2017 CMT Music Awards: The Grey Carpet

CMTWednesday evening on the not-so-red carpet, Chris Lane echoed the sentiments of many who’ve come before him: the CMT Music Awards are not your mama’s awards show!

“The whole show, the whole vibe of the show is just a big party… It’s just a good time, there’s no doubt about it.”

The “Fix” hitmaker admitted he was feeling a little bit anxious before heading inside Nashville’s Music City Center.

“It’s my first award performance ever. I’m not gonna lie, I’m very nervous,” Chris confessed. “I mean, I’m just going to get up there and do my thing as I normally would. Because I don’t get nervous when I take the stage, but I think where the nerves are, is knowing there’s gonna be other artists in the room watching.”

After attending the CMT Awards for many years before they had major success, the guys in LOCASH were feeling accomplished, knowing they’d be right in the middle of the movers and shakers.

“It kinda takes the edge off a little bit and makes us feel accepted,” Preston Brust said of the duo’s first nomination this year.

His partner Chris Lucas added, “It’s great we get to sit, you know, where we feel like ten years ago we dreamed about sitting with all the artists, and being a [respected] artist in Nashville, and here we are.”

You couldn’t blame newcomer Luke Combs if he was feeling pretty comfortable too, coming off a two-week #1 with “Hurricane” and his first CMT nod.  Sporting a vintage Brooks & Dunn and Reba McEntire tour T-shirt, the North Carolina native was already winning in the fashion department.

“I met Brooks & Dunn on Monday night,” Luke explained. “I had already picked this out, before that, by the way. This is not pandering in any way. I’m a huge Brooks & Dunn fan.”

“But I think I’m gonna get to meet Reba tonight, because of this shirt,” he went on. “I ran into her manager. He’s like ‘You’ve got to get a picture with Reba.’ And I’m like, ‘We can set that up. I can find time for that, I think.’ So it ended up being a great choice.”

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