Behind the Scenes: MuzikMafia

PEOPLE exclusive: Go backstage at the CMT Music Awards with country's Big & Rich, Gretchen Wilson and more. By Janice Morris and Beverly Keel

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HIGH ROLLERS

Big & Rich – the guys behind country's rollicking MuzikMafia scene – make like Vegas at the CMT Awards in Nashville on April 11, all the way down to the shiny pants John Rich's grandmother made (right). "We look at ourselves as the country version of Parliament-Funkadelic," Rich tells PEOPLE of the duo's dancer-flanked performance of "Save a Horse (Ride a Cowboy)."