Shelton, McGraw and wife Faith Hill, Lady Antebellum and Keith Urban joined together to salute lifetime achievement winner Willie Nelson, ending with a group sing-along of his iconic ‘‘On the Road Again.’’

Little Big Town performed their winner ‘‘Pontoon,’’ a song that was something of a departure for Fairchild, Kimberly Schlapman, Jimi Westbrook and Phillip Sweet. Produced by Jay Joyce, the song has a sharper groove than LBT’s previous efforts.

In a coincidence, Joyce also produced Church’s ‘‘Chief.’’ The hard edge he brought to both paid off all around.

Church said album of the year, arguably the CMA’s second most prestigious award, was a win that fit right in with his and Joyce’s philosophy.

‘‘I still think in this day and time the only way to really get a fan base is you've got to give them more than one chapter of a book,’’ Church said. ‘‘They've got to read the whole book.’’

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AP writer Kristin M. Hall in Nashville contributed to this report.

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Online:

http://cmaworld.com

http://abc.go.com/shows/cma-awards

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