By Emily Beirne
I
t’s been a “Wide River to Cross,” but “People Get Ready,” because the Arkansas Country Music Awards (Arkansas CMAs) will be live and inperson once again, much to the enjoyment of performers, fans and nominees. Making this a year to remember, the event will be held on June 7 at the Reynolds Performance Hall at the University of Central Arkansas. An extensive lineup of performances and awards is chock-full of Arkansas talent — the best kind, really. Country music enthusiasts are in for a treat as legendary names — such as Debby
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Campbell, daughter of Glen Campbell; Amy Helm, daughter of Levon Helm; and Billy Dean will be in attendance. Additionally, the three Lifetime Achievement honorees from 2020 will be recognized alongside the 2021 recipients. The nail-biting outcomes of the other categories are also to be announced at the event. The process of nominating an artist to selecting a winner may seem like a gray area, but Charles Haymes, vice president and co-host of the Arkansas CMAs, is here to explain every detail. “There’s a three-week period that’s open for nominations in all of the categories,” Haymes explains. “Fans or country music professionals can go in and fill out a nomination ballot. When the time ends for nominations, there are executive checks of criteria, as in checking that the song nominated did come out in this year, the vocals did release during this time, and so on. Once everything meets the criteria for that particular category,
the nominations move on to be reviewed by special committees. These committees are made up of music professionals, and they have ballots with links to all of the information they need to know about the nominee.” He shares that these committees never meet in person, so they don’t have the opportunity to discuss with one another. One committee person does not know who another committee person is. “They select the final five in each category, and the ones with the most votes become the final five of each category,” Haymes says. “When the final nominations are announced, the final ballot goes out to the committees, and each person makes their final selection per category. There is then a two-week period online, March 1-14, where fans can go in and vote. The nominee with the most votes from fans counts as one committee person’s vote.” Understanding this process gives more perspective on how and why some artists, individuals and teams may be chosen over others. The team behind the Arkansas CMAs show has really turned up the heat for this comeback year with 26 categories, six Lifetime Achievement honorees and about 20 performances. Pushing through the obstacles and tragedies of the past year, this event celebrates the Arkansas voices that carried us through. We’ve been walkin’ these streets so long, it’s time to start feelin’ good.
