Break out your boots and get ready to scoot down to The Banks. The Academy of Country Music Awards are coming up in March, hosted by Dolly Parton, and Cincinnati has been nominated in a category.
The Andrew J Brady Music Center downtown is one of five nominated in the ACM's Theater of the Year category.
Other nominees include American Music Theatre in Lancaster, Pennsylvania; Blue Gate Performing Arts Center in Shipshewana, Indiana; Ruth Eckerd Hall in Clearwater, Florida; and Ryman Auditorium in Nashville.
According to the ACM, the award is "presented to an outstanding theater or performing arts center, not associated with a casino, selected by a Professional Panel of judges." The theater must also have put on a show by at least 10 Country stars during the "eligibility period." The previous year's winners are ineligible.
The awards ceremony, which takes place in Las Vegas, will be streamed live on Amazon Prime Video at 8 p.m. EST on March 7.
The Andrew J Brady Music Center opened in summer 2021 and has since brought in Country acts including Brad Paisley, Midland and Brothers Osborne. And the venue says they plan to "host up to 120 events and bring approximately 240,000 music fans to The Banks and Downtown district" this year.
“We are honored to be nominated for ‘Theater Of The Year’ by the Academy of Country Music. The Andrew J Brady Music Center has been met with rave reviews from both artists and fans, and we look forward to bringing more of the best music and overall fan experience to Cincinnati," said Rosemarie Moehring, director of marketing for MEMI, which oversees the venue, in a release.
The Andrew J Brady Music Center has a 4,500-capacity interior, which boasts a main floor and two balconies. There is also an 8,000-person outdoor stage, which legendary Rock group Foo Fighters inaugurated on July 28.
At the end of 2021, the venue dropped the word "ICON" from its name — it had been the Andrew J Brady ICON Music Center — to further honor the venue's namesake. Andrew J Brady was a 1938 University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music graduate who went on to become the music director at Western Hills High School. He was also a Jazz musician who worked with various youth programs over the years.
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