CMA Awards: Garth Brooks, Chris Stapleton, Lori McKenna talk country’s star-studded night

Legends and newcomers mingled onstage and backstage at Wednesday’s 50th CMA Awards at Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena. Many of country’s biggest stars made their way to the press room to share their thoughts.

Here are the highlights:

Garth Brooks: CMAs reviewer?

If you happened to miss the telecast, Brooks had you covered.

“I can tell you this: greatest opening in CMA history tonight and I’ve seen half of ’em,” said Brooks, clutching the entertainer of the year trophy, his first since 1998.

The show began with a medley that featured more than a dozen established country stars — including Vince Gill, Alan Jackson, Reba McEntire and the show’s hosts, Brad Paisley and Carrie Underwood — performing country standards such as “Mama Tried” and “Stand by Your Man” with help from several of the genre’s pioneers, such as Charley Pride and Roy Clark. (Randy Travis, who suffered a debilitating stroke in 2013, even put in a brief appearance, singing the last word of his signature song, “Forever and Ever, Amen.”)

“Every act just kept getting better and better and better, and then here comes Randy Travis singing ‘Amen.’ Are you kidding me? I lost it, cried like a baby. The five girls singing “I Will Always Love You,” unbelievable. Queen Bey and the Dixie Chicks, I thought that was just power, raw power and I love that it was all feminine raw power.”

Ladies love Dolly Parton

“When they were doing ‘I Will Always Love You,’ my whole life just kind of took a little twirl,” said Parton of the loving tribute by acolytes Martina McBride, Reba McEntire, Carrie Underwood, Jennifer Nettles and Kacey Musgraves as a prelude to her receiving the Willie Nelson Lifetime Achievement Award.

Parton said she thought back to her time working with Porter Wagoner, when she first wrote the beloved anthem and the fact that she was sitting by Vince Gill, with whom she recorded the song as a duet.

“I was thinking so many things and looking at all those beautiful women up there singing my song and seeming like they appreciated me. It was very touching, really. I was trying not to mess up my makeup.”

“It is an honor and it makes me feel good to feel like I’ve done something to further this business,” she said of those citing her impact. And she made clear that she hopes to continue to do just that. “I love what I do and I hope to be doing it from now on. I hope they don’t think that because they gave me a lifetime achievement award they thought I was done. No way that’s going to happen.”

Brothers in arms

The night’s giddiest winners were John and TJ Osborne, a.k.a Brothers Osborne, who copped the vocal duo of the year award in a refreshing upset of reigning category kings Florida Georgia Line.

The Maryland natives were all about the love backstage.

“There’s really one person I’m incredibly thankful for and that’s my brother,” said TJ Osborne, putting his arm around his sibling. “He is the best human I have ever met in my life and I get to share the road with him, tour with him, play music with him, win awards with him, honestly, it’s cooler than I could ever imagine. This guy right here is the [best] and that’s what makes it amazing.”

Lori McKenna: Doing it for the children

Song of the year winner Lori McKenna recounted how she wrote “Humble & Kind” — a No. 1 hit for Tim McGraw — as a kind of prayer for her five kids, all of whom were in attendance.

Although the Massachusetts native — who won this award two years in a row thanks to her co-penning of last year’s Little Big Town smash “Girl Crush” — also recorded the song herself, she was bowled over by McGraw’s take.

“The first time I heard [his version of] the song was in the parking lot of a publishing company and I was prepared to lose it and I just sat there and cried for a while,” recalled McKenna.

“When I finally got a version of it, I think I listened to it about a thousand times. Every time I’ve been around some version of him singing it, I’ve really tried to soak it in, because the way I saw the song was a really simple list of things that I wanted those five kids to know, and Tim really saw it in a bigger way that I didn’t really know was possible, and he made this moment out it. I feel like I co-wrote the song with him because I did one thing with it and he took it to a much bigger place.”

To honor his version, which lost out in the single of the year category to Thomas Rhett’s “Die a Happy Man,” McKenna invited/dragged McGraw onstage. “I hope he’s not mad at me that I made him come up because I said, ‘Please don’t make me stand up there by myself!’”

Chris Stapleton goes for two

Since his buzzworthy performance with Justin Timberlake and breakthrough wins on the 2015 CMA Awards, the whiskey-and-smoke voiced country rocker has had a whirlwind year of double platinum album sales for “Traveller.”

He continued his winning ways Wednesday with a twofer: repeating as the male vocalist of the year and taking home the video of the year honors for “Fire Away.” His last 12 months have also been highlighted by appearances with heroes such as James Taylor, Bonnie Raitt, Joe Walsh, and on Wednesday’s telecast, Dwight Yoakam. He and Yoakam recently wrote a song together and hit it off, said Stapleton, but the singer-songwriter still gets star-struck.

“I try my best not to be a fan and freak people out, but I looked at Dwight and said ‘Man, I just want you to know you’re a hero and I really appreciate you doing this.’ It got me to get to do that. And it gets me when we’re sitting onstage with James Taylor and I’m looking down the row of guys playing songs and there’s James Taylor playing ‘You’ve Got a Friend.’ What a remarkable thing. It’s an alternate reality.”

Maren Morris gets a seat upgrade

Last year, the new artist of the year winner watched the show on TV across the street from the arena at the Palm. This year she was sitting near Parton and Loretta Lynn and went home with some well-deserved hardware for her striking debut “Hero.”

“I feel incredibly lucky to have received this award at the 50th,” said a still visibly moved Morris.

“There was so much tradition in the audience, so many icons. But at the same time ... I feel like the tide is turning in Nashville musically and seeing people like Brothers Osborne win, that’s huge and not just because they’re friends of mine, but because they are that good and they deserve it. It just makes me so happy that new blood is coming in and being recognized”

Of her proximity to her heroes, Maren said: “It’s an honor just to even breathe the same air as them for a night.”