"I love country music. I would go nowhere else," CMA new artist of the year Brett Eldredge said after picking up his trophy on Wednesday night (Nov. 5) in Nashville.

He said other things, too, but the "I would go nowhere else" really made my heart happy.

I guess because any CMA Award, in my opinion, should go to someone who is in this genre on purpose and plans to stay.

"I'm so glad that country music has let me call it home," Eldredge added. "That's where my home is, and that's what I love."

And while he was appreciative of the award itself when he came backstage to talk with reporters -- saying he was still in shock and barely remembered what he'd said onstage -- he refused to let anyone think he deserved all the credit.

"It's such an amazing feeling, and it's really cool to be able to share it with all these people that carried me along the way and helped me through when it seemed like it was never going to happen," he said of his family and his team. "They helped make sure that it did. They always had my back."

But before he said any of that, Eldredge had to find his mom. He spent the first few minutes of his time in the pressroom searching for her.

"I bought my mom, and I've been looking for her," he explained. "I haven't seen my mom yet since we won."

When he finally found her, he shouted, "Mom!"

I'm sure she was so proud of him just for winning but possibly even more so because he talked about how it has been her Sunday dinners that keep him grounded.

"It's really easy to get lost trying to figure out where you're going when you're jumping on the bus," Eldredge said. "But it's the times when I come home on Sundays and go have dinner with my family -- and my mom cooks -- that I get to soak in the people that mean the most to me."

View complete coverage from the 48th annual CMA Awards.