Grammy nominations 2020: There's a new side of Nashville in the top categories

There’s a new side of Nashville in the spotlight at the Grammy Awards.

On Wednesday, The Recording Academy revealed the nominees for the 62nd annual ceremony, taking place January 26 in Los Angeles.

Nashville can only claim a few spots in the top all-genre categories, but each one is pretty striking — and speaks volumes about just how all-encompassing Music City is in 2019.

There’s no better place to start than Lil Nas X and Billy Ray Cyrus' "Old Town Road," the country-rap phenomenon dreamed up by a gay black man from Atlanta — and given an inspiring assist by Cyrus, a one-time Nashville phenomenon himself. It's up for Record of the Year — one of Lil Nas X's six nominations, putting him just behind top nominee Lizzo and tied with Billie Eilish.

Grammy snubs 2020: Taylor Swift, Bruce Springsteen miss out on major nominations

The Song of the Year nominees include "Always Remember Us This Way," penned by Music Row hitmakers Natalie Hemby, Hillary Lindsey and Lori McKenna — and Lady Gaga, who sang it in the blockbuster remake of "A Star Is Born."

They're joined by Nashville's Ruby Amanfu and Sam Ashworth, who co-wrote "Hard Place" with and for acclaimed R&B artist H.E.R. And though she's no longer centered in Music City, it's hard not to mention Taylor Swift, whose "Lover" also made the cut.

A Nashville-made debut album earned a Best New Artist nomination for Yola. The British artist and Americana breakout made "Walk Through Fire" with producer Dan Auerbach of the Black Keys and a cast of local musicians.

Country, Americana and Christian (of course)

As always, Nashville is smothered all over the Grammys' country, American roots and Christian fields.

The resurgent Tanya Tucker leads in country, with nods in three of the four categories thanks to her acclaimed project "While I'm Livin'."

Ashley McBryde, Eric Church, Dan + Shay and Miranda Lambert (one solo, one for her supergroup Pistol Annies) each earned two nominations.

McBryde's nominations stem from her standout track "Girl Goin' Nowhere" — a song about overcoming naysayers that didn't receive much support from country radio.

"I was really worried that our message wasn’t going to get the full life that we wanted for it because it’s really hard to maintain the vitality of something when radio just doesn’t care," McBryde said. "I’m just so thrilled that message gets to live on, the song gets to keep living and keep growing over and over because that’s the whole message that Jeremy (Bussey, song co-writer) and I let off the leash."

Willie Nelson leads veteran country nominees with his 52nd nod from the Academy; Reba McEntire earns her 16th career Grammy bid and Blake Shelton notches his eighth. Though she's not in the country categories this year, Dolly Parton earned two more nominations (for her duet with For King & Country and an original song for her "Dumplin'" film), bringing her total to 49.

First-time nominees include Pistol Annies (with members Lambert, Ashley Monroe and Angaleena Presley) and breakout Kentucky storyteller Tyler Childers.

In the American Roots Music field, Best New Artist nominee Yola leads the pack with 3 nominations — one of several black artists with Nashville ties represented, along with Franklin-based bluesman Keb' Mo' and acclaimed roots musician Rhiannon Giddens.

Other notable nods include Vince Gill, Rosanne Cash and Joy Williams — the former Civil Wars member who's earned her first nomination as a solo artist for Best Folk Album.

Nashville Christian nominees include For King & Country, CeCe Winans, TobyMac, Chris Tomlin, Danny Gokey, Steven Curtis Chapman and Joseph Habedank.

For King & Country earned two nominations this year: one for their album "Burn the Ships" and the other for their duet with Dolly Parton, "God Only Knows."

"If you share your hearts with people, it's a vulnerable task, and it's a risk," said the group's Joel Smallbone. "And sometimes it doesn't always work out this way, and sometimes people stomp on us. But there are those other times where you put your heart out there and people come back and say, ‘I know you because I am you.’"

The previous Grammys ended with a huge win for Nashville, when Kacey Musgraves' "Golden Hour" was named Album of the Year. That album's co-producer, Daniel Tashian, is back in the race this year: this time as a nominee for Best Children's Music Album.

Nashville Grammy snubs

Of course, Nashville earned its share of snubs, too. Maren Morris' "Girl" may have won Album of the Year at the CMAs, but it didn't even make the cut for Best Country Album. It's the first CMA winner since Eric Church's 2016 "Mr. Misunderstood" to not end up in the category.

Also on the sidelines: Nashville rock giants The Black Keys and The Raconteurs, despite both of them releasing their first new albums in years. Meanwhile, Kentucky transplants Cage The Elephant are once again up for Best Rock Album.

On the bright side, Auerbach earned another nod for Producer of the Year, Non-Classical, for his work with Yola, his band and others on his Easy Eye Sound label.

This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Grammy nominations 2020: Lil Nas X and new Nashville side top nominees