GULF SHORES, Ala. — This has been a banner year for Mac McAnally. Now, the critically acclaimed musician picked up a Grammy Award nod for the Best Country Collaboration With Vocals category for the song “Down the Road,” his duet with Kenny Chesney.

The Grammy Awards, considered by many as the ultimate music award, will be broadcast live on CBS from the Staples Center in Los Angeles on Jan. 31.

McAnally also triumphed in November with his second consecutive CMA Musician Of The Year award, and in October he was honored with an ASCAP and Nashville Songwriters Association International Award, also for “Down the Road.”

Named to the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2007 and the Mississippi Hall of Fame in 2008, McAnally has written six No. 1 singles including “Down the Road,” which was composed 20 years ago.

“I am very honored to be nominated for such a simple little song that was recorded with just a couple of buddies sitting around the studio,” McAnally said.

With legendary talent as a recording artist, producer, songwriter and musician, McAnally’s latest album, Show Dog Nashville’s “Down By the River,” has garnered critical acclaim.

The Washington Post praises, “(it) showcases his warm voice, which makes these tunes sound even more like yarns spun around a cozy fireplace.”

And iTunes raves, “He’s in terrific voice, and the array of styles and lyrics on the set is startling. McAnally has gone wider and deeper to release what is arguably his crown jewel, which is as fertile as the land and the history of America itself. This is music that comes from the ground and ascends to the heart.”

The Las Vegas Sun explains, “as a wordsmith or tunesmith (he) has tales to tell. He’s born to tell stories, this Mac McAnally.”

And Billboard Magazine states, “as talented as he is — and make no doubt about it, Mac McAnally possesses the kind of gift that more successful artists either dream about or just borrow.”

When he is not picking up trophies, MacAnally is busy filling concert venues with his own solo dates and as a member of Jimmy Buffett’s Coral Reefer Band.