The countdown is on to Wednesday’s 44th Annual CMA Awards, and we’ve compiled audio on some of this year’s top nominated projects! Tune-in to ABC, Wednesday, November 10th at 8pm, ET, to root for all your favorites and enjoy the star-studded glamour and great performances of Country Music’s Biggest Night, hosted by Brad Paisley and Carrie Underwood! (AUDIO INFO BELOW)

“Water” – Brad Paisley – CMA nominated for Music Video of the Year

  Brad Paisley says there’s a lot of him in the lyrics to his smash, “Water.” (:16)
“‘Water’ is me to a ‘T.’ You know, I went to spring break. I went to Myrtle Beach on spring break. We had a rope tied at the Ohio River at a bank down there in Moundsville that kids would go swing off this rope and jump into the river. And summertime revolved around that body of water.”

“White Liar” – Miranda Lambert – CMA nominated for Single, Song & Music Video of the Year

  Miranda Lambert says she was thrilled from the beginning with her song, “White Liar.” (:25)
“‘White Liar’ is…it’s definitely a song that I think is relatable and kind of a good-feelin’ song, but also with a little bit of a cut (laughs) to it. I love this song. It’s about cheatin’, and the whole twist, though, is that I’ve been…you know, it’s about a guy that’s been lyin’, and then the twist is I’ve been lyin’, too, which is the part where everybody goes, ‘Ohhh, I see,’ so, yeah, I’m really excited about this song.”

  Miranda Lambert says she was feeling bluegrassy when she wrote “White Liar.” (:11)
“I was listenin’ to a lot of bluegrass at the time that I wrote ‘White Liar,’ and that kind of a vibe was kind of what I was into at the moment, and so ‘White Liar’ just sort of happened out of that…what I had been surroundin’ myself with.”

“The House That Built Me” – Miranda Lambert – CMA nominated for Single, Song & Music Video of the Year

  Miranda Lambert says that her video for “The House That Built Me” is very true to her. (:19)
“It’s almost all me. The only thing is, the little girl in it looks so much like me, so it is hard to tell, but you can really if you…it’s probably, almost all of it is my real home footage. That was real important to me to do ’cause I really wanted it to be true to who I was and show people about the house that built me.”

  Miranda Lambert says that her mom had to do some investigative work to find the home videos that were featured in “The House That Built Me.” (:15)
“Mom and Dad were private investigators, so, literally, our home movies were mixed in with surveillance tapes and random people, you know? It’s very interesting, so Mom had to dig through all that stuff and, like, sort it out, and you know, it sure was a lot of work on her, but I think it’s a great reward ’cause the video’s awesome.”

  Miranda Lambert is grateful that her parents made the childhood home movies that, for sentimental reasons, will always be priceless. (:09)
“We had, like, this not-very-good video camera ’cause we didn’t have a lot of money. But thank God they videoed some of that stuff, like when I got my first guitar and stuff, because now it’s priceless.”

Revolution – Miranda Lambert – CMA Nominated for Album of the Year

  Miranda Lambert talks about recording Revolution, and she feels that it truly is an “album” in the purest sense. (:39)
“We made it like a record. I mean, we went in for a week and cut an album. We didn’t go in for a day and cut a single or an album track or just a random song to stick somewhere at number seven. Every song matters. Every song is…it’s part of a picture, and if one’s missing, the picture’s not complete. And, you know, this is really a piece of art, and I’m really proud of it. And I feel like if people just buy one song off this album, they’re not gonna understand what it’s about and who I am because I really found myself creatively and just opened up artistically. And I feel like it’s not fair to the record to buy one song because they all need to be heard.”

Play On – Carrie Underwood – CMA nominated for Album of the Year

  Carrie Underwood talks about her album, Play On. (:27)
“I think Play On has something in it for everyone. And I think I have been lucky enough to have very versatile singles and songs on my albums. And I think this is definitely an extension of that. And I think people can enjoy my writing more and things that, you know, are truly coming from my heart more. So I hope we just take everything and just take it to a new level and give something that everybody can enjoy.”

“I’m Alive” – Kenny Chesney with Dave Matthews – CMA nominated for Musical Event of the Year

  Kenny Chesney and Dave Matthews talk about how they came to collaborate on their smash, “I’m Alive.” (:80)
Kenny: “In 2007 when I closed my tour in Atlanta, I mean, I had met Dave two years earlier at Farm Aid. But when I closed my tour in Atlanta, Dave had a night off, and we got up on stage, and we did a song of his called ‘Where Are You Going.’ And when Dave walked out on stage to sing, I mean, it was as if we were at a Dave Matthews Band show.”
Dave: “That show was an eye-opener as well. ‘Cause I was like, I hadn’t seen, that was the first show I saw of his. I was like, ‘Holy…'”
Kenny: (laughs)
Dave: “‘Good God! This is a hell of a show!'”
Kenny: (laughs)
Dave: “It’s not the country music my mama listens to.”
Kenny: “It’s not. No, there’s no doubt about it. Neither one of our shows is the kind of show where somebody comes to it, and they buy somethin’ to eat, and they buy a drink or beverage of their choice and sit down and enjoy the music. No, this is a happening.”
Dave: “Yeah.”
Kenny: “But I realized that night in Atlanta, in 2007, that, wow, we had a lot of similar people in the audience. And I think that Dave and I both, if we found the right song, or wrote a song together, or whatever, if we were ever gonna do somethin’, this would be the kind of song to do it with.”
Dave: “It’s a really pretty song, and everyone I’ve played it for has said that. They’ve said, ‘This is a sweet song.’ It’s just a beautiful, quiet reflection.”

“Till the End” – Alan Jackson with Lee Ann Womack – CMA nominated for Musical Event of the Year

  Alan Jackson talks about “Till the End,” which he sings with Lee Ann Womack. (:46)
“Lee Ann Womack sings with me on there. I been trying to get her to sing a duet with me for a long time. I’ve loved her from day one, and I asked her to sing with me years ago, and she turned me down. So finally she agreed to do it now, so I’m glad to have her on the record. And ‘Till the End’ has been a song that I’ve always wanted to record as a duet, and it was a Vern Gosdin song he had a hit on, years and years ago. And Vern, he passed away of course last year, and I wanted to do a song, you know, in his honor. So this was the one I always wanted to do, so it worked out great. I got to do a song for Vern, and got to sing with Lee Ann, and this, man, it’s a cool cut.”