And the Top New Female Vocalist Is...Who?!
I have always been fascinated by the Academy of Country Music's "top new" nominations. Looking over the past winners, you sometimes have to ask yourself, "Who's that?"
Some years, fresh country female artists must have been in short supply, considering the top new female vocalist winners who are mostly forgotten now: Kay Adams, Cathie Taylor and Cheryl Poole in the 1960s; Billie Jo Spears, Christy Lane and Lacy J. Dalton in the 1970s; Terri Gibbs, Karen Brooks, Gus Hardin and Judy Rodman in the 1980s; and Michelle Wright, Chely Wright and Jessica Andrews in the 1990s. Even in the 2000s, it seems that past winners Jamie O'Neal and Carolyn Dawn Johnson and Kellie Coffey are yesterday's news. In 2003, the Academy skipped the category altogether, handing out a "Top New Artist" trophy instead. Can we please go back to that? Women will still have a shot, of course; Gretchen Wilson won the ACM's "Top New Artist" a year later.
This year, in the category of Top New Duo or Vocal Group, this year's ACM nominees are ... Carolina Rain (the album tanked in 2006), Lady Antebellum (whose debut record doesn't come out for another six weeks) and The Wreckers (who aren't together anymore). In the top new male vocalist category, you've got Luke Bryan, Jack Ingram and Jake Owen - all of whom have just one Top 10 hit to their credit. Top female vocalist nominees are Sarah Buxton (whose album was never released), Kellie Pickler (who's selling pretty well) and Taylor Swift (who is certain to win - and most likely will be remembered by the general public five years from now).
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Chris says:
Why did you say Taylor Swift is certain to win? Kellie Pickler is the best new vocalist. Sony BMG and radio didn’t give Kellie’s great album the promotion it deserves, for example I Wonder easily deserved to make top 5 on radio, while Taylor’s label gave her album the most promotion possible, so Taylor did better on the charts. Kellie had one of the best vocal performances on the CMA Awards. She also received the best critical vocal reviews when she and Taylor were opening for Brad Paisley. Anyone who doesn’t remember Kellie Pickler 5 years from now has a very bad memory, or her label continued to do a poor to mediocre job of promoting her music. I’m hoping it turns out to be the former however so far I’m not impressed by the label’s underpromotion.
Bri’anna Joy says:
I agree with you. We girls can mix it up with the boys and still win. We don’t need a special category. Maybe they separate us because the boys are afraid of losing? j/k ;)
Bri’anna Joy
http://BitzofBrin.com
Denise says:
A top new artist category would certainly make more sense. Top new male artist and group or duo baffle me. Jack Ingram is HARDLY new. Jake and Luke are on a fairly even level, I think, but neither of which I feel belong with the nomination. New group should in no way include The Wreckers — they don’t even exist as a duo anymore! — and Carolina Rain… who? At least Lady Antebellum does have a single out now that is doing well.
Ironically, the new female vocalist category is the only one I don’t have a problem understanding, and I agree with you that Taylor is bound to win the category.
Actually, over all, I vote we do away with new anything. Why not go to a breakthrough artist of the year or something? Let’s honor those artists that do well through the year in comparison to the previous year; new artists would be included in this as a great first year, and they’ll stand beside older artists who aren’t new but who have a standout year and are on their way up or have made a comeback could also be included.
shea mullin says:
I think unless you are B&D or Sugarland theres no hope for groups in country music. They are all good to be sure but that doesn’t translate to time on the radio and record sales. If i had a vote it would e for Lady Antebellum even though I dont think they will outshine the groups mentioned earlier.
Chris says:
Here’s another idea. Since both Kellie and Taylor had great years and did much better than all other new females, why not give the award to both? It’s not fair that both were nominated 2 years in a row, neither could win last year because it was Miranda’s turn since Miranda couldn’t win the prior year because it was Carrie’s big year. And this is the last year Kellie and Taylor can qualify because of the 2 year limit. So while great new country female artists might usually be in short supply, this recent bumper crop of 4 in 3 years is going to leave someone well-deserving out. So either give the award to both Kellie and Taylor this year or extend the 2 year limit to 3 and award one this and one next year.
Joseph says:
I like the awards the way they are. It’s great to remember that Michelle Wright, for example, was really genuinely on the cusp of greatness when she won her award. Who cares if it was never fulfilled? I find it a wonderful snapshot of new — seriously new — artists, almost pin-pointed at April/May of a given year.
Multi-year nominations aren’t cool, though. The CMA Horizon Award is more for the “breakthrough” year, and there’s no way you can justify being “new” two years in a row.
What with radio singles going up and down the charts so slowly now, these stretches for “new” nominations will likely become a longstanding issue, unless the ACM breaks down and sticks with a “Top New Artist” award. I hope not.
By the way: Where’s Jason Michael Carroll? The ACM forgot to nominate the winner.
hotelmotel says:
We cant expect the ACMs or CMAs to predict which new singer will be a big star in 5 years. Things change too quickly for that.But I think its fair to ask that these awards go to singers who attain some commercial or artistic success.
Looking back, some of these award winners seem odd. Why did Chely Wright win Top New Female in 1995 even though she didn’t have a single top 30 song until 1997? Her career ended with only one Billboard top Ten - Single White Female (also a #1).
That’s not to pick on Chely Wright; perhaps with a little luck she would have become a superstar. But if the winners of the “Top New Female Award” so often fall into oblivion, it says something about the award’s value.
DougD says:
Hypersensitive fan alert:
In defense of Lacy J. Dalton, she had 22 Top 40 hits, of which seven went Top 10. That’s not a bad career.
Granted, she never became a superstar, but I’d argue that’s an unfair argument for whether she deserved the award, whether there was a dearth of talented female singers that year or whether the award should exist. The music industry is notoriously volatile. Singers can rise or fall based on variables completely outside their control.
hotelmotel says:
I agree with DougD — Lacy J Dalton had a fine career.
Mike says:
I disagree strongly with the notion that there isn’t enough female talent to justify a separate “new artist” category.
You can’t look at results without examining the reasons why we don’t remember some past winners.
And the top reason, both past and present, is …
Country radio plays far more songs by men than women, and even today country radio is still the prime factor in determining how well an artist’s album sells and thus how long their career lasts.
The labels know this and that’s why, with a few exceptions, they promote the men far better than the women.
Cal says:
Not that I don’t agree that it’s odd for Lady Antebellum to be up for awards before their album is even out, BUT…this group is for real. If you’ve listened to their full slate of music (most, if not all, of which is written or co-written by members of the group), you can tell these guys & gal have some serious talent. People might laugh at this now, but I’d be willing to bet money that they have as much success as Rascall Flatts is having right now - in a few years.
michael ward says:
I love all of them but, Carrie Underwood deserves all of the best female song and vocalist she is the best!
Joseph Harder says:
As a long-time Lacy J. Dalton fan, I also think she does not deserve to be put in the same category as the deservedly obscure one-hit wonders mentioned in the article. ( Though a case can be made for Gus Hardin, who is quite under-rated.)People like Merle Haggard, George Jones, Emmylou Harris, and Willie Nelson have all praised her talent, and “Whisper”, ” Sixteenth Avenue”, and “Hillbilly Girl with the Blues”, among other songs, will be remembered long after the musical merde which so often comes out of “Gnashville” these days has been forgotten. One last thing; she does not not deserve to be spoken of in the past tense. The Last Wild place may, in fact, be her best album since “Highway Diner”.