The Grammy Award nominations are out and overall we like the country music noms. Taylor Swift leads with 8 (3 of them in the country category), Keith Urban received 4 and George Strait, Lee Ann Womack, Willie Nelson, and Zac Brown Band got 3.

Here are the nominees in the country categories (* and our comments):

Best Female Country Vocal Performance
(For a solo vocal performance. Singles or Tracks only.)
Dead Flowers
Miranda Lambert
[Columbia Records]

I Just Call You Mine
Martina McBride
Track from: Shine
[RCA Records]

White Horse
Taylor Swift
Track from: Fearless
[Big Machine Records]

Just A Dream
Carrie Underwood
Track from: Carnival Ride
[Arista Nashville]

Solitary Thinkin'
Lee Ann Womack
Track from: Call Me Crazy
[MCA Nashville]

* Aside from the, for us, questionable inclusion of Taylor Swift in a vocal category, we'd be happy with any of the other ladies picking this one up. All great singers and great performances!


Best Male Country Vocal Performance
(For a solo vocal performance. Singles or Tracks only.)
All I Ask For Anymore
Trace Adkins
Track from: X (Ten)
[Capitol Records Nashville]

People Are Crazy
Billy Currington
Track from: Little Bit Of Everything
[Mercury Records]

High Cost Of Living
Jamey Johnson
Track from: That Lonesome Song
[Mercury Records]

Living For The Night
George Strait
Track from: Twang
[MCA Nashville]

Sweet Thing
Keith Urban
Track from: Defying Gravity
[Capitol Records Nashville]

* As much as we'd like to see Keith Urban pick up more Grammy Awards, we do think he laid down better vocals than on 'Sweet Thing' so we won't make a fuss if this one goes to Jamey Johnson or Trace Adkins.


Best Country Performance By A Duo Or Group With Vocals
(For established duos or groups with vocals. Singles or Tracks only.)
Cowgirls Don't Cry
Brooks & Dunn
Track from: Cowboy Town
[Arista Nashville]

Chicken Fried
Zac Brown Band
Track from: The Foundation
[Home Grown/Big Picture/Atlantic]

I Run To You
Lady Antebellum
Track from: Lady Antebellum
[Capitol Records Nashville]

Here Comes Goodbye
Rascal Flatts
Track from: Unstoppable
[Lyric Street Records]

It Happens
Sugarland
Track from: Love On The Inside
[Mercury Records]

* Our favourites here: Brooks & Dunn, Zac Brown Band and Sugarland


Best Country Collaboration With Vocals
(For a collaborative performance, with vocals, by artists who do not normally perform together. Singles or Tracks only.)
Beautiful World
Dierks Bentley & Patty Griffin
Track from: Feel That Fire
[Capitol Records Nashville]

Down The Road
Kenny Chesney & Mac McAnally
Track from: Lucky Old Sun
[BNA Records Label]

Start A Band
Brad Paisley & Keith Urban
Track from: Play
[Arista Nashville]

I Told You So
Carrie Underwood & Randy Travis
[19/Arista Nashville]

Everything But Quits
Lee Ann Womack & George Strait
Track from: Call Me Crazy
[MCA Nashville]

* We realise the Paisley/Urban track might be seen as the favourite but we're kind of hoping for a Bentley/Griffin win here... 'Beautiful World' is an exceptional song, both performers did a wonderful job and it'd be great to see this get massive recognition.


Best Country Instrumental Performance
(For solo, duo, group or collaborative performances, without vocals. Singles or Tracks only.)
Under The (Five) Wire
Alison Brown
Track from: The Company You Keep
[Compass Records]

The Crystal Merchant
The Greencards
Track from: Fascination
[Sugar Hill Records]

Mansinneedof
Sarah Jarosz
Track from: Song Up In Her Head
[Sugar Hill Records]

Producer's Medley
Steve Wariner
Track from: Steve Wariner c.g.p. My Tribute To Chet Atkins
[SelecTone Records]

* Slight perference for The Greencards over Steve Wariner here.


Best Country Song
(A Songwriter(s) Award. For Song Eligibility Guidelines see Category #3. (Artist names appear in parentheses.) Singles or Tracks only.)
All I Ask For Anymore
Casey Beathard & Tim James, songwriters (Trace Adkins)
Track from: X (Ten)
[Capitol Records Nashville; Publishers: Sony/ATV Acuff Rose Music/Warner-Tamerlane Publishing, T-Bird's Music.]

High Cost Of Living
Jamey Johnson & James Slater, songwriters (Jamey Johnson)
Track from: That Lonesome Song
[Mercury Records; Publishers: EMI Blackwood Music/Big Gassed Hitties, Hope-N-Cal Music/Pick Them Maters Music/Diversion Music.]

I Run To You
Tom Douglas, Dave Haywood, Charles Kelley & Hillary Scott, songwriters (Lady Antebellum)
Track from: Lady Antebellum
[Capitol Records Nashville; Publishers: Warner-Tamerlane Publishing/DWHaywood Music/Radiobulletspublishing/Hillary Dawn Publishing/Shaw Enuff Songs/Sony/ATV Music Publishing/Tomdouglasmusic.]

People Are Crazy
Bobby Braddock & Troy Jones, songwriters (Billy Currington)
Track from: Little Bit Of Everything
[Mercury Records; Publishers: Sony/ATV Music Publishing, Tiltawhirl Music/Crozier Music Enterprise.]

White Horse
Liz Rose & Taylor Swift, songwriters (Taylor Swift)
Track from: Fearless
[Big Machine Records; Publishers: Sony/ATV Tree Publishing, Taylor Swift Music/Sony/ATV Timber Publishing, Hillsboro Valley Songs.]

* Some of us are on the 'People Are Crazy' bandwagon, others dislike the questionable moral of the story... Aside from that, any of these songs could win and we'd be ok with it, with 'I Run to You' maybe being a slightly weaker track. 'White Horse', 'All I Ask for Anymore' and 'High Cost of Living' are all great pieces of writing.


Best Country Album
(Vocal or Instrumental.)
The Foundation
Zac Brown Band
[Home Grown/Big Picture/Atlantic]

Twang
George Strait
[MCA Nashville]

Fearless
Taylor Swift
[Big Machine Records]

Defying Gravity
Keith Urban
[Capitol Records Nashville]

Call Me Crazy
Lee Ann Womack
[MCA Nashville]

* 'Fearless' belongs in the Pop category, 'Defying Gravity' would not be too out of place there either, so we're rooting for Zac Brown Band's 'The Foundation'.


In addition, Taylor Swift also has noms in the general categories Album of the Year, Song of the Year and Record of the Year, the first for 'Fearless', the others for 'You Belong with Me'.

One of the good things about the Grammy's is they sometimes place songs in their proper category. And so, Brad Paisley's 'Playing with Fire' got a nod in the Best Rock Instrumental Performance category, and Taylor Swift's 'You Belong with Me' is rightly placed in the Female Pop Vocal Performance category. Though we still question the logic of giving her a vocal nomination of any kind.

Zac Brown Band received a nomination in the Best New Artist category, Willie Nelson's 'American Classic' is up for Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album, and Tracy Lawrence's 'The Rock' is a contender for Best Southern, Country or Bluegrass Gospel Album.

Finally, Keith Urban and Johnny Cash both received nominations in the Best Long Form Music Video category, for 'Love, Pain & the Whole Crazy World Tour Live' DVD and 'Johnny Cash's America' respectively.

The Grammy Awards will be handed out on January 31, 2010, at Staples Center in Los Angeles. You can catch the live broadcast on CBS from 8.00pm - 11.30pm (ET/PT)

You can read the full list of nominees here.

What do you think of this year's nominees?

Country's 2010 Grammy Awards Nominations