{"id":66829,"date":"2025-10-10T23:29:06","date_gmt":"2025-10-10T23:29:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/66829\/"},"modified":"2025-10-10T23:29:06","modified_gmt":"2025-10-10T23:29:06","slug":"best-traditional-country-album-nominees","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/66829\/","title":{"rendered":"Best Traditional Country Album Nominees"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\tLeading up to\u00a0the Grammy nominations on Nov. 7, Rolling Stone is breaking down 10 different categories<\/a>. For each, we\u2019re predicting the nominees, as well as who will (and who should) win on Grammy night.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tThe addition of two new country categories \u2014 Best Traditional Country Album and Best Contemporary Country Album \u2014 opens the door for 10 albums to now earn nominations. And that\u2019s a great thing for country. The move is a reflection of a genre that\u2019s both digging deeper into its roots and stretching higher than ever.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cStorytelling is the key for all of these albums, regardless of the sonics,\u201d says Claire Heinichen, Senior Editor for Country at Spotify. \u201cThe main difference between the categories is what instruments you\u2019re using to tell the same kinds of stories.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tThe Traditional category gives room to country artists who\u2019ve previously been edged out by more contemporary acts or shifted into Americana, where they don\u2019t quite fit. For Best Traditional, expect fiddles, pedal steel, banjo, and mandolin on many of the albums \u2014 and both newcomers and country legends alike nominated for awards.<\/p>\n

\t\tBest Traditional Country Album \u2013 Our Predictions\t<\/p>\n

\n\tEric Church<\/a>, Evangeline vs. the Machine<\/a>
Parker McCollum<\/a>, Parker McCollum<\/a>
Zach Top<\/a>, Ain\u2019t in It for My Health<\/a>
Turnpike Troubadours<\/a>, The Price of Admission<\/a>
Hailey Whitters<\/a>, Corn Queen<\/a><\/p>\n

\t\tWho Will Win?\t<\/p>\n

\n\tZach Top, Ain\u2019t in It for My Health
In many ways, Top made traditional country music cool again. \u201cHe deserves it. Zach Top is the unofficial spokesperson for the return of the Nineties country sound to a generation of kids who probably grew up hearing their parents play it and then forgot about country music entirely,\u201d says Heinichen. \u201cThat sound isn\u2019t trapped in the Nineties anymore, and the record is so fun because of it.\u201d<\/p>\n

\t\tWho Should Win?\t<\/p>\n

\n\tTurnpike Troubadours, The Price of Admission
The Tahlequah, Oklahoma, band might be a left-field choice to win the category, but their album The Price of Admission, overseen by Grammy-winning producer Shooter Jennings, deserves to be celebrated in a category like this one. \u201cThe album stopped me in my tracks. It is stunning,\u201d says Heinichen. \u201cAnd for a band around for a long time, this is their moment. I would love to see them win it.\u201d<\/p>\n

\t\tForecasting the Field\t<\/p>\n

\n\tThere\u2019s no doubt a few country legends who dropped albums this year could end up in the mix: 21-time Grammy nominee Dwight Yoakam\u2019s Brighter Days, George Strait\u2019s Cowboys and Dreamers, and Willie Nelson\u2019s Oh What a Beautiful World all feel like strong contenders when it comes to honoring icons of the genre.<\/p>\n

\t\tTrending Stories<\/p>\n

\t\tEditor\u2019s picks<\/p>\n

\n\tMiranda Lambert\u2019s Postcards from Texas could serve as a wild card \u2014 she\u2019s a Grammy favorite and has a solid shot at sneaking into the nominations. It\u2019d also be wrong to overlook Dylan Gossett\u2019s Westward as a possible nominee. \u201cHe self-wrote and self-produced it,\u201d says Heinichen. \u201cAnd it\u2019s such a beautiful body of work.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tEven with just eight songs, Church built a whole musical world on Evangeline vs. the Machine. \u201cHe\u2019s a masterclass in storytelling,\u201d Heinichen adds. \u201cWith a concept record like this one, he proved that all over again. You have to listen top to bottom.\u201d And definitely don\u2019t count out Whitters\u2019 Corn Queen as a contender: Few album sound so naturally, authentically country.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Leading up to\u00a0the Grammy nominations on Nov. 7, Rolling Stone is breaking down 10 different categories. For each,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":66830,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[146,46052,14445,38161,48333,85,46,409,48334,48335,48336],"class_list":{"0":"post-66829","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-music","8":"tag-entertainment","9":"tag-eric-church","10":"tag-grammys","11":"tag-grammys-2026","12":"tag-hailey-whitters","13":"tag-il","14":"tag-israel","15":"tag-music","16":"tag-parker-mccollum","17":"tag-turnpike-troubadours","18":"tag-zach-top"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/66829","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=66829"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/66829\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/66830"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=66829"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=66829"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=66829"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}