Maybe it's because the award-giving body is a newcomer itself, but the old timers are taking a back seat to the relative amateurs of this year's Country Music Awards. Hosted by Trace Adkins and spitfire of an actress Kristin Chenoweth, the show promises to be packed to the rafters with fresh performances and country stars.

The Band Perry, for instance, is performing in this year's ceremonies. While they might have been playing for years before last year's inaugural show, most of their success now can be traced to the fateful night when they performed for the newly furnished awards in the previous year. Kimberly Perry of the trio says she loved how fan-driven the show was as well as its focus on the younger generation of country stars.

"So when we were invited to come back this year, we were just like an immediate, 'Yes, absolutely, we would love to. It's only the second year of the ACAs. It's got a little bit of a rock 'n' roll feel about it," said Perry, who will perform "All Your Life" with brothers Reid and Neil.

The trio has been on tour since that momentous show and has been picking up awards left and right ever since.

Taylor Swift, Jason Aldean, Zac Brown Band as well as The Band Perry lead the show's nominees. Aldean and the Zac Brown Band have 8 nominations apiece while Swift and The Band Perry follow with six nominations each. Alabama, Toby Keith, Blake Shelton, Pistol Annies, Thompson Square, Eli Young Band and Chris Young are scheduled to perform. Last season's American Idol finalists Scotty Mcreery and Lauren Alaina are also set to make an appearance but no reports of the pair performing have been released.