By Katherine Cole

One day I’m going to sit down and figure out exactly how many music awards shows there are in the US each year. It seems like the minute they strike the sets for one, another pops up on television. Just last Sunday we were all watching  The Grammys–and now here’s the list of nominees for the 48th Annual Academy of Country Music Awards.

North Carolina native Eric Church leads the pack this year with seven nominations, including Male Vocalist of the Year, Album of the Year for “Chief” and two Song of the Year nods. Two? Yes, two. One as the composer of  “Springsteen” and one for singing the song.

Right behind him, nomination-wise, is 21-year old singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Hunter Hayes.  If all goes his way, Hunter will be taking home six trophies, including New Male Vocalist of the Year and Song of the Year for “Wanted.” Hunter may be one of the younger artists in the ACM race this year, but here’s proof that he’s not new to performing!

And yes, there are women up for ACM awards. Miranda Lambert and Taylor Swift have five nominations apiece. The two will be  fighting it out  in two categories:  Female Vocalist of the Year and Entertainer of the Year. The other nominees for the Academy’s top honor are Jason Alden and the two gentlemen hosting the televised award show: Luke Bryan and Blake Shelton.

The ACM awards will be handed out in Las Vegas on April 7th.  Why not Nashville?  It makes sense once you know that the ACM got its start in 1964 as the Country and Western Music Academy, with the goal of promoting country music in the western US. The group held its first awards show in 1966 and winners that year included Kay Adams, Merle Haggard, and Buck Owens, who was named Top Male Vocalist.  That same year, Buck Owens and The Buckeroos were named Top Band of the Year.  Here’s a 1966 video of their 1965 hit “Tiger By The Tail.”  Check out Don Rich’s fabulous harmony singing and guitar picking on this one!