Dierks Bentley is nominated for four trophies at the upcoming 2016 CMA Awards -- Album of the Year, Male Vocalist of the Year, Musical Event of the Year and Music Video of the Year -- and while the country star certainly hopes to walk away from the ceremony with an armful of trophies, he says that being nominated makes him a winner already.

"I’ve been nominated a lot ... I love nominations," Bentley recently told The Boot and other reporters. "I feel like this sounds like a cliche to say, but you get a chance to walk on the stage every night, for 10, 12, 15,000 people -- it’s a pretty good award, right there, every night. You have a lot of respect for your peers. It’s awesome to be nominated."

Although the Arizona native is thrilled to receive a nod in any category, he admits that Album of the Year holds a special place in his heart.

"You think about all the great albums that are out there, all the artists that are out there and competing for that, and all the great records that have been nominated ...," Bentley muses. "I tell any new artist, being nominated for something -- it’s nice to win, but being nominated is a big deal; it’s a really big deal. For me, for this record [Black], for the CMAs, Album [of the Year is] probably the most important nomination."

With his successful Somewhere on a Beach Tour, which is scheduled to run through October, Bentley confesses that he hoped to be named, for the first time, in the coveted Entertainer of the Year category as well. Still, being nominated for Album of the Year is sufficient enough recognition for his hard work.

"I feel like we put on a great show at the end of the road, and Entertainer would be pretty nice, too," he adds. "If I ever wanted to be nominated for Album of the Year, and I have been in the past -- it’s always an honor, but this [new album] feels like, not only did we pour everything into it, not only was the physical expenditure of time, but it’s just one of those magical things that kind of came together. I didn’t go into it with any preconceived notions. I had no songs left over; it was a blank slate. To come out of that with this album, with something tangible, that’s what the whole thing should be about."

The 2016 CMA Awards will air live from Nashville's Bridgestone Arena on Nov. 2 at 8PM ET on ABC.

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