Grammy Nominations Bring A Nod

I’m usually one to shake my head and roll my eyes when awards nominations are announced. As the Grammy nominees were released today, I was actually raising my eyebrows, with a bit of a smile.

Tanya Tucker, Willie Nelson, Reba McEntire, Dolly Parton, Rosanne Cash, Vince Gill… all on the list for Grammy nods. Did we turn the clock back 30 years? Nope. It’s a testament to the resilience and relevance of country artists of previous decades who focus more on good music and less on what’s going to be ‘a hit.’

Tanya was nominated for overall Song of the Year, Best Country Solo Performance and Best Country Song with “Bring My Flowers Now” as well as Best Country Album for “While I’m Livin’.”

Tanya will be going head-to-head with Willie for Best Country Solo Performance, which includes Willie’s “Ride Me Back Home.”

Reba McEntire got a nod for Best Country Album with “Stronger Than The Truth.”

There’s no sign of slowing down for Dolly Parton, who has a nomination for Best Contemporary Christian Music Performance/Song for her collaboration with for King & Country on “God Only Knows.” She also has a second nomination, which is for Best Song Written For Visual Media, “Girl In The Movies” that Dolly wrote with Linda Perry for the movie, “Dumplin’.”

Rosanne and Vince will be going head-to-head for Best American Roots Song. Rosanne’s “Crossing To Jerusalem” co-written with her husband, John Leventhal, goes against Vince’s “I Don’t Wanna Ride The Rails No More.”

Looking at the list of nominations also reminded me of how the last two years have been huge for Brandi Carlile, not just as a singer, but also as a songwriter, producer, collaborator and an overall do-er. Brandi was a producer for Tanya Tucker’s album, “While I’m Living’” as well as co-songwriter for Song of the Year & Best Country Song nominee, Tanya’s “Bring My Flowers Now.” Brandi was also nominated for Best Country Duo/Group Performance with Maren Morris on Maren’s “Common.”

I also need to give a nod to recognition for Ashley McBryde, who was nominated for Best Country Solo Performance and Best Country Song for “Girl Goin’ Nowhere.”

A few other ladies to be recognized for Grammy nominations include the Pistol Annies with Best Country Album for “Interstate Gospel” and Natalie Hemby and Lori McKenna for some songwriting credits.

The Judds & Loretta Lynn added to ACM's Girls' Night Out

The Judds and Loretta Lynn have been added to the lineup of the ACM’s Girls’ Night Out: Superstar Women of Country tribute concert.

Performers previously announced include Miranda Lambert, Martina McBride, Jennifer Nettles, Reba and Carrie Underwood. These female artists will be honored at the taping, which will be held on Monday, April 4th at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas. There will also be special guest duets, including Ronnie Dunn with Jennifer Nettles, Rascal Flatts with Reba, Vince Gill singing with Carrie Underwood, as well as performances by Jason Aldean, Blake Shelton and still more to be announced.

The show will air Friday, April 22nd on CBS TV. Ticket sales from the special will benefit ACM Lifting Lives, the charitable arm of the Academy.

The 2011 Country Music Hall of Fame Class

The Country Music Association revealed the 2011 inductees for the Country Music Hall of Fame today.



Bobby Braddock, Jean Shepard and Reba McEntire will be the latest inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame

Bobby Braddock is inducted in the Songwriter category. He has been writing hit songs in Nashville for half a century. Some of his classics include "D-I-V-O-R-C-E" and "He Stopped Loving Her Today," and some of his more modern hits are "I Wanna Talk About Me" and the recent "People Are Crazy."

After moving to Nashville in 1964, Braddock became the piano player for Marty Robbins. He released three major label albums and also performed in Country Music-themed movies. He also added his talent as a producer, working on Blake Shelton’s first five albums.

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Jean Shepard is inducted in the Veterans Era.

She is often called The Grand Lady of the Grand Ole Opry, as she has been a member of the Opry for over 50 years. Jean had 44 charted hits between 1953 and 1978, including her first hit, "A Dear John Letter", which was a duet with Ferlin Husky.

Some of Jean Shepard's hits include: "Twice the Lovin’ in Half the Time", "Don’t Fall in Love With a Married Man", "The Root of All Evil (Is a Man)", and "The Other Woman". She also joined the cast of Ozark Jubilee on ABC TV.

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Reba McEntire is a Modern Era inductee to the Hall of Fame

Reba started out her career a bit slow, but things began to soar for the Oklahoma redhead by 1984, when she won the CMA Female Vocalist of the Year award for the 1st of 4 consecutive years. Two years later, she joined the Grand Ole Opry and was also named CMA Entertainer of the Year. In her music career, Reba has sold more than 55 million albums worldwide, and to date has achieved 35 No. 1 singles. She has also received 6 CMA Awards, and 2 Grammy Awards.

Reba's talents broadened to acting on the big screen (Tremors), the small screen (her own sitcom, "Reba"), and even the Broadway stage (Annie Get Your Gun).