43rd Annual CMA Awards Show Recap

On Wednesday, November 11th, 2009, Music City held the 43rd annual CMA Awards Show. For the first time ever, and to our excitement, we were eligible to take part in the day's events.

The day began at 7am with a series of on-air radio interviews with stations from all over the country. Our man Keith Stubbs from 101.5 The Eagle in Salt Lake city did our first interview of the day from the CMT studios in downtown Nashville. It was so great to see Keith here on our turf, and yet be broadcasting back to Salt Lake to some of our biggest and best fans. We ended up doing well over a dozen interviews, or 'remotes' as they call them, before the morning was through.
On our way out the door, we had the privilege of dropping by the notorious Gift Room! Inside, we filled our shopping bags with a loot consisting of boutique jewelry, designer boots, spa packages, perfumes, skin products...the works! We were ecstatic! It was also good to be hanging there once again with fellow country music artists such as Clay Walker, Chad Brock, Danielle Peck and Trent Tomlinson.

After the radio remotes, we headed back over to Music Row to relax for a bit and get ready for the Red Carpet. With the help of Cardin & Brooke we headed out looking spiffy! Our good buddy Scott Ford was our chauffeur in his pimped out Toyota truck. He drove us down to the Sommet where the red carpet fans awaited in their multitudes. It was an extra special treat to get out of the truck and actually hear people yelling "Due West!" That felt really good!

The first order of business on the Red Carpet was to sign the 2009 CMA Chevy Camaro. After that, the first few press stops took us a second to get into the groove, and figure out what the heck was going on. By the third or fourth stop, we were smiling, posing, and acting like we'd done this before! :)

It was a blast to be able to answer pretty much the same questions about our song, video and our careers up to this point at each stop. We got into a pretty smooth rhythm. By the end of the Red Carpet, we'd become pros (in our own minds) which worked out great, because that is when we went LIVE on News Channel 5! The minute they informed us of the coveted opportunity to go live, we sent out a frenzy of tweets and text messages to our friends, families and followers. What a rush!

Next it was on to the pre-tel party and dinner where some fancy unrecognizable finger foods were devoured - we were starving! It's a lot of work walking from the curb in to the Sommet. :)

Soon the lights dimmed on and off, notifying us that it was time to take our seats. We made our way through the endless maze of tunnels and elevators into the bowels of the Sommet, daylighting out onto the carpeted, covered Predator ice. We could still feel the chill of the ice through the bottoms of ours boots.

We were a little embarrassed to be walking past some of our fellow songwriter/music industry friends ("Where are you guys going?") as we made our way to our seats, which were almost literally on the stage! ...second row! Upon sitting down, we quickly became acquainted with our neighbors (Due West style - you know how we do it!): Little Jimmy Dickens, Love & Theft, Eric Church, Whisperin' Bill Anderson, and two of The Statler Brothers. It was a surreal moment.

The show was great, the sound was amazing, King George was within arms reach... it couldn't have gotten any better... except for maybe if we were actually in the show. ;)

All in all it was a great day and an amazing end to an incredibly fulfilling year. We feel so blessed. We can only imagine what the scene will be at next year's CMA Awards week!

...stay tuned.