.webp)
Before the CMA Spotlight: The Tennessee Hometowns Behind Eight 2026 Nominees
From Knoxville and Sneedville to Dickson, Cedar Grove and Shelbyville, these artists and creators bring Tennessee roots to country music’s biggest night.
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Before there were arena tours, hit records and CMA nominations, there were church pews in East Tennessee, a baseball diamond in Corryton, classrooms in Middle Tennessee and late-night gigs in the western part of the state.
The 2026 CMA Awards nominees include performers, songwriters, a producer and a music video director whose stories began in Tennessee. Their hometown connections stretch well beyond Nashville, even as Music City became the professional home base for many of them.
The 60th annual ceremony airs Wednesday, Nov. 18, from Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena, beginning at 7 p.m. Central on ABC and Disney+, with next-day streaming on Hulu. Here is a closer look at eight nominees with documented Tennessee roots.
Emily Ann Roberts
For first-time New Artist of the Year nominee Emily Ann Roberts, East Tennessee is woven into her sound.
Roberts grew up in Karns, the Knox County community outside Knoxville, and graduated from Karns High School. Before national audiences discovered her on season nine of “The Voice,” where she finished as runner-up on Blake Shelton’s team, she was performing locally. Her official biography describes Friday-night restaurant gigs paid in tips and a meal.
Her musical education also happened at home. Appalachian music, bluegrass and country helped shape the voice she would bring to Nashville’s writing rooms and stages.
One of her strongest Knoxville ties is West Lonsdale Baptist Church. In an interview about “The Building,” Roberts said her great-grandfather had served as its pastor and her parents met there as children at vacation Bible school. The church became the subject of the song, connecting her recording career to generations of family history.
Roberts has built her career in Nashville, signing with RECORDS/Sony Music Nashville in 2025.
She has also returned home to give back, including a 2024 visit to East Tennessee Children’s Hospital with gifts and music for patients.
Morgan Wallen
Morgan Wallen’s Tennessee story starts in Sneedville, the Hancock County town where he grew up with a father who was a church pastor and a mother who worked as a teacher.
His family later moved to the Knoxville area, and Wallen attended Gibbs High School in Corryton, graduating in 2011. Baseball was a major part of his teenage life: his foundation describes him as a standout shortstop and pitcher.
His connection to Gibbs has continued long after graduation. The school’s baseball field was named in his honor in 2025. In April 2026, his foundation shared reporting on a proposed $1.2 million donation toward upgrading the athletic space; that report described the project as subject to county approval.
Gibbs High School is also where famous country star, Kenny Chesney attended in the 1980s.
After competing on “The Voice,” Wallen moved to Nashville to pursue music. This year, he has two Musical Event of the Year nominations: “I Can’t Love You Anymore” with Ella Langley and “McArthur” with HARDY, Eric Church and Tim McGraw.
Hillary Scott
Lady A’s Hillary Scott is a Nashville native whose introduction to the music business began at home.
Her mother is country singer Linda Davis, and her father is musician Lang Scott. Family harmonies and church music helped lay the foundation for her career before Lady A brought her voice to audiences around the world.
Scott graduated from Donelson Christian Academy in 2004 and later studied at Middle Tennessee State University in Murfreesboro. MTSU identifies her among its former recording industry students and maintains a scholarship in her name.
Her professional base remains Nashville, where Lady A formed in 2006. Scott, Charles Kelley and Dave Haywood are nominated together for Vocal Group of the Year. The nomination belongs to the trio, rather than to Scott individually.
Jessie Jo Dillon
Jessie Jo Dillon grew up around Nashville’s songwriting world, but initially considered taking a different path.
The daughter of songwriter Dean Dillon, she wrote privately as a teenager and has credited a supportive high school English teacher with encouraging her work. She later spent a year in Los Angeles, considering journalism before a publisher encouraged her to return to Nashville and pursue country songwriting.
That return helped launch a career that now includes songs recorded by Morgan Wallen, Jelly Roll, Old Dominion and Dan + Shay.
Her Nashville upbringing gave her an early view of the industry, but she has described feeling
protective of the city’s collaborative songwriting culture as it grows.
Dillon remains a leading figure in Nashville’s music community. Her 2026 CMA nomination is for co-writing “Beautiful Things.” The school she attended was not identified in the interviews reviewed for this story.
Jessi Alexander
Born in Jackson, Jessi Alexander has carried West Tennessee into a songwriting career based in Nashville.
She attended Middle Tennessee State University, where university reporting identifies her as a music business major. Her career eventually included songs recorded by Miley Cyrus, Blake Shelton, Lee Brice and other major artists.
A major notable song under her name is Miley Cyrus's The Climb from the Hannah Montana Movie.
Her Tennessee connections are especially visible in Decatur County Red, her 2020 album inspired by a Tennessee River cabin in Decatur County that her grandmother left to her. The property became a creative touchstone for a collection rooted in family, place and personal experience.
Alexander’s songwriting also connects her to two other Tennessee natives on this year’s ballot.
She, Jessie Jo Dillon and Connie Harrington share a Song of the Year nomination with Megan Moroney for co-writing “Beautiful Things.”
Connie Harrington
Connie Harrington grew up in Dickson and moved to Nashville after high school to attend Belmont University, earning a degree in music business.
Her route into full-time songwriting included concert promotion and work as an art director at Benson Records. According to her publishing company’s biography, winning the grand prize in a Billboard songwriting contest helped her move toward writing professionally.
Harrington’s catalog includes “I Drive Your Truck,” “Mine Would Be You” and “Where I Find God.” Her work spans country, pop, Christian, gospel and bluegrass music.
Her professional life is centered in Nashville; her publishing biography lists Brentwood as her home.
This year, she joins Alexander, Dillon and Moroney on the Song of the Year ballot for “Beautiful Things.”
Jonathan Singleton
Jonathan Singleton is frequently introduced as being from Jackson, but he has offered a more specific account of his upbringing.
In a Raised Rowdy interview, Singleton said he lived in Cedar Grove and attended Lexington High School. He explained that Jackson often served as the more recognizable regional reference. Cedar Grove also supplied the name for his band, Jonathan Singleton & the Grove.
Before he understood that songwriting could be a career, Singleton was playing regular gigs and working at a music retail store where he taught lessons. Nashville eventually became his professional base, with a career encompassing writing, recording and music publishing.
He is a co-owner of 50 Egg Music alongside Luke Combs and publishing executive Tali Canterbury.
His 2026 CMA nomination recognizes his role as a co-producer of Combs’ The Way I Am, an Album of the Year contender.
Dustin Haney
Dustin Haney’s path from Shelbyville to country music videos began with production assistant jobs and saving for his first camera and computer.
In a Tennessee Highlighter interview, Haney described growing up in Shelbyville and financing early equipment purchases through production work and cutting grass. A major break came when Ronnie Dunn offered him work as a touring photographer, introducing him to more artists and industry contacts.
Haney eventually moved his focus toward directing. He has described small-town narratives as central to his music video style, with an emphasis on telling stories from an insider’s perspective. His professional profile lists homeschooling as his educational background.
Working within Nashville’s music and film community, Haney is nominated for Music Video of the Year for directing Cody Johnson’s “The Fall.” His recognition adds a filmmaker’s Tennessee upbringing to a ballot often discussed primarily through its recording artists.
For Tennessee viewers, the November ceremony offers more than a chance to watch famous faces collect trophies. It also puts the work of people shaped by the state’s schools, churches, small towns and music communities on a national stage.
He is currently nominated for Video of The Year as the director behind "The Fall" by Cody Johnson.
Comments