![A guitar, much like the ones used for many country songs. [Image Source: Ana_J - Pixabay]](https://staticr1.blastingcdn.com/media/photogallery/2018/8/29/660x290/b_502x220x82/a-guitar-much-like-the-ones-used-for-many-country-songs-image-via-ana-j-pixabay_2084521.jpg "A guitar, much like the ones used for many country songs. [Image Source: Ana_J - Pixabay]")
The CMA Awards are due to be handed out in November. It's an annual tradition by the Country Music Association, much like the Academy of Country Music does with the ACM Awards in the spring. The popular duo of Carrie Underwood and Brad Paisely are set to host the ceremony for the 11th time. Nominations for the awards have recently been announced. As Forbes indicates, not all are happy with the nominations, but many established fan-favorites are among the contenders.
Awards for Artist of the Year
Many familiar names show up in the nominations for some of the most coveted awards for the artists.
For the Female Vocalist of the Year category, co-host Underwood is a four-time winner. Miranda Lambert has won the category eight times. It would be the first win for Kelsea Ballerini, Maren Morris, or Kacey Musgraves.
On the male vocalist side, Keith Urban and Chris Stapleton have each won three times, while Dierks Bentley, Luke Combs, and Thomas Rhett have never won. Lady Antebellum and Little Big Town have dominated the Vocal Group of the Year category in recent years. They are up for it again, along with LANCO, Midland, and Old Dominion. Sugarland, Florida Georgia Line, and Brothers Osborne have combined to win Vocal Duo of the Year 10 times. They are joined by Dan + Shay and Maddie & Tae this year.
The Entertainer of the Year category features past winners in Urban, Luke Bryan, and Kenny Chesney. It would be the first win in the category for fellow nominees Stapleton and Jason Aldean.
Awards for other projects
Not surprisingly, many of the artists nominated in their own categories are included in the categories for their projects.
Works by Bentley, Musgraves, Rhett, Stapleton, and Urban make up the Album of the Year category. Aldean and Lambert's duet "Drowns the Whiskey" earned nods in the single, song, and musical event categories. The Dan + Shay hit "Tequila" brought them nods for the single, song, and music video categories.
Stapleton's "Broken Halos" is also nominated for single and song.
The Florida Georgia Line and Bebe Rexha joint venture "Meant to Be" scored nominations for single and musical event. Midland's "Drinkin' Problem" takes the last slot for Single of the Year. The Bentley and Brothers Osborne duet "Burning Man" and Morris and Vince Gill's "Dear Hate" are two more nominees for musical event. Chesney and David Lee Murphy's "Everything's Gonna Be Alright" is the other.
"Body Like A Back Road" and "Drunk Girl" round out the Song of the Year category. Videos for Sugarland and Taylor Swift's "Babe," Underwood's "Cry Pretty," and Rhett's "Marry Me" are also nominated. ABC reports that the video for "Drunk Girl," performed by Chris Janson, is the final nominee for the category.
