Podcast Transcript Greetings fellow humans! This is our 58th ACM Awards Wrap-Up Plus!
It was a good show with several memorable performances.
We’ll dig into those in just a bit, but we wanted to share that Morgan Wallen will be back on the road on June 22nd. And that is an amazing date to get things going again, cuz it’s my birthday. Great things happen on June 22, I’m living proof! Lol..
All kidding aside, the tour will start back up in Windy City or Chicago, if you prefer at the Iconic Wrigley Field.. There are still upper box seats available.
All right, the 58th Academy Of Country Music awards show was held on Thursday, May 11th in Texas at The Star in The Ford Center in Frisco.
The biggest surprise was Willie Nelson, who made a special appearance via facetime with Dolly, and Garth Brooks, who hosted the award show. Do you think it’s true that Garth did not send Willie a birthday gift? Hmm, Willie just turned 90, and had a big weekend shin-dig at the Hollywood bowl.
And Dolly, umm said I know you are doing that GOAT thing to Garth. Lol..
Yes, she said she thinks it stands for Garth Organize A Threesome.. Dolly, Dolly, Dolly..
And how about Cojo, goodness! Mommas don’t let your cowboys grow up to be babies..Do you think he was throwing shade? Lol..
I don’t know, but he did a great job paying homage to Willie Nelson. And how fitting that the show took place in Texas yeehaw! I don’t think Cody lives in Nashville. I’m pretty sure he is a full-time rancher in Texas when he is not on the road.
The crowd was singing along too. It was really a memorable moment.
The top award Entertainer Of The Year went to Chris Stapleton
Billboard Magazine predicted Luke Combs would win as did Taste Of Country. We predicted Miranda Lambert. She won the category in 2022, but unfortunately, she was not there to receive the honor.
And speaking about Miranda, we also thought she would win Album Of The Year as Palomino reached number four on the Billboard All Genre Charts, and number 2 on the Billboard Country Charts. Out of all the nominated albums, it was the most successful from a chart perspective. Most predictions in this category favored Ashley Mcbryde’s critically acclaimed Lindville including Country Universe and Billboard.
Lainey Wilson’s Bell Bottom Country, which is her 4th album, the second one for Broken Bow won it. Lainey had a great night! As we predicted, she did win Female Vocalist Of The Year. And on Twitter, The Academy Of Country Music told us that this was just the beginning for Lainey.
Pretty great beginning too as she also won Music Event Of The Year and Visual Media Of The Year, which is the video category, I believe. We thought Kane & Katelyn would win The Music Event Of The Year as did Billboard. Yes, especially since Kane is going on a music hiatus as he pursues acting full-time.
Lainey also stepped out for the first time with her beau Devlin Hodges.
He’s 27 and was a Starter Quarterback at Samford University. Devlin was named the Southern Conference Offensive Player of the Year three times. He also won the 2018 Walter Payton Award during his senior year.
I think the mic drop moment was when Song, and Single of the year went to Cole Swindell with She Had Me At Heads Carolina. It is a really good mash-up of a Jo Dee Messina hit from the 90s. On winning the second award, Cole even said “I don’t know what’s happening here..” The song topped the Country Airplay charts, and peaked at 3 on the Hot Country Charts. Cole just got engaged so congrats on that as well.
We had Hardy & Lainey winning for song of the year, and Ashley Mcbryde, and Carly Pierce winning for Single Of The Year. Let’s go ahead, and hear Wait In The Truck.
So we have to give the not so great news too y’all to remain balanced here.
Of course, we always want our faves to win, and so there were some very obvious non winners. Some in the media are calling it snubs. Especially as it pertains to Luke Combs, Miranda Lambert, and Kane & Katelyn. But that word is not being used correctly my dear friends.
The definition of Snub according to the Oxford Dictionary is an act of showing disdain or a lack of cordiality by rebuffing or ignoring someone. The previously mentioned artists were nominated, so they were not ignored. The other thing to keep in mind is that the members of the Academy Of Country Music cast the votes.
Yes, that is correct. The members are peers, and professionals in the music industry much like The CMAs, and The Grammys.. The CMT Awards, American Music Awards, and People’s Choice Awards are fan voted. Which means everyone can vote regardless of their role in the industryt.
Yes, that is an important differentiator. My one little aw about the ACM Awards was that Trisha Yearwood did not really get to show off her amazing voice. The three song medley she did was way too short. I felt it was a missed opportunity to showcase a powerhouse singer that is an influence on many of the singers that were nominated. But hey, I’m sure we will be seeing Trisha on the ACMs again..
Yes, I’m sure we will. Group Of The Year went to Old Dominion, which of course we knew. They have a Chris Jericho Liontamer hold on that award, let me tell you. Lol.
They are tied with Rascal Flats for the most consecutive ACM Vocal Group Award Wins, BUT Alabama, and Brooks & Dun are tied for the most wins by a group or duo in any category with 22 awards to their names, wow..
And speaking of dynamic duos, The Osborne Brothers won Duo Of The Year. There was also a brand new category Artist/Songwriter Of The Year. The award is for artists that are simultaneously working as artists and songwriters. Hardy won that one, and last year it did seem like he was on at least half of the songs we liked.
For sure. New Male Artist nods went to Zachlane Bryan who is having more success in the rock alternative charts where he has held the top song position for over 12 weeks. The Female New Artist win went to Hailey Whitters. Let’s go ahead and hear her latest hit Everything She Aint.
Great performances from Ed Sheeran, and Luke Combs who is expecting another baby. It’s a boy. It looks like Tex Lawrence Combs will be a big brother in September, congrats!
Continuing with some of the great performances at the ACM. Hardy rocked out towards the end of his performance and went awol headbanging, and moshing. I thought he might jump into the crowd next for some crowd surfing lol. I only ever see that kind of energy at a Metallica concert. It was cool to see that level of energy at a country award show for sure.
Another highlight was that Lainey Wilson finally got to meet one of her influences, Dolly. I can only imagine how amazing that must’ve been for her..Also her performance with Jelly Roll was Emmy worthy. I hope they submit. It was very powerful. Let’s go ahead and listen to Jelly Roll’s Save Me.
War & Treaty also showed up well at The ACMs. Not to mention Dolly’s closer World On Fire. That dress was spectacular!
Yes, Dolly never disappoints. And The Male Vocalist Of The Year was a tough one. We eventually picked Morgan Wallen because we thought it was time for Morgan with such a blockbuster year, but it is so hard to win in a category where Chris Stapleton is nominated.
However, Morgan did win it, so congrats. And how awesome of Garth to say "We all know what it takes to win this award, to not be here, and get it must be killing him, so let's celebrate for Morgan Wallen,". There was a standing ovation for Morgan. That’s great, happy to see it!
So let’s go ahead and close out with one of my faves on Morgan’s latest album One Thing At A Time. This is Wine Into Water. I don't think they've released it as a single, but I hope they do. The song was written by Blake Pendergrass, John Byron, and Matt Jenkins
Don’t forget to check back on the 23rd every month for a fresh installment of the #TexasSixPack, and on the 28th for our top picks everywhere else.
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