The streak is over, and the boys from Alabama ended it with a prayer and a punch.
It is official now. The Red Clay Strays just shut down Old Dominion’s seven-year reign and walked off with the 2025 CMA Vocal Group of the Year trophy in hand.
They earned it.
If you had asked fans last year, many were already whispering that it should have been theirs in 2024. They gave us two albums in three years with soul, swagger, and Southern grit. No filler, just raw red-clay-stained music with guts.
This year, they were not leaving empty-handed.
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Brandon Coleman, Drew Nix, Zach Rishel, Andrew Bishop, John Hall, and Sevans Henderson walked onto that CMA stage as a unit and delivered the kind of performance that reminds you why we show up in the first place. “People Hatin'” was not just a performance, it was a sermon dressed in gospel grit and Southern rock thunder.
Then came the win.
As they took the mic, Coleman did not pretend. There was no polish, just truth.
“We are very thankful for it. We were a lot of different genres when we started playing together because I was the hick of the group. So country music has a very special place in my heart.”
Then came the line that made jaws drop and diehards nod with knowing pride.
“That is the reason I always say we do not really play country music because when we get ready to make an actual country record, it will be country music.”
That was not a dig.
That was reverence.
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This was not a middle finger to the format. This was a raised glass to the real ones. Coleman doubled down on it.
“If you are just playing rock and roll music but calling it country music, I think that is doing country a disservice. That is why I always say that.”
Amen to that.
Because while The Red Clay Strays may color outside the lines with shades of blues, soul, and Southern gospel all bleeding into their sound, their heart is one hundred percent country. That kind of honesty does not need a genre tag, it needs a front row.
And they have one now.
For You
The fans, the CMAs, and the industry. Everyone is listening.
They did not just win Vocal Group of the Year. They reset it.
Old Dominion had their run with seven trophies in a row, and that is history now. But country music moves when the crowd moves. And when The Red Clay Strays hit the stage, it was clear.
This was not a “next big thing” moment.
This was right now.
And if you have followed the band since Moment of Truth in 2022 or felt the ache and heat of Made By These Moments in 2024, you knew this was not some underdog miracle. It was overdue.
You want proof that they are built to last?
Brandon Coleman told The Joe Rogan Experience that he does not understand how bands break up. He remembers the early days when they all fought over who got the floor in the hotel room and not the bed. He made it clear that they are not chasing clout or Billboard highs. They are chasing calling.
That is different. That is rare.
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And it literally saves lives. Coleman shared how a fan emailed them after nearly ending her own life, only to have “I’m Still Fine” come on mid-act. She cried, she called her sister, and she lived.
That is what this band does. They speak straight into the broken places.
They do not posture. They serve.
And when Coleman stood on that CMA stage and said, “We are country boys and we are Southern gentlemen. We are very happy to be accepted by the community. We will eventually make some actual country music too,” he was not teasing.
He was warning.
They are coming for more. And when they do, it is going to hit like thunder on a Sunday morning.
So let this be the moment we stopped asking if The Red Clay Strays belong in country music.
They are not crashing the party. They are taking the wheel.
And if this was them not really playing country music yet?
Just wait.
