On March 25, Carrie Underwood called the five guys in LANCO to share the good news that they’d been voted the Academy of Country Music’s new group of the year.
That was more than two weeks ago, and they are still not over that career-defining moment.
“In the moment, we were literally speechless,” frontman Brandon Lancaster told reporters backstage during the ACM Awards. “We were playing a show that night. Our tour manager told us — totally lying — he’s like, ’Hey, someone wants to interview you. Has some questions about the stuff for your band.’ We’re in the middle of soundcheck, and they put it on speaker phone and this girl goes, ’Hey it’s Carrie…Underwood.’ And I’m still wondering why she’s interviewing us.”
Lancaster says that when she explained why she was calling, it was like his career kind of flashed before his eyes. “And we really didn’t know what to say, we were already shocked at the fact that Carrie Underwood was calling us. And then to win an award? I mean, we have been at the ACMs before and we have been nominated before. And it’s hard not to sound cliche but that’s such a big deal for us. The first time that we came out to the ACMs, we didn’t even get to go to the show. We just did some interviews and stuff. Then fast forward to now, and to be walking home with an ACM Award is just wild.”
The band — Lancaster, Chandler Baldwin, Jared Hampton, Tripp Howell and Eric Steedly — has been together since 2015. (A year earlier was when Lancaster was working at a Bridgestone Arena hot dog stand during a Keith Urban concert and boldly introduced himself to country producer Jay Joyce.)
And while the band has always felt welcome in Nashville, this award is kind of a next-level welcome for them.
“We’ve been a band for years, and you go through a lot of things, and to see that people are not only acknowledging your presence but also saying, ’Hey, your presence is warranted and we respect it and were going to honor you with this award.’ You feel like a part of a family, but you feel like now you get to sit at the grown up table.”
We can’t even begin to describe how truly honored we our to win an ACM award for new group of the year. Thank you to every person that has believed in us and made this crazy journey possible. From our fans, to our team, to our families this is not possible without you. @ACMawards pic.twitter.com/D0s9lJa542
— LANCO (@LancoMusic) March 25, 2019
