Artists leading all nominees this year are Luke Bryan with seven, and Lady Antebellum tying for second with Zac Brown Band with six nominations each. Eric Church and Taylor Swift both have five nominations each. Check out the full list of nominees below and let us know who you’ll be voting for. Fans can vote at theacas.com for their favorite artists, and make sure to tune in December 10th to see who wins!

Performers and presenters will be announced shortly, so stay tuned for that announcement too!

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Have you gotten your copy of his new album yet?

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To add the mustache overlay to your picture, visit Kix’s facebook page here, and click the blue “post a reply” button. Follow the steps and you can see what you’d look like as a former half of Brooks & Dunn.

Kix’s “New To This Town” is available everywhere right now, including both digital and physical music retailers. Have you gotten your copy yet? What’s your favorite tracks?

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The ride begins at the Harley-Davidson of Columbia (1616 Harley Davidson Blvd., Columbia, TN) for a scenic hour-long motorcycle ride ending at downtown Nashville’s Riverfront Park where the ACM Lifting Lives Stage will hold the all-star concert.

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Check out and hear the story from Kix himself and make sure to stop by amazon where the album is currently streaming. Make sure to pick up your copy of Kix’ “New to This Town” on September 11th – it should be one of the best albums released this year. You can preview the album right now in its entirety on amazon.com/kixbrooks, so watch the exclusive cut-by-cut below and make sure to pre-order your copy today!

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Kix’s album will hit stores on Tuesday, September 11th. It’s available for pre-order right now on kixbrooks.com.

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“I made an album that really is close to my heart, and it’s a whole lot of fun,” shares Kix. “For the most part, the music’s just…it’s kind of fun and games and hangin’ it out there and thinkin’ about gettin’ back in a lot of those clubs and festivals and gettin’ to play again. It’s like, you know, people come to enjoy themselves, and I think this album in a lot of ways is about that.”

Check out the full track listing for “New To This Town” below: 1. New To This Town (Featuring Joe Walsh)

2. Moonshine Road

3. Bring It On Home

4. There’s The Sun

5. Complete 360

6. My Baby

7. Tattoo

8. In The Right Place

9. Next To That Woman

10. Let’s Do This Thing

11. Closin’ Time At Home

12. She Knew I Was A Cowboy

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The Summer OilPatch Festival is an annual day-long concert and lifestyle event that has grown into one of the state’s largest and most diverse Independence Day Events. The event will also include special guest star, Country singer/songwriter Shawna Russell (whose latest single “Sounds Like A Party” has been chosen as the official theme song of this year’s show), along with LiveWire, the Flat River Band, Bo Phillips and the Red Dirt Rangers.

In addition to the music, the festival is one of Oklahoma’s most unique entertainment experiences. It includes a special children’s fair area, classic cars and motorcycles, and a variety of entertainers including clowns, stilt walkers, skydivers and jugglers. There will also be helicopter landings and a huge fireworks display. The show is co-sponsored by Keystone Gas Corporation, Pacer Energy Marketing and Budweiser.

Since 2008, Rick Sellers, President of Keystone Gas Corporation, co-sponsor and organizer of the event, has booked nationally recognized recording artists to headline the event, including Pop/Country icon, B.J. Thomas, Classic Rockers, Head East and award-winning Country vocal band, Ricochet. With Brooks being added to this year’s lineup, the attendance at the 2012 Summer OilPatch Festival is expected to skyrocket up from previous years.

For more information about the Summer OilPatch Festival, ‘like’ them on Facebook.

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“New To This Town” is catchy, slightly melancholic tale about trying to move on after a break-up but constantly running into your ex and mutual acquaintances.

More than that, though, it’s about living in a small, everybody-knows-everybody town. Right from the opening chords, this song evokes small-town life. You get a sense that nothing much changes, even as life moves on. From the singer’s familiarity with diner waitress Becky to the corner bar where someone always asks “how you are, and how you’re doing, and how you’ve been, and I’ve gotta go through it all again”, Brooks tells a story familiar to anyone who’s lived there. For a man trying to move on, it’s impossible to get away from that past.

The star also presents the song as a metaphor for his career. As he tells The Boot, “I liked the idea of ‘I wished I was new to this town’ because it’s sort of a metaphor when you’ve been here for so long and you’re trying to start over.” Whether it’s country music fame or the kind of small-town fame that Miranda Lambert sings about, it can be hard to get a clean slate with so much history.

Brooks goes on, “I thought, ‘That is me in a way, because there’s no way that I can, at this point in my career, pull some kind of cloak and dagger unless I change my name and go have some major plastic surgery or something.’ It’s me and people know me … I’ve been blessed with a great career. So hopefully I’ll get a fresh start.”

That shouldn’t be a problem for the 14-time CMA Vocal Duo of the Year award winner. Yes, there’s a lot of history to contend with, as part of one of the most celebrated country music acts ever. But it’s a new sound without Ronnie Dunn, and Kix Brooks sounds great on his own.

Brooks co-wrote the song with Nashville regular Marv Green and longtime collaborator Terry McBride (who also contributed to Ronnie Dunn’s debut solo album). Eagles legend Joe Walsh also added a few signature guitar riffs at the last minute, which really give the song some extra flair through the bridge and on the outro. Country music fans will be immediately comfortable listening to Kix Brooks’ vocals, while Walsh’s admittedly limited guitar work will have you listening over and over.

“New To This Town” is, if not a completely fresh start, a fitting rebirth for one of country music’s all-time greatest stars. Keep an ear out for more from his first solo album in two decades.

RATING: 8/10

“New To This Town” is out at radio now.

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The station joins us here and Keepin’ it Country and Ronnie in wishing Kix a speedy recovery.

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