{"id":1306233,"date":"2019-03-20T11:12:07","date_gmt":"2019-03-20T17:12:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.cmt.com\/news\/?p=1804009"},"modified":"2019-03-20T11:12:07","modified_gmt":"2019-03-20T17:12:07","slug":"blake-sheltons-fiddler-jenee-fleenor-talks-historic-acm-nomination","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/music-news\/blake-sheltons-fiddler-jenee-fleenor-talks-historic-acm-nomination\/","title":{"rendered":"Blake Shelton\u2019s Fiddler Jenee Fleenor Talks Historic ACM Nomination"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>\n

by Samantha Stephens<\/a><\/span> 19m ago<\/span><\/span> <\/p>\n

From the time Jenee Fleenor was a little girl, she knew her path \u2014 but she never saw this moment in her future.<\/p>\n

That moment would be when she received news of her 2019 Academy of Country Music Award nomination for specialty instrument player of the year.<\/p>\n

<\/blockquote>\n

Not only is this a coup for the fiddler, but for female country musicians the world over, as she is this year\u2019s only female nominee in the studio recording fields, but also this particular category\u2019s first and only woman nominee in the award show\u2019s history. Previously, Deanie Richardson carried the torch for women with a nomination back in 2010, when fiddle was granted its own category.<\/p>\n

Kinda shocking all around, isn\u2019t it?<\/p>\n

\u201cI sat in bed and looked at the text message, and I\u2019m pretty sure I cried for a good 10 minutes before I could get my composure,\u201d Fleenor told CMT.com of the moment she heard the news.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt really was one of the most special moments of my whole life. Because I just remembered as a little girl looking at those awards as a kid, thinking, \u2018Man, it would be really cool to be a part of that group of musicians someday.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/blockquote>\n

But Fleenor, whose quiet demeanor is wrought with humility \u2014 so much so that she doesn\u2019t even really consider her journey to be that magical. After all, she\u2019s just a human being with a talent and passion like anybody else.<\/p>\n

The Arkansas native began playing the fiddle as a child, and through hard work and resolve unlike most, made her way to Nashville, becoming one of the most sought-after sessions musicians in town.<\/p>\n

When she landed a touring gig with Blake Shelton, her visibility rose even higher. Shelton\u2019s tour boasts a few female crew members and personnel, and a female backup singer \u2014 all still a rarity among major country tours, oddly enough.<\/p>\n

But talking to Fleenor about her move into the awards show boys\u2019 club, and you hardly get the sense that she feels any sort of gap. For her, male peers and counterparts have never made her feel like anything less than chosen family or even more importantly perhaps, like she one-hundred percent belonged in the room.<\/p>\n

She\u2019s one of them \u2014 or vice versa, one could argue.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t really think about it,\u201d she admitted.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve thought about it more because of all the women movements that are going on. I\u2019ve sat back and thought about that now, but I don\u2019t really think about it when I\u2019m in a session. I\u2019ve had people ask me now: do I feel any different being a woman in that industry? But, it\u2019s what I always wanted: just to be a session musician. Initially, ever since I was 11 years old. I never thought, \u2019Well, I\u2019m woman. I can\u2019t do that.’\u201d<\/p>\n

But of course, Fleenor says, there were a few moments. You know, those<\/em> moments in studios.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere have been a few times, not now, but in the past, when I was starting to get hired more for master sessions or just more sessions in general. Every once in a while I\u2019d get that look. Like, \u2018here\u2019s the girl.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cNow, I stay so busy, I don\u2019t even think about it, really. Those are all my buddies of course in the category that I work with on the daily. I love all of them.\u201d<\/p>\n

And that includes her boss, Shelton, who has been nothing but encouraging and supportive, even celebratory, despite his own surprising lack of nominations for this year\u2019s show.<\/p>\n

\u201cI got to sound check because we were on tour, and even Blake\u2019s manager had told me congratulations,\u201d she said smiling.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re in sound check, we had done a couple of songs\u2026and not that I expected him to say anything, but I figured he knew. And Kara [Birge], the vocalist, she goes, \u2019Blake, Blake, did you hear the news about Jenee?’\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/blockquote>\n

\u201cShe told him, and he turned around and he hugged me so big\u2026he had no idea. He\u2019s just the best.\u201d<\/p>\n

For Fleenor, the reward was always the opportunity to chase her dream and wake up every day as she headed out to sessions or bus call to the realization that her dream had come true. But now that the ACM nomination is in the picture, the game has changed. Well, at least a bit. Fleenor isn\u2019t going to deny herself a small amount of celebration.<\/p>\n

But most importantly, she hopes her nomination will speak directly to the hearts and minds of future generations wondering and dreaming to follow in her footsteps.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf there are any little girls out there wanting to do this someday: don\u2019t let it stand in your way. It never really occurred to me, maybe it would be a bump in the road being a woman, you know? Trying to break through this. Don\u2019t let it be a hiccup.\u201d<\/p>\n

That\u2019s advice to take to heart.<\/p>\n

Fleenor and her fellow ACM Studio Recording<\/em> nominees will find out who wins in their respective categories during the annual ACM Honors<\/em>, held each year at Nashville\u2019s Ryman Auditorium.<\/p>\n

\n
Samantha is a country radio insider with a deep love for the music and its stars. She can often be found on a red carpet or at a late-night guitar pull.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

via:: CMT News<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by Samantha Stephens 19m ago From the time Jenee Fleenor was a little girl, she knew her path \u2014 but she never saw this moment in her future. That moment would be when she received news of her 2019 Academy of Country Music Award nomination for specialty instrument player of the year. Not only is […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[159],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-1306233","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-music-news"},"acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-06-11 22:56:50","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"KSKE Ski Country","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske","push-errors":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1306233","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1306233"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1306233\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1306233"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1306233"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1306233"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}