Your Daily Briefing: Country's legends, new superstars shine at ACM awards

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Good morning! This is country music reporter Marcus K. Dowling, and welcome to your Daily Briefing.

Thursday evening's 58th Academy of Country Music Awards showcased three (of many) important concepts.

• Foremost, the latest chapter of Dolly Parton's six-decade musical career is driven by legitimate (and sometimes also hilarious) "rockstar" charisma.

• Incredible humility was shown by ACM Entertainer of the Year Chris Stapleton, ACM Single and Song of the Year vocalist Cole Swindell, plus now back-to-back ACM Female Artist of the Year Lainey Wilson.

• Also, the genre's community is driven by what ACM award-winning singer and songwriter HARDY called a "blueprint for success" in the country's modern era that rewards uniquely individual creatives being their best — and most iconoclastic — selves.

Also, a massive takeaway was a crucial reminder of how, as a genre, country music is defined as much by telling the truth in three chords and three minutes as it is by creating astonishingly touching moments.

ACM award winner Cole Swindell's 2022-released album "Stereotype" followed a season in his life wherein he was emotionally recovering from the September 2021 death of his mother, Betty Carol Rainey. The success of his single "She Had Me At Heads Carolina" didn't as much highlight his artistic acclaim as it did celebrate his ability to emerge from a profoundly depressing era.

Swindell being awarded the ultimate singer-songwriter moment (both Single and Song of the Year) at Mother's Day's onset — also after a successful wedding proposal to his girlfriend Courtney Little — is an incredibly bittersweet but heart-warming testament to music's healing power.

You can see a full list of ACM award winners here, and relive the top moments from the star-studded night here.

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This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Daily Briefing: Country's legends, new superstars shine at ACM awards