Country music fans were surprised to see Jessie Murph's name listed among the nominees for New Female Artist of the Year at the recent ACM Awards. But perhaps no one was more surprised than Murph, who says she didn't even deserve to be in the category.
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"No, that was such a big surprise," Murph says on the Zach Sang Show. She remarks that while there might be elements of country in her music, calling her a country music artist is a stretch.
"I wouldn't look at me and be like, 'That's a country artist. I don't know that I deserved to be in that category," Murph says. She adds that there are "other country artists that maybe deserved to have that spot. ... It was cool to be there though. I had a good time."
Part of why Jessie Murph doesn't want to be known as a country music artist is because she doesn't want to be defined by any one genre, regardless of what it is.
"I love mixing genres," she says. "And I think that I'll always do it. I will always do it. I don't like the thought of boxing myself in to express myself. That's really weird. It feels like a dress code, and I don't like those."
Who Deserved The Nomination More Than Jessie Murph
Jessie Murph has yet to have a song even crack the Top 40 at country radio. It's just part of what makes her nomination that much more bizarre. Not surprisingly, the ACM Award for New Female Artist went to Ella Langley, one of five awards she won that night.
The category also included Kassi Ashton, Ashley Cooke and Dasha. There are definitely a few other artists who would have been more worthy of the nomination than Murph. Shockingly, Megan Moroney was not among the nominees for New Female Artist, although she was nominated for Female Artist. Meghan Patrick, who has already had hits at radio, would have been a more worthy nominee.
Carter Faith, Alana Springsteen and Tiera Kennedy would have also made more sense than Murph. But it was almost likely that Langley would have won anyway, since few artists are having the success Langley is currently enjoying.
