SONY MUSIC NASHVILLE MOST DECORATED LABEL AT CMA AWARDS
WINNERS INCLUDE MOST-AWARDED MAREN MORRIS WITH THREE TROPHIES, LUKE COMBS WITH TWO AND MIRANDA LAMBERT AND OLD DOMINION WITH ONE EACH
SMN SCORES 64% OF CATEGORIES, THE MOST FOR THE LABEL GROUP IN 14 YEARS
NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Sony Music Nashville artists were big winners at Wednesday’s “54th Annual CMA Awards,” sweeping seven categories. This is the largest CMA Awards tally the label group has achieved since 2006. SMN scores seven out of the 11 possible categories.
Most-awarded of the evening, Maren Morris took home trophies for Female Vocalist of the Year as well as Single and Song of the Year for her 3X Platinum multi-format No. 1 “The Bones.” Morris performed a reimagined version of her record-setting smash “The Bones.”
MAREN MORRIS PRESS ROOM AUDIO
Courtesy of Country Music Association
Question: Congratulations on all the awards. I just wanted to ask, I couldn’t hear all your speeches but I just wanted to know how it felt to win such gigantic awards and then be giving a speech to such a small and intimate audience of, you know, a crowd of your peers.
MM: I mean in a way I preferred it, just cause I felt like they’re all my buddies in there and I could really measure each of my words that I was going to say, instead of being in like a frazzled mess and looking out at a black hole of 20,000 people. But yeah, every artist in the room was like, this is very bizarre, I mean we’re so happy to see each other and can actually have conversations like this in the table round. But yeah it was a weird thing but I think considering the circumstances, they did an amazing job, the CMAs did, and it really felt fun to just see everybody again.
Question: Congratulations Maren, I gotta say I called it. I said I’d see you back here, it’s finally time. I was so moved when Jimmie (Allen) sang with Charlie (Pride), and I could feel like that whole room rise too. And the same thing happened to me when you gave your acceptance speech. So I wonder if you could talk a little bit about how when you have a platform like yours, it’s important to share it with the people who may not have that platform.
MM: Well so many artists like Miranda (Lambert) for instance have paid it forward for me as an artist and given me an opportunity, and Keith Urban and everyone that’s brought me out on tour over the years. And so with awards it’s different. I feel like you obviously want to thank your team and the writers, and luckily I got the change three times tonight to kind of say everything I wanted to say. But no, I think it’s lonely when it’s just you up there and you’re just kind of in a blank and you think, you know, the normal people- I felt like tonight I really am thankful and grateful for those women that have pioneered the way for me to get to do this. And I’m such a fan of country music and soul music and so discovering artists like Linda Martell and giving credit to people like Yola and Mickey Guyton, you know people that really should be more heard of, and so I just felt like as Female Vocalist of this year, of 2020, I wanted to share that moment with these women that don’t often get the credit that they deserve.
Question: Hey Maren, congratulations to you, you look beautiful. Obviously it goes without saying that 2020 has just been bizarre and surreal and strange, and I know that you have had some creativity inspired based on the song that you wrote for your little boy (“Better Than We Found It”). And I’m just wondering in general, how is this year, being a mother, the pandemic, and the whole election, and civil rights and everything else, how is that impacting your creativity and do you find yourself being more creative, or what has it been like to create in this 2020?
MM: Well for me it’s been sparse just because I’ve been a new mom, I’ve been off the road, and I haven’t felt really mentally- I haven’t had the mental bandwidth to write songs. But after the conventions and just sort of entering this extremely polarized season of an election year, and just everything that happened during the summertime with the riots and the protests and the death of George Floyd, the murder of George Floyd. I felt like the few times I have written, I like really wanted to say something and not just phone it in and perch on the fence, so I felt like the few times I’ve written I’ve gotten some really real shit, so I’m happy that “Better Than We Found It” was received with so much love because it was given with love, it wasn’t given as like a hand slap or to say F you to all these people. It was literally saying, like pleading from a mother’s heart now, please like can we leave this better, just a little bit better for our kids. So that’s kind of where my head’s been at in the writing space.
Winning Male Vocalist and Album of the Year, Luke Combs made the television debut of “Cold As You” off his new No. 1, record-setting deluxe album What You See Ain’t Always What You Get.
LUKE COMBS PRESS ROOM AUDIO
Courtesy of Country Music Association
Question: Wow. You seem to be the special glue that holds everything together. Here you are holding two more awards, your first time as Album of the Year. You jumped out of your boot to see Eric Church win Entertainer of the Year. Carly Pearce is a first time winner. It just seems like the country music family is just growing with you as part of the ingredient. You’ve got some great guys that are helping you, Ray Fulcher and Drew Parker and Jameson Rogers, who you’re doing a song with. Talk a little bit about the community feel that you’re starting to really, really access in awards. I mean, you’re just becoming very successful with all these people surrounding you in this country music community.
LC: Yeah, you know. I think it’s always bigger than us artists and I think our ability to come together is unlike any other genre. Our ability to be genuinely excited for each other is unlike any genre. I’m a huge advocate of us being excited for each other when we win. I was pumped to see Carly win her first CMA today. I was pumped to be a really, really small part of that. I was pumped to see Eric win entertainer tonight. Without him, there’s no me so I think no one has deserved anything more than he deserved to win that trophy tonight. As much as I would have loved to win it, I couldn’t have been more excited for him too. I’m just thankful to have a great team and be surrounded by people who support me so much and a community that is so supportive of each other. It was a great night. It was great to just be in the room with each other tonight. I’m blessed to be holding these.
Question: Hey Luke. Congratulations on your awards. Can you talk about… I know you’ve discussed with us award shows in 2020 and how you’ve felt very isolated. Well, this one it seemed like you got to see a bunch of bodies and you got to sing for more than 10 people on an award show. Can you talk about the camaraderie this year?
LC: Yeah, absolutely. I got to be with my wife and sit at a table with some other folks and hand out with some other artists which was really amazing and just to feel that sense of community and feel like we’re kind of turning the corner maybe a little bit on this thing and making progress to figure out how to all be together was incredible. To get to play with my band was amazing and obviously getting to win some awards is always incredible. It’s not why we do this at all but something I’m real thankful for it. I’m just thankful for a great night and great friends and great country music.
Question: Do you feel a lot of responsibility to the fans and how does that shape… You’re very much a guy that writes your life but is writing your life also writing their life. Does that add pressure to this for you?
LC: I don’t think it adds pressure you know? I think the fans are the most important piece of the puzzle that any of us artists have. You know with no fans, there’s no ability to play shows, there’s no one to hear your songs. There’s no one to buy tickets. There’s no one to tell their friends about your music. I really am thankful for those folks. I know that those folks are struggling this year. I hate that I haven’t been able to see them and share experiences with them. I really am the most thankful guy in the world for them affording me the luxury of being able to support my band and crew this year through these tough times and see those guys support their families. I’m just a very grateful guy and always will be to the fans. If you’re watching, I love you guys.
Question: To take this further, you’re a fan of Eric Church. We talked about his impact on you. As a fan, how did it feel to see him? Was it like a circle closing?
LC: Yeah, you know. It was incredible to see him win. I think everybody.. I haven’t seen the broadcast yet but I was super hyped when he won. He’s a hero of mine and it was cool to sit at the table with him and it was cool to watch him win an award that I feel like he’s deserved more times than once. I was glad to be here and it was definitely as different year but that’s memory that I’ll have for a long time.
Question: But like we talked about yesterday or the day before, you’d be just as happy to see some other people give their speech. It occurs to me Eric was certainly one of those people. How do you think seeing him up there gives you confidence, even more confidence, that someday you’ll be holding that trophy too. But most importantly, how do you celebrate with Eric? Do you get to have a beer?
LC: It was definitely some high fives all around and we were joking about each other winning all night and so I’m pumped that he did. Obviously we’re in the age of COVID & Coronavirus so we can’t exactly kick beers back and hug each other tonight but I’m gonna be doing that with him in spirit. I’m gonna have a little Jack on the bus ride home and probably eat some Cookout with my wife which would be the best way to celebrate in my opinion anyways.
This year’s most-nominated artist with seven nods, Miranda Lambert won Music Video of the Year for her No. 1 hit “Bluebird.” Lambert, who holds the record for the most nominations for a female artist in history with 55 career nominations, made her national television debut of her latest single “Settling Down.” She remains the most decorated female artist in CMA history.
Old Dominion, who scored their third consecutive CMA Award for Vocal Group of the Year, paid tribute to “Urban Cowboy” with their rendition of “Looking For Love.”
OLD DOMINION PRESS ROOM AUDIO
Courtesy of Country Music Association
Question: Tell me what it was like when your name was called tonight, all of your expressions.
Matthew: It was great, we were nervous.
Brad: There’s always that like ten seconds where they, you know, the drumroll starts happening that you get a little butterflies. But it felt good to hear our name called.
Question: Hey guys I’m a huge fan of yours, obviously. You guys were featured on Jeopardy. I’m a Canadian, Alex Trebek passed away recently. Did it make you feel like you had made it once you were on Jeopardy, you were a question on Jeopardy?
Matthew: That’s definitely a huge moment, for sure. We’ve actually been featured twice on questions there. Tonight, our phones blow up whenever we get an award, our phones start buzzing like crazy. And that’s the only other time that something like that has happened, when we were a question on Jeopardy, just phone call and text after text of people going, “Oh my god, you’re on Jeopardy!” So yeah, it’s a huge moment.
Trevor: Nobody answered it correctly, which was awesome.
Brad: I can’t tell if it’s good that we’re a hard question or bad.
Following is a list of Sony Music Nashville’s winners at “The 54th Annual CMA Awards”:
SINGLE OF THE YEAR
• “The Bones” – Maren Morris
Producer: Greg Kurstin
Mix Engineer: Greg Kurstin
ALBUM OF THE YEAR
• What You See Is What You Get – Luke Combs
Producer: Scott Moffatt
SONG OF THE YEAR
• “The Bones”
Songwriters: Maren Morris, Jimmy Robbins, Laura Veltz
FEMALE VOCALIST OF THE YEAR
• Maren Morris
MALE VOCALIST OF THE YEAR
• Luke Combs
VOCAL GROUP OF THE YEAR
• Old Dominion
MUSIC VIDEO OF THE YEAR
• “Bluebird” – Miranda Lambert
Director: Trey Fanjoy
Sony Music Nashville earned 22 overall nominations for “The 54th Annual CMA Awards.” Miranda Lambert, Luke Combs, and Maren Morris were this year’s top three nominees. Old Dominion, Brooks & Dunn, and Tenille Townes were also nominated.
About Sony Music Nashville: Sony Music Nashville includes its three country label operations – Arista Nashville, Columbia Nashville and RCA Nashville – and Provident Entertainment.
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Media Contact:
Allen Brown/Courtney Beebe
Sony Music Nashville
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