The 45th Academy Of Country Music Awards were held in Las Vegas on Sunday at the MGM Grand arena. There were performances by many of today’s top country acts featuring a whole lot of SABIAN endorsers. The evening kicked off with Keith Zebrowski backing superstars Miranda Lambert and Carrie Underwood who were joined by Charlie Daniels, Brad Paisley & John Fogerty! As Charlie Daniels said, “and that’s how you start a television show folks!” That started a parade of SABIAN endorser backed performances featuring Al Wilson with Taylor Swift, Jim Riley with Rascal Flatts, Rich Redmond with Jason Aldean, Tommy Harden with Reba McEntire, Chris McHugh with Keith Urban and Jeff Marino closed the show with Darius Rucker. Carrie Underwood also performed a tune without drums which was great, but would have been better had she chosen a smoking track featuring her drummer Garrett Goodwin! We have to give a shout out to Chris Fryar and the Zac Brown Band who did not attend because they were overseas in the middle east performing for the troops, but they did cut in some of their great performance footage during the telecast. With all the great performances it’s easy to forget this is an awards show, but here are some of those that were honored on Sunday night-
45th ACADEMY OF COUNTRY MUSIC AWARDS NOMINEES
Entertainer of the Year
Kenny Chesney
Toby Keith
Brad Paisley
George Strait
Taylor Swift (Al Wilson; drums)
Carrie Underwood (Garrett Goodwin; drums) ***WINNER***
Keith Urban (Chris McHugh; drums)
Zac Brown Band
Top Male Vocalist of the Year
Kenny Chesney
Brad Paisley ***WINNER***
Darius Rucker (Jeff Marino; drums)
George Strait
Keith Urban (Chris McHugh; drums)
Top Female Vocalist of the Year
Miranda Lambert (Keith Zebrowski) ***WINNER***
Reba McEntire (Tommy Harden; drums)
Taylor Swift (Al Wilson; drums)
Carrie Underwood (Garrett Goodwin; drums)
Lee Ann Womack
Top Vocal Group of the Year
Lady Antebellum (Brice Williams; studio drums) ***WINNER***
Little Big Town
Randy Rogers Band
Rascal Flatts (Jim Riley; drums)
Zac Brown Band
Top Vocal Duo of the Year
Brooks & Dunn (Trey Gray; drums) ***WINNER***
Joey + Rory
MontgomeryGentry (Tony Hammons / William Ellis; drums)
Steel Magnolia
Sugarland (Sean O’Rourke; drums)
TOP NEW SOLO VOCALIST of the Year
Luke Bryan ***WINNER***
Jamey Johnson
Chris Young
TOP NEW VOCAL DUO of the Year
Bomshel
Joey + Rory ***WINNER***
Steel Magnolia
TOP NEW VOCAL GROUP of the Year
Eli Young Band
Gloriana ***WINNER***
The Lost Trailers
ALBUM OF THE YEAR [Awarded to Artist(s)/Producer(s)/Record Company(s)]
American Saturday Night – Brad Paisley (Arista Nashville)
Produced by: Chris DuBois, Frank Rogers
Lady Antebellum – Lady Antebellum (Capitol Records Nashville) (Brice Williams; drums)
Produced by: Victoria Shaw, Paul Worley
Play On – Carrie Underwood (19/Arista Nashville) (Garrett Goodwin; drums)
Produced by: Mark Bright
"Quitter" Produced by Max Martin & Shellback for Maratone Productions and Mark Bright
Revolution – Miranda Lambert (Columbia Nashville) (Keith Zebrowski; drums) ***WINNER***
Produced by: Frank Liddell, Mike Wrucke
The Foundation – Zac Brown Band (Southern Ground / Bigger Picture / Atlantic)
Produced by: Keith Stegall, Zac Brown
Single Record of the Year [Awarded to Artist(s)/Producer(s)/Record Company(s)]
Need You Now – Lady Antebellum (Capitol Records Nashville) (Brice Williams) ***WINNER***
Produced by: Lady Antebellum, Paul Worley
People Are Crazy – Billy Currington (Mercury)
Produced by: Carson Chamberlain, Billy Currington
Red Light – David Nail (MCA Nashville)
Produced by: Frank Liddell, Mike Wrucke
Toes – Zac Brown Band (Southern Ground / Bigger Picture / Atlantic)
Produced by: Keith Stegall, Zac Brown
White Liar – Miranda Lambert (Columbia Nashville) (Keith Zebrowski; drums)
Produced by: Frank Liddell, Mike Wrucke
Song of the Year [Awarded to Composer(s)/Publisher(s)/Artist(s)]
Cowboy Casanova – Carrie Underwood (Garrett Goodwin)
Composers: Mike Elizondo, Brett James, Carrie Underwood
Publishers: Brett James Cornelius Music (ASCAP), Carrie Okie Music (BMI), Rincon Ave Music
(ASCAP), Stage Three Songs (ASCAP)
Need You Now – Lady Antebellum (Brice Williams) ***WINNER***
Composers: Dave Haywood, Josh Kear, Charles Kelley, Hillary Scott
Publishers: EMI Foray Music (SESAC), Darth Buddha (ASCAP), Dwhaywood Music (BMI), Hillary Dawn Publishing (SESAC), Radiobullets Publishing (BMI), Warner-Tamerlane Publishing Corp. (BMI), Year Of The Dog Music (ASCAP)
People Are Crazy – Billy Currington
Composers: Bobby Braddock, Troy Jones
Publishers: Crozier Music Enterprises LLC (BMI), Sony/ATV Tree Publishing (BMI), Tiltawhirl Music (BMI)
White Liar – Miranda Lambert (Keith Zebrowski)
Composers: Natalie Hemby, Miranda Lambert
Publishers: Pink Dog Publishing (BMI), Sony/ATV Tree Publishing (BMI), Tiltawhirl Music (BMI)
You Belong With Me – Taylor Swift (Al Wilson)
Composers: Liz Rose, Taylor Swift
Publishers: Sony/ATV Tree Publishing (BMI), Taylor Swift Music (BMI), Barbara Orbison World Publishing (SESAC), Potting Shed Music (SESAC)
Video of the Year [Awarded to Producer(s)/Director(s)/Artist(s)] (Off Camera Award)
Boots On – Randy Houser
Producer: Tameron Hedge
Director: Eric Welch (Drake footage: Vickie Vaughn)
Need You Now – Lady Antebellum (Brice Williams)
Producer: Clarke Gallivan
Director: David McClister
Welcome To The Future – Brad Paisley
Producers: Mark Kalbfeld, Jim Shea, Peter Tilden
Director: Jim Shea
White Liar – Miranda Lambert (Keith Zebrowski) ***WINNER***
Producer: Tameron Hedge
Director: Chris Hicky
You Belong With Me – Taylor Swift (Al Wilson)
Producer: Randy Brewer
Director: Roman White
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