Nashville celebrates 59th annual CMA Awards
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The 59th annual CMA Awards take place tonight at Bridgestone Arena.
- The show airs live at 7pm on ABC.
Why it matters: The trophies have become the ultimate marker for success on Music Row, and generations of artists have moved to Nashville dreaming of their acceptance speeches.
Fun fact: Lainey Wilson, Ella Langley and Megan Moroney are the top nominated artists, with six noms each.
- Wilson, who is a serious contender for the night's top prize of entertainer of the year, is returning for her second year as host.
What Adam's watching: My favorite category is always top female vocalist. Wilson, who has already won that one three years in a row, is the odds-on favorite to take the prize again.
- Langley and Moroney's haul of nominations show they are in the hunt as well.
Yes, but: My vote goes to country's resident workhorse Kelsea Ballerini, who has been charting hits since 2014. Somehow Ballerini has never won in this category. (Her only two career wins at the CMAs are for a collab with Kenny Chesney.)
- Ballerini is at an artistic high point in her career, with a run of ambitious albums filled with bracing honesty that would make the old school outlaws of the genre proud.
What Nate's watching: I wanna see if Post Malone wins album of the year for "F-1 Trillion."
- Countless artists from other genres have made country crossovers in the last few years, but few of them have tapped into Nashville's homegrown music industry like Posty.
- He used Nashville songwriters and musicians and even hung at local institutions like the Bluebird when making his record. It may not be the most critically acclaimed of the nominees, but it's probably the most culturally significant.
Adam and Nate are both watching to see if AI artist Breaking Rust makes an appearance on the red carpet.