The Best Country Solo Performance category is a tight one this year. We have two guitar hunks (Eric Church and Keith Urban) versus two of the genre's leading ladies (Carrie Underwood and Miranda Lambert). Oh, and let's not forget the newcomer (Hunter Hayes) who's representing with his equal parts heartbreaking, encouraging ballad, "Invisible."
The frontrunners here are Underwood and Lambert. The former American Idol champion is a Grammy favorite, having already won six including one in the Best Country Solo Performance category for 2012's "Blown Away." However, Lambert has all the momentum going into this year's award show. Church is always a contender too, especially with "Give Me Back My Hometown."
Urban is no stranger to the Grammy Awards with four honors under his belt, but it would be surprising if "Cop Car" took down Underwood's crystalline vocals on "Something in the Water" and Lambert's infectious chorus on "Automatic." Hayes gets an "A" for effort. He performed "Invisible" at last year's awards show, essentially calling his shot that he would be back. The newcomer is going to have to wait, at least in this category.
Nominees:
Eric Church - "Give Me Back My Hometown"
Hunter Hayes - "Invisible"
Miranda Lambert - "Automatic"
Carrie Underwood - "Something in the Water"
Keith Urban - "Cop Car"
WHO SHOULD WIN: Eric Church - "Give Me Back My Hometown"
The country star is still one of the few artists in the genre who can entice rock fans to buy his albums. He made that extremely evident in 2012 when the third single from his Chief album, "Springsteen," dropped. He also showed some love for one of rock's greatest personalities, Levon Helm of The Band, during a tribute show.
Church is paying tribute to Springsteen yet again, even if it was unintentional. The singer, who co-wrote the song as well, draws from The Boss's "My Hometown," with both songs essentially about how one sees the place they grew up change throughout their lifetime. Where Springsteen's is more social commentary, Church's has an angrier side, demanding his hometown back. The singer's voice is silky smooth too during the chorus.
It's a nice song, and, more importantly there's no sign of the "bro" influence that has flooded the genre in recent years. "Give Me Back My Hometown" also doubles as a pop tune (it hit 36 on the Billboard Hot 100 while peaking at four on the Hot Country Songs list).
WHO WILL WIN: Miranda Lambert - "Automatic"
As previously stated, Lambert has too much momentum going into the Grammys. Possibly the only thing she has over Underwood is a full-length release with Platinum. She's been more exposed this year than Underwood, whose "Something in the Water" single was included on her Greatest Hits: Decade #1 compilation. Regardless of who wins between the two ladies, though, there's no chance of bad blood. They linked up on Lambert's second single "Somethin' Bad," which is up for the Best Country Duo/Performance Grammy.
It will be a hard-fought win though, because Underwood is an immense talent. She's been one of the genre's shining stars ever since that 2005 American Idol win. So that's all the more reason Lambert deserves the win. Give Underwood a year off. Let her put out an album and come back for revenge.
The two burst onto the scene right around the same time, but Lambert oddly has an Underwood vibe on "Automatic." Maybe that's because she respects her peer so much.
"Singing with Carrie Underwood is very, very intimidating, I'll be honest," Lambert told Country Weekly about their collaboration. "She is an amazing vocalist. I'm a big fan of hers. Asking her to do this was nerve-racking."
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