This year is country music’s night to shine at the 52nd Annual Grammy Awards. Taylor Swift leads the country genre with eight nominations, including five nods outside of the country field, and is only second overall to pop-star Beyoncé. Swift General Field nods include Album of the Year for “Fearless” as well as Record and Song of the Year for “You Belong With Me”. She shares a collaborative nomination with Colbie Caillat for the song “Breathe”.
Country newcomers the Zac Brown Band received a nomination for overall Best New Artist as well as nods for Best Country Album for “The Foundation” and Best Country Performance by a Duo or Group for the song “Chicken Fried”.
The annual awards show will broadcast live, on Sunday, Jan. 31, from the Staples Center in Los Angeles. The show will air locally at 7 p.m. on WBBM-TV.
Here’s a closer look at the Country Field nominations. Taylor Swift, Lee Ann Womack and George Strait lead the genre with three nominations each.
Best Female Country Vocal Performance for a solo vocal performance.
- Dead Flowers – Miranda Lambert
- I Just Call You Mine – Martina McBride
- White Horse – Taylor Swift
- Just A Dream – Carrie Underwood
- Solitary Thinkin’ – Lee Ann Womack
It’s probably a given for Swift to win in this category but I would like to see Lambert pick up a Grammy for Dead Flowers, the first single from her latest album titled “Revolution”. This could very well be a great year for Lee Ann Womack too. Her last win was in 2002 for a collaboration with Willie Nelson.
Best Male Country Vocal Performance for a solo vocal performance.
- All I Ask For Anymore – Trace Adkins
- People Are Crazy – Billy Currington
- High Cost Of Living – Jamey Johnson
- Living For The Night – George Strait
- Sweet Thing – Keith Urban
This is a really tough one as they are all awesome. It’s really hard for me to pick a clear winner but I think I’m going for George Strait. “Living for the Night” was an awesome song and Strait had a great year with it.
Best Country Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals for established duos or groups with vocals.
- Cowgirls Don’t Cry – Brooks & Dunn
- Chicken Fried – Zac Brown Band
- I Run To You – Lady Antebellum
- Here Comes Goodbye – Rascal Flatts
- It Happens – Sugarland
Most of you know that Sugarland is my favorite but head-to-head I think I would have to go with Lady Antebellum on this one. Hey, it happens….
Best Country Collaboration with Vocals for a collaborative performance, with vocals, by artists who do not normally perform together.
- Beautiful World – Dierks Bentley & Patty Griffin
- Down The Road – Kenny Chesney & Mac McAnally
- Start A Band – Brad Paisley & Keith Urban
- I Told You So – Carrie Underwood & Randy Travis
- Everything But Quits – Lee Ann Womack & George Strait
The Bentley/Griffin duet was awesome but I don’t believe it was released as a radio single. Underwood rendition of Travis’ “I Told You So” really took the charts this summer but Paisley/Urban’s “Start A Band” is my number one pick in this category.
Best Country Song “A Songwriter(s) Award.” (Artist names appear in parentheses.)
- All I Ask For Anymore – Casey Beathard & Tim James, songwriters (Trace Adkins)
- High Cost Of Living – Jamey Johnson & James Slater, songwriters (Jamey Johnson)
- I Run To You – Tom Douglas, Dave Haywood, Charles Kelley & Hillary Scott, songwriters (Lady Antebellum)
- People Are Crazy – Bobby Braddock & Troy Jones, songwriters (Billy Currington)
- White Horse – Liz Rose & Taylor Swift, songwriters (Taylor Swift)
I think Jamey Johnson is an excellent artist/performer but he is a really awesome writer. My nod goes to Johnson and Slater for the “High Cost Of Living”. If you haven’t given this a spin, do so. It’s raw and real.
Best Country Album – Vocal or Instrumental.
- The Foundation – Zac Brown Band
- Twang – George Strait
- Fearless – Taylor Swift
- Defying Gravity – Keith Urban
- Call Me Crazy – Lee Ann Womack
Again, wouldn’t be surprised if Swift took this award. She is highly talented and worthy of it but I think the Zac Brown Band should take it for their debut album “The Foundation”. The album has already produced several radio hits including “Chicken Fried”, “Whatever It Is”, “Toes” and “Highway 20 Ride” is climbing the charts as I write this.
For a complete list of nominations, visit grammy.com.
Find, preview and download the above tracks on iTunes.
Who do you think will win?
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