It’s been another great year in country music…and as we get ready for 2009, we’re looking back at some of the highlights of 2008.

IN NOVEMBER…
• Brad Paisley released his guitar-based CD, Play, featuring the hit duet, “Start a Band,” with Keith Urban. (AUDIO INFO BELOW)
• Carrie Underwood and Brad Paisley co-hosted The 42nd Annual CMA Awards. (AUDIO INFO BELOW)
• At the 2008 CMA Awards, Kenny Chesney wins his fourth Entertainer of the Year award. (AUDIO INFO BELOW)
• At the 2008 CMA Awards, Brad Paisley wins Male Vocalist of the Year. (AUDIO INFO BELOW)
• At the 2008 CMA Awards, Carrie Underwood wins Female Vocalist of the Year.
• At the 2008 CMA Awards, Brad Paisley wins Music Video of the Year for “Waitin’ on a Woman,” featuring acting legend, Andy Griffith. 

008 HIGHLIGHTS: November" width="16" height="14" />  Brad Paisley kept things simple and creative when he was working on his new album, Play. (:35)
“A lot of these songs were born out of titles, like ‘Kim’ was a title I wanted to write. ‘Huckleberry Jam’ was a title I wanted to write. Others exist because I wanted to write a surf tune, I wanted to write a…I wanted somethin’ bluegrassy, you know, and then I know I wanted to do a jazz thing so we wrote that, and called it ‘Les is More,’ ’cause to me, it sounded a little bit like Les. You’re looking at the depth of thought we put into it. That’s it. Right there. Right on the surface. Nothin’ deeper than this. So, you know, ‘Ahh, that sounds like that,’ ‘Well, let’s call it that,’ ‘How ’bout this title, “Huckleberry Jam,”‘ ‘Cool, what would that sound like,’ ‘What about this (humming tune),’ ‘All right’ (laughs).”

008 HIGHLIGHTS: November" width="16" height="14" />  Before the broadcast, Brad Paisley and Carrie Underwood joked that co-hosting the CMA Awards might be a little like being on American Idol. (:53)
Carrie: “I like that they had a year where there was, like, not a host.”
Brad: “Yeah, me too.”
Carrie: “Because people can kind of, you know, not compare us (laughs)…”
Brad: “No kidding.”
Carrie: “…to hosts.”
Brad: “No kidding, that’s right. So if anything, hopefully we can be better than no host.”
Carrie: “Right (laughs).”
Brad: “That’d be bad if, that’ll be the worst thing if the next day…next year…imagine…”
Carrie: “Next year, they’re like, ‘We’re gonna go back to the no-host-thing format.’”
Brad: “‘Cause you know we’re gonna hear about it, and whatever happens, they’re gonna critique this. That’s the thing is this is literally almost like being on American Idol, for us, because they’re gonna critique us.”
Carrie: “I’ve been on American Idol.”
Brad: “I know you know what to do. I don’t know what to do.”
Carrie: “I know, I know what’s up.”
Brad: “I’ve never even met Simon, so…”
Carrie: “You pretend they’re saying nice things. Whatever comes out of their mouths, you kind of drift off into your own world and pretend it’s, ‘That was lovely.’”
Brad: “Yes.”
Carrie: “‘You’re the best person…’”
Brad: “Right, right.”
Carrie: “‘Best singer,’ that was me tryin’ to be Simon.”
Brad: “Yeah, right.”

008 HIGHLIGHTS: November" width="16" height="14" />  Kenny Chesney says that winning Entertainer of the Year is an amazing thing, but it doesn’t diminish his focus or passion for what he does. (:17)
“To win Entertainer is the ultimate. I love it, you know, because it solidifies how hard you worked. It’s not gonna change the way I go about my business on the road. It’s not gonna change any bit of energy or any enthusiasm whatsoever about connecting with the fans out there.”

008 HIGHLIGHTS: November" width="16" height="14" />  Brad Paisley talks about the company he keeps as a CMA winner. (:25)
“Everybody that I am emulating on any given day, or at least trying to, was a CMA winner. I watched ’em all on the show. I watched Vince go up and collect numerous awards. I saw Steve Wariner do the same thing. I saw George Strait and Alabama, and you name it. And bein’ able to have my name on a list with those people in any way is, as you can imagine, just proof to me that I’ve accomplished something.”