Country music doesn’t only live within the United States. The official countdown for the Canadian Country Music Association Awards is on,with the Canadian Country Music Association announcing the nominees this week. The awards show will take place at the Credit Union Centre in Saskatoon on Sept. 9 at 8PM ET.

Judging by the eight nominations he received, Johnny Reid is definitely the hottest Canadian artist to beat this year. After climbing to the No. 2 spot on the Canadian country chart, Reid’s ‘Fire It Up’ has been nominated for Album of the Year. The album’s title track also received a few nods, earning nominations for Single of the Year, Songwriter of the Year and Video of the Year. Reid is also up for the Fans’ Choice Award, Male Artist of the Year, Interactive Artist of the Year and Record Producer of the Year. Talk about a big haul!

Dean Brody is hot on Reid’s trail, however, with a whopping seven nominations. Brody will face off against Reid for Single of the Year, Video of the Year and Songwriter of the Year with his hit song ‘Canadian Girls.’ Plus, Brody’s 2012 release ‘DIRT’ is up for Album of the Year, and he’s on the roster for Fans’ Choice Award, Male Artist of the Year and Interactive Artist of the Year.

Gord Bamford and Jason Blaine are also looking at an impressive year, earning six and four nominations, respectively. With so many talented stars facing off against each other, the competition is going to be on fire come the September awards program.

In between award ceremonies, Canadian country superstars Bamford, Chad Brownlee, Terri Clark, and High Valley will put on performances. To represent the American contingent of country superstars, Miranda Lambert, Jason Aldean, Eric Church and Pistol Annies will take the stage, too. It’s going to be a star-studded night for fans in both countries.

The CCMAs will air live on CBC Television from Credit Union Centre on Sunday, Sept. 9. Fans across Canada will be able to tune in to the show on CBC, and encore airings will run on CMT (Canada) starting at 10PM ET.

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