Nominees for the 55th Academy of Country Music Awards were announced today, and there’s a fresh face in the bunch of artists with Alabama ties.
Riley Green, 31, a singer-songwriter from Jacksonville, earned a nomination for New Male Artist of the Year. He’s competing in this category against Morgan Wallen, Cody Johnson, Russell Dickerson and Jordan Davis.
Green, who maintains strong ties to his home state, is an up-and-comer who released his major label debut, “Different 'Round Here,” in September 2019. He’s been on the public radar for his traditionalist approach to country music, as evidenced in the single “I Wish Grandpas Never Died.”
The lyrics of that song include: “I wish every porch had a swing/Wish kids still learn to say sir and ma’am/how to shake a hand/I wish every state had a Birmingham” and “I wish everybody overseas was gonna make it home/I wish country music still got played on country radio." (There’s an alternate version of the tune that changes the latter line to “I wish George Jones still got played on country radio," for country stations that don’t appreciate criticism of their playlists.)
Green, born and raised in Jacksonville, is a former student at Jacksonville State University. He played quarterback for the Gamecocks from 2008 to 2010, but left college when his music aspirations took hold. He earned a measure of fame for EPs such as “Bury Me in Dixie,” “County Line” and “Outlaws Like Us,” but has gained more traction in the last couple of years, after signing a deal with BMLG Records, a division of Big Machine Label Group.
Green also earned fans on reality TV with two stints on “Redneck Island.” He won the CMT competition in 2016 with his partner, Becky Andrews, and received a $100,000 prize.
In 2018, Green performed a benefit concert at Birmingham’s Iron City that raised $50,000 for tornado relief in his hometown. His 2020 agenda includes a spring-break beach concert at the Flora-Bama Lounge on the Alabama-Florida state line.
Other nominees for this year’s ACM Awards include Little BIg Town (nods for Group of the Year and Video of the Year, for “Sugar Coat"), Florida Georgia Line (nominated for Duo of the Year), songwriter Jeremey Bussey (nominated for Song of the Year with Ashley McBryde for “Girl Goin’ Nowhere") and keyboard player Gordon Mote (nominated for Piano/Keyboards Player of the Year). All of these nominees have Alabama ties:
- Little Big Town, a harmonizing country-pop band, includes Jimi Westbrook of Sumiton and Karen Fairchild and Kimberly Schlapman, who met as undergraduates at Samford University in Birmingham.
- The principals of Florida Georgia Line are Tyler Hubbard (from Monroe, Ga.) and Brian Kelley (from Ormond Beach, Fla.). Hubbard’s parents, the late Roy Wayne Hubbard and Amy Eady Hubbard, are from Bibb County. Hubbard has other relatives in Tuscaloosa and Centreville.
- Bussey grew up in Sylvan Springs.
- Mote grew up in Attalla, near Gadsden.
Alabama also received a mention in nominees for the ACM industry awards. The Wharf Amphitheater in Orange Beach earned a nod for Outdoor Venue of the Year.
Winners of the ACM Awards will be announced during a ceremony on April 5, televised live from the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas. The show airs at 7 p.m. CT on CBS.