Sara Evans Soars to New Heights with 2001 CMA Nominations
The best in contemporary and traditional country sounds mixed it up when the nominees for the 35th Annual CMA Awards were announced at Nashville's Adelphia Coliseum (8/28). Among those BMI affiliates mentioned repeatedly were longstanding hitmakers Brooks & Dunn and Tim McGraw, bluegrass-rooted Alison Krauss, Gillian Welch, Nickel Creek and the Soggy Bottom Boys, and, leading all nominees, breakout triple-threat Sara Evans.
 Sara Evans |  Brooks & Dunn |  Tim McGraw |  Nickel Creek |
On the strength of her #1 smash Born To Fly, Sara Evans is nominated for Female Vocalist, Single, Album, Song, and Music Video of the Year. While she is nominated in five categories, Evans could take home seven trophies because she co-produced her album Born To Fly, and the title single. Evans burst onto the country music scene in 1997 with her critically-acclaimed debut album, Three Chords and the Truth. She scored her first No. 1 with the title track from her sophomore album No Place That Far, and was nominated for CMA's Vocal Event of Year in 1999 for the title cut, featuring a special appearance by Vince Gill. Evans was nominated for the Horizon Award in 1999 and 2000.
 Gillian Welch |  Toby Keith |  Vince Gill |  Dan Tyminski |
Multiple CMA-winning team Brooks & Dunn, who revealed the finalists at the press conference, picked up four nominations including Entertainer, Vocal Duo, Single (Ain't Nothing 'Bout You, their 19th #1) and Album of the Year for Steers & Stripes.
The O Brother, Where Art Thou? soundtrack earned a total of four nominations including Album of the Year and Single of the Year for "I Am A Man Of Constant Sorrow," performed by The Soggy Bottom Boys (featuring Dan Tyminski and Harley Allen). The soundtrack also posted two Vocal Event of the Year bids with "Didn't Leave Nobody But The Baby" and "I'll Fly Away, " both featuring Alison Krauss and Gillian Welch. Krauss and Welch could walk away with three trophies, as they are among the dozen-plus artists included on the soundtrack's Album of the Year entry.
Reigning Male Vocalist of the Year Tim McGraw collected three nominations: Entertainer, Male Vocalist and Album of the Year (Set This Circus Down). Toby Keith, Dixie Chicks, Diamond Rio, Lonestar and Nickel Creek were greeted with two mentions apiece. Also with a pair of honors are T Bone Burnett and Mark Wright, cited for their production work in the Album and Single slots.
Dominating the Song of the Year category were these BMI writers and publishers:
- "Born To Fly," Sara Evans and Marcus Hummon, Sony/ATV Songs/Careers-BMG Music/Floyd's Dream Music
- How Do You Like Me Now?!, Chuck Cannon and Toby Keith, Wacissa River Music/Tokeco Tunes
- I'm Already There, Richie McDonald, Sony/ATV Songs
- "Murder On Music Row," Larry Cordle and Larry Shell, Pier Five Music/Wandachord Music/Shell Point
- One More Day, Bobby Tomberlin, Mike Curb Music
The 35th Annual CMA Awards will be broadcast live from the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville on Wednesday, November 7 from 8-11 PM/ET on the CBS Television Network . Returning for his 10th anniversary hosting the show will be country superstar Vince Gill, who has won 18 CMA Awards -- more than any other artist. For five consecutive years (1991-95), Gill won the CMA Male Vocalist of the Year Award, an achievement unequaled in the history of the CMA Awards. Gill will host the CMA Awards through 2002.
BMI's final nominees for the 2001 CMA Awards are:
ENTERTAINER OF THE YEAR
Brooks & Dunn
Dixie Chicks
Tim McGraw
MALE VOCALIST OF THE YEAR
Toby Keith
Tim McGraw
FEMALE VOCALIST OF THE YEAR
Sara Evans
Faith Hill
Martina McBride
HORIZON AWARD
Nickel Creek
Keith Urban
VOCAL GROUP OF THE YEAR
Alabama
Diamond Rio
Dixie Chicks
Lonestar
Nickel Creek
VOCAL DUO OF THE YEAR
Brooks & Dunn
Montgomery Gentry
The Kinleys
The Warren Brothers
SINGLE OF THE YEAR (Award goes to artist and producer)
"Ain't Nothing 'Bout You" - Brooks & Dunn, Kix Brooks/Ronnie Dunn/Mark Wright, producers
"Born To Fly" - Sara Evans, Sara Evans, producer
"I Am A Man Of Constant Sorrow" - The Soggy Bottom Boys
T Bone Burnett, producer
"I'm Already There" - Lonestar
"One More Day" - Diamond Rio, Diamond Rio, producers
ALBUM OF THE YEAR
Born To Fly - Sara Evans; Sara Evans, producer
O Brother, Where Art Thou? - Alison Krauss, Gillian Welch, Norman Blake, The Cox Family, John Hartford, The Stanley Brothers, The Fairfield Four; T Bone Burnett, producer
Set This Circus Down - Tim McGraw; Byron Gallimore/James Stroud/Tim McGraw, producers
Steers & Stripes - Brooks & Dunn; Kix Brooks/Ronnie Dunn/Mark Wright, producers
When Somebody Loves You - Keith Stegall, producer
SONG OF THE YEAR
"Born To Fly"
Sara Evans/Marcus Hummon
Sony/ATV Songs/Careers-BMG Music/Floyd's Dream Music
"How Do You Like Me Now?!"
Chuck Cannon/Toby Keith
Wacissa River Music/Tokeco Tunes
"I'm Already There"
Richie McDonald
Sony/ATV Songs
"Murder On Music Row"
Larry Cordle/Larry Shell
Pier Five Music/Wandachord Music/Shell Point
"One More Day"
Bobby Tomberlin
Mike Curb Music
VOCAL EVENT OF THE YEAR
Dwight Yoakam (duet with Buck Owens) - "Alright, I'm Wrong"
Alison Krauss/Gillian Welch - "Didn't Leave Nobody But The Baby"
Chely Wright - "Hard To Be A Husband, Hard To Be A Wife"
Alison Krauss and Gillian Welch - "I'll Fly Away"
George Jones, Bill Anderson and Buck Owens - "Too Country"
MUSICIAN OF THE YEAR
Stuart Duncan
John Hobbs
Brent Mason
MUSIC VIDEO OF THE YEAR
"Born To Fly" - Sara Evans
BMI affiliates recognized in the CMA Broadcast Personality of the Year nominations are WSM/Nashville's Eddie Stubbs (Large Market) and The Foxworthy Countdown's Jeff Foxworthy (National).
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