CMT Artists Of The Year

HaleighT’s Recap Of The 2011 CMT Artists Of The Year Show!

Last night was the presentation of the CMT Artists Of The Year Awards, hosted by Rob Lowe. The honorees were Kenny Chesney, Lady Antebellum, Jason Aldean, Taylor Swift and Brad Paisley. The recipients were chosen based off of sales, radio airplay, concert grosses and activity on cmt.com.

Each artist was given a section of the 90 minute show that was dedicated to them with a performance, congratulatory words by others and a short acceptance speech.

Kenny Chesney had the special treat to have Gavin Degraw perform his hit “Somewhere With You“, where he did a fantastic job! A part of the show that ranks very high on my list was when Matthew McConaughey had a video message for Chesney that was too cute!

Lady Antebellum received kind words from many including their good friend Miranda Lambert and performed their brand new single “Dancin’ Away With My Heart.” It sounded great and by the reactions of Taylor Swift and the rest of the audience (including me at home), it looks like this will be another chart topper for them!

Jason Aldean performed his current single “Tattoos On This Town” and spoke of how this year was kind of a risk, but he was glad he did things on his terms. He wasn’t concerned about what people were telling him to do, he followed his gut and boy did it pay off! Nobody puts Jason in a corner!

Viewers were treated to a special treat with an energetic performance by The Avett Brothers. A band that is quite possibly one of the most cross-genre groups around (we aren’t quite sure what they are…folk, rock, indie, Americana, who knows)!

Taylor Swift also had someone else perform one of her songs, but this performance had a bit of a twist. The All American Rejects gave us their take on “Mean” while throwing in a little bit of their own hit “Gives You Hell!” It was great! She accepted her award from her good friend and fellow female country artist, Faith Hill.

Brad Paisley wrapped the night up for us, first by saying that Country Music was the best industry to be in because everyone was so nice and then by collaborating with Joe Walsh on “Camouflage!”

It was a great night for everyone, wish I could have been there! Congratulations again to all five of the talented acts!

About HaleighT

HaleighT grew up in rural Sallisaw, Oklahoma, completely immersed in the country music lifestyle. She works with CMNB as our field assignment journalist, gathering concert reviews and exclusive interviews from every artist she can. When she's not out on the road, she's in our web studio filming "Takin' a Break With HaleighT" a short weekly opinion and news segment that launched in 2011.

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