Little Big Town wins big early at 2015 CMA Awards

But the band with Georgia ties -- Karen Fairchild is a graduate of Lassiter High School in Marietta and Kimberly Schlapman a native of Cornelia -- received early proof of the song's potency with Single and Song of the Year wins for "Girl Crush." (Song of the Year honors were picked up by songwriters Lori McKenna, Liz Rose and Hillary Lindsey.)

"This song is about being brave and being bold," Fairchild said from the stage, before thanking country radio "for having the guts to play it."

Earlier at the 49th annual CMA Awards, Eric Church and Hank Williams Jr. kicked off the three-hour telecast with “Are you Ready for the Country?,” Williams' new cover of the Waylon Jennings song (who else noticed the kick drum emblazoned with the message,  “Music has value"?).

Their performance segued into the first pop-country pairing of the night -- John Mellencamp, who turned up the twang for his ‘80s classic “Pink Houses” with the unflappable Keith Urban.

Brad Paisley and Carrie Underwood, CMA hosts for the eighth consecutive year, rolled through their typically topical opening song - Caitlyn Jenner, Donald Trump and a lame Muppets tie-in (hi, ABC!) all made appearances.

But the running joke of an aborted "Star Wars" theme paid off brilliantly with the reveal of William Shatner as a Stormtrooper.

Georgia's Miss America, Betty Cantrell, presented Song of the Year honors with Darius Rucker. On the red carpet before the ceremony, Cantrell said that she's a huge Carrie Underwood fan and hoped she would get a chance to meet the country superstar while at the show.

Backstage, a young man named McKinley James visited the press to announce the release of Eric Church's new, surprise album, "Mr. Misunderstood." James appears on the cover of the CD and brought a stack to hand out to reporters - because we love free stuff (but maybe not the turkey sandwich boxed lunch/dinner).

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