Country stars swing into Calgary for CCMA red carpet

Country stars from across Canada and beyond brushed off their cowboy hats and boots to hit the red carpet in Calgary for the Canadian Country Music Awards.

Tenille Townes, who is 25 and from Grande Prairie, Alta., was named female artist of the year and won for single of the year for her song 'Somebody's Daughter.'

"This is crazy. Thank you so much to the CCMAs. I'm just so proud and grateful to be part of this country music family. Speaking of family I have a lot of family in the house tonight. I love you guys so much," Townes said.

Dallas Smith, who is co-hosting with Billy Ray Cyrus, was named male artist of the year. He credits his mother for getting this far and convincing his father to lend him money to make his earliest recordings.

The show, which travels across the country each year, last came to the city 14 years ago.

This will mark the ninth time Calgary has hosted.

With the awards comes a bunch of musical performances popping up all over the city, and even big events like Ian and Sylvia Tyson's induction into the Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame at the National Music Centre.

Billy Ray Cyrus and Terri Clark kicked off the show with a blast from the past. Cyrus reached to yesteryear with a rendition of 1992's "Achy Breaky Heart" and was joined on stage by Clark, who was inducted into the hall of fame last year.

"What better place to celebrate country music than the capital of country, Calgary, Alberta," said Smith.

With all the festivities happening during Country Music Week — including a music festival, fan village and legends show — Calgary itself could also come out as a winner.

"We expect that over the next four days we'll have about 6,000 visitors to Calgary with about $9 million in economic impact and a ton of fun," said Mayor Naheed Nenshi at the CCMA kick-off event Wednesday.

Find out who was in Cowtown for the festivities below.