Today is 9/9/09. For everyone who turns 9 today, it's the ultimate champagne birthday. For music fans, it's finally the day to hear all of the Beatles' songs in digital quality.

Scores of engineers and producers have been slaving for years (ok, perhaps a little bit of exaggeration there!) to digitally re-master every Beatles song, and the result is being released today.

I've heard the resulting tracks, and can tell you the quality is amazing, and it's fun to hear instruments pop to the forefront when they were barely noticeable on the original recordings. If you liked the Beatles, you'll love what's been done to them.

The Beatles were influenced by country music, and country music returned the favor. Listening to the wonderful songs written by John and Paul, it's easy to hear the lyrical twists that have been a staple of country music forever. And listening to a lot of today's best country artists, it's easy to hear the musical and lyrical influences they picked up from the Beatles.

It's a great day for music, and a great day to pay homage to the cross-pollination that the best in music always produce.