With a country album competing for numerous Big Four accolades this year, the country category is harder than ever to predict. Many of these works have overperformed commercially, but nearly every artist on the country nominations ballot is worthy of numerous awards (see 2015 list here).

Best Country Solo Performance (Category 26)
Cam – “Burning House”
Chris Stapleton – “Traveller”
Carrie Underwood – “Little Toy Guns”
Keith Urban – “John Cougar, John Deere, John 3:16”
Lee Ann Womack – “Chances Are”

Who Should Win: Keith Urban – “John Cougar, John Deere, John 3:16”

Who Will Win: Chris Stapleton – “Traveller”

Keith Urban’s slew of singles over the last two years have undoubtedly been be his best works to date. But with Chris Stapleton’s ‘Traveller’ album receiving numerous top billed nominations, I’m pretty sure this category will become a win for him.

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Best Country Duo/Group Performance (Category 27)
Brothers Osborne – “Stay A Little Longer”
Joey + Rory – “If I Needed You”
Charles Kelley, Dierks Bentley, and Eric Paslay – “The Driver”
Little Big Town – “Girl Crush”
Blake Shelton (feat. Ashley Monroe) – “Lonely Tonight”

Who Should Win: Brothers Osborne – “Stay A Little Longer”

Who Will Win: Little Big Town – “Girl Crush”

Brothers Osborne’s nomination came as one of the biggest shock, as their debut album hadn’t even been released. Despite being quite impressive, Little Big Town’s “Girl Crush” shattered country radio and are well-deserving in this category.

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Best Country Song – Songwriter’s Award (Category 28)
Lee Ann Womack – “Chances Are”
Songwriters: Hayes Carll
Tim McGraw – “Diamond Rings And Old Barstools”
Songwriters: Barry Dean, Luke Laird, and Jonathan Singleton
Little Big Town – “Girl Crush”
Songwriters: Hillary Lindsey, Lori McKenna, and Liz Rose
Brandy Clark – “Hold My Hand”
Songwriters: Brandy Clark and Mark Stephen Jones
Chris Stapleton – “Traveller”
Songwriters: Chris Stapleton

Who Should Win: Brandy Clark – “Hold My Hand”

Who Will Win: Tim McGraw – “Diamond Rings And Old Barstools”

Newcomer Brandy Clark’s already received her set of Big Four nominations, but hasn’t actually won in the country category despite her immense songwriting talents. Veteran Tim McGraw’s “Diamond Rings And Old Barstools”, however, made such a huge impact on its own that he’s almost certain to take home this award.

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Best Country Album (Category 29)
Sam Hunt – ‘Montevallo’
Little Big Town – ‘Pain Killer’
Ashley Monroe – ‘The Blade’
Kacey Musgraves – ‘Pageant Material’
Chris Stapleton – ‘Traveller’

Who Should Win: Kacey Musgraves – ‘Pageant Material’

Who Will Win: Kacey Musgraves – ‘Pageant Material’

While Chris Stapleton is likely to win in other categories and Ashley Monroe’s debut became one of the year’s best, I’m rooting for Kacey to pick up this category again. Not only has Musgraves been consistently great, but she’s done it without changing the one thing that everyone loves about her – the songwriting.