Randy Houser and his wife Jessa welcomed their first child earlier this year and Randy says that fatherhood is changing him as a man, as a songwriter and as a performer: “I’m not gonna be a sippy cup country kinda guy, but there’s things I won’t say—I mean, I’m not out writing songs about ‘I’m going to pick up 15 women and we’re gonna get naked in the hot tub’ you know—it’s not gonna be any of that crap anymore!” Uh –huh – and you know that somewhere, someone’s got a bet down on when Randy Houser will include the words “sippy cup” in a song!

The names are being released, though we know it’s going to be a stellar line-up. Brad Paisley and Carrie Underwood are hosting the CMA Awards on November first, and the first batch of performers announced are Jason Aldean, Dierks Bentley, Kelly Clarkson and Little Big Town. Tickets go on sale at Ticketmaster outlets Saturday at 11am Eastern time.

Here’s something else we know – Reba won’t be co-hosting the ACM Awards in 2013. She’s bowed out of the role she’s had for 13 years, officially passing the torch to Blake Shelton, her co-host for the past two years. How does Blake feel about hosting for as many years as Reba has? “I can’t imagine doing it as long as Reba—the two I’ve done have taken years off my life!” He does also say, “I’ll be honest with you, I have as much fun hosting that thing as I do sittin’ in the audience and watching it and laughing along with whoever’s doing it, but it is fun!”

Lady Antebellum is touring Australia right now and have added a TV appearance to their itinerary: they’ll appear on the hit show, “X-Factor” for the top 10 finalist episode, set to air next week. They’ll be playing shows through Wednesday, when they wrap up the tour at the iconic Sydney Opera House.

Little Big Town tops the Billboard Country album chart with their new release, “Tornado.” That’s two weeks running that their sales have dominated country music, and they’re pleased with the success their unconventional recording method is reaping. Usually artists use session musicians, not their road band, when they record an album, but not this time. Phillip Sweet explains, “We would come in at night and record – and kind of like a live show with our band. We would be a little loose, having a good time – maybe have eaten a little dinner together. And just go in there and make music, hit record and that’s what happened.” Apparently magic happened, as they scored their first #1 song with the album’s first single, “Pontoon.”
Happy birthday to Karen Fairchild of Little Big Town.