The year 2015 was pretty much the year of Chris Stapleton. About 15 years prior, in 2001, however, the singer-songwriter moved to Nashville and became known as a prolific tunesmith. Between 2008 and 2010, Stapleton was the frontman of the bluegrass group the SteelDrivers, and later, he founded the Southern rock group the Jompson Brothers. So much more was around the corner, though.
After releasing a single with Mercury Nashville in 2013 (it didn't perform well), Stapleton released his debut record,
Traveller, in 2015. Thanks to that disc, he won Album of the Year and Male Vocalist of the Year at both the 2015 CMA Awards and 2016 ACM Awards (plus New Artist of the Year at the CMAs and Song of the Year, Songwriter of the Year and New Male Vocalist of the Year at the ACMs). He also nabbed two 2016 Grammys trophies, Best Country Album and Best Country Solo Performance, while being nominated for four in total.