A MARTÍNEZ, HOST:
The biggest names in country music were honored at the Country Music Association Awards last night. The show featured collaborative performances from stars such as Post Malone, Chris Stapleton, Brooks & Dunn and Jelly Roll, all representing the genre's current moment.
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JELLY ROLL: (Singing) They tell me that there's more to life than just what I can see. Oh, I believe.
MARTÍNEZ: Nashville Public Radio's Jewly Hight is here to tell us more about the CMAs. She joins us from Nashville. Jewly, you were there. What was the biggest surprise?
JEWLY HIGHT, BYLINE: Yeah, you know, country music has not only been commercially dominant, but at times, it has dominated the discourse, too, this year. I mean, with the stylistic and conceptual daring of "Cowboy Carter" and the eagerness of Post Malone to really aim right down the middle with his country material, and with the unlikely success and really strong appeal of Jelly Roll. So I expected the show to feel like a reckoning with that explosion in interest, but it really didn't.
MARTÍNEZ: Oh, so what did it feel like?
HIGHT: You know, it felt more like a celebration of country continuity, of leaning on sturdy and familiar and beloved forms and figures. And there really wasn't much discussion of things going on out in the world, except for the devastation that Hurricane Helene brought to east Tennessee and western North Carolina. But tributes to legends like the late Kris Kristofferson and Lifetime Achievement Award-winner George Strait, those were really occasions for a bunch of reverential performances. And one awards category for duos was even won by existing Country Music Hall of Famers Brooks & Dunn.
MARTÍNEZ: All right, cool. So who were the big winners, then?
HIGHT: Oh, Chris Stapleton. I think it is significant that he has actually been at the upper echelon of country music for as long as any of last night's nominees. And he took home more trophies - male vocalist, song and single - than anyone else because he is beloved as a durable and reliable superstar. He can be counted on to deliver his ruggedly crafted, soul-steeped country music that really doesn't vary that much in style or quality.
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CHRIS STAPLETON: (Singing) If you want a cowboy on a white horse riding off into the sunset, if that's the kind of love you want to wait for, hold on tight, girl. I ain't there yet.
HIGHT: But the marquee award of the night, Entertainer of the Year, that actually went to Morgan Wallen. I mean, he has been a massive commercial force and a stadium headliner. But he has been coming up empty every other time he's been nominated, except for back when he won New Artist of the Year.
MARTÍNEZ: So what does the awards show then say about how country music has changed?
HIGHT: That's the thing. I mean, the show spotlights a genre that's always absorbed a lot of different styles into a big family - to borrow a metaphor that I heard used last night - while also maintaining its distinctness. And even though we didn't see either Jelly Roll or Post Malone win, we did feel their embrace from the industry. But the other two artists who gave us their takes on country music this year and challenged perceptions about whose music it is, Beyonce and Shaboozey, weren't really brought into the fold.
MARTÍNEZ: That's Nashville Public Radio's Jewly Hight. Jewly, thanks.
HIGHT: Thanks so much.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "A BAR SONG (TIPSY)")
SHABOOZEY: (Singing) Oh, my good lord. Someone pour me up a double shot of whiskey. They know me and Jack Daniels got a history. There's a party downtown near Fifth Street. Everybody at the bar getting tipsy. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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