Taylor Swift and Kacey Musgraves lead CMA nominations

Taylor Swift and newcomer Kacey Musgraves lead the nominations for this year's Country Music Association awards, with six nods each.

They are both up for album of the year as well as best female vocalist alongside Kelly Clarkson, Miranda Lambert and Carrie Underwood.

Swift is also nominated for entertainer of the year, up against last year's winner Blake Shelton.

Husband-and-wife singers Shelton and Lambert have five nods each.

They will each be competing for their fourth consecutive wins in the male vocalist and female vocalist categories.

Lambert is up for three awards as a solo artist and another two with her side-project country group, Pistol Annies.

American Idol judge Keith Urban landed four nominations along with duo Florida Georgia Line.

The new band are up for best musical event for the remix version of their hit Cruise featuring rapper Nelly.

Bob Dylan has a nomination for single of the year for Wagon Wheel, a song written with Ketch Secor and performed by Darius Rucker.

'So grateful'

Both Swift and Musgraves tweeted their happiness at their six nominations.

Swift has received 21 CMA nods and won seven awards over her career, including two entertainer of the year awards.

"What an excellent way to start the day. Thank you, guys. And thank you CMA," she said.

While Musgraves called it: "Six great reasons to get out of bed today... So grateful!!"

Musgraves's album, Same Trailer Different Park, has been critically acclaimed for its gritty ballads about the darker side of life in small town America, not normally seen in country songs.

It is her first album on a major label after releasing three albums independently.

Swift's album Red is her fourth studio album. It sold 1.2 million copies in its first week in the US.

The CMA Awards are voted for by more than 7,000 members of the country music trade organisation.

The awards, which will be hosted by Brad Paisley and Carrie Underwood for the sixth year, take place on 6 November.