Kacey Musgraves
ACM Awards 2014: Final Thoughts
This year’s ACM Awards were mediocre and broverwhemingly male-centric, despite women winning most of the major awards. As with last fall’s CMA show, the best moment was the final one, when George Strait won Entertainer of the Year.
Here’s a rundown of all the major winners:
Entertainer of the Year
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Luke Bryan
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Miranda Lambert
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Blake Shelton
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George Strait
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Taylor Swift
George Strait winning at the ACMs this year was even more surprising than at the CMAs last year, given how the fan-voted element of this award has favored stars with young fanbases in previous years. King George, indeed. – KJC
While it’s disheartening to see Strait’s mainstream support dwindling, it’s great to see the fans come through for King George. – BF
Even if Strait did unintentionally but hilariously leave Miranda Lambert hanging on her attempted hi-five, it was nice to see the genuine support for Strait’s win among the other artists in attendance. Too bad radio seems to have turned their back on him. – JK
2014 ACM Awards: Staff Picks & Predictions
And they’re back: The 2014 ACM Awards air live on Sunday at 7 p.m. CST, hosted by Blake Shelton and Luke Bryan. They’re sure to be enraging or amusing, depending on your bro-country meter. In the meantime, we’ve picked and predicted the awards below – chime in with your thoughts!
Entertainer of the Year
Should Win
- Luke Bryan
- Miranda Lambert
- Blake Shelton
- George Strait – KJC, TS, BF
- Taylor Swift
Will Win
- Luke Bryan – KJC, TS, BF, JK
- Miranda Lambert
- Blake Shelton
- George Strait
- Taylor Swift
2014 Grammy Winners
This year’s Grammy winners will be posted here as they are announced.
Here are the awards, in the order of presentation:
Pre-Telecast Winners:
American Roots Song: Edie Brickell & Steve Martin, “Love Has Come For You”
Americana Album: Emmylou Harris & Rodney Crowell, Old Yellow Moon
Bluegrass Album: The Del McCoury Band, The Streets of Baltimore
Folk Album: Guy Clark, My Favorite Picture of You
Country Solo Performance: Darius Rucker, “Wagon Wheel”
Country Duo/Group Performance: The Civil Wars, “From This Valley”
Country Song: Shane McAnally, Kacey Musgraves, and Josh Osborne, “Merry Go ‘Round”
2014 Grammy Awards: Staff Picks & Predictions
The Country Universe staff has picked and predicted the 2014 Grammy Awards below, strange bunch that they are. Chime in with your thoughts, and catch the show on Sunday at 7 p.m. CST.
Album of the Year
Should Win:
- Sara Bareilles, The Blessed Unrest
- Daft Punk, Random Access Memories – Kevin
- Kendrick Lamar, good kid m.A.A.d. city – Jonathan
- Macklemore & Ryan Lewis, The Heist
- Taylor Swift, Red
Will Win:
- Sara Bareilles, The Blessed Unrest
- Daft Punk, Random Access Memories – Kevin, Jonathan
- Kendrick Lamar, good kid m.A.A.d. city
- Macklemore & Ryan Lewis, The Heist
- Taylor Swift, Red
Kevin: With electronic music so mainstream now, it would be wise and timely for NARAS to acknowledge the excellent comeback of one of its pioneers, especially as the year’s best country albums (Brandy Clark, Kacey Musgraves, Ashley Monroe, etc.) and the year’s best rap album (Kanye West) didn’t score nominations in the top category.
Jonathan: Lamar and Daft Punk would both be worthy winners of an award that rarely seems to go to one. Hip-hop and R&B have notoriously struggled in the general field in recent years, so Daft Punk’s cachet with the rock contingent should give them the edge over Swift, who didn’t score the across-the-board support many were expecting from her this year. If the voters are feeling especially timid, though, watch out for “Brave” yelper Bareilles as a spoiler.
Musgraves, Clark, Monroe dominate Annual Nashville Scene Critics’ Poll
Much like they dominated the Country Universe lists, Nashville Scene’s 14th Annual Country Music Critics’ Poll finds Kacey Musgraves, Brandy Clark, and Ashley Monroe on top.
This year, six of our seven Country Universe writers voted in the poll, with Sam Gazdziak featuring heavily in the comments section!
Country Universe’s Best Albums of 2013, Part Two: #20-#1
2013 turned out to be a banner year for new music, full of powerful songwriting, inspired collaborations, and truly cohesive albums that would rank among the best releases in any given year. Many of this year’s top twenty would’ve ranked much higher in other years, and many of us writers couldn’t even include all the works we deeply enjoyed this year on our personal lists, making our collective list worthy of the heartiest endorsement we could ever give.
Here’s to a great 2013, and a greedy wish that 2014 will be just as wonderful on the music front. As always, share your thoughts and personal favorites in the comments.
#20
Rubberband
Charlie Worsham
Individual rankings: #7 – Tara; #12 – Leeann
Like Chris Young two years ago, Worsham’s voice is a commodity that instantly elevates the new artist to an orbit above the male radio regulars. His is warm and cleanly expressive, lending itself best to songs that nurture his upper register, like the jaunty “Want Me Too,” haunting “Someone Like You” or those invigorating opening bars of “Could It Be.” If only life imitated “Nashville” and its fictional stars’ uncomplicated brand of pop country, Worsham might just be the next Luke Bryan and “Rubberband” –the album’s finely produced, genre-bending title track– his next big hit. – Tara Seetharam
Recommended Tracks: “Rubberband,” “Someone Like You,” “Young to See,” “Could it Be”