to her singular look and style.

Scoring three major nominations—Entertainer, Male and Album—for Whitsitt Chapel, last year’s Best New Artist Jelly Roll continues to be recognized for both his music and live performance. With “Need a Favor” earning 2023 Single and Video nods and “Save Me” with Wilson earning a 2023 Musical Event nom, Jelly Roll is establishing a far-reaching, Merle Haggard-esque impact.

Two-time Entertainer, Album and Male Vocalist winner Luke Combs returns in all those categories this year. A powerhouse vocalist who shares a populist’s worldview in his music and approach to fame, Combs represents the Everyman of the flyover with his strong sense of humor and embrace of how good life can be.

Intriguingly Golden, Texas’ free-spirited hippie cowgirl Kacey Musgraves, who won Female, Album, and New Artist earlier in her career, returns to country prominence with nominations for Female, Album (Deeper Well) and Vocal Event (“I Remember Everything” with outlier Zach Bryan). The singer/songwriter’s willingness to embrace progressive realities in her work previously earned her Song and Video awards for “Follow Your Arrow” and “ Rainbow.”

Megan Moroney, the most-nominated female at this spring’s Academy of Country Music Awards, also earns a trifecta. Another young woman who shatters molds with tongue-in-cheek/chic humor, Moroney lands spots in the Female, Best New and Music Video categories for her high-concept song “I’m Not Pretty.”

Female Vocalist has hit a watershed moment. Musgraves, Wilson, Moroney, Kelsea Ballerini—who’s also nominated for Vocal Event with Noah Kahan—and Ashley McBryde all represent a new wave of female artists who deliver highly personal, unvarnished truths that exist outside of radio expectations.

Best New Artist also ranges wide this year. Whether it’s the record-shattering, hard-emo Nate Smith, the songwriter royalty Mitchell Tenpenny, Every (Young) Dude embodiment Bailey Zimmerman, fast-emerging Zach Top, Moroney or Shaboozey, every nominee has delivered a sound and perspective immediately recognizable on the radio and the festival stage.

Beyond Shaboozey’s well-deserved double, which levels up country and the Hot 100 from the outside in, three singles need to be, yes, singled out. George Strait acolyte Parker McCollum’s Song nomination for “Burn It Down” continues to stress the Texas country artist’s commitment to growing as a writer; penned with The Love Junkies, Hillary Lindsey, Lori McKenna and Liz Rose, it contained emotional complexity at its core.

The Red Clay Strays bring big outlier energy to their first Group nomination. Joining Old Dominion, Little Big Town (both six-time winners), Zach Brown Band and Lady A. The alt/Americana-leaning road dogs score a moment for red-dirt bands chasing the dream.

Fast-rising sensation Ella Langley brought in Riley Green for her plucky “you look like you love me,” which blew up through streamers and is now conquering radio, earning the newcomer her first CMA nomination, for Vocal Event. It’s a side-door entry, but one that seems like the harbinger of much bigger things to come.

For those wondering about “TEXAS HOLD ’EM,” the glorious track from Beyoncé’s COWBOY CARTER, its absence isn’t a denial but the result of a desire to recognize those artists who have been core to the format. Even perennial CMA favorites Jordan Davis, Dierks Bentley, Miranda Lambert and Carrie Underwood failed to be nominated this year.