genre country
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Billboard Women in Music 2025 takes place Saturday, March 29, and Billboard’s staff is breaking down each of the honorees’ successes that earned them their awards, from JENNIE receiving the Global Force Award to Doechii being named Woman of the Year, to Gracie Abrams being honored as Songwriter of the Year, and more! Who are […]
Dylan Scott’s “This Town’s Been Too Good to Us” jumps three places to No. 1 on Billboard’s Country Airplay chart (dated April 5). During the March 21-27 tracking week, the song increased by 17% to 27.5 million audience impressions, according to Luminate.
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Scott co-wrote the single with John Byron, Ashley Gorley, Taylor Phillips and Ryan Vojtesak.
The fourth Country Airplay leader for 34-year-old Scott from Bastrop, La., follows his duet with Dylan Marlowe, “Boys Back Home,” which hit No. 2 in January. Scott earned his first No. 1, among seven top 10s, with “My Girl,” in July 2017. He led again with “New Truck” in August 2022 and “Can’t Have Mine” in December 2023. All three of his previous chart-toppers ruled for one week each.
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Scott’s two other top 10s both reached No. 2: “Nobody,” in June 2021, and “Hooked,” in September 2018.
Meanwhile, as Scott’s latest leader hits the summit in its 55th chart week, it completes the longest trip to No. 1 since Parmalee’s “Gonna Love You” needed 56 frames to reach the apex in December.
Scott’s next album, Easy Does It, is due May 30.
38’s Special
Blake Shelton claims his 38th Country Airplay top 10 as “Texas” steps 11-10 (16.6 million, up 2%). The song follows his Post Malone collaboration “Pour Me a Drink,” which dominated for three weeks last October, becoming his 29th No. 1 (and Post Malone’s second).
Shelton’s first of 63 Country Airplay entries, “Austin,” dominated for five weeks starting in August 2001.
“Texas” is the lead single from Shelton’s album For Recreational Use Only, expected May 9.
All charts dated April 5 will update Tuesday, April 1, on Billboard.com.
Country Music Hall of Fame group Alabama has set a new slate of tour dates for 2025, with the first leg of its Live in Concert 25 Tour, set to launch April 17 in Phoenix.
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Alabama founders Randy Owen and Teddy Gentry will bring the headlining tour to cities including Lincoln, Calif.; Wichita, Kan.; and York, Pa., as well as a stop in Windsor, Ontario.
“There’s nothing I look forward to any more than performing the songs our great fans have made hits and some surprises along the way,” Owen said in a statement. “Every show I count as one more beautiful blessing! Much love to you, our fans! Looking forward to seeing all of you on the tour!
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“We are eager to get back on the road and make more cherished memories with each of you,” Gentry added. “It is a joy to play for our followers and friends who have supported us through thick and thin. We can’t wait to reconnect and share the music that brought us all together.”
Opening various shows on the two-time Grammy-winning group’s tour will be Lorrie Morgan, Pat Green, Eddie Montgomery, Lee Greenwood, Jamey Johnson, Ned LeDoux, BlackHawk and Alex Miller.
In the 1980s, Alabama became one of country music’s most successful groups, notching 33 Billboard Hot Country Songs chart-toppers, including “Lady Down on Love,” “Down Home,” “Mountain Music,” “The Closer You Get” and “Song of the South.” They earned the CMA’s coveted entertainer of the year three times, from 1982-1984. Following the passing of Alabama bandmember Jeff Cook in November 2022, Owen and Gentry carry on Alabama’s mission of bringing the group’s music to fans.
See the full slate of tour dates below:
April 17: Phoenix – Footprint Center (w/ Lorrie Morgan)
April 19: Lincoln, Calif. – Thunder Valley Casino Resort (w/ Lorrie Morgan)
April 27: Wichita, Kan. – Intrust Arena (w/ Eddie Montgomery)
May 23: Bonner Springs, Kan. – Azura Amphitheater (w/ Lee Greenwood)
May 25: Ridgedale, Mo. – Thunder Ridge Nature’s Arena (w/ Pat Green)
June 5: Windsor, Ontario, Canada – The Colosseum at Caesars Windsor
June 7: Bradley, Ill. – Bradley 316 Festival (w/ Eddie Montgomery)
June 14:Creighton, Pa. – Iron City Stage at Pittsburgh Brewing Company (w/ Jamey Johnson)
June 18: Redding, Calif. – Redding Civic Auditorium (w/ Eddie Montgomery)
June 20: Sparks, Nev. – Nugget Event Center (w/ Ned LeDoux)
July 19: Old Washington, Ohio – Old Washington Music Fest
July 25: York, Pa. – York State Fair (w/ Alex Miller)
Aug 9: Galva, Ill. – The Back Road Music Festival (w/ BlackHawk)
Aug 28: Allentown, Pa. – The Great Allentown Fair
Songwriters often note that the concept of turning a song into a hit, at its core, crucially leans on timing: the right singer connecting with the right song at the perfect time. For 27-time Grammy winner, vocalist/fiddler Alison Krauss, that convergence of artist, song and time sparked the reconvening of one of bluegrass music’s most revered groups, the 14-time Grammy winners Alison Krauss & Union Station, who will release their first album in nearly 14 years, the Down the Road Records project, Arcadia, on Friday (March 28).
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“We didn’t mean for it to take so long, but it did,” Krauss told Billboard.
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Krauss has long had a habit of tucking away songs that she loves, waiting for the right time to record them. Over the years, she’s amassed a collection of those potential recordings, but it wasn’t until she heard the Jeremy Lister song “Looks Like It’s the End of the Road” during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic that Krauss felt she’d found that perfect song to kick off a new record with her band Union Station, one that would mark their first since 2011’s Grammy-winning Paper Airplane.
“I had been collecting most of those things since we recorded the last album, so I’d had a lot of them,” Krauss says. “I heard Jeremy Lister’s song and within the first half of the first verse I’m like, ‘There it is.’ A few days later, I texted everybody saying we should get together. I never stopped wanting to [make a new album], but with touring and people recording, there’s such a huge factor, because everybody is scattered.”
The top-caliber talents of each of the band’s members led them to an array of various projects through the years, including studio work, collaborations with other artists and their own solo projects.
In 2017, Krauss released the solo project Windy City. In 2021, she teamed with rock icon Robert Plant for the album Raise the Roof (the sequel to their Grammy-winning Raising Sand project) and a subsequent tour as a duo. Krauss’s Union Station bandmate, dobro player Jerry Douglas has released numerous solo albums, including 2024’s The Set with his own band. Douglas and Union Station bassist Barry Bales also paid tribute to Flatt and Scruggs as part of the group Earl of Leicester. Among other music initiatives, banjoist Ron Block released the 2015 project Hogan’s House of Music. Meanwhile, in 2017, vocalist/mandolin player/guitarist Dan Tyminski released the project Southern Gothic, followed by 2023’s God Fearing Heathen.
“It was great,” Krauss recalls of those first sessions playing with the group and getting acquainted with playing the songs together. “Once we listened to all the material, we started playing all the songs and it’s never a labored process of getting those initial arrangements down for tracking. They are such a great band, cutting the basic tracks that goes really smoothly. So, this is a magical moment for me to be singing my scratches [scratch vocals] over those tracks.”
But as the group began to reconvene, they realized the new project would come with a significant shift in the group’s lineup, when Tyminski revealed he would not be returning to the group, so that he could focus on his solo career.
“Nobody wanted Dan to go, but we respect what he feels called to do,” Krauss says. Tyminski’s influence on the project can still be heard on instrumentation on the album, and he co-wrote the album’s “The Wrong Way” with Robert Lee Castleman.
“He played me that song, it’s got to be 10 years ago at least,” Krauss says. “I’ve had that song a long time and I loved it immediately. I thought it was just beautiful.”
On the new album, Russell Moore, a six-time IBMA male vocalist of the year winner known for his work as part of the seven-time IBMA vocal group of the year-winning group IIIrd Tyme Out, joins Union Station, adding his unmistakable voice alongside Krauss’s ethereal soprano.
“Can you believe his singing?” Krauss gushes. “We all grew up in that same generation and all had the same similar influences of what was happening in bluegrass at the time. We’re all made of the same stuff—we ate the same grass.”
She adds, “So when this came up, we were like, ‘What are we going to do?’ I mentioned Russell and he’s been so respected in this music for decades. The first time I heard him sing, I was 14 and he was 21 — he was playing with Doyle Lawson and Quicksilver. He and Dan [Tyminski], of that era, were the guys. I can’t even believe we got to play with Dan for 30 years and now we get to play with Russell, too. It’s just amazing, the fortune of this band. It’s amazing to hear [Russell] sing, standing next to him — this amazing voice you’ve heard your whole life.”
Moore’s work with IIIrd Tyme Out will take a brief hiatus as Moore records and tours as part of Union Station.
“I didn’t think he would [join Union Station] because he’s got his own group,” Krauss says of reaching out to Moore. “But he was up for talking about it. And the way we’ve structured this tour is to make sure everybody can still do their own stuff. We’re going out for six months and then the rest of the year is to make sure everybody else’s projects are honored. I don’t think [Russell] would’ve [joined] had we not made sure that [IIIrd Tyme Out] would be honored, too. There was no way he was going to leave his group — he’s built that over 30-something years.”
The new album places vocals and stories at the fore, with the band expertly building each instrumental bed around Moore and Krauss’s voices. Many of the album’s songs center around despairing storylines, with some recording details of long-ago tragedies, such as the Civil War tale “Richmond on the James,” or when Moore takes the vocal lead on “Granite Mills,” which depicts the story of a fire at a mill in Massachusetts in 1874, which took the lives of more than a dozen people. Elsewhere, “Hangman” sets a desolate poem from Maurice Odgen to music.
“One thing that bluegrass tunes have never been afraid of is saying exactly what happened,” Krauss says of “Granite Mills.” “My son asked me not that long ago, ‘How do you sing these sad songs? I can’t even listen.’ I said, ‘I have to sing them, and I feel called to sing them. A lot of these stories you may not even know.’ I talked to someone who lived in the area that the mill tragedy happened in, and he said, ‘I didn’t even know that happened here.’ So here in this song, it’ll live forever. For me, these tragedy songs, they’re survival stories and they bring encouragement to people. Trying to survive will never go away, no matter what time in history. It’s just the human condition.”
The album does have some moments of levity, as when Bales and Block lighten the mood with “North Side Gal,” with twin fiddle work from Alison and Stuart Duncan. The album is bookended with another Lister song, “There’s a Light Up Ahead,” which lends a more hope-filled conclusion to the project.
The album reunites them with the founders of Rounder Records — Ken Irwin, Marian Leighton Levy, and Bill Nowlin — who launched a new label, Down the Road Records, in 2023. As with reuniting with Union Station, it was Krauss who made the first call.
“When I started to hear about them putting the label together, I was like, ‘I wonder if there’s room for us? If I don’t ask, I’ll never know,’” Krauss says. “Because those folks, they’re the real deal. They’re the evangelists of folk music and traditional music. I love being there with people that feel that way about the music, that it has to be heard and it has to be recorded. I love who they are, so I’m thrilled to be with them again.”
This spring, Alison Krauss & Union Station will launch their first tour in a decade, with 75 North American tour dates set. As for the possibility of another 14 years elapsing between projects for Krauss and Union Station, Krauss says, “No, it won’t be that long. I definitely hope not. I’m thrilled to be back with these guys and getting to make new music and play the older ones again. It’s so nice to hear the old songs.”
Fans of the ACM Awards will get super-served at this year’s ceremony as the show, which had clocked in at two hours since moving to the commercial free Amazon’s Prime Video, will expand by 30 minutes.
“It was a long discussion with Amazon because we pride ourselves on the fact that we’re the only major awards show that clocks in at two hours and that’s a big consumer benefit for our show,” says Academy of Country Music CEO Damon Whiteside. “However, this year there’s so many things that we want to accomplish in the show because we want to give a proper nod to our history, but we still have a lot of business to take care of in terms of the current nominees as well, so we just felt like the extra time will allow us to do some special things. I don’t think viewers are going to be unhappy that we’re giving them an extra 30 minutes of really amazing content.”
Ella Langley leads all nominees with eight nods, which Whiteside sees as a sign of how current and fresh the ACM Awards are. “To have essentially a brand-new artist lead the nominations, especially in our 60th year, it’s almost like a full-circle thing, because we really pride ourselves on often being the first organization to honor a new artist,” Whiteside says. “It speaks to the fact that we’ve always been an organization that is very new artist forward.”
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Langley is followed by Cody Johnson, Morgan Wallen and Lainey Wilson, all of whom received seven nominations, with Chris Stapleton garnering six nods.
Whiteside also lauds Johnson’s seven nominations as “he just continues to grow and so it’s exciting to see him get acknowledged and, obviously, Morgan Wallen continues to be a juggernaut,” he says. He also enthuses over Kelsea Ballerini’s first nomination for entertainer of the year. “I can’t say enough about her and her journey and the way she continued to grow as an artist.”
Like Langley, a number of artists, including Dasha, Shaboozey, Red Clay Strays and Zach Top landed their first nominations this year. “It does feel like a really fresh crop of artists are getting recognized,” Whiteside says.
Beyoncé received no nominations, despite winning two country Grammys in February, including for country album of the year, just weeks before first-round ACM voting opened. “Were we hoping she’d be nominated? Absolutely,” Whiteside says. “We love that Beyoncé is in the country genre. That’s fantastic for all the country artists out there. It’s fantastic for the fans. The more successful she is, the more we’re bringing more mainstream people into the genre which we want.”
Unlike Grammy voters, who span all musical genres, the more than 5,000 ACM voters primarily make a living in country music and are mostly based in Nashville. “I think, more likely, they’re going to be voting for artists that they’ve got relationships with and work with on a regular basis and that are in the country music business 365,” Whiteside says, but adds, “We’d love to have Beyoncé on the show. She has an open invitation to be on the ACM stage anytime she ever wants to.”
As Whiteside, executive producer/show runner Raj Kapoor, and show producer dick clark productions work on the show, they are trying to strike the right balance between old and new. “It’s tough because we may have a really great idea on honoring this artist from the past, but then it’s like, ‘Well, that may take away a slot from a current artist’,” Whiteside says. So far, Wilson, Blake Shelton and Eric Church have been announced as performers. The three new artist winners-male, female and duo or group- who are announced in advance will also perform.
“It’s a little bit of a past/present/future approach,” Whiteside adds. “It’s going to be a really iconic night and a great way to look back and look forward and celebrate where we are right now as an industry.”
Plans around the ACM Awards are still being firmed up but will include free shows on the Star Plaza on May 6 and 7, as well as a Top Golf tee-off tournament on May 6, and an official after party following the awards.
With the Amazon deal and the contract with the Cowboys for the Frisco location both expiring this year, Whiteside says things could look very different next year depending upon if the deals aren’t renewed.
“For 2026, we may do a major pivot again and define what’s the future of the academy. This year is a very special year, but next year is going to be kind of turning the page,” he says. “It’ll be a fresh new year. We don’t know yet where we’ll be. We don’t know what [outlet] we’re going to be on. Everything’s a new day in 2026, so it’s going to be the evolution of the ACM Awards, but we’re excited about that because it’s a blank slate.”
The ACM Awards are produced by Dick Clark Productions, which is owned by Penske Media Eldridge, a joint venture between Eldridge Industries and Billboard parent company Penske Media.
03/27/2025
Ella Langley leads all nominees with eight, while Kelsea Ballerini lands her first entertainer of the year nod and Beyoncé scores none.
03/27/2025
Ella Langley is the leading nominee for the 2025 Academy of Country Music Awards. Six of her eight nods are for “you look like you love me,” her hit collaboration with Riley Green – single of the year, music event of the year, song of the year (as both artist and songwriter) and visual media of the year (as both artist and director).
The sexy duet won musical event of the year at the CMA Awards in November. It reached No. 1 on Billboard’s Country Airplay chart, No. 7 on Hot Country Songs and No. 30 on the all-genre Billboard Hot 100. Langley, 25, is also nominated for both female artist of the year and new female artist of the year.
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Cody Johnson, Morgan Wallen and Lainey Wilson are close behind with seven nods. Chris Stapleton has six. Green and Post Malone each have five. Kelsea Ballerini has four, including her first nod for entertainer of the year.
Other artists who break into marquee categories for the first time include Muscadine Bloodline, nominated for duo of the year, and The Red Clay Strays, nominated for group of the year. The latter act is nominated for two awards, more than any other ongoing group or duo this year.
Zach Top’s debut album, Cold Beer & Country Music, is nominated for album of the year. This marks the first time a debut album has been in the running for that top honor since 2016, when Stapleton’s Traveller and Sam Hunt’s Montevallo were both nominated. (Traveller won.)
Post Malone’s “I Had Some Help,” featuring Wallen, is nominated for single of the year, alongside “you look like you love me.” It’s the second time in three years that two collaborative hits have been nominated in this category in the same year. “Never Wanted To Be That Girl” by Carly Pearce & Ashley McBryde and “Thank God” by Kane Brown with Katelyn Brown were both nominated in 2023.
Many of last year’s winners are back to defend in those same categories, including Wilson, last year’s winner for both entertainer of the year and female artist of the year; Stapleton (male artist of the year), Dan + Shay (duo of the year), Old Dominion (group of the year) and Jessie Jo Dillon (songwriter of the year).
This is the sixth year in a row that Luke Combs has been nominated for both male artist of the year and entertainer of the year. He has yet to win in the latter category. If he finally brings it home this year, he’ll clinch the ACM’s Triple Crown Award, which consists of wins in the appropriate new artist and artist categories as well as entertainer of the year. Combs won new male artist of the year in 2019 and male artist of the year the following year. Past ACM Triple Crown Award recipients include Wilson, Stapleton, Miranda Lambert, Jason Aldean, Carrie Underwood and Kenny Chesney.
Little Big Town receives its 19th nomination for group of the year, which is just one shy of tying Alabama’s long-held record for the most nods in the history of the category. Little Big Town landed its first nomination in the category in 2006, the same year Alabama landed its 20th and last. (Neither act won that year. The award went to Rascal Flatts.)
Rascal Flatts is nominated for group of the year for the 13th time, and for the first time since 2017.
Old Dominion is nominated for group of the year for the 10th consecutive year. The group has taken home the award every year for the last seven years. If they win again this year, they will surpass Rascal Flatts for the most wins in the category. (If Rascal Flatts wins, they, and not Old Dominion, will become the winningest group in the history of the category.)
Brooks & Dunn is nominated for duo of the year for the 16th time. They won in that category at the CMA Awards in November, beating recent category favorites Dan + Shay and Brothers Osborne. Dan + Shay are nominated for duo of the year at the ACM Awards for the 12th year in a row. Brothers Osborne is in the running for the 11th year in a row.
Stapleton receives his 10th consecutive nomination for male artist of the year, an award he has won four times. Stapleton is also nominated for entertainer of the year for the seventh time.
Kacey Musgraves receives her ninth nomination for female artist of the year. She won in 2019. Ballerini is nominated for the eighth time. She has yet to win in that category.
Bailey Zimmerman, who was nominated for new male artist of the year two years ago, is a finalist in that category again this year. (ACM rules allow artists two tries at newcomer awards.) Kassi Ashton and Ashley Cooke are both nominated for new female artist of the year for the second year in a row. Restless Road is nominated for new duo or group of the year for the second year in a row.
Charlie Handsome is competing with himself for album of the year. He is nominated as a producer of both Jelly Roll’s Beautifully Broken and Post Malone’s F-1 Trillion. Similarly, Dustin Haney is competing with himself for visual media of the year, as the producer/director of Cody Johnson’s “Dirt Cheap” and the director of Johnson & Carrie Underwood’s “I’m Gonna Love You.”
Alysa Vanderheym, a songwriter and producer best known for her work with Ballerini, makes history as the first woman to receive an ACM nomination for producer of the year. Women producers are slowly but surely making inroads in this male-dominated field. At this year’s Grammys, Alissia Benveniste (who goes by just her first name), became the first woman in six years to receive a nod for producer of the year, non-classical. Her credits included work with Jamila Woods, Rae Khalil and BJ the Chicago Kid.
The eligibility period for the 60th ACM Awards was Jan. 1 through Dec. 31, 2024. Awards are voted on by members of the Academy of Country Music, which has more than 5,000 members. In five categories, an artist may receive more than one nomination if they are also credited as a producer, director or songwriter.
Hosted by Reba McEntire, the 60th ACM Awards will stream live exclusively on Prime Video and the Amazon Music channel on Twitch on Thursday, May 8 at 8 p.m. ET / 7 p.m. CT / 5 p.m. PT from the Ford Center at The Star in Frisco, Tex. A limited number of tickets to the 60th ACM Awards are available for purchase on Seat Geek.
The 60th Academy of Country Music Awards is produced by Dick Clark Productions (DCP). Raj Kapoor is executive producer and showrunner, with Patrick Menton as co-executive producer. Damon Whiteside serves as executive producer for the Academy of Country Music, and Jay Penske and Barry Adelman serve as executive producers for DCP. John Saade will also continue to serve as consulting producer for Amazon MGM Studios.
The following is the full list of nominees for the Main Awards, the Studio Recording Awards and the Industry Awards categories:
Entertainer of the Year
Kelsea Ballerini
Luke Combs
Cody Johnson
Jelly Roll
Chris Stapleton
Morgan Wallen
Lainey Wilson
Female Artist of the Year
Kelsea Ballerini
Ella Langley
Megan Moroney
Kacey Musgraves
Lainey Wilson
Male Artist of the Year
Luke Combs
Cody Johnson
Jelly Roll
Chris Stapleton
Morgan Wallen
Duo of the Year
Brooks & Dunn
Brothers Osborne
Dan + Shay
Muscadine Bloodline
The War and Treaty
Group of the Year
Flatland Cavalry
Little Big Town
Old Dominion
Rascal Flatts
The Red Clay Strays
New Female Artist of the Year
Kassi Ashton
Ashley Cooke
Dasha
Ella Langley
Jessie Murph
New Male Artist of the Year
Gavin Adcock
Shaboozey
Zach Top
Tucker Wetmore
Bailey Zimmerman
New Duo or Group of the Year
Restless Road
The Red Clay Strays
Treaty Oak Revival
Album of the Year
Awarded to artist(s)/producer(s)/record company–label(s)
Am I Okay? (I’ll Be Fine) – Megan Moroney; producer: Kristian Bush; Columbia Records / Sony Music Nashville
Beautifully Broken – Jelly Roll; producers: BazeXX, Brock Berryhill, Zach Crowell, Devin Dawson, Charlie Handsome, Ben Johnson, mgk, The Monsters & Strangerz, Austin Nivarel, SlimXX, Ryan Tedder, Isaiah Tejada, Alysa Vanderheym; BBR Music Group / BMG Nashville / Republic Records
Cold Beer & Country Music – Zach Top; producer: Carson Chamberlain; Leo33
F-1 Trillion – Post Malone; producers: Louis Bell, Charlie Handsome, Hoskins; Mercury Records / Republic Records
Whirlwind – Lainey Wilson; producer: Jay Joyce; BBR Music Group / BMG Nashville
Single of the Year
Awarded to artist(s)/producer(s)/record company–label(s)
“A Bar Song (Tipsy)” – Shaboozey; producers: Sean Cook, Nevin Sastry; American Dogwood / EMPIRE
“Dirt Cheap” – Cody Johnson; producer: Trent Willmon; CoJo Music LLC / Warner Music Nashville
“I Had Some Help” – Post Malone, Morgan Wallen; producers: Louis Bell, Charlie Handsome, Hoskins; Mercury Records / Republic Records
“White Horse” – Chris Stapleton; producers: Dave Cobb, Chris Stapleton, Morgane Stapleton; Mercury Nashville
“you look like you love me” – Ella Langley, Riley Green; producer: Will Bundy; SAWGOD / Columbia Records
Song of the Year
Awarded to songwriter(s)/publisher(s)/artist(s)
“4x4xU” – Lainey Wilson; songwriters: Jon Decious, Aaron Raitiere, Lainey Wilson; publishers: Louisiana Lady; One Tooth Productions; Reservoir 416; Songs of One Riot Music; Sony/ATV Accent
“The Architect” – Kacey Musgraves; songwriters: Shane McAnally, Kacey Musgraves, Josh Osborne; publishers: Songs for Indy and Owl; Sony/ATV Cross Keys Publishing
“Dirt Cheap” – Cody Johnson; songwriter: Josh Phillips; publishers: Warner-Tamerlane Publishing; Write or Die Music; Write the Lightning Publishing
“I Had Some Help” – Post Malone, Morgan Wallen; songwriters: Louis Bell, Ashley Gorley, Hoskins, Austin Post, Ernest Keith Smith, Morgan Wallen, Chandler Paul Walters, Ryan Vojtesak; publishers: Bell Ear Publishing; Master of my Domain Music; Poppy’s Picks; Sony/ATV Cross Keys Publishing; Universal Music Corporation
“you look like you love me” – Ella Langley, Riley Green; songwriters: Riley Green, Ella Langley, Aaron Raitiere; publishers: Back 40 Publishing International; Langley Publishing; One Tooth Productions; Sony/ATV Tree; Warner-Tamerlane Publishing Corp
Music Event of the Year
Awarded to artist(s)/producer(s)/record company–label(s)
“Cowboys Cry Too” – Kelsea Ballerini, Noah Kahan; producers: Kelsea Ballerini, Noah Kahan, Alysa Vanderheym; Black River Entertainment
“I Had Some Help” – Post Malone, Morgan Wallen; producers: Louis Bell, Charlie Handsome, Hoskins; Mercury Records / Republic Records
“I’m Gonna Love You” – Cody Johnson, Carrie Underwood; producer: Trent Willmon; CoJo Music LLC / Warner Music Nashville
“we don’t fight anymore” – Carly Pearce, Chris Stapleton; producers: Shane McAnally, Josh Osborne, Carly Pearce; Big Machine Records
“you look like you love me” – Ella Langley, Riley Green; producer: Will Bundy; SAWGOD / Columbia Records
Visual Media of the Year
Awarded to producer(s)/director(s)/artist(s)
“4x4xU” – Lainey Wilson; producer: Jennifer Ansell; director: Dano Cerny
“Dirt Cheap” – Cody Johnson; producer: Dustin Haney; director: Dustin Haney
“I’m Gonna Love You” – Cody Johnson, Carrie Underwood; producers: Christen Pinkston, Wesley Stebbins-Perry; director: Dustin Haney
“Think I’m In Love With You” – Chris Stapleton; producers: Wes Edwards, Angie Lorenz, Jamie Stratakis; director: Running Bear (Stephen Kinigopoulos, Alexa Stone)
“you look like you love me” – Ella Langley, Riley Green; producer: Whale Tale Music; directors: Ella Langley, John Park, Wales Toney
Artist-Songwriter of the Year
Luke Combs
ERNEST
HARDY
Morgan Wallen
Lainey Wilson
Songwriter of the Year
Jessi Alexander
Jessie Jo Dillon
Ashley Gorley
Chase McGill
Josh Osborne
Producer of the Year
Dave Cobb
Ian Fitchuk
Charlie Handsome
Jon Randall
Alysa Vanderheym
Audio Engineer of the Year
Brandon Bell
Drew Bollman
Josh Ditty
Buckley Miller
F. Reid Shippen
Bass Player of the Year
J.T. Cure
Mark Hill
Rachel Loy
Tony Lucido
Craig Young
Drummer of the Year
Fred Eltringham
Tommy Harden
Evan Hutchings
Aaron Sterling
Nir Z
Acoustic Guitar Player of the Year
Tim Galloway
Todd Lombardo
Mac McAnally
Bryan Sutton
Ilya Toshinskiy
Piano/Keyboards Player of the Year
Dave Cohen
Ian Fitchuk
Billy Justineau
Gordon Mote
Alex Wright
Specialty Instrument Player of the Year
Dan Dugmore
Jenee Fleenor
Josh Matheny
Justin Schipper
Kristin Wilkinson
Electric Guitar Player of the Year
Kris Donegan
Jedd Hughes
Brent Mason
Sol Philcox-Littlefield
Derek Wells
Casino of the Year – Theater
Deadwood Mountain Grand – Deadwood, S.D.
Foxwoods Resort Casino – Mashantucket, Conn.
Harrah’s Cherokee Casino Resort – Cherokee, N.C.
The Theater at Virgin Hotels – Las Vegas, Nev.
Yaamava’ Theater – Highland, Calif.
Casino of the Year – Arena
Golden Nugget Lake Charles – Lake Charles, La.
Hard Rock Live at Etess Arena – Atlantic City, N.J.
Harveys Lake Tahoe – Stateline, Nev.
Mystic Lake Casino Showroom – Prior Lake, Minn.
Turning Stone Resort Casino – Verona, N.Y.
Festival of the Year
C2C Country to Country – London
CMC Rocks – Ipswich, Queensland
Stagecoach Festival – Indio, Calif.
Two Step Inn – Georgetown, Tex.
Windy City Smokeout – Chicago
Fair/Rodeo of the Year
Calgary Stampede – Calgary, Alberta
California Mid-State Fair – Paso Robles, Calif.
Cheyenne Frontier Days – Cheyenne, Wy.
Minnesota State Fair – Falcon Heights, Minn.
Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo – Houston
Club of the Year
Billy Bob’s Texas – Fort Worth, Tex.
Brooklyn Bowl – Nashville
Cain’s Ballroom – Tulsa, Okla.
Georgia Theatre – Athens, Ga.
Joe’s on Weed St. – Chicago
Theater of the Year
The Caverns – Pelham, Tenn.
MGM Music Hall at Fenway – Boston
The Met Philadelphia – Philadelphia
The Rave/Eagles Club – Milwaukee, Wisc.
Tennessee Theatre – Knoxville, Tenn.
Outdoor Venue of the Year
BankNH Pavilion – Gilford, N.H.
CMAC – Constellation Brands Marvin Sands Performing Arts Center – Canandaigua, N.Y.
Saint Augustine Amphitheatre – St. Augustine, Fla.
The Wharf Amphitheater – Orange Beach, Ala.
Whitewater Amphitheater – New Braunfels, Tex.
Arena of the Year
Dickies Arena – Fort Worth, Tex.
Moody Center – Austin, Tex.
TD Garden – Boston
Thompson-Boling Arena at Food City Center – Knoxville, Tenn.
Van Andel Arena – Grand Rapids, Mich.
Don Romeo Talent Buyer of the Year
Deana Baker
Bobby Clay
Gil Cunningham
Weston Hebert
Stacy Vee
Taylor Williamson
Promoter of the Year
Brent Fedrizzi
Alex Maxwell
Patrick McDill
Anna-Sophie Mertens
Rich Schaefer
Aaron Spalding
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Plenty of country songs have rested through the years on the drinking habits of the lonely. Merle Haggard’s “Misery and Gin,” Moe Bandy’s “Barstool Mountain” and The Charlie Daniels Band’s “Drinkin’ My Baby Goodbye” all find broken-hearted men numbing their hurt with a little liquid medication at the tavern.
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It’s a good bet that the vast majority of country listeners know at least something about that plot, which makes them likely to appreciate Vincent Mason’s first radio single, “Wish You Well,” in which the singer processes the passing of an old relationship by downing a few at the bar.
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“This guy and this story, I’ve definitely lived it — and definitely lived it recently,” Mason says. “But I think it’s better than to try to get it back.”
The scenario is well-suited for a steel-soaked ballad, though “Wish You Well” defies that expectation. It trips along behind a buzzy guitar at a speedy pace, the melody flying by so quickly it’s easy to miss most of the words and catch only pieces of the story before it becomes familiar.
“Right from the beginning, it’s got that acoustic riff, and it’s moving really quick,” Mason notes. “I’m a big John Mayer fan — I came up on that when I was learning how to play guitar — so that slap flick kind of pattern on the guitar, it’s fun for me to play.”
The song owes its existence to the title of songwriter Blake Pendergrass (“Relapse,” “Days That End in Y”) and the tenacity of co-writer Geoff Warburton (“Best Thing Since Backroads,” “But I Got a Beer in My Hand”). Pendergrass stumbled across the hook during a brainstorming session, with the “wish you well” payoff line mashing up a common courtesy with a well drink. He envisioned a series of wishes in the song, with the singer attempting to escape his lack of fulfillment by downing the house whiskey instead of a particular brand. He introduced the idea during a songwriting session around the fall of 2022, receiving a mostly cool reception. Warburton was in the room that day, and he liked it enough that he continued to ask about it periodically over the next year.
Finally, during a four-person writing appointment on Oct. 3, 2023, at a studio owned by writer-producer Chris LaCorte (“23,” “Wind Up Missin’ You”), Warburton asked about “Wish You Well” again. This time, the collective response was enthusiastic, and they dug into it with abandon as Warburton kicked into a rapid groove on guitar. They tackled the chorus first, loading up the opening lines with a half-dozen wishes — “Wish you would call/ Wish you would miss me” — in a fairly repetitive cadence.
“That first half of the chorus came out pretty fast in the room,” Warburton remembers. “Everyone was ping-ponging ideas, and it just kept falling into place really fast.”
After following that wishful tack for four busy lines, they shifted into syncopated rhythms in the next four, simultaneously changing the lyrical focus as they barreled to the “wish you well” drink at the end.“Once we had that first half,” Warburton says, “we’re like, ‘OK, maybe we chill on the wish stuff.’ ”
After a pause, they repeated the hook for good measure.
“There’s a lot of information in the chorus,” says co-writer Jessie Jo Dillon (“10,000 Hours,” “Am I Okay?”). “I always think when a song does that, you need to either let the song breathe or repeat the hook as a tag because someone just had to digest a lot of information.”
The chorus took up enough real estate that they had little space left for the verses. Still, they compressed more wishful thinking into those stanzas. The opening line has the guy drinking three shots, parallel to a “Jim Beam genie” granting him three wishes. Pendergrass wasn’t certain that would go over when he suggested it. “I got a little bit of pushback on stuff like that,” he says. “I love doing weird, kind of quirky lines like that. Thankfully, they let me run down that road a little bit.”
Jim Beam is a small contradiction: The song hinges on a generic well drink, but the genie employs a specific brand. “He’s like, ‘Maybe I’ll start with the good stuff,’ ” Dillon says with a laugh. “Then, he’s wasting all his quarters on the jukebox, so he has to scale it back. I’ve so been there.”
That jukebox makes its appearance in the ultra-short second verse, and they specifically named an old-fashioned model instead of a modern, digital version — to rhyme “quarter” with “order,” and to carry out the wishing motif: The guy is throwing coins in a music machine instead of a fountain. “Who wants to sing about typing in your Apple Pay on the TouchTunes on your iPhone?” LaCorte asks rhetorically. “It’s a little less poetic.”
For a quickie bridge, they extended the wish motif – at closing time: He’s still alone and decides to wish upon a “2 a.m. star.” While the words pass fast throughout the song, they flow smoothly, allowing the listener to get absorbed in its musicality. “That’s one of my main priorities when I’m writing, is that I want to make sure that there’s nothing that sounds unnatural in the phrases,” Pendergrass says.
LaCorte whipped up a sparse, mostly acoustic demo with Pendergass singing lead. And Warburton developed a simple, melodic guitar riff. “I’d just been noodling,” Warburton recalls. “Chris was like, ‘Oh, what’s that? Put that in there.’ ”
“Wish You Well” became a favorite for Hang Your Hat Music GM/executive vp Jake Gear, who was hired as Universal Music Group Nashville vp of A&R in March 2024. Around then, he gave the demo to Mason, who was signed to MCA Nashville, without any kind of suggestion that he might want to cut it.
But Mason fixated on it and, after a month of listening, committed to it. The demo was strong enough that they used it as the foundation for the master recording, and the guitar was so rhythmic that they flirted with skipping drums. Ultimately, Aaron Sterling added parts, first playing cajon, though he gradually moved to a more standard kit.
“We were kind of like, ‘Play the drums, but don’t draw attention to the drums,’ ” Mason recalls.Mason had trouble making the words feel distinct when he cut the lead vocal, so he came back twice, and they cut the tempo both times, finally settling at 169 beats per minute, about six beats slower than the original pace.
“It’s a very wordy song, a very fast song, and there’s a lot of syncopation to that melody,” LaCorte explains. “It takes a lot [of] reps so [that] it comes out naturally. But it definitely helped once we backed it down a few clicks.”
Justin Schipper overdubbed steel and Dobro, and Josh Reedy from Thomas Rhett’s road band delivered harmonies, which get a stark highlight in the final chorus in engineer Dave Clauss’ mix. The track was so commercial that MCA took it to country radio on Feb. 13, making it Mason’s first cut that was serviced to broadcasters. It’s at No. 56 after three charted weeks on the Country Airplay list dated March 29.
“Growing up listening to country radio, I think you kind of just know,” Mason reasons. “It’s just got that X factor and that little bit of a hit thing, and I think it has the best chance on a first listen to grab people’s ear.”