Academy of Country Music Awards nominations: Hardy and Lainey Wilson lead list

The 58th Academy of Country Music Awards announced their nominations on Thursday, April 13, in advance of the awards that will take place on Thursday, May 11. Hosted by Dolly Parton and Garth Brooks, the event will stream live exclusively on Amazon Prime Video at 8:00pm Eastern/5:00pm Pacific from the Ford Center at The Star in Frisco, Texas. Scroll down for the complete list of contenders.

A couple of relative newcomers lead this year’s lineup. Hardy is the top contender with seven nominations: Song of the Year (as artist and songwriter for “Wait in the Truck,” his duet with Lainey Wilson), Song of the Year again (as songwriter for “Sand in My Boots”), Visual Media of the Year (“Wait in the Truck”), Artist-Songwriter of the Year, and Music Event of the Year (as artist and producer for “Wait in the Truck”). Perhaps surprisingly given that impressive haul, Hardy missed the cut for Male Artist of the Year and Entertainer of the Year.

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Lainey Wilson follows with six nominations: Song of the Year, Visual Media of the Year and Musical Event of the Year for “Wait in the Truck,” Female Artist of the Year, Album of the Year (“Bell Bottom Country”), and Single of the Year (“Heart Like a Truck”). She too missed an Entertainer of the Year nom. The seven nominees in that top category instead are Jason Aldean, Kane Brown, Luke Combs, Miranda Lambert, Chris Stapleton, Carrie Underwood, and Morgan Wallen.

See who else made the cut below. And join the discussion on this and more with your fellow music fans here in our forums.

SEEACM Awards hosts: Dolly Parton and Garth Brooks will emcee the country music event

ENTERTAINER OF THE YEAR

Jason Aldean
Kane Brown
Luke Combs
Miranda Lambert
Chris Stapleton
Carrie Underwood
Morgan Wallen

FEMALE ARTIST OF THE YEAR

Kelsea Ballerini
Miranda Lambert
Ashley McBryde
Carly Pearce
Lainey Wilson

MALE ARTIST OF THE YEAR

Kane Brown
Luke Combs
Jordan Davis
Chris Stapleton
Morgan Wallen

DUO OF THE YEAR

Brooks and Dunn
Brothers Osborne
Dan + Shay
Maddie and Tae
The War and Treaty

GROUP OF THE YEAR

Lady A
Little Big Town
Midland
Old Dominion
Zac Brown Band

NEW FEMALE ARTIST OF THE YEAR

Priscilla Block
Megan Moroney
Caitlyn Smith
Morgan Wade
Hailey Whitters

NEW MALE ARTIST OF THE YEAR

Zach Bryan
Jackson Dean
ERNEST
Dylan Scott
Nate Smith
Bailey Zimmerman

ALBUM OF THE YEAR
[Awarded to Artist(s)/Producer(s)/Record Company–Label(s)]

“Ashley McBryde Presents: Lindeville” – Ashley McBryde
Producer: John Osborne
Record Company-Label: Warner Music Nashville

“Bell Bottom Country” – Lainey Wilson
Producer: Jay Joyce
Record Company-Label: Broken Bow Records

“Growin’ Up” – Luke Combs
Producers: Luke Combs, Chip Matthews, Jonathan Singleton
Record Company-Label: Columbia Records

“Mr. Saturday Night” – Jon Pardi
Producers: Jon Pardi, Bart Butler, Ryan Gore
Record Company-Label: Capitol Records Nashville

“Palomino” – Miranda Lambert
Producers: Jon Randall, Luke Dick, Miranda Lambert, Mikey Reaves
Record Company-Label: Vanner Records/RCA Records Nashville

SINGLE OF THE YEAR
[Awarded to Artist(s)/Producer(s)/Record Company–Label(s)]

“Heart Like A Truck” – Lainey Wilson
Producer: Jay Joyce
Record Company-Label: Broken Bow Records

“Never Wanted To Be That Girl” – Carly Pearce and Ashley McBryde
Producers: Josh Osborne, Shane McAnally
Record Company-Label: Big Machine Records/Warner Music Nashville

“She Had Me At Heads Carolina” – Cole Swindell
Producer: Zach Crowell
Record Company-Label: Warner Music Nashville

“Thank God” – Kane Brown with Katelyn Brown
Producer: Dann Huff
Record Company-Label: RCA Nashville

“‘Til You Can’t” – Cody Johnson
Producer: Trent Willmon
Record Company-Label: Warner Music Nashville/CoJo Music

SONG OF THE YEAR
[Awarded to Songwriter(s)/Publisher(s)/Artist(s)]

“Sand In My Boots” – Morgan Wallen
Songwriters: Ashley Gorley, Josh Osborne, Michael Hardy
Publishers: Relative Music Group; Sony/ATV Accent; Sony/ATV Cross Keys Publishing; Sony/ATV Tree Publishing

“She Had Me At Heads Carolina” – Cole Swindell
Songwriters: Ashley Gorley, Cole Swindell, Jesse Frasure, Mark D. Sanders, Thomas Rhett, Tim Nichols
Publishers: Ashley Gorley Publishing Designee; Be A Light Publishing; Colden Rainey Music; EMI Blackwood Music Inc; Songs Of Roc Nation Music; Sony Tree Publishing; Telemitry Rhythm House Music; Universal Music Corp; WC Music Corp; Warner-Tamerlane Publishing Corp

“‘Til You Can’t” – Cody Johnson
Songwriters: Ben Stennis, Matt Rogers
Publishers: Anthem Canalco Publishing; Dead Aim Music; The Stennis Mightier Music

“wait in the truck” – HARDY feat. Lainey Wilson
Songwriters: Hunter Phelps, Jordan Schmidt, Michael Hardy, Renee Blair
Publishers: Humerus Publishing Global; Nontypical Music; Pile of Schmidt Songs; Rednecker Music; Relative Music Group; Round Hill Verses Publishing; Sony/ATV Accent; Sony/ATV Tree Publishing; The Money Tree Vibez; WC Music Corp; Who Wants to Buy My Publishing

“You Should Probably Leave” – Chris Stapleton
Songwriters: Ashley Gorley, Chris DuBois, Chris Stapleton
Publishers: One77 Songs; Sea Gayle Music; Songs of Southside Independent Music Publishing; Spirit Two Nashville; WC Music Corp

VISUAL MEDIA OF THE YEAR
[Awarded to Producer(s)/Director(s)/Artist(s)]

“HEARTFIRST” – Kelsea Ballerini
Producers: Christen Pinkston and Wesley Stebbins-Perry
Director: P Tracy

“She Had Me At Heads Carolina” – Cole Swindell
Producer: Troy Jackson
Director: Spidey Smith

“Thank God” – Kane Brown with Katelyn Brown
Producer: Luke Arreguin
Director: Alex Alvga

“‘Til You Can’t” – Cody Johnson
Producer: Maddy Hayes
Director: Dustin Haney

“wait in the truck” – HARDY feat. Lainey Wilson
Producer: Inkwell Productions
Director: Justin Clough

“What He Didn’t Do” – Carly Pearce
Producer: Ryan ByrdDirector: Alexa Campbell

SONGWRITER OF THE YEAR

Nicolle Galyon
Ashley Gorley
Chase McGill
Josh Osborne
Hunter Phelps

ARTIST-SONGWRITER OF THE YEAR

Luke Combs
ERNEST
HARDY
Miranda Lambert
Morgan Wallen

MUSIC EVENT OF THE YEAR
[Awarded to Artist(s)/Producer(s)/Record Company–Label(s)]

“At the End of a Bar” – Chris Young with Mitchell Tenpenny
Producers: Chris DeStefano, Chris Young
Record Company-Label: RCA Nashville

“She Had Me At Heads Carolina [Remix]” – Cole Swindell and Jo Dee Messina
Producer: Zach Crowell
Record Company-Label: Warner Music Nashville

“Thank God” – Kane Brown with Katelyn Brown
Producer: Dann Huff
Record Company-Label: RCA Nashville

“Thinking ‘Bout You” – Dustin Lynch feat. MacKenzie Porter
Producer: Zach Crowell
Record Company-Label: Broken Bow Records

“wait in the truck” – HARDY feat. Lainey Wilson
Producers: Derek Wells, HARDY, Joey Moi, Jordan Schmidt
Record Company-Label: Big Loud Records

STUDIO RECORDING AWARDS

BASS PLAYER OF THE YEAR

Mark Hill
Tony Lucido
Steve Mackey
Lex Price
Craig Young

DRUMMER OF THE YEAR

Fred Eltringham
Miles McPherson
Jerry Roe
Aaron Sterling
Nir Z

ACOUSTIC GUITAR PLAYER OF THE YEAR

Tim Galloway
Todd Lombardo
Danny Rader
Bryan Sutton
Ilya Toshinskiy

PIANO/KEYBOARDS PLAYER OF THE YEAR

Jim “Moose” Brown
Dave Cohen
Charles Judge
Billy Justineau
Alex Wright

SPECIALTY INSTRUMENT PLAYER OF THE YEAR

Dan Dugmore
Stuart Duncan
Jenee Fleenor
Josh Matheny
Justin Schipper

ELECTRIC GUITAR PLAYER OF THE YEAR

Kris Donegan
Kenny Greenberg
Rob McNelley
Sol Philcox-Littlefield
Derek Wells

AUDIO ENGINEER OF THE YEAR

Drew Bollman
Josh Ditty
Gena Johnson
Justin Niebank
F. Reid Shippen

PRODUCER OF THE YEAR

Buddy Cannon
Luke Dick
Jay Joyce
Joey Moi
Jon Randall
Derek Wells

INDUSTRY AWARDS

CASINO OF THE YEAR – THEATER

Deadwood Mountain Grand – Deadwood, SD
Golden Nugget – Lake Charles, LA
Resorts World Theatre at Resorts World Las Vegas – Las Vegas, NV
Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino – Hollywood, FL
Soaring Eagle – Mount Pleasant, MI

CASINO OF THE YEAR – ARENA

Fallsview Casino Resort – Niagara Falls, ON
Harrah’s – Council Bluffs, IA
Harveys Lake Tahoe – Stateline, NV
Mystic Lake Casino Showroom – Prior Lake, MN
Northern Quest Resort & Casino – Airway Heights, WA
Turning Stone Resort Casino – Verona, NY

FESTIVAL OF THE YEAR

C2C: Country to Country – UK
Carolina Country Music Fest – Myrtle Beach, SC
Country Concert – Fort Loramie, OH
Country Fest – Cadott, WI
Country Thunder – Bristol, TN
Stagecoach Festival – Indio, CA
Tortuga Music Festival – Fort Lauderdale, FL

FAIR/RODEO OF THE YEAR

Auburn Rodeo – Opelika, AL
Cheyenne Frontier Days – Cheyenne, WY
Florida Strawberry Festival – Plant City, FL
Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo – Houston, TX
Iowa State Fair – Des Moines, IA

CLUB OF THE YEAR

Billy Bob’s Texas – Fort Worth, TX
Coyote Joe’s – Charlotte, NC
Grizzly Rose – Denver, CO
Gruene Hall – New Braunfels, TX
Joe’s on Weed St. – Chicago, IL

THEATER OF THE YEAR

Crystal Grand Music Theatre – Wisconsin Dells, WI
Florida Theatre – Jacksonville, FL
Grand Ole Opry House – Nashville, TN
Orpheum Theater – Omaha, NE
Stiefel Theatre – Salina, KS

OUTDOOR VENUE OF THE YEAR

Bank of NH Pavilion – Gilford, NH
FirstBank Amphitheater – Franklin, TN
Greek Theatre – Los Angeles, CA
Santa Barbara Bowl – Santa Barbara, CA
St. Augustine Amphitheatre – St. Augustine, FL
The Wharf Amphitheater – Orange Beach, AL

ARENA OF THE YEAR

Denny Sanford PREMIER Center – Sioux Falls, SD
Dickies Arena – Fort Worth, TX
Hertz Arena – Estero, FL
Moody Center – Austin, TX
Simmons Bank Arena – Little Rock, AR
Thompson-Boling Arena – Knoxville, TN

DON ROMEO TALENT BUYER OF THE YEAR

Ron Pateras
Pat Powelson
Michelle Romeo
Stacy Vee
Troy Vollhoffer

PROMOTER OF THE YEAR

Patrick McDill
Aaron Spalding
Ed Warm
Adam Weiser
Jay Wilson

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