Surprising facts about the Academy of Country Music Awards nominees

Country music fans want to know everything about their favorite artists — if they don't already do. However, what about the causal country fan or those new to the genre looking for a crash course on country music biggest and brightest stars? Most of which will be at the 54th Academy of Country Music Awards on Sunday, April 7.

While you scope the list of ACM nominees for 2019, are some interesting tidbits even the hardcore fans of those up for awards might not know.

Entertainer of the Year nominee Jason Aldean was born Jason Aldine Williams. However, he opted to change the spelling of his middle name and use the new version as his last name in order to separate himself from the rest of the country music pack. Got a feeling that Jason Williams would probably have been just as successful. 

Jimmie Allen's road toward country music stardom was hardly paved with gold. Allen has often stated that upon moving in Nashville in order to get his music career off the ground, he was homeless at times. Allen also said he would go a day or two without eating because he did not have enough money to buy a meal. Thankfully for Allen and country fans, he persevered and made those dreams a reality.

Before Male Artist of the Year-nominee Dierks Bentley was a country music star, he paid his dues behind the scenes. Bentley held a job as a researcher at The Nashville Network (which is now known as the Paramount Network). He worked a lot of long nights digging through old concert and stage tape while waiting for his big break.

According to People, young country star Kane Brown did not realize he was biracial until he was "7 or 8 years old." That's when he started to receive racial slurs and taunts from classmates. Brown, whose hit "Heaven" is nominated for Single of Year, has stated that he was homeless at times while growing up, but managed to overcome those obstacles with his mother to become one of country music's rising stars.

According to tasteofcountry.com, superstar Luke Bryan has the initials of his wife, Caroline Boyer, tattooed on his backside. Though Bryan has not confirmed the tattoo, according to the website, fellow country star and friend Jason Aldean has apparently seen it firsthand. Bryan is nominated for Entertainer of the Year and Single of the Year ("Most People Are Good") at the ACMs.

Kenny Chesney has often spoke about how blessed he is where he's at and accomplished all he has in the world of country music. He's also grateful that his plans to be in New York City, shooting the video for the song "The Tin Man," on Sept. 11, 2001, never panned out. The Entertainer of the Year nominee and his crew were slated to shoot the video near the World Trade Center's twin towers. However, equipment issues in the days prior forced the shoot scheduled on the day of the terrorist attacks to be scraped.

Russell Dickerson's "Yours" is nominated for Song of the Year at this year's ACM. Prior to it be released on country radio in April 2017, that single also made TheKnot.com's list of "Best Wedding Songs of 2016." We are not sure if Dickerson is available for weddings considering how well his career is going.

Lindsay Ell has blossomed into one of country music rising stars, and she can thank a legend of classic rock for getting her career rolling. In her mid-teens, Ell was essentially discovered by Randy Bachman, prominent member of The Guess Who and Bachman-Turner Overdrive. Through a mutual friend, Bachman received a demo from Ell. He liked it so much that the two began writing songs together and he produced her debut album Consider This.

In her younger years (we're talking less than 10 years old) country superstar and Entertainer of the Year nominee Miranda Lambert would help her parents, who were private detectives at one point, solve some of the cases they were working on. Her father, Rick, was a former Dallas police officer who worked as an undercover narcotics officer at SMU.

Bands get discovered in the strangest ways sometime. Put New Duo or Group of the Year winner LANCO into that category. While working a concession stand at Nashville's Bridgestone Arena, LANCO's Brandon Lancaster saw country producer Jay Joyce at a concert and sought him out for some advice. The two kept in the touch and Joyce eventually started working with the band on songs and such. 

A lot of star musicians have been discouraged by others in the pursuit of achieving their musical dreams. Ashley McBryde, the winner of the New Female Artist of the Year category, was told by an Algebra teacher during her early high school years that she wouldn't make it as a songwriter, according to npr.org. Maybe that teacher should stick to numbers.

In addition to being one-third of the popular country group Midland, a nominee in the Group of the Year category, bassist Cameron Duddy has also enjoyed success behind the scenes in the music business. He work for a time directing music videos, and earned a MTV Video Music Award for his direction of Bruno Mars' "Locked Out of Heaven" video.

Before Dan + Shay's Shay Mooney shifted his musical focus to the country side, he was part of rapper T-Pain's Nappy Boy Entertainment group. Mooney worked as a solo artist on that label, but seems to have made the right choice with his current situation. Dan + Shay are nominated for Music Event of the Year, Video of the Year ("Tequila"), Song of the Year, Single of the Year, Album of the Year (Dan + Shay) and Duo of the Year.

There's a good chance Kacey Musgraves is in for a big night at this year's ACMs. The Grammy winner is up for Female Artist of the Year, Album of the Year (Golden Hour) and Song of the Year ("Space Cowboy"). Not bad for a girl who was born six weeks premature and weighed only five pounds.

It might not be all that surprising that Group of the Year-nominee Old Dominion got its name from the nickname of its home state of Virginia. The surprising part is that the band didn't come up with it right away. The boys wanted a name to honor their Virginia roots, but it didn't come to them until later that Old Dominion was an option.

Brothers Osborne's debut album Pawn Shop was a smash, but the title has a little autobiographical feel for the multi-nominated ACM duo. According to Heightline, the boys like to visit pawn shops while on the road touring to see who can find the best steals and deals. It's kind of become a competition between John and T.J.

Jake Owen's love of golf is no secret — he's played in the famous Pebble Beach Pro-Am. In fact, there was a time when Owen seemed poise to give it a go as a professional golfer. He attended Florida State, hoping to continue his career on the links. However, Owen seriously injured his shoulder during a wakeboarding accident and his golf career was shelved. That's when he picked up a guitar, learned to play and eventually went down a different career path.

When New Female Artist of the Year nominee Carly Pearce was 16 years old, she dropped out of high school for the chance to work at one of the most popular theme parks in the country. Pearce and her mother relocated to Pigeon Forge, Tenn., where she performed at the Dollywood and was homeschooled. Pearce told visitmysmokies.com that she performed as many as six shows per day, five days at week at the famed park.

Brad Rempel, one-half New Duo or Group-nominee High Valley, is credited with naming the band he's part of with brother, Curtis. Brad actually named the band when he was just 5 years old. According to the band, the brothers used to to pretend they were doing a radio show as kids, and that was the name of the fake broadcast. It stuck, and the rest is history.

Rexha, who has enjoyed country success via her collaboration with Florida Georgia Line on the hit "Meant To Be," seemed destined for pop stardom. As a teen, Rexha won the Best Teen Songwriter Award from the National Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences. That eventually earned her a contract with a talent scout. On Sunday, she has a chance to bring home three ACMs.

Networking works well in the corporate world and is perhaps even more important in the music industry. Though Cole Swindell and Luke Bryan attended Georgia Southern University at different times, they were both members of the Sigma Chi fraternity. At one point, Bryan returned to the old frat house and hit it off the Swindell. They kept in touch and Swindell was even part of Bryan's merch crew before striking it big on his own.

Mitchell Tenpenny, a nominee for New Male Artist of the Year, was a standout high school football player at Nashville's Lipscomb Academy and seemed poised to continue his gridiron career in college at Middle Tennessee. However, the bite of the music bug stuck with Tenpenny, who played in hard rock bands during college. He left the gridiron for a country stage. Looks like he made the right choice.

Keith Urban's knack for being a country star seemed to be there at a young age, Back in the late 1970s, Urban was a member of "Kids Country," a group of youngsters who came together to sing country favorites. All grown up and one of the biggest music stars on the planet, Urban is in the running for Entertainer of the Year — the same award he won at November's Country Music Awards. 

Before country starlet and Female Artist of the Year nominee Carrie Underwood made a living as a singer, songwriter, performer and giant of the entertainer world, she might have been headed down a political road. While attending Northeastern State University in the Oklahoma town of Tahlequah, she spent time in the summer as a page for notorious State Rep. Bobby Frame.

Most country music fans are probably aware Runaway June's Jennifer Wayne is the granddaughter of Hollywood legend John Wayne. But before she became a country star, Wayne was poised for a career as a professional tennis player. That is, until she caught the music bug traded and her racket for a guitar and headed to Nashville.