Randy Houser Is Cool With Being a Loser

Randy Houser is nominated for two CMA Awards -- Best New Artist and Video of the Year, for 'Boots On.' But the Mississippi native says he already knows he'll go home empty handed from the Nov. 11 awards show ... which doesn't seem to bother him!

"I feel like my chances are definitely between slim and none," Randy tells the LA Times. "Of course awards would be nice and all that, but I don't think that's going to become the measure of what our value is."

Randy's 'Boots On' video features amateur footage of an adorable little boy singing the hit song in the backseat of a car. The singer explains that the video's concept didn't come from him. In fact, he was completely against the entire idea at first. "Somebody smarter than I am came up with that," he admits. "It doesn't tell you anything about me or the song, and my first thought was, 'What are we doing here, guys?' But I understand what they were trying to do -- they were trying to open the door. And I guess they did! I love the video. It's like they always say, you can't compete with kids or puppies."

Randy is up against some of country's biggest artists for Video of the Year, including Taylor Swift, Billy Currington, George Strait, Brad Paisley and Keith Urban. Alongside him in the Best New Artist race are Darius Rucker, the Zac Brown Band, Jake Owen and Jamey Johnson.

Randy isn't nearly as concerned about the awards as he is about what the future holds for all country artists. "You know how you can look across a plain and see a storm coming from eight miles away? I think there's a big old storm coming in Nashville," he says. "It seems like they're definitely trying to keep as much pop stuff out there as they can by signing up all these young kiddie bands. But it really seems like people are ready for real music again."

Randy is already working on his sophomore album. Its first single, 'Whistlin' Dixie,' hit country radio last month.