Brooks Reigns at Country Music Awards

NASHVILLE — Garth Brooks was declared the best country music entertainer for the fourth time by the Country Music Assn. on Wednesday, and for the second year in a row.

“If it means more to me this year, it’s only because it’s one more year down the road,” Brooks said. “That’s only supposed to happen to cool guys like George Strait.”

Old favorite Strait and Brooks’ duet partner Trisha Yearwood were again tapped for major awards. Strait won the best male vocalist award for the third consecutive year, and Yearwood won her second in a row for best female vocalist.

Meanwhile, the new trio Dixie Chicks and veteran Steve Wariner made impressive career strides with two awards each.

The CMA presented 12 awards during the ceremony at the Grand Ole Opry House, which was broadcast by CBS. Brooks also won the entertainer award in 1991, 1992 and 1997.

The Dixie Chicks--Martie Seidel, Natalie Maines and Emily Erwin--won awards for best vocal group and the Horizon Award for most career growth in the past year.

Erwin thanked her parents for “giving me those banjo lessons.”

Wariner won two awards for his record “Holes in the Floor of Heaven,” a meditation on death. He thanked Brooks, who played a part in getting him a contract with Capitol Records this year.

The show opened with a brief bluegrass performance, then segued into the high-gloss country of Twain, who sang her hit “Honey, I’m Home.” Twain--dressed in shiny leather, had dozens of teen-age girls on hand to clap along.