Excepting current Entertainer of the Year Luke Combs, this year’s nominees have never won country’s most coveted award. Miranda Lambert, first nominated in 2010, and Carrie Underwood and Chris Stapleton, both first nominated in 2016, have six, five and six nods, respectively. Morgan Wallen, 2021 Album of the Year nominee for Dangerous, is a first-time nominee.

Do 2022’s overall nominees signal an industry looking for a new wave? Prior winners Kenny Chesney, with a massive 21-stadium tour, host Luke Bryan, arena-packing Eric Church, Blake Shelton, as well as multiple Academy of Country Music EOTY Jason Aldean are largely absent.

For Combs, who played a handful of stadiums this year and announced 16 more before 2022’s end, the build-up continues. His Growin’ Up, which delivered anthems “Doin’ It” and “The Kind of Love We Make,” is also nominated for Album of the Year, which he won in 2020 for his double-platinum debut, What You See Is What You Get. Combs, who emerged without a major label via “Hurricane,” has always played to the fans, while championing songwriters and artists who’ve shared his outlier point of view. Nine writers had their first #1 hits via What You See. Empowering others means something here—as does refunding an entire audience’s ticket fees when you have vocal trouble, as Combs did, despite having played for an hour because the fans were there.

For Lambert, with six EOTY nominations and the most nominated artist in CMA history, the last 18 months have seen the most experimental and genre-minded work of an already impressive career. The seven-time Female Vocalist and two-time Album of the Year winner not only made the stripped-to-basics Marfa Tapes with Jon Randall and Texas icon Jack Ingram and a Pistol Annies’ Christmas project but also delivered Palomino, arguably country’s most adventurous album this year.

She took friends Little Big Town and Cadillac 3 out on an extended summer tour; more impressively, she was the first major country artist to perform indoors post-lockdown with a four-night stand at Billy Bob’s. She opens her Midnight Rodeo Vegas residency this fall.

As someone who has managed a fierce independence, recorded songs with an edge and represented the women the genre actually speaks to, Lambert has built her career on connection. She may be recognized for the entirety of that career.

For Stapleton, who took everything but EOTY last year, his sixth nomination in a row demonstrates Nashville’s respect for his artistry, willingness to give back and Willie Nelson-like way of quietly following his own path. He won 2021’s Album of the Year for Starting Over; that set’s soul-stirring “You Should Probably Leave” picks up Song and Single nods, while the reigning/five-time Male Vocalist also lands a Video nomination for Taylor Swift’s “I Bet You Think About Me (Taylor’s Version).”

Having written hits and sung demos for everyone in Nashville, the former bluegrass Steeldriver remains a bellwether of integrity. His tours, which quietly sell out, often merge with Nelson’s. And when his home state of Kentucky needs help, he’s the first to pitch in and build houses, make donations and create benefit concerts to lift spirits and raise money.

Carrie Underwood, the vocal flamethrower who’s largely eschewed doing press, has been a force for women and mainstream music lovers since she won American Idol as a fresh-faced kid. The longest-running hostess of The CMA Awards has experienced considerable growth since her arrival at UMG: co-producing her albums, writing many of her songs and embarking on high-intensity tours. Those shows are a place a place where Christian- values families, people of color and LGBTQ fans come together in joyous celebration of being alive, being in love and standing up for yourself. Though she jokes about “being Barbie,” Underwood has not been afraid to tackle domestic abuse, alcoholism or intolerance in her songs.

Never one to campaign, she has a clothing line, NFL theme song, Vegas residency and presence in the rock world (she’s traded vocal licks with Aerosmith’s Steven Tyler and Guns N Roses’ Axl Rose during high-profile appearances). Morgan Wallen has dominated country in a way unseen since Billy Ray Cyrus’ “Achy Breaky Heart” and Lil Nas-X collab “Old Town Road.” After Wallen’s 18 months as a political lightning rod, this nomination may suggest industry forgiveness; it absolutely recognizes the monster footprint of Dangerous. Also, his arena tour and festivals plays have been huge successes; his presence on Ernest and HARDY’s in-genre records elevated his Big Loud mates; and his high-profile collabs with Diplo and Julia Michaels and Lil Durk expanded his presence beyond country.

Some may consider him a dark horse, but there are whisperers whispering that Wallen could go all the way.