Darius Rucker to Announce Remaining CMA AWARDS Nominees

Sun up to sun down, the announcement of the final nominees for "The 48th Annual CMA Awards" will take over New York City on Wednesday, September 3 with host and CMA Award winner Darius Rucker.

"I know what it feels like to be nominated for a CMA Award, and I was happy to accept the invitation to announce the final nominees and have this opportunity to deliver good news to my friends in the industry," said Rucker. "Set the alarm guys, this is worth waking up for."

At daybreak, Rucker will perform "Homegrown Honey," the debut single from his upcoming new album to be released in early 2015. Rucker will also announce the final nominees in five CMA Awards categories live from the "Good Morning America" studios in the heart of Times Square on the ABC Television Network. The announcement will air in the 8:30 a.m., ET half-hour segment of the top-rated, morning news program.

Following the announcement, at 10:00 a.m., ET, Rucker will be at the Best Buy Theater in Times Square to announce the finalists in the remaining seven categories along with the announcement of the CMA Broadcast Awards for Personality and Radio Station of the Year in four categories (small, medium, large, and major market), as well as the finalists for the CMA National Broadcast Personality of the Year. There will be an additional presentation by the CMA Foundation's Keep the Music Playing music education campaign.

Nightfall brings the 10th anniversary celebration of the CMA Songwriters Series at the Best Buy Theater with Rucker and hit tunesmiths Frank Rogers, Rivers Rutherford, and series host Bob DiPiero for an in-the-round presentation of the songs that have touched the lives of millions of music fans. The show will be streamed live via CMASongwritersSeries.com.

The CMA Board of Directors created and launched the CMA Songwriters Series in 2005 at Joe's Pub in New York City, which has grown to include shows in Austin, Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles, Phoenix, Washington D.C. at the Library of Congress, and at the Sundance Film Festival. In 2012, the series expanded to the U.K. and Ireland and last year was included as part of the International Marketing Summit in Paris. The CMA Songwriters Series returned to the U.K. in 2014 as part of the C2C (Country to Country) festival, which is presented at The O2 in Dublin and London in partnership with CMA.

Tickets for the Sept. 3 CMA Songwriters Series at the Best Buy Theater are $55 plus tax and are General Admission. Attendees must be 21 and over unless accompanied by an adult. Tickets are on sale next week at the Best Buy Box Office, AXS.com, or by calling (888) 9-AXS-TIX or (888) 929-7849, for more information please visit CMASongwritersSeries.com.

Rucker won the CMA Award for New Artist of the Year in 2009 and has collected three other CMA Awards nominations including Male Vocalist of the Year (2009), Musical Event of the Year with Lionel Richie for "Stuck on You" (2012), and Single of the Year for "Wagon Wheel" (2013).

The Capitol Nashville recording artist released his third Country album, "True Believers" on May 21, 2013. The album is his third consecutive album to top the Billboard Country albums chart and features the Platinum-certified, Grammy Award-winning, two-week No. 1 single "Wagon Wheel." Rucker's first two Country albums, "Learn To Live" and "Charleston, SC 1966" produced five No. 1 singles including "Come Back Song," "This," "Alright," "It Won't Be Like This For Long," and "Don't Think I Don't Think About It." Rucker achieved a personal goal and childhood dream when he was inducted into the Grand Ole Opry on Oct. 16, 2012. Rucker is currently headlining his "True Believers Tour." To learn more, visit dariusrucker.com.

In Nashville, members of CMA will be invited to a breakfast at the Association's corporate office to learn the nominees with the rest of the country via live stream at CMAawards.com.

"We are thrilled that Darius has agreed to bring these important and highly-anticipated announcements to the media capital of the world and still share the news live with our constituents in Nashville and around the globe via our CMAawards.com stream," said Sarah Trahern, CMA Chief Executive Officer.

The CMA Awards nominees and winners are determined by more than 7,000 professional members of CMA, which was the first trade organization formed to promote an individual genre of music in 1958. Winners of "The 48th Annual CMA Awards" will be determined in a final round of voting by eligible members of CMA. CMA Awards balloting is officiated by the international accounting firm of Deloitte & Touche LLP. The eligibility period for the 2014 CMA Awards is July 1, 2013 to June 30, 2014.

The second ballot will be emailed to CMA members on Tuesday, Aug. 12. Voting for the second ballot closes Friday, Aug. 22 (5:00 PM/CT). The third and final ballot will be emailed to CMA members on Thursday, Oct. 9. Voting for the CMA Awards final ballot ends Monday, Oct. 27 (5:00 PM/CT).

"The 47th Annual CMA Awards" on ABC (Nov. 6, 2013) dominated the night in Total Viewers and Adults 18-49 (16.8 million and 4.7/13), winning each half-hour and out delivering runner-up CBS by 7.4 million viewers and by 114 percent in Adults 18-49. In fact, with the broad-appealing Awards special the Network swept the evening, finishing No. 1 in Viewers, all key Adult demos (AD18-34/AD18-49/AD25-54) and Teens 12-17, and was the top broadcaster with Kids 2-11.

The 2013 CMA Awards was up by double digits from the previous year's telecast (Nov. 1, 2012), gaining 23 percent in Total Viewers and 24 percent in Adults 18-49. The CMA Awards drew its biggest audience in four years, representing its second-most-watched broadcast in eight years (since 2009 and 2005, respectively). In addition, the CMA Awards shot up 41 percent year-to-year with Men 18-34 (3.1/11 vs. 2.2/8) to a nine-year high since 2004 (source: The Nielsen Company).

Tickets for "The 48th Annual CMA Awards" go on sale to the public Saturday, Sept. 6 (10:00 AM/CT). Tickets can be purchased at ticketmaster.com; by calling (800) 745-3000; or in person at the Bridgestone Arena Box Office, located at 501 Broadway (corner of Fifth Avenue and Broadway, Nashville). CMA Awards information is available at CMAawards.com. Or follow the conversation on Twitter at #CMAawards.

"The 48th Annual CMA Awards" is a production of the Country Music Association. Robert Deaton is the Executive Producer and Paul Miller is the Director. The CMA Awards will be shot in high definition and broadcast in 720 Progressive (720P), ABC's selected HDTV format, with 5.1 channel surround sound.

About "Good Morning America": Emmy-award winning "Good Morning America" is a two-hour, live program anchored by Robin Roberts and George Stephanopoulos, and Lara Spencer. Amy Robach is the news anchor and Ginger Zee is the weather anchor. The morning news program airs Monday-Friday (7:00-9:00 AM/ET) on the ABC Television Network.

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