Eric Church and Chris Stapleton Top CMA Award Nominations

The Country Music Association has announced the nominees for the upcoming 55th Annual CMA Awards, with Eric Church and Chris Stapleton topping the list with five nominations each.

Other top nominees include Gabby Barrett along with mix engineer Jason Hall and producer Jay Joyce each with four nominations, while Brothers Osborne, Kane Brown, Luke Combs, Miranda Lambert, Ashley McBryde, Maren Morris and Chris Young secure three nominations each.

There’s plenty of first-time nominees too, who include Brown, Dave Cohen, Corey Crowder, Jordan Davis, Paul DiGiovanni, Matt Dragstrem, Jacob Durrett, Aaron Eshuis, Chris Galland, Mickey Guyton, Charlie Handsome, Nicolette Hayford, Ryan Hurd, Martin Johnson, Emily Landis, Manny Marroquin, Jim McCormick, Sean Moffitt, Travis Nicholson, Drew Parker, Ed Pryor, Teddy Reimer, Running Bear and Aaron Sterling. 

Lambert remains the most nominated female of all time, with 58 nominations and now ties for third in overall nominations ever. She will compete alongside Combs, Carrie Underwood, Church and Stapleton for in the coveted ‘Entertainer of the Year’ category, the night’s highest honour.

Sarah Trahern, CMA Chief Executive Officer, says, “This year, we have the opportunity to honour the superstars, new artists and emerging creators who are paving the way for Country Music. These nominees exemplify the creativity, passion and heart that make our Country Music community unlike any other genre. The breadth of voices is evident in this year’s nominations, and we could not be more thrilled to celebrate our deserving nominees in November!” 

The 55th Annual CMA Awards will be held in Nashville on Wednesday, November 10.

ENTERTAINER OF THE YEAR

• Eric Church  
• Luke Combs   
• Miranda Lambert    
• Chris Stapleton  
• Carrie Underwood   

SINGLE OF THE YEAR
Award goes to Artist(s), Producer(s) and Mix Engineer(s)  

• “Famous Friends” – Chris Young with Kane Brown  
  Producers: Corey Crowder, Chris Young  
  Mix Engineer: Sean Moffitt 
• “The Good Ones” – Gabby Barrett  
  Producers: Ross Copperman, Zach Kale  
  Mix Engineers: Chris Galland, Manny Marroquin 
• “Hell Of A View” – Eric Church  
  Producer: Jay Joyce  
  Mix Engineers: Jason Hall, Jay Joyce   
• “One Night Standards” – Ashley McBryde  
  Producer: Jay Joyce  
  Mix Engineers: Jason Hall, Jay Joyce   
• “Starting Over” – Chris Stapleton 
  Producers: Dave Cobb, Chris Stapleton  
  Mix Engineer: Vance Powell 

ALBUM OF THE YEAR  
Award goes to Artist(s), Producer(s) and Mix Engineer(s) 

• 29 – Carly Pearce 
  Producers: Shane McAnally, Josh Osborne and Jimmy Robbins  
  Mix Engineer: Ryan Gore  
• Dangerous: The Double Album – Morgan Wallen  
  Producers: Dave Cohen, Matt Dragstrem, Jacob Durrett, Charlie Handsome and Joey Moi  
  Mix Engineer: Joey Moi  
• Heart – Eric Church  
  Producer: Jay Joyce 
  Mix Engineers: Jason Hall, Jay Joyce 
• Skeletons – Brothers Osborne  
  Producer: Jay Joyce  
  Mix Engineers: Jason Hall, Jay Joyce 
• Starting Over – Chris Stapleton  
  Producers: Dave Cobb, Chris Stapleton  
  Mix Engineer: Vance Powell 

SONG OF THE YEAR
Award goes to Songwriter(s)  

• “Forever After All”   
  Songwriters: Luke Combs, Drew Parker, Robert Williford  
• “The Good Ones”   
  Songwriters: Gabby Barrett, Zach Kale, Emily Landis, Jim McCormick 
• “Hell Of A View”   
  Songwriters: Casey Beathard, Eric Church, Monty Criswell  
• “One Night Standards”   
  Songwriters: Nicolette Hayford, Shane McAnally, Ashley McBryde 
• “Starting Over”   
  Songwriters: Mike Henderson, Chris Stapleton  

FEMALE VOCALIST OF THE YEAR   

• Gabby Barrett 
• Miranda Lambert    
• Ashley McBryde   
• Maren Morris   
• Carly Pearce  

MALE VOCALIST OF THE YEAR 

• Dierks Bentley 
• Eric Church    
• Luke Combs   
• Thomas Rhett   
• Chris Stapleton   

VOCAL GROUP OF THE YEAR

• Lady A  
• Little Big Town   
• Midland   
• Old Dominion    
• Zac Brown Band 

VOCAL DUO OF THE YEAR

• Brooks & Dunn   
• Brothers Osborne   
• Dan + Shay    
• Florida Georgia Line   
• Maddie & Tae 

MUSICAL EVENT OF THE YEAR
Award goes to Artist(s) and Producer(s)  

• “Buy Dirt” – Jordan Davis and Luke Bryan  
  Producer: Paul DiGiovanni  
• “Chasing After You” – Ryan Hurd with Maren Morris  
  Producers: Aaron Eshuis, Teddy Reimer 
• “Drunk (And I Don’t Wanna Go Home)” – Elle King & Miranda Lambert  
  Producer: Martin Johnson  
• “Famous Friends” – Chris Young with Kane Brown  
  Producers: Corey Crowder, Chris Young 
• “half of my hometown” – Kelsea Ballerini (featuring Kenny Chesney)  
  Producers: Kelsea Ballerini, Ross Copperman, Jimmy Robbins 

MUSICIAN OF THE YEAR

• Jenee Fleenor, Fiddle  
• Paul Franklin, Steel Guitar  
• Aaron Sterling, Drums  
• Ilya Toshinskiy, Banjo  
• Derek Wells, Guitar  

MUSIC VIDEO OF THE YEAR   
Award goes to Artist(s) and Director(s)  

• “Chasing After You” – Ryan Hurd with Maren Morris 
  Director: TK McKamy  
• “Famous Friends” – Chris Young with Kane Brown  
  Director: Peter Zavadil  
• “Gone” – Dierks Bentley 
  Directors: Wes Edwards, Travis Nicholson, Ed Pryor, Running Bear, Sam Siske
• “half of my hometown” – Kelsea Ballerini (featuring Kenny Chesney)  
  Director: Patrick Tracy  
• “Younger Me” – Brothers Osborne  
  Director: Reid Long  

NEW ARTIST OF THE YEAR  

• Jimmie Allen  
• Ingrid Andress   
• Gabby Barrett   
• Mickey Guyton 
• HARDY 
   

“THE 55th ANNUAL CMA AWARDS” – FINALISTS FOR BROADCAST PERSONALITY OF THE YEAR (by market size): 

Weekly National  

• “American Country Countdown” (Kix Brooks) – Westwood One 
• “Country Countdown USA” (Lon Helton) – Westwood One 
• “Country Gold” (Terri Clark) – Westwood One
• “The Crook & Chase Countdown” (Lorianne Crook and Charlie Chase) – iHeartMedia
• “Honky Tonkin’ with Tracy Lawrence” (Tracy Lawrence and Patrick Thomas) – Compass Media Networks 

Daily National  

• “The Big D and Bubba Show” (Derek Haskins, Sean Powell, Patrick Thomas and Carsen Humphreville) – Compass Media Networks
• “The Bobby Bones Show” (Bobby Bones, Amy Brown, “Lunchbox” Dan Chappell, Eddie Garcia, “Morgan #2” Huelsman, “Raymundo” Ray Slater, “Scuba Steve” Stephen Spradlin, “Mike D” Rodriguez and “Utility Hillary” Borden) – Premiere Networks
• “CMT After Midnite” (Cody Alan) – Premiere Networks 
• “The Lia Show” (Lia Knight) – Westwood One
• “The Music Row Happy Hour” (Buzz Brainard and Ania Hammar) – Sirius XM Satellite Radio  

Major Market 

• “Angie Ward” – WUBL, Atlanta, Ga.  
• “Double-L” (Lois Lewis) – KNIX, Phoenix, Ariz.  
• “Hawkeye in the Morning with Hawkeye and Michelle” (“Hawkeye” Mark Louis Rybczyk and Michelle Rodriguez) – KSCS, Dallas-Ft. Worth, Texas 
• “The Morning Bull: George, Mo & Cowboy Dave” (George Lindsey, “Mo” Monica Lunsford and “Cowboy Dave” Bayless) – KILT, Houston, Texas 
• “Tampa Bay’s Morning Krewe with J.R., Launa and Kevin” (“J.R.” Jon Jaus, Launa Phillips and Kevin Ebel) – WQYK, Tampa Bay, Fla. 

Large Market 

• “Jesse Tack” – WUBE, Cincinnati, Ohio
• “Jim, Deb & Kevin” (Jim Denny, Deborah Honeycutt and Kevin Freeman) – WFMS, Indianapolis, Ind. 
• “Lexi & Banks” ("Lexi" Elena Abatgis and "Banks" Jared Danielson) – KUBL, Salt Lake City-Ogden-Provo, Utah 
• “Ridder, Scott and Shannen” (“Ridder” Shaun Ridderbush, Scott Dolphin, and Shannen Oesterreich) – WMIL, Milwaukee-Racine, Wis. 
• “The Wayne D Show” (“Wayne D” Danielson and Taylor Rosenberg) – WSIX, Nashville, Tenn. 

Medium Market 

• “Brent Michaels” – KUZZ, Bakersfield, Calif. 
• “Ellis and Bradley Show” (Bill Ellis and Beth Bradley) – WSSL, Greenville-Spartanburg, S.C.
• “Julie and DJ in the Morning” (“Julie K” Kansy and “D.J. Thee Trucker” Dale Sellers) – WPCV, Lakeland-Winter Haven, Fla.
• “Mo & StyckMan” (“Mo” Melissa Wagner and “StyckMan” Greg Owens) – WUSY, Chattanooga, Tenn.
• “Steve & Gina In The Morning” (Steve Lundy and Gina Melton) – KXKT, Omaha-Council Bluffs, Neb.-Iowa 

Small Market 

• “Barrett, Fox & Berry” (Bill Barrett, Tim Fox and Tracy Berry) – KKNU, Eugene-Springfield, Ore.
• “Dr. Shane and Tess in the Morning” (Shane Collins and Tess Connell) – WPAP, Panama City, Fla. 
• “KTTS Morning Show with Nancy & Rick” (Nancy Simpson and Rick Moore) – KTTS, Springfield, Mo.
• “Liz & Scotty in the Morning” (Liz Del Grosso and Scotty Cox) – KCLR, Columbia, Mo.
• “Steve, Ben and Nikki” (Steve Stroud, Ben Walker and Nikki Thomas) – WXBQ, Johnson City-Kingsport-Bristol, Tenn.-Va. 

“THE 55th ANNUAL CMA AWARDS” – FINALISTS FOR RADIO STATION OF THE YEAR (by market size):     

Major Market 

• KNIX – Phoenix, Ariz. 
• KNUC – Seattle-Tacoma, Wash. 
• KYGO – Denver-Boulder, Colo.  
• WNSH – New York City, N.Y.  
• WXTU – Philadelphia, Pa.  
• WYCD – Detroit, Mich.  

Large Market 

• WFMS – Indianapolis, Ind. 
• WMIL – Milwaukee-Racine, Wis.  
• WQDR – Raleigh-Durham, N.C. 
• WSIX – Nashville, Tenn. 
• WUBE – Cincinnati, Ohio 

Medium Market 

• KATM – Modesto, Calif.  
• KXKT – Omaha-Council Bluffs, Neb.-Iowa 
• KUZZ – Bakersfield, Calif. 
• WQMX – Akron, Ohio 
• WXCY – Wilmington, Del. 

Small Market 

• KCLR – Columbia, Mo. 
• KTTS – Springfield, Mo. 
• WBYT – South Bend, Ind. 
• WXBQ – Johnson City-Kingsport-Bristol, Tenn.-Va. 
• WXFL – Florence-Muscle Shoals, Ala. 
• WYCT – Pensacola, Fla. 

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