Today's Country Tidbits

If you watch "The Voice" on NBC then you've noticed that the coaches sometimes dig each other pretty hard. Blake Shelton says when the cameras are off, so are the gloves: “I think that’s what’s helping the show as much as anything is that we do all get along and we’re not afraid to pop off to each other on TV because we know that as soon as it’s commercial break, we’re gonna high five and laugh about it.”

Martina McBride's song, "I'm Gonna Love You Through It," was something she found and recorded before her husband John heard it. According to Martina, “I played him the demo and he said ‘that’s what I would say to you, that’s what I would want to say to you’ and I thought wow I mean, that’s what I would want to hear so it’s – it’s really at the core of it it’s just about I will stick with you no matter what. The song is obviously written specifically about cancer but it can be – really applied to anything in life.”

Justin Moore's new song, "Til My Last Day," is wife-approved. It's Kate's favorite ballad, and after seeing her reaction to it, he knew he had to record it: “It’s my wife’s favorite song on the record. We all mess up, we’re all idiots, we’re guys. But this song’s about working on it at least and putting forth the effort to try to be who it is that you know you want to be for your girlfriend, wife, etc. And uh – it’s a lot of fun to play live. It’s totally different than anything we’ve ever done.”

The 2012 Tim Pan South Songwriters Festival in Nashville is always a big dang deal, and this year, it includes Dierks Bentley and Luke Bryan as performers. The event runs March 27th through 31st at 10 different clubs around town, including the Bluebird and Douglas Corner Cafe. Yes, you can go - check out details on the Nashville Songwriters Association International website.

http://www.tinpansouth.com

On American Idol this year, when a contestant is eliminated, Scotty McCreery will sing them off the show. The season 10 winner has recorded a version of Tim McGraw's "Please Remember Me," and that will play as the eliminated contestant sees his or her AI life on the screen. Scotty says that meeting Tim was one of the highlights of his American Idol experience: “It was great picking his brain and getting the wisdom he has from over the years. It was really a special moment for me. He is really a genuine nice guy.”

Getting interviewed about going into the Country Music Hall of Fame, Garth Brooks dropped a bombshell: he almost wasn't Garth Brooks! “I got signed with Capitol Records in ’87, only to be told I was gonna have to change my name because they had a solo artist named Kix Brooks that was getting ready to launch his first record. I would spend the next six months driving through Arkansas and Kansas looking at just town names trying to figure out what my last name was gonna be. Kix’s record deal did not work out for Capitol, and so at the very last moment I got to keep my name.” Garth talked about how happy he was that Kix went on to redefine the term duet in country music.

We have to wait over a month to see it, but Trisha Yearwood's new cooking show, "Trisha's Southern Kitchen" debuts on April 13th on the Food Network.

Lauren Alaina is performing on American Idol tonight.

The tweet of the day is from Rosanne Cash: "Trying to lose a couple pounds before I go to Barcelona so I can eat my weight in tapas. Who's with me on this?"

Today's Country Tidbits

Jason Aldean had a little big-boy fun this week as he suited up with the Atlanta Braves at spring training in Florida. The day of thrills and drills was filmed for an episode of GAC's "Day Jobs," where stars go back and do the jobs they had before they hit it big. Jason was having none of going back to being a Pepsi delivery man, saying he's worked too hard to put that kind of heavy labor behind him. Instead, he got to do his dream job - play with the Atlanta Braves. The Macon native, a life-long Braves fan, got a jersey with his name on it and signed autographs right next to Chipper Jones, who said about Jason's baseball skills, “Not bad. He’s a little more athletic than we’re used to seeing from our normal celebs.’’

Dr. Suess' The Lorax opens today, with Taylor Swift voicing the animated character of Audrey. Taylor has always love Dr. Suess because, “One of the reasons I’ve been so drawn to Dr. Suess is the rhyming. I’ve always had this just obsession with rhyming. Um...And so I grew up and became a songwriter and now I get to rhyme stuff all the time.” What's the moral of the story? “The message of The Lorax is you don’t know what you have until it’s gone. Appreciate what you have while you have it. Appreciate the beauty in what’s there right now and try to preserve it for tomorrow.” The animated movie is expected to win at the box office this weekend.

Kenny Chesney's next album will be out June 19th. The project doesn't have a name yet.

Scotty McCreery pranked Brad Paisley, and now he's a little bit scared of retaliation. What did he do? Scotty found out that Brad keeps a second hat backstage, so when he gives the first one to a fan he can go get the second one to wear for the rest of the show. Scotty swiped the the spare, replacing it with an extra-small Paisley tour t-shirt. Then he painted a goatee on himself, borrowed a guitar and went onstage while Brad was singing "Celebrity," making fun of his mannerisms and making Brad laugh with his antics. Check out this fan video of the fun...

Heads up, American Idol fans - Lauren Alaina will be on the show next Thursday. She says she has a lot of empathy for the contestants, remembering, “On the show you wake up and you don’t really know what you’re doing for the day. Like you just – you get on a bus and you go to the studio or wherever you need to go and they tell you whether or not you need to be camera ready. If you need to be camera ready you know that you’re either gonna meet someone really important or you’re gonna have to do an interview of some kind. And that’s literally like your everyday, you have no idea what’s up ahead.”

Reba is featured in tonight's episode of "Who Do You Think You Are?" and according to the show's producers, found out some shocking things about her ancestors. But is who you are nature or nurture? Here's what Reba thinks: “Things that happen to me in my childhood, growing up on a ranch, are totally instilled in me to the marrow of my bones and I don’t think I’ll ever be able to get away from it.” The show airs tonight at 8pm Eastern on NBC. Sunday night, Reba is featured on Oprah's Master Class, discussing her career and her childhood. That show airs on the OWN network Sunday night.

Happy birthday to Larry Stewart of Restless Hearts, who is 53 today, Brett Warren of The Warren Brothers, who is 41 tomorrow, and to singer/songwriter Jason Sellers, who turns 41 on Sunday.

The tweet of the day is from Kix Brooks: "Does anybody care about the Monkeys? Yeah I do! First concert - RIP Davey!"

Today's Country Tidbits

Last year when Taylor Swift played a concert in Detroit, she met a couple at her backstage T-party. Both Taylor and her mom were enchanted by how happy Jason and Kelli were, and what a cute couple they made. Taylor's mom told them, “Next time I see you two, you’d better be engaged!” Fast-forward to last week, when Taylor's tour once again took her to Detroit, and once again she and her mom saw Jason and Kelli at the backstage party. The four of them chatted for a minute, catching up, and suddenly Jason pulled a ring out of his pocket and asked Kelli to marry him. Taylor's mom was shocked and delighted, and Taylor told Jason “Get down on your knee!” to ensure a picture-perfect proposal. Kelli said "yes" of course. Wonder if they'll ask Taylor to sing at the wedding?

Congratulations to Carrie Underwood, who has earned an Inspirational Country Music Award nomination. "Mama's Song" is up for Mainstream Inspirational Country Song of the Year, and of the song she wrote for her mother, Carol, Carrie says, “The song was meant in the…in the beginning to kind of be…it was taking the form of, like, a wedding song. Like, this mom has to let go and give her daughter away to another person to take care of. That’s an amazing, sad, and happy time in somebody’s life.” Also nominated in the same category are Lady Antebellum's "Hello World," Ronnie Dunn's "Bleed Red," Chris Young's "Voices" and Rascal Flatts' "I Won't Let Go." The awards will be handed out October 28th in Nashville.

Lauren Alaina and Scotty McCreery are on the American Idol tour until September 10th. As both are still technically high-school students, how will this affect their schooling? According to Scotty, “Well, I’ll be doing school on the road for a while. My mom’s actually, she’s a certified teacher K-12, so she’s going to be with me on the road. She ain’t going to cut me no slack, I can guarantee you that.” And Idol runner-up Lauren Alaina will get her schooling on the road, too, but wants to stay connected to classmates, saying, “I’m still enlisted as a student at my school, so I’ll still be able to attend prom and graduate with my school, I mean my classmates, not this year, but the next, ‘cause I’m going to be a junior this year.”

Reba is a proud mom, busting buttons over her son Shelby's passion for racing. But to hear her tell it, she was blind-sided by his desire to dedicate his life to speed...

Reba McEntire on WhoSay

Last weekend in Indiana, Keith Urban brought tourmate Jake Owen onstage to duet on John Mellencamp's "Jack & Diane."

Also last week, but in Los Angeles, Sugarland and tourmate Sara Barielles teamed up on Dexy's Midnight Runners' "Come on Eileen."

Tickets for the 45th Annual CMA Awards go on sale August 31st at 11am Eastern time for CMA members. If there are tickets left after the member pre-sale, tickets to the public will go on sale September 17th for the November 9th telecast.

Be happy for Brandon Green of Mississippi, not jealous. He won Guitar Center's "Your Next Record with Keith Urban," meaning he gets an opening slot on the Get Closer 2011 World Tour when it stops in Knoxville on the 12th of this month, $20,000 in endorsements and music gear from Gibson, D'addario, Evans and Planet Waves.

Did you miss Trace Adkins on the Today show yesterday? Here you go...

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Trace Adkins is on Fox & Friends this morning.

The tweet of the day is from Taylor Swift: "It was my first time seeing the Lincoln Memorial up close (missed the school trip in 8th grade cause I had a show)"