The old guard had its moment at Wednesday night’s CMA Awards in Nashville, with George Strait taking the top prize, Entertainer of the Year, over Taylor Swift, Luke Bryan, Jason Aldean and Blake Shelton, while Kenny Rogers received the Willie Nelson Lifetime Achievement award.

Likewise, Shelton and his better half, Miranda Lambert, got another pair of matching trophies for Male and Female Vocalist—for the fourth year in a row. And Shelton, whose career has been fast-tracked by continuous prime-time exposure on The Voice, also took Album of the Year honors for Based on a True Story, which he said was the one award he’d "always dreamed of having."

But in this era of real-time measurement and immediate gratification, the night’s biggest winners were a pair of relative newcomers: Kacey Musgraves, the critically hailed and commercially promising 25-year-old New Artist winner, and crossover princes Florida Georgia Line, who doubled up with Single of the Year for "Cruise" and Vocal Duo of the Year.

While it isn’t surprising to see FLG’s Here’s to the Good Times back in the iTunes Top 10 this morning at #9. nobody expected Musgraves’ remarkably accomplished and engaging debut, Same Trailer Different Park, to immediately rocket to #3 on the same chart, below only Eminem and—whoa—fellow rookies Pentatonix.

And lest we forget, Taylor Swift, who was bestowed the CMAs’ highest honor, the Pinnacle Award (Garth Brooks is the only previous recipient), is even younger than Musgraves—she doesn’t turn 24 till 12/13.

If new talent is indeed the lifeblood of the industry, the latest transfusion is now well underway.

The Winners:
Musical Event of the Year: "Highway Don't Care," Tim McGraw (with Taylor Swift and Keith Urban)
Music Video of the Year: "Highway Don't Care"
Single of the Year: "Cruise," Florida Georgia Line
Vocal Duo of the Year: Florida Georgia Line
Musician of the Year: Mac McAnally
New Artist of the Year: Kacey Musgraves
Album of the Year: Blake Shelton, Based on a True Story
Vocal Group of the Year: Little Big Town
Female Vocalist of the Year: Miranda Lambert
Male Vocalist of the Year: Blake Shelton
Entertainer of the Year: George Strait