The 16th ACM Honors returns to Nashville’s Ryman Auditorium on Wednesday, August 23rd. This is the thirteenth ACM Honors, a celebratory live event that follows the ACM Award Show. According to the ACM Country website, the ACM Honors celebrates “…special award honorees, off-camera category winners, and ACM Industry and Studio Recording Awards.”
Chris Stapleton and Kane Brown are making appearances. Mike Dugan, Clint Black, BRELAND, Mary Chapin Carpenter, Charlie Cook, Charlie Daniels, Ashley Gorley, HARDY, Bill Mayne, Tim McGraw, K.T. Oslin, and Troy Vollhoffer are also attending. Carly Pearce, who is a four-time ACM Award winner, is hosting for the third year in a row.
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Categories for this year include classic ones as well as more niche accolades for under-appreciated aspects of country music. So what does this mean? It means the ACM Honors celebrates Songwriter of the Year, Ashley Gorley. It also means the newly-added category Artist-Songwriter of the Year gets its time in the sun with this year’s winner HARDY. Several more categories follow. This includes Bass Player of the Year, Drummer of the Year, Acoustic Guitar Player of the Year, Piano/Keys Player of the Year, Specialty Instrument(s) Player of the Year, Electric Guitar Player of the Year, Audio Engineer of the Year, and Producer of the Year.
According to the same website source above, eligibility for an ACM Honor is determined by “…a Professional Panel of judges chosen by the ACM Officers, with each honoree having achieved a Top 20 or better on Billboard’s Hot Country Songs, Billboard’s Top Country Albums or Mediabase Country charts during the current eligibility period.”
Since the ACM Honors is a live event, expect live music performances. With such a stacked line-up of winners, it is bound to be an unforgettable country music event. Here’s hoping Chris Stapleton lights up the stage with his signature sound.
