Miranda Lambert and Shania Twain are two stars anchoring a new ACM Awards campaign called “What Country Music Means to Me.” The official pre-show campaign leading up to the awards show in May, “What Country Music Means to Me” features some of the genre’s biggest artists and most outside-the-box stars as they share their definition of country music.
“Country music is part of a lifestyle,” Twain explains in the first shot of the video, which is set to the opening bars of her new song, “Giddy Up!” “… Country music was always this huge influence on how I write very statement lyrics.”
“Country music makes me happy. It’s just my roots,” Lambert adds. “It’s what I loved the most about the music I grew up on and that’s why I love making that kind of music.”
Also offering up their thoughts on the country genre are fast-rising new stars Lainey Wilson, Ingrid Andress and Breland, plus some stars who fall outside the country mainstream: Orville Peck, Joy Oladokun and Trixie Mattel are also featured. Influencer Enola Bedard, comedian and singer Brittani Broski and baseball outfielder Mookie Betts also make appearances in the clip.
As artists and fans from every corner of the genre come together over their love of country music, the campaign makes clear that there’s no one way to define it: Rather, a broad amalgamation of perspectives and experiences are what make the country genre what it is.
The campaign is all part of the build-up to the 2023 ACM Awards, which will take place on May 11, 2023 in Frisco, Texas at the Ford Center — the home of the Dallas Cowboys. or the second year running, the show will stream exclusively on Amazon Prime Video. 2022 marked the first year the ACM Awards moved to the streaming service, becoming the first major awards show to adopt a streaming-only format.
Dolly Parton and Garth Brooks will be hosting this year’s ACM Awards. It’s the second consecutive year that Parton will be co-hosting the awards show, and Brooks’ first time co-hosting the ACMs — or, for that matter, any major country music awards show.
2022 ACM Red Carpet Pictures
Country stars brought glitz, glamor and drama to the red carpet ahead of the 2022 ACM Awards