Brad Paisley: Modest Superstar

Top ACM Awards Nominee Keeps Past Trophies In Parents' Home

(CBS)  The categories he's up for are Top Male Vocalist, Album of the Year (for the platinum-selling "Time Well Wasted"), Single Record of the Year (for "Alcohol"), and Song of the Year, Video of the Year and Vocal Event of the Year for "When I Get Where I'm Going," a duet with Dolly Parton.

"When I get Where I'm Going" is on "Time Well Wasted."

Paisley has already racked up three ACM awards.

He says working with Parton was "as you can imagine, everybody's dream, I think, and it's just what you would hope it would be. She's so professional. And so, absolutely, she comes in so prepared to do what she does, and doesn't let you down. Because … when she sings and when she puts her voice on something, it instantly becomes a work of art, I think. She's wonderful."

Paisley, who opens the ACM wards show, is known for pushing the envelope when performing, and really having a lot of fun and being creative.

Will any of that be on display Tuesday night?

"It's creative. It's so creative that I'm hoping it works. It's a recipe for disaster. But we had a couple of things in the rehearsal, and I don't want to give away what we're doing, things like microphones got knocked over. I about tripped a few times. But I think it'll be all right."

Asked if sitting in the audience at awards shows is nerve-wracking, Paisley revealed: "It depends on the award. There's some awards that I'm sitting there and I know I have no shot. … This year is a little more — I'm not sure. It could go either way on most of these. But a lot of the times when you sit there, you know, in the last few award shows that I've been at, you're thinking, 'I'm not going to get this one. And in that case, it's a little bit freeing. You know, you sit there and say, 'Let's see who else gets it.' "