ASCAP's country music songwriters, artists, composers and publishers earned multiple nominations in nearly every category of the 47th Annual Academy of Country Music Awards, which were announced on January 26, 2011. Brad Paisley leads ASCAP honorees with four nods, including his fifth for Entertainer of the Year and his eighth for Male Vocalist of the Year. Paisley was named Male Vocalist of the Year five consecutive times from 2006 to 2010 and was honored with the ASCAP Songwriter/Artist of the Year awards at the 2011 ASCAP Country Music Awards.
ASCAP artists dominated the Vocal Duo of the Year category with Love and Theft, Steel Magnolia, Sugarland, and Thompson Square receiving four out of the five nominations. Since their debut at the ACMs in 2005, Sugarland has earned 16 nominations and has won Vocal Duo of the Year twice. Vocal Group of the Year nominees Rascal Flatts have racked up 10 ACM awards since 2000, including The Home Depot Humanitarian Award, recognizing the group for their philanthropic work in building better communities.
Grace Potter makes her debut as an ACM nominee with three, including Single Record of the Year, Song of the Year and Vocal Event of the Year, all for her breakthrough country duet, “You And Tequila.” Also earning his first ACM nomination this year is Chris Young, whose 2011 release Neon earned recognition in both the Male Vocalist of the Year and Single Record of the Year categories. ASCAP’s Kelly Clarkson made a return to country music with two nominations for her single “Don’t You Wanna Stay” with Jason Aldean, after making her ACM debut in 2007 with another duet, “Because of You” with Reba McEntire.
Producers Buddy Cannon, Paul Worley, and Frank Liddell each nabbed noms for Album of the Year, while fellow producer Glenn Worf received his first nomination as a producer – he previously won 13 ACM awards for Bass Player of the Year – for Miranda Lambert’s Four The Record, co-produced with Liddell. Producer Michael Knox also received two ACM nods, one in the Album of the Year category with My Kinda Party and the other for Single Record of the Year with “Don’t You Wanna Stay.” Cannon and Liddell are both up for Producer of the Year along with Mark Bright.
Ben Hayslip, ASCAP’s Country Music Awards Songwriter of the Year in 2011, was honored with a nomination for the ACM’s Songwriter of the Year award, along with David Lee Murphy, who co-wrote Thompson Square’s “Are You Gonna Kiss Me Or Not,” one of ASCAP’s Top 5 Most Performed Songs in 2011.
Reba McEntire, seven-time ACM Top Female Vocalist winner, will host the show for an unprecedented fourteenth year in a row.
The ceremony, which honors country music's brightest stars as well as the industry's hottest emerging talent, will be broadcast live from the MGM Grand in Las Vegas on Sunday, April 1, 2012 at 8:00 p.m. ET/PT on CBS.
Congratulations to all of ASCAP’s 2012 Academy of Country Music Awards nominees:
ENTERTAINER OF THE YEAR
Brad Paisley
MALE VOCALIST OF THE YEAR
Brad Paisley
Chris Young
VOCAL DUO OF THE YEAR
Love and Theft
Steel Magnolia
Sugarland
Thompson Square
VOCAL GROUP OF THE YEAR
Rascal Flatts
ALBUM OF THE YEAR
Four The Record
Producers: Frank Liddell, Glenn Worf
Hemingway’s Whiskey
Producers: Buddy Cannon
My Kinda Party
Producer: Michael Knox
Own The Night
Producer: Paul Worley
SINGLE RECORD OF THE YEAR
“Don’t You Wanna Stay”
Artist: Kelly Clarkson
Producer: Michael Knox
“Tomorrow”
Artist: Chris Young
“You And Tequila”
Artist: Grace Potter
Producers: Buddy Cannon
SONG OF THE YEAR
”Home”
Composers: Dierks Bentley, Dan Wilson
Publishers: Big White Tracks, Chrysalis Music/BMG Rights
“Threaten Me With Heaven”
Composers: Amy Grant, Will Owsley
Publishers: Grant Girls Music, Willie-O Music
“You And Tequila”
Composer: Deana Carter
Publishers: Deanaling Music, WB Music Corp.
SONGWRITER OF THE YEAR
Ben Hayslip
David Lee Murphy
VOCAL EVENT OF THE YEAR
“Country Boy”
Artist and Producer: Aaron Lewis
“Don’t You Wanna Stay”
Artist: Kelly Clarkson
Producer: Michael Knox
“Old Alabama”
Artist: Brad Paisley
Producer: Frank Rogers
“Remind Me”
Artist: Brad Paisley
Producer: Frank Rogers
“You And Tequila”
Artist: Grace Potter
Producer: Buddy Cannon
PRODUCER OF THE YEAR
Mark Bright
Buddy Cannon
Frank Liddell
BASS PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Jimmy Lee Sloas
PERCUSSIONIST/DRUMMER OF THE YEAR
Chad Cromwell
Chris McHugh
PIANO/KEYBOARD PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Tony Harrell
John Jarvis
SPECIALTY INSTRUMENT(S) PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Ilya Toshinsky
STEEL GUITAR PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Paul Franklin
Scotty Sanders