Pictured: Brandon Rhyder
For the first time ever, the Texas Country Music Awards is coming to Fort Worth on Monday — and it plans to stay.
For the first time ever, the Texas Country Music Awards is coming to Fort Worth on Monday — and it plans to stay.
The 2018 Texas Country Music Awards will announce this year's 26 winners and special recipient of the Trailblazer Award at the Will Rogers Auditorium. The Texas Country Music Association, Inc. chose the Top 5 finalists for each award category this past June.
The association has also announced its title sponsor for the event: Hotel Drover, an upcoming project by the Stockyards Heritage Development Company that’s expected to open spring 2020.
Similar to the 2017 event, which took place at the Civic Center in Carthage, Texas, TCMA spokesperson and Texas country artist Brandon Rhyder will return to host the ceremony alongside fellow artist Jenn Ford. Both artists will perform onstage, as well.
Other performers include Curtis Grimes, Doug Stone, Brian Black and more. Notable presenters include 2018 Miss Texas U.S. Andrea Fox, champion roper Tuf Cooper and Texas Music Office director Brendon Anthony.
The auditorium doors will open to the public at 4:30 p.m., and pre-show performances begin at 5:30 p.m. The Awards Ceremony will begin at 7 p.m.
Chris Romain with JetDanger Entertainment will live stream and record the show to air on a later date. HANK-FM 92.1, CoyoteCountryRadio.com and TexasCountryMusicRadio.com will also stream the ceremony.
The complete list of finalists is below. For ticket information, visit TCMA's website.
Entertainer Of The Year:
Bri Bagwell, Cameran Nelson, Chris Colston, Josh Ward, Holly Tucker
Male Vocalist of the Year:
Chris Colston, Curtis Grimes, Darrin Morris, Josh Ward, Will Carter
Female Vocalist of the Year:
Bri Bagwell, Holly Tucker, Sarah Hobbs, Sunny Sweeney, Vanessa Lynn Bird
Country Band of the Year:
Jody Booth Band, Flatland Cavalry, Darrin Morris Band, Shane Smith & The Saints, Uncle Lucius
Cajun Country Artist of the Year:
Freddie Pate, John Thibodeaux, Kevin Anthony, Aston Dupre', Dustin Sonnier
Duo of the Year:
Texwestus, Treble Soul, Hannah & Hailee, The Teccas, Shotgun Rider
Young Artist (16 & Under):
Abigail Taylor, Hannah & Hailee, Kadie Lynn, Macy Dot Neal, Jack Barksdal
Emerging New Artist:
Aliza Ford, Grace Tyler, John Hord, John Thibodeaux, Hayden Baker
Country Album Of The Year:
Vaquero – Aaron Watson, Palo Duro – Shotgun Rider, Don't Forget Where You Came From – Kyle Park, Gone – Chris Colston, Coffee Days & Whiskey Nights – Robynne Shayne
Country Single of the Year:
Dance With The Devil – Nick Bakay, Drunk Enough – Robert Ray, Keep On Rollin' – Michael Gutierrez, Can I Buy You A Country Song – Steve Helms, Tuggin On My Heart Strings – Randall King
Terrestrial Radio Station of the Year:
95.9 The Ranch – Fort Worth, 99.3 KOKE – Austin, 99.7 KSTAR – Conroe, 95.2 KHYI – Plano, 105.7 KYKX – Longview
Broadcast Personality Of The Year:
Curtis McKinney & Brad Hennington – Cranked Up Country Syndicated, Rickey Green - KSCK 100.5 Sterling City, Eric Raines - 99.3 KOKE FM Austin, Brett Dillon - 95.3 KHYI The Range Plano, Bruce Allen - texas46radio.com
Internet Radio Station of the Year:
CoyoteCountryRadio.com, RealTexasRadio.com, TrueTexasRadio.com, Texas46Radio.com, TroubadourCountryRadio.com
Live Music Venue of the Year:
Love & War in Texas – Plano, Redneck Country Club – Stafford, Honky Tonk Texas – Silsbee, Dosey Doe -The Woodlands, Banita Creek Hall – Nacogdoches
Christian Country Artist of the Year:
Curtis Grimes, Jackie Cox, John Randolph, Justin Todd Herod, Michael Knight
Christian Country Single Of The Year:
Believe – Wild Fire, Born To Die – Curtis Grimes, Slow Time Down - John Randolph, Sometimes Good People Happen To Bad Things – Justin Todd Herod, You Can Have It All – Michael Knight.
Bassist of the Year:
Blake Watson, Cody Wood, Christopher Smith, Stormy Cooper, Dale Kirk
Fiddler of the Year:
Kevin Anthony, Lacie Carpenter, Mike Calley, Milo Deering, David Varnado
Guitarist of the Year:
Brendan Gillman, Freddie Pate, Justin Todd Herod, Michael Olson, Tom Kindle
Keyboard/Pianist of the Year:
Chris Bergeron, David Young, Marty Erwin, Chris Cockburn, Scott Moody
Steel Guitarist of the Year:
Bobby Texas Gardner, Jim Hall, Laine Thibodeaux, Milo Deering, Billy McCoy
Drummer of the Year:
Christian Dorn, Chad Polnick, Eddie Danger Barnot, Albert Gonzales, Jr., Brandon Lemond
Country Songwriter of the Year Finalists:
Billy Holloway - Texas Moon
Cameran Nelson, Greg Bates & Aaron Scherz - Home Wasn't Built In A Day
Hannah (Hannah Kay) Blackwell & Jerry Flowers - Cuz I Ain't
John Thibodeaux - Don't Want To Love Her Any More
Justin Todd Herod - 100 Proof
Justin Tod Herod - Red White & Blue Ain't Black & White
Kelly Kenning & David Chamberlain - The Heart Knows
Madison (Madison Paige) Urbanowski - Stand Tall
Steve Mays, David Glass, Justin Glass - She Don't Love Him Anymore
Will Carter & Shane Stevens - House of Cards
Christian Country Songwriter of the Year Finalists:
Allison Gilliam - Just Wait For The Morning
Justin Todd Herod - Sometimes Good People Happen To Bad Things
Kayla Iutzwig & Kelli Iutzwig - Believe
Kelly Kenning - All In The Family
Kelly Kenning - Jesus Is My King
Michael Knight - I Got Saved
Michael Ryan - In Your Pasture
Scott Tecca - I Believe
Scott Tecca - I Will Follow You
Trinity Wennerstrom & Corey Lee Barker - Shine Big Shine Bright
