TUA favorite Brandy Clark returns with a new album in 2016 that will become a frontrunner in many of the country categories this year (see 2016 list here).

Best Country Solo Performance (Category 26)
Brandy Clark – Love Can Go To Hell
Miranda Lambert – Vice
Maren Morris – My Church
Carrie Underwood – Church Bells
Keith Urban – Blue Ain’t Your Color

Who Should Win: Maren Morris – My Church

Who Will Win: Brandy Clark – Love Can Go To Hell

Maren may have broken onto the country scene with her major label ‘Hero’ debut, but Grammy favorite Brandy Clark is continuing to push boundaries with her sophomore album hit single “Hell”.

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Best Country Duo/Group Performance (Category 27)
Dierks Bentley (feat. Elle King) – Different For Girls
Brothers Osborne – 21 Summer
Kenny Chesney & P!nk – Setting The World On Fire
Pentatonix (feat. Dolly Parton) – Jolene
Chris Young (with Cassadee Pope) – Think Of You

Who Should Win: Kenny Chesney & P!nk – Setting The World On Fire

Who Will Win: Dierks Bentley (feat. Elle King) – Different For Girls

Kenny Chesney’s biggest hit to date came out back in 2004, which makes his duet with pop singer P!nk a prolific return to mainstream country radio. Dierks Bentley, on the other hand, has seen five platinum-plus singles in the last four years, which makes his Elle King-assisted “Different” a no-brainer in this category.

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Best Country Song (Category 28)
Keith Urban – Blue Ain’t Your Color
Songwriters: Clint Lagerberg, Hillary Lindsey, and Steven Lee Olsen
Thomas Rhett – Die A Happy Man
Songwriters: Sean Douglas, Thomas Rhett, and Joe Spargur
Tim McGraw – Humble And Kind
Songwriters: Lori McKenna
Maren Morris – My Church
Songwriters: busbee & Maren Morris
Miranda Lambert – Vice
Songwriters: Miranda Lambert, Shane McAnally, and Josh Osborne

Who Should Win: Miranda Lambert – Vice

Who Will Win: Maren Morris – My Church

Miranda’s “Vice” became a humongous country radio staple in 2016. In fact, all of the songs in this category performed exceptionally well – possibly because they all feature prominent country songwriters. The only song that doesn’t is Maren’s “Church”, which I’m expecting to squeeze through with an upset win.

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Best Country Album (Category 29)
Brandy Clark – Big Day In A Small Town
Loretta Lynn – Full Circle
Maren Morris – Hero
Sturgill Simpson – A Sailor’s Guide To Earth
Keith Urban – Ripcord

Who Should Win: Brandy Clark – Big Day In A Small Town

Who Will Win: Sturgill Simpson – A Sailor’s Guide To Earth

I’m hoping that Brandy Clark will pull a narrow upset here, but with Sturgill’s ‘Earth’ nominated for AOTY, he’ll likely forfeit that category to Beyonce’ and pick up an upset for Best Country Album.