Country Music Awards Preview

Oct. 4 -- Cowboy hats and the twang of the steel guitar may take a back seat to rock ’n’ roll in the mainstream media most of the year, but tonight is their time to shine.

The Country Music Association doles out the industry’s most prestigious honors, the Country Music Association Awards, with a live broadcast on CBS from the Grand Ole Opry House in Nashville, Tenn.

Viewers will be treated to an array of top talent including Mary Chapin Carpenter, Kim Richey, LeAnn Rimes, Billy Gilman, Alison Krauss, Billy Dean, Chad Brock, Eric Heatherly, Reba McEntire and Charlie Daniels.

The big star of the night could be 27-year-old Brad Paisley, who has never won a CMA but is up for six tonight.

A veteran of West Virginia’s “Jamboree USA,” Paisley is a singer, instrumentalist and songwriter on whose shoulders ride the country music industry’s hopes amid a slump, some music critics say.

His name is among the nominees in the categories for topMale Vocalist, Single, Album, Song, Music Video andHorizon.

Paisley is tied with sultry singer Faith Hill for the mostnominations in the most popular categories. Hill is competingwith her husband, Tim McGraw, for the Entertainer of the Yearaward — making them the first husband and wife to be up for the same award at the same time.

Dixie Jitters Five time CMA winners the Dixie Chicks are also up for Entertainer of the Year, to the delight of member Natalie Maines. “I’ve never wanted to win an award before but I want to win this one,” she told reporters Tuesday.

Bandmate Martie Seidel said her concerns have more to do with the kind of issues that surround all prominent awards shows: “I just want to know if we get to sit on the front row this year. I just don’t want to get worst-dressed again.”

The band will take next year off to focus on building their families, as Maines is pregnant and Emily Robison is trying to become a mom. The trio has rather quickly risen to the top of the country scene, and Robison says it’s no coincidence they are so comfortable with their rise to fame.