A Thousand Horses are nominated for their first-ever ACM Award, for New Vocal Duo or Group of the Year, at the upcoming 2016 ceremony. The band enjoyed a stellar year -- including having their debut single, "Smoke," land at the top of the charts and touring with Darius Rucker and Jason Aldean -- but they still never imagined that they'd be recognized for their accomplishments with an ACM Awards nod.

"We all have the same story: We woke up to text messages that morning," lead singer Michael Hobby tells The Boot. "My buddy texted me and was like, ‘Hey, man, congratulations.’ I was like, ‘For what?’ He said, ‘Your ACM nomination.’ I said, ‘You’ve got to be kidding me.’"

Recalls band member Zach Brown, "When I woke up and saw 20 text messages, I thought, ‘It’s either something really good or something bad.'"

"We were all trying to Google it," guitarist Bill Satcher adds.

The ACM Awards nod, along with their other recent successes, prove to A Thousand Horses that their hard work is finally paying off.

"People know our songs now, which is cool," Graham DeLoach notes. "We spent so many years playing, and people didn’t really know our music. They knew "Smoke," but now people know the whole album."

A Thousand Horses share the New Vocal Duo or Group of the Year category with the Brothers Osborne, Maddie & Tae, Old Dominion and Parmalee.

The 2016 ACM Awards will air live from the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nev., on April 3, at 8PM ET on CBS.

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