ACM Awards Performance Highlights
Last night’s ACM Awards show provided us with 3 hours of exceptional live music entertainment.
Here are of few that really stood out for me.
- Dierks Bentley live from the Station Inn with soul duo The War and Treaty- “I first came to this bar when I was 19 years old looking for something and I found it in the music here and I found it in the bluegrass community,” Dierks explained about why this location meant so much to him. He chose to cover the U2 classic, “Pride (In the Name of Love” which was featured on his 2010 bluegrass album, Up on the Ridge. The mix of bluegrass and soul was magical and the energy in the performance, infectious.
2. Eric Church -This performance of the new song, “Bunch of Nothing” was certainly something! Swagger, strength and a healthy dose of crazy make Church a one of country’s greatest performers ever, but major cred has to go to his longtime backup singer Joanna Cotton. This song is part of his much talked about, ground-breaking trilogy project called Heart And Soul. Heart was released last Friday, which is where you will find “Bunch of Nothing.”
3. Kelsea Ballerini with Kenny Chesney- The Knoxville, TN natives were stunning in their thoughtful, passionate performance live from the Grand Ole Opry. The two formed a bound a few years back when Kenny texted Kelsea telling her how proud he was of his “hometown girl.” After that Kelsea reached out to him, inviting him to sing with her on this gem from her latest album, kelsea.
4. Chris Stapleton with Miranda Lambert- Live from the Bluebird, this intimate performance of “Maggie’s Song, which Chris wrote about losing his dog, had us all emo! Bringing in longtime pet adoption advocate Miranda Lambert to sing with him, made it all the more poignant, and left me searching for the tissue box.
5. Carrie Underwood – took us to church! Amen for this powerful, soaring, unfaltering performance of a gospel medley from Carrie’s #1 album, My Savior. Underwood was flawless on her own, but bringing in gospel legend, Cece Winans to riff with, just blew the roof off the building. These hymns in the Opry House had us all praying for more. And had me wondering why this woman wasn’t even nominated for Entertainer of the Year. Seriously.
There were many more… The chemistry between Maren Morris and her husband, on his latest “Chasin’ You,” had me thinking I should leave the room. So steamy! Brothers Osborne brought it, bigtime…leaving everything right there on the stage. Little Big Town dancing in the the streets of downtown Nashville with a horn section behind them was spectacular.
What were your favorite performances?
