Kelsea Ballerini and Ashley McBryde weigh in on 2024 CMA Awards nods for Female Vocalist of the Year

Among the most exciting categories at this year's CMA Awards is Female Vocalist of the Year. Kelsea Ballerini, Lainey Wilson (CMA Awards co-host and two-time Female Vocalist of the Year winner), Kacey Musgraves (Female Vocalist of the Year winner in 2019), Ashley McBryde, and Megan Moroney (first-time Female Vocalist of the Year nominee) are the women nominated this year.

Someone looking to nab their first victory in the category? McBryde, who co-hosted the 2024 "CMA Fest" with fellow musician Jelly Roll. While speaking with On the Red Carpet, she offered up her secret weapon for the evening, "what we do right before the CMAs is we eat a certain type of chicken nugget. It went really well the first time we did it because we didn't have time to do something else. So, now that's what we do. It used to be mimosas and chicken nuggets and now it's mostly just orange juice and chicken nuggets."

McBryde's fellow nominee, Ballerini (seven-time Female Vocalist of the Year nominee!), also chatted with On the Red Carpet, sharing her excitement for country music's big night, "to me, the CMAs are the pinnacle of country music. They are the award show that's the crème de la crème. I'm honored to be nominated and I'm excited to see what happens on the show."

Another thing to be excited about? Making her acting debut! Ballerini starred on an episode of ABC's Doctor Odessey. "I was asked to play this role, and it was such an honor because I'm such a Ryan Murphy fan," she said while opening up to On the Red Carpet about the opportunity. She continued, "and this character that I play, she is doing her best and she is stressed out. And all I can tell you is that, quite literally, my entryway into acting was screaming and crying and throwing up for two weeks on set on camera. So, you're welcome everybody, sorry."

Don't miss country's biggest night. "The 58th Annual CMA Awards" begin at 8pm EST, Wednesday, November 20 on ABC and will be available to stream the next day on Hulu.

You can watch all the red carpet arrivals live from Nashville!

"On The Red Carpet at the CMA Awards" will be streaming live at 6pm ET/3pm PT on OnTheRedCarpet.com, CMAAwards.com and YouTube.com/@OnTheRedCarpet.

You can also stream it live on Hulu and on ABC News live on Disney+.

The Walt Disney Company is the parent company of ABC, Hulu, and this ABC station.