As someone who grew up on Keith Whitley, earning a 2024 CMT Music Awards nomination for his cover of Keith's "Don't Close Your Eyes" is like a full-circle moment for Dylan Scott.

"I won a CMT Award [for Breakthrough Video of the Year] a couple years ago. But to be nominated for a Keith Whitley cover is pretty special to me," Dylan shares. "Like a lot of people in town, Keith Whitley was my hero growing up. I mean, I literally sat on the edge of my bed with his greatest hits album and learned how to play guitar and sing and all that stuff."

"[Keith is], besides my dad, my biggest inspiration in the music," he says. "So, to do a cover of it and be nominated for an award is pretty cool."

Dylan's "Don't Close Your Eyes" cover from CMT Digital Campfire Sessions is up for Digital-First Performance of the Year at the 2024 CMT Music Awards. You can find out if he wins April 7 at 8 p.m. ET on CBS and Paramount+.

While you wait, check out his newly released 26-track deluxe album, Livin' My Best Life (Still), which arrived Friday.

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