NASHVILLE, Tennessee (AP) — Eric Church might have felt a little like an outsider in country music before. But no more. He has won the CMA Award for album of the year for his project “Chief.” And in doing so, Church feels he has finally found a place among his country peers.

In his acceptance remarks, Church said he had spent much of his career wondering where he fit in, musically. But with his win, he says now he has somewhere to hang his hat. Church was the leading nominee going into last night’s awards ceremony. But says he didn’t expect to win — in part because some country fans felt his music had too much of a rock feel to be taken seriously by country music fans.