Cam Shelton Takes Home the Win

The Arkansas Country Music Awards were held Monday, June 1 at the Reynolds Performance Hall in Conway. It was a sold out crowd, to honor Arkansas’ Country Music. We had two locals to Arkansas County in the running. Anna Brinker was nominated for Inspirational Recording of the Year for her song “Give it to Jesus” and Cam Shelton was nominated for Best Acoustic Act of the Year. Shelton won his award. This isn’t the first time Shelton has won at the ACMA’s. Back in 2018, he was named Best Young Artist of the Year. Shelton left Tuesday for a summer tour, starting off in Nashville. Shelton said he was excited for the win and a little surprised, but happy that he won. Shelton is dropping a song a month on all the streaming platforms. You can find his music at Cam Shelton Music on all the streaming platforms.

Brinker has been nominated almost every year. In 2020 she won with Adam Cunningham for Vocal Duo of the year and in 2024 won for Song of the Year,  "Walk of Honor" was written by Pamela Hopkins, Anna Brinker and Lonnie Abbott. It was performed by Pamela Hopkins. 

ENTERTAINER of the Year-Cliff & Susan; AMERICANA ARTIST of the Year-Jesse Welles; BLUEGRASS ARTIST of the Year-Sylamore Special; COUNTRY ARTIST of the Year-David Adam Byrnes; FEMALE VOCALIST of the Year-Kelsey Lamb; MALE VOCALIST of the Year-Tyler Kinch; VOCAL DUO / GROUP of the Year-Cliff & Susan; ACOUSTIC ACT of the Year-Cam Shelton; MUSIC COLLABORATION of the Year-"Sunday Supper"  by Waylon Wyatt & Bayker Blakenship, Produced by Brett Truitt; YOUNG ARTIST of the Year-Presley Shipp; ALBUM of the Year-“Til the Sun Goes Down” by Waylon Wyatt. Produced by Waylon Wyatt and Tommy Trautwein; SONG of the Year-"Dancing with a Cowboy"  Written by Darren Barry.  Performed by Tyler Kinch. SONGWRITER of the Year-Lance Carpenter; MUSIC PRODUCER of the Year-Jeremy Huddleston; SOUND ENGINEER of the Year-Jeremy Huddleston; PROMOTER of the Year-Rickey Crawford; VIDEO of the Year-"All American" by Lance Carpenter.  Directed by Steve Batres; INSPIRATIONAL RECORDING of the Year-“I’m Going Up” by Boone & Company featuring Jake Stogdill, Sam Cobb, Gary Cook, Roger Adams, Robbie Boone and Andrew Thompson.  Produced by Jake Stogdill; RADIO STATION of the Year-KDXY,  "The Fox 104.9,"  Jonesboro; RADIO DJ of the Year-Jess Jennings, KSSN, Little Rock; PUBLICATION / BLOG / PODCAST of the Year-AY Magazine; VENUE of the Year-The Collins Theatre (Paragould); BASS PLAYER of the Year-Garrett Jones; DRUMMER of the Year-Quinn Hill; FIDDLE PLAYER of the Year-Jenee Fleenor; GUITAR PLAYER of the Year-Randall George; SPECIALTY / UTILITY MUSICIAN of the Year-Josh Matheny; ARKANSAS COUNTRY MUSIC HALL OF FAME inductees-The Whites, Allen Reynolds and Jimmy Doyle & Patsy Gayle; ARKANSAS HONORS ARKANSAS-Ted Mullenix. 

A big surprise was when Garth Brooks walked out on stage to present one of the Hall of Fame inductees, Allen Reynolds, with his award. He gave a little speech about his relationship with Reynolds, presented the award and then headed out. It was definitely a well-kept secret that Brooks would be there. Crystal Gayle and Ricky Skaggs were also in attendance and performed. 

The Arkansas Country Music Awards are held the first Monday of June, each year and can be found at arkansasmusic.org.