There's lots to unpack from the long — and notably inclusive — list of nominees for the 61st annual Grammy Awards, which was revealed Friday. Along with the local acts vying for the top prizes, The Nashville Tennessean lists few things what else Music City residents should take note of:
First and foremost, without a few key female artists, Nashville wouldn’t have much to sing about at next year’s ceremony.
Remember last year’s dismal nominations? Country music didn’t have a single nominee in any of the all-genre categories — which hadn’t happened since 2004. This year, the genre can claim four artists up for top prizes, and all but one are female.
Kacey Musgraves’ acclaimed ”Golden Hour" is nominated for Album of the Year, while Maren Morris' crossover pop smash “The Middle” is nominated for Record and Song of the Year. Independent country favorite Margo Price landed an overdue nod for Best New Artist, along with country chart-topper Luke Combs.
The strong showing of female nominees, of course, comes at a time when women have undeniably lost ground on country radio. This week’s Billboard Country Airplay chart doesn’t have a single female artist in the Top 20 — and that has literally never happened before.
Margo Price’s nomination for Best New Artist might come as a surprise — but only because many observers thought she would have been nominated for the award two years ago, on the heels of her breakout 2016 debut “Midwest Farmer’s Daughter.”
How does the Recording Academy decide if an established artist is “new?” They say artists are selected for the category “if their eligibility year release/s achieved a breakthrough into the public consciousness and notably impacted the musical landscape.”
That’s a hard sell with Price, who spent the first half of 2016 appearing on “Saturday Night Live.”
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