Lainey Wilson, Luke Bryan, and Peyton Manning Reveal Why the 2024 CMA Awards Will Be a ‘Family Reunion’ (Exclusive)

Country music’s biggest night is set to feature a whole lot of laughs thanks to the hosting trio of Luke Bryan, Peyton Manning and Lainey Wilson.

With only a week left until the 2024 CMA Awards take place live from Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena, PEOPLE can exclusively premiere a featurette video of veteran hosts Bryan and Manning bonding with first-time host Wilson.

The video begins with the group sharing a few laughs as they pose for photos, and Bryan explains, “This is our first day together, so we’re starting to kind of feel the energy that we’re going to be able to bring to the stage the night of the CMA Awards.”

Manning then jokes that Wilson – who made history at last year’s ceremony when she became the only artist to ever lead nominations in her first two times on the ballot —  “spent as much time on stage” as him and Bryan, making her new hosting duties rightfully “fitting.”

“I feel like these guys, they don’t take themselves too serious, and that’s what I want. I want us just to get up there and have fun and give each other a hard time,” says Wilson, who took home the top prize of entertainer of the year in 2023.

After Manning adds that it is a “thrill” to be part of the event, being a “huge country music fan,” Bryan reveals his favorite part of participating as a host.

“You’re sitting on the front row as an artist in the awards and hopefully winning, and then to be up there on stage, kind of being the master of ceremony, it’s an amazing hill to climb,” he says.

Wilson adds that the event has become a “country music family reunion.”

“A lot of these people that are nominated and winning, they’re people who have helped me along the way. It’s just a big time to celebrate each other,” she says.

The 58th Annual CMA Awards nominees include Morgan Wallen, who leads the pack with seven nods, Chris Stapleton and Cody Johnson, who both earned five nominations, and Wilson and Post Malone, who each scored four nominations.

In addition to hosting, Wilson and Bryan are also part of an extensive list of performers that includes Dierks Bentley, Sierra Hull, Bronwyn Keith-Hynes, Ashley McBryde, Post Malone, Shaboozey, Chris Stapleton, Teddy Swims, Thomas Rhett, and Molly Tuttle.

The 58th Annual CMA Awards airs on ABC on Wednesday, Nov. 20, at 8 p.m. ET.