December 31 2016-January 7 2017 billboard.com

T H E 5 9 T H A N N U A L
G R A M M Y A W A R D S
Country
Artists who pushed the boundaries of the genre while remaining true to its tradition of frank, heartfelt storytelling dominate these categories
Clark performed
on Late Night With
Seth Meyers in June.
BEST COUNTRY ALBUM
Big Day in a Small Town
BRANDY CLARK
Label Warner Bros. Records
One of Nashville’s most in-demand singersongwriters
since 2010, Clark scored
some of her best reviews and her highest
chart placement — No. 8 on Top Country
Albums — since stepping up to the mic
with sophomore effort Big Day in a Small
Town. Built around the acerbic wit and
revealing wordplay that made her hits for
The Band Perry, Kacey Musgraves and
Miranda Lambert so razor-sharp, Clark
brings veteran swagger and hard-luck
history to frisky rockers such as “Broke”
and heartbreaking ballads like “Love Can
Go to Hell” in equal measure. The album
didn’t have a huge presence on radio, but
that likely comes as no surprise to Clark,
who warns fans herself on the LP’s lead
single, “Girl Next Door”: “If you want the
girl next door, then go next door.”
Full Circle
LORETTA LYNN
Label Legacy Recordings
Lynn’s first album in nearly 12 years is
a song cycle that closes the loop on her
venerated career. The 84-year-old living
legend opens the record telling the story of
the first song she ever wrote, “Whispering
Sea,” then launches into a gorgeous
rendition of the nearly 60-year-old tune.
Full Circle is full of indelible moments
like that. She mixes versions of childhood
favorites like “In the Pines” with originals
such as “Who’s Gonna Miss Me?” that
seem to anticipate the end of the line.
Don’t expect it to come anytime soon,
though: “When they lay me down six feet
under, they’ll say, ‘Loretta’s quit singing,’ ”
she told Billboard in 2015.
Hero
MAREN MORRIS
Label Columbia Nashville
Morris, who toiled behind the scenes as a
songwriter (and indie act) before signing
to Columbia in 2015, was more than ready
for her close-up in 2016. She scored her first
top five hit on Hot Country Songs with “My
Church” in March, and her major-label
debut, Hero, released in June, hit No. 5 on
the Billboard 200. The set’s combination of
self-effacing humor, hand-to-heart honesty
and big, old-fashioned pop hooks — “Rich”
even references Sean “Diddy” Combs and
borrows its strut from Steve Miller Band’s
“The Joker” — made Morris one of the year’s
breakout stars, culminating in a soul-stirring,
gospel-flavored performance of “My
Church” at the Country Music Association
(CMA) Awards in November.
A Sailor’s Guide to Earth
STURGILL SIMPSON
Label Atlantic
The veteran singer-songwriter’s majorlabel
debut expanded the horizons of the
genre to make room for The Dap-Kings
(whose brassy backing appears throughout
the album) and Nirvana (whose “In Bloom”
receives a surprisingly tender cover),
proving him one of country’s leading
innovators in the process. Thematically
structured as an open letter to Simpson’s
young son, A Sailor’s Guide to Earth sways
between moods and sounds as if passing
through rocky shoals, and ends with a firebreathing
“Call to Arms.” The album’s
music and message were powerful enough
to make it the 38-year-old Kentucky
native’s long-awaited commercial
breakthrough — it hit No. 3 on the Billboard
200 — as well as a surprise nominee for
album of the year.
Ripcord
KEITH URBAN
Label Capitol Records Nashville
Few contemporary artists have matched
Urban’s commercial consistency. In May,
Ripcord became the Australian artist’s fifth
No. 1 on Top Country Albums and another
fine example of the genre’s broadening
boundaries. Urban raised the disco glitter
ball with Nile Rodgers and Pitbull on
“Sun Don’t Let Me Down,” channeled a
Motown-meets-early-MTV sound — with
the help of Carrie Underwood — on “The
Fighter” and scored his highest charting
Hot 100 single in seven years when his
smoldering slow-dance special, “Blue
Ain’t Your Color,” went all the way to
No. 24 in December.
LLOYD BISHOP/NBC/NBCU PHOTO BANK/GETTY IMAGES
48 BILLBOARD | DECEMBER 31, 2016