Today's Country Tidbits

When Kenny Chesney finished recording his current single, "Live a Little," he knew he had a special song on his hands. “I knew when we were done with this song, I knew where it was gonna fit in my show. I knew...cause this defines our show. This is classic, the two hours summertime time of the year when we strap on our guitars and go out there and let ‘em have it. And this song is gonna fit very well.” His "Going Coastal" tour kicks off next week in West Palm Beach. Kenny will take a minute off the road on April 3rd to attend the ACM Awards in Las Vegas, where he's up for Album of the Year, Video of the Year and Single of the Year.

More entertainers have been announced for the CMA Music Festival June 9-12. Brad Paisley, Zac Brown Band, Easton Corbin, Sara Evans, Josh Turner, Little Big Town, Chris Young, JaneDear Girls and Ashton Shepherd will all play LP Field, along with the previously announced Jason Aldean, Martina McBride, Blake Shelton, Keith Urban, Reba, Rascal Flatts, Miranda Lambert, The Band Perry, Trace Adkins, Darius Rucker and Lady Antebellum. Tickets are on sale now, and you might as well plan to get there early because the CMT Music Awards will be handed out June 8th. More details on that soon.

Miranda Lambert graces the cover of Redbook magazine, on shelves now. There's a bit of the story online, along with some of the photos. When asked how she felt about being called the "Lady Gaga of Nashville," Miranda replied, "I'm not near as brave as her, but I take it as a compliment. She's awesome. I guess it's the fact that I don't give a crap what people think. I just am who I am."

Meanwhile, Miranda's intended, Blake Shelton, is desiring another woman...as a duet partner. He's just worked with Lionel Richie and Brad Paisley on duets for their upcoming albums, and was asked who else he'd like to sing duets with. Said Blake, “Katy Perry…Mostly just like, you know, a video with her… You know, I’ve got a lot of heroes, and several of them I’ve had a chance to record with. I’ve already had the chance to record with the Bellamy Brothers. And of course Trace, I mean believe it or not, he is one of my heroes. I'd love to record with George Strait. Earl Thomas Conlee would be awesome. I named a bunch of guys just then. That’s weird…”

Zac Brown Band is headed across the Atlantic for some shows this summer. The first to be announced are June 22 and 23 in London. They'll play an outdoor show in Hyde Park with the Kings of Leon. Road..., er, airplane trip!

Danny Gokey is auctioning off a pair of glasses he wore on American Idol, with the proceeds going to Sophia's Heart, a Nashville-based charity that helps families re-build after personal tragedies. The glasses are blue and white Gucci frames, and aren't autographed, but you do get a photo of Danny wearing them on Season 8, when he made it into the top 13 on American Idol. As of 6:30 this morning, the top bid was $600.

Trace Adkins has been in three movies in four years, and the latest opens next week. He screened "Lincoln Lawyer" starring Matthew McConaughey Monday in Nashville, telling the audience, “I’m not in this movie very much. I’m in about 45 seconds at the beginning and at the end and then there’s a bunch of crap that happens in the middle that’s not very important. McConaughey takes his shirt off, so there’s that.” The movie opens March 18th.

Well, it happened. Gwyneth Paltrow signed a $900,000 record deal with Atlantic yesterday. Look for more country music from the movie star in the coming months.

The Randy Rogers Band is on the Tonight Show, Garth Brooks is on the Oprah Winfrey Show, Sara Evans is on Good Morning America, Trace Adkins is on the Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson and Charley Pride is on Daytime TV.

Happy birthday to Mickey Gilley, who turns 75 today, and Jimmy Fadden of the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, who is 63.

The tweet of the day is from Sara Evans: "Audrey just told the waitress at flip burger that "she lost her school at tooth today"!!!"

Today's Country Tidbits

Carrie Underwood will remember 2010 as a really good year. First, it's the year she and Mike Fisher married, it's the year she became the face of Olay, and it's also the year that her third studio album, "Play On," gave her three consecutive #1 songs for a career total of 13. She won her fifth Grammy award, was the ACM Entertainer of the Year and collected other hardware from other award shows. Because of a song she wrote for "The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader," she's picked up her first ever Golden Globe nomination. And she co-hosted the CMA Award Show for the third straight year with Brad Paisley, to the rave reviews of their peers and viewers. Can she top 2010 in 2011? Don't count her out - Carrie is a dynamo, and her star just keeps getting brighter.

Neal McCoy has spilled some of the wedding details for Blake and Miranda's upcoming nuptials - he'll be the star performer there! Blake Shelton is in charge of planning the music, and he and Neal McCoy did a show together in Oregon earlier this year. Miranda was there, too, and she and Blake pulled up chairs next to the stage to watch Neal perform. Neal's a big goof, rather like Blake, and they decided that he would be a good fit for their party. Blake asked what he charged to do a private party, because he intended to pay Neal. Neal's having none of that, saying, "Of course you don’t have to pay me, that’ll be an honor to play it, and I’m sure it will be really fun and a who’s-who kind of thing with all the people attending.” The wedding is in May in the hill country of Texas - that's all we know about date and location so far.

According to the Nashville Business Journal, Garth Brooks' nine sold-out shows may have meant as much as $15 million to the local economy. That's over and above the $3-5 million the shows raised for the Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee through ticket and merchandise sales, plus donations. So far, estimates show that a $10 million boost to Nashville businesses happened, but that doesn't include hotel nights booked, which will bring the total way up. Behold, the power of Garth!

From the "who would have thunk it" file, Gwyneth Paltrow and Taylor Swift have become close friends, texting, emailing and talking on the phone often. It was through Gwyneth that Taylor met her current boyfriend, Jake Gyllenhaal, and apparently the two women discuss music, performing, acting and dating. Taylor met Gwyneth through Gwyneth's husband, Chris Martin of the band Coldplay.

Jack Ingram's Acoustic Motel series continues, this week with a live version of his song, "Fool."

The tweet of the day is from Meghan Linsey of Steel Magnolia: "On the plane back to Nashville and someones phone just went off and it was "keep on lovin you"... Haha xo Meg"

Today's Country Tidbits

If you're planning on going to the George Strait, Reba and Lee Ann Womack concert in the new year, and you'll be at a Friday show, George has a message for you: wear red. "Starting this Friday, we are we are going to wear red shirts to every Friday tour date and we encourage fans to do the same. I want to see a building full of red shirts if possible." Through the website redshirtfridays.org, he's asking fans to show support to the troops by wearing red every Friday. George served four years in the Army in the 1970's, and wants the members of the military to know that we remember they're away from home, and in harm's way.

If you missed Jimmy Wayne on the CBS special, "A Home for the Holidays," he's posted his segment on the Project MMH website.

Little Big Town has a holiday message for you...

And Tim McGraw and Gwyneth Paltrow are sharing their duet, "Me and Tennessee" before the movie comes out.

Congratulations to Dolly Parton, who is the recipient of the Lifetime Achievement Award Grammy. Several will be handed out on February 21st, the night before the Grammy Awards show airs live from Los Angeles. Other recipents include The Ramones, The Kingston Trio and Julie Andrews.

And congrats to Lady Antebellum, whose "Need You Now" cd will be triple platinum before we ring in the new year.

Happy birthday tomorrow to Jimmy Buffett, Babara Mandrell, Steve Wariner and of course, the star of the day.

The tweet of the day is from Zac Brown: "Please don't skimp & get the cheap cookies again this year. Santa's still a bit peeved about last year."

Today's Country Tidbits

The LA premier of "Country Strong" was Tuesday night, and all of the stars were there, including co-star Tim McGraw with his wife Faith Hill on his arm. Reba McEntire and her hubby Narvel Blackstock were there to see the show, and Reba gives the movie two thumbs up. After the movie, the country music contingent, Gwyneth Paltrow included, all went out for a late dinner together.

Rascal Flatts year-long celebration of a decade in music concluded last night at the Grand Ole Opry. They performed, and were recognized by Karl Dean, mayor of Nashville, for their great music and good works. He said, in his official Mayoral Proclamation, "This is such a privilege to be here tonight to thank you in person for all that you do for the community and for the children in this city."

When NBC's "Who do You Think You Are?" returns for the second season, Tim McGraw will be one of the people digging into his past and trying to decipher his family tree. The show follows people around the world as they work with historians and research their own roots. Also appearing in the new season, which premiers January 21st, are Ashley Judd, Vanessa Williams, Rosie O'Donnell, Kim Cattrell and Steve Buscemi.

The ratings weren't great but the post-show sales boost was. After the airing of the initial American Country Awards, performers saw a nice sales increase in their product. Easton Corbin's self-titled debut cd saw a 58% sales increase, Josh Turner's "Haywire" was up 68% and Blake Shelton's "Hillbilly Bone" sold 75% more after the show. Nice!

What did boyfriend Jake Gyllenhaal get for Taylor Swift for her birthday? A vintage Fender Grestsch guitar, signed by Chet Atkins. It's reported to have set him back $11,000. Nice!

Pretend you're the Mom of a big country superstar. What on earth do you give him for Christmas? That's Kenny Chesney's Mom's dilemma - whenever she asks him about something she wants to give him, he's already got it. What does he really want? Green beans. Says Kenny, “My mom and grandmother can green beans themselves. I love it, because it’s what I grew up with.” Watch out, Kenny...you're about to be inundated with home-canned beans!

Congrats to The Band Perry, whose debut album has gone platinum, signifying sales of over a million units.

Congratulations to Jamey Johnson. His double-disc cd, "The Guitar Song," has gone gold for sales of half a million units.

And congratulations to Taylor Swift, who has the top selling country music album again this week. She even sold 11% more this week than last, moving 201,000 units.

The tweet of the day is from David Nail: "Can't believe we just landed on this runway, ridiculous in Rochester, NY. Can't be safe at all!"

Today's Country Tidbits

Congratulations to Gwyneth Paltrow, who sang a song nominated for Best Original Song in a Motion Picture. She nails the Bob DiPiero, Tom Douglas, Hillary Lindsey and Troy Verges-written "Coming Home" on the "Country Strong" soundtrack. And congratulations to Carrie Underwood, who is nominated in the same category for "There's A Place For Us," which is on the "Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader" soundtrack. Carrie co-wrote that song with Hillary Lindsey and David Hodges. The awards will be handed out on Sunday, January 16th, 2011, live from Los Angeles on NBC.

So how did Taylor Swift end up spending her 21st birthday? She and her Mom spent the morning at the family's home in Hendersonville, TN, making hors d'oeuvres for the 70 invited guests. They also had sushi catered in. Taylor had thank-you gifts for everyone in her band, and she provided holiday-themed gifts for a Dirty Santa gift exchange. The birthday girl sported a tiara for the evening, and according to one attendee, "Everyone was saying how good the food was and wondering how in the world they had time to do it.”

There's good news and bad news about the autographed Harley that was stolen this summer. It was to have been a fund-raiser for the Susan G. Komen foundation, with it's pretty pink pain job and autographs by Dolly Parton, Tim McGraw, Taylor Swift and Carrie Underwood. Instead, it was stolen. The good news is that the bike has been found and the man who stole it was arrested, but the bad news is that it's damaged, apparently beyond repair. Police working a drug case busted the 45-year-old man for trafficking and found the motorcycle during a search of his property. It has had the seat torn apart, the autographs scratched off and the spokes broken out.

Rascal Flatts has another date with cameras, but this time they're playing themselves. Told you about the HBO mini-series they're filming in 2011 - now there's word that they'll be part of "Ron White's Celebrity Salute to the Troops" on February 15th at the Grand Ole Opry House. That show will be filmed for use on CMT, and the proceeds from the show benefit the Armed Forces Foundation. Tickets go on sale this Friday morning at Ticketmaster.com

Tim McGraw won't be re-signing with Curb Records, saying, “It's a long time coming. Twenty years with any label, I think, is too much, so unless you're really having a great relationship. I think it's a good time for me to go out and see what's out there for me."

Trace Adkins wants you in his mobile fan club. If you'd like to be in the know on the go, text traceadkins to 30103. You'll get a special message from Trace on Christmas day.

Billboard's Year End Country Chart is out, listing the top 10 hot country songs of the year. Lee Brice's "Love Like Crazy" ended up spending 55 weeks on the Billboard chart, more than any other country song. The previous record-holder was Eddy Arnold's "Bouquet of Roses," which spent 54 weeks on the chart. Here's Billboard's list for 2010:

1. “Love Like Crazy” – Lee Brice

2. “Rain Is A Good Thing” – Luke Bryan

3. “Why Don’t We Just Dance” – Josh Turner

4. “All Over Me” – Josh Turner

5. “The Man I Want To Be” – Chris Young

6. “Roll With It” – Easton Corbin

7. “Gimmie The Girl” – Joe Nichols

8. “All About Tonight” – Blake Shelton

9. “Come Back Song” – Darius Rucker

10. “She Won’t Be Lonely Long” – Clay Walker

Congratulations to Rascal Flatts, whose "Why Wait" is number one for the second week in a row.

Happy anniversary to Alan and Denise Jackson, who married on this day in 1979.

The Band Perry is on The View today.

The tweet of the day is from James Otto: "Finally with my babies today. I don't think Ava knew who I was for the first thirty minutes. This daddy being gone stuff is tough."