Image Courtesy CMAThomas Rhett was on tour in Toronto with no cell phone service or WiFi access the morning the CMA Awards nominations were announced. He had to go old school and call his manager from a land line to listen to the nominations TV broadcast over the phone. Things got tense when they started calling out the finalists in the New Artist of the Year category.
Thomas recalls, “They were called out in alphabetical order, and obviously my name starts with a ‘T,’ so it was towards the end. I was like, ‘We didn’t get it! We didn’t get it!’ Then at the end they did call my name, which made me kind of jump in my pants.”
He quickly adds, “I didn’t mean for that to come off weird if that sounded weird.”
Thomas is proud to share in the New Artist nomination with his pals Cole Swindell, Kip Moore and Brett Eldredge along with singer/songwriter Brandy Clark.
He says, “Just to be a part of that award is the coolest thing in the world. It makes you feel like the past three years of touring 300 days-a-year actually did pay off.”
Four of the five New Artist nominees have scored multiple #1 hits, and there are even more country newcomers who fit that criteria that didn’t make the cut this year.
“You know, you got Tyler Farr and people like Dustin Lynch who I felt like definitely should have be in the category, but it’s just how the cards fall,” Thomas says. “I’m just pumped to be a part of that group. And whoever wins, I’ll be pumped for ’em.”
See who win New Artist of the Year on the 48th Annual CMA Awards Wednesday night at 8 ET on ABC.
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