GALLERY: Stars rehearse for country music's biggest night

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WZTV) — Country music’s biggest night is right around the corner! New photos show a behind-the-scenes look at country stars like Thomas Rhett, Carly Pearce, Jimmie Allen and Miranda Lambert rehearsing for the 55th Annual CMA Awards happening Wednesday evening in Nashville, Tennessee.

Thomas Rhett is slated to perform his latest single “Country Again” at the awards show. Rhett’s excited to bring the song to more country fans.

“We started to kind of strip it down on tour, where me and my guitar player would play the first verse and chorus, just us and a guitar and the band would come in big at the beginning of the chorus, so we’re going to try to replicate what we did live this summer on the CMA stage which will be super fun,” Rhett said. “I can’t wait to point right at Eric Church when I drop his line in the song and hopefully he gives me a thumbs up. I’m just really excited about it.”

Aiming to hit the CMA stage since she was a little girl, Carly Pearce’s performance Wednesday night means the world to her. She says country music has always saved her.

“I just dove into music. Country music has always been what has saved me. I didn’t make this music for anything other than survival. I think in that process I found more of who I am as an artist and as a woman than I ever thought that I could’ve,” Pearce said.

Pearce will be performing her latest single “Never Wanted to Be That Girl” with Ashley McBryde.

Jimmie Allen is excited to take the stage Wednesday night to perform “Freedom Was a Highway.” For Allen, it’s all about making an impact.

“I just try to maximize every opportunity I’ve been blessed to have. If that means I sleep two hours at night, I sleep two hours. If that means I sleep three, I sleep three. If I get fours of sleep, it’s a good night. There’s so much to do. I feel like there’s so little time to do it, so I want to try to make as big of an impact as I can,” Allen shared.

Miranda Lambert has been going to the CMA Awards for more than a decade, but says it never gets old.

The Entertainer of the Year nominee is honored to open this year’s show.

“I am opening the show this year, so I can’t tell you much other than that, some surprises, but I’m also done at 7:05, so I get to sit and enjoy my night,” the singer laughed.

With that, Lambert said she can’t wait to sit next to “Drunk (And I Don’t Wanna Go Home” partner Elle King at the awards.

The show will be hosted by Luke Bryan on Wednesday night from Bridgestone Arena in Nashville. The first CMA Awards Banquet and Show was held in 1967 with its first broadcast the following year. Organizers say it’s the longest running, annual music awards program on network television.