CMA Awards Show Goes ‘Back To The Future’

(AP) - You can say the Country Music Association Awards are going back to the future.

One of the ways they are promoting the music and the artists who are up for awards is a combination of retro audio and current technology. To promote Blake Shelton's work, the CMAs have mailed a virtual record player. It includes a vinyl copy of Shelton's "Based on a True Story" album. If you scan a code with your cell phone and place the phone on the record, a digital arm appears that lets you "play" the record. You can even move the tonearm back and forth, just like on an old-school record player. (For you younger folks, that's how your parents or grandparents used to listen to music back in the day).

Other ways the CMAs are trying to draw attention to next week's awards ceremony include a marching band and tour books sent to voters.

CMAs are next Wednesday.