Today's Country Tidbits

A few of the ACM Awards were already announced. There are major awards that won't be televised, so the ACM lets the cat out of the bag a bit early. Vince Gill was given the Career Achievement Award, Kenny Chesney won the Crystal Milestone Award, and Alan Jackson was honored with the Jim Reeves International Award. Alan says that being true to his kind of country helped him earn the award: “I’m just lucky to still be here I think and be able to make the kind of music I like to make – still go out there and sell a few tickets and enjoy it. The music is still what I like and being able to create a song that affects people.” They'll all be feted on September 24th in Nashville at the 6th Annual ACM Honors.

Chris Young was bowled over by one of his ACM nominations. Single of the Year didn't shock him, but Male Vocalist of the Year sure did: “That one kind of surprised me. I wasn’t expecting that this year at least. You know, obviously you always hope to get nominated in all the categories, but that’s a really big one. To be nominated, to be in that category is huge.” He's up against Blake Shelton, Brad Paisley, Jason Aldean and Kenny Chesney. The winner will be announced April first on CBS.

Carrie Underwood has discovered Twitter. Thanks to hubby Mike Fisher, who long ago realized it was a great way to connect with his fans, Carrie is now a convert, with over 140,000 followers already. She explains, “I’ve always I guess been intrigued by it but I’ve always been scared of it as well. I think it’s important that I – I don’t know you see people get themselves in trouble so. We definitely use it as a tool to let people be able to know what I’m up to.” Find her @carrieunderwood

Neal McCoy's new album, Twelve, is in stores. It was produced by Blake Shelton and Miranda Lambert, but Neal says it was an uphill battle to get Blake to take on the project. According to Neal, “He cussed me out a couple of times on text when I asked him, ‘would you be interested in producing an album on me?’ Well, he just texted me back a bunch of cuss words. So I texted him back, and he texted me back a bunch of cuss words. So I finally called him and said, ‘I don’t know what kind of answer this is you’re giving me.’ And then he said, ‘You’re not serious…’ And I said, ‘No, I’m serious!’”

If you run into Blake Shelton and Adam Levine, don't ask them about their "bromance." Adam says he'd like to kill that term, and Blake jokes that he'd like to make out with Adam. It's no secret that all of The Voice coaches enjoy each other's company, hanging out in each other's LA houses when filming of the show ends each day.

BamaJam is getting bigger. Already announced are Zac Brown Band, Alan Jackson and Kid Rock. Added to that list are Willie Nelson, Uncle Kracker and Needtobreathe, the group that opened for Taylor Swift last year. BamaJam 2012 is June 14-16 in Enterprise, Alabama, and tickets are available now.

Don Williams is readying a new album, the first new one in eight years. He's lined up some heavy hitters to help him on the project: Keith Urban, Vince Gill and Alison Krauss will pitch in on "And So It Goes" which will be out this summer.

Luke Bryan's "Tailgates and Tanlines" is back on top of the charts, due in part to his new single, "Drunk on You." About the song, Luke says, “It’s a deeper deal too than just a party. I mean, I think what’s important to be able to do those fun songs but then to hit fans with a big thought song that really gets ‘em.”

Road trip alert - Collin Raye is shooting a live concert DVD this Saturday night at the Marina Civic Center in Panama City, Florida.

One of Miranda Lambert's critters has gone missing from Miranda's Oklahoma property. Her name is Virginia, and Miranda says she misses her a lot. There's a reward for her return.

The tweet of the day is from Miranda Lambert: "Goodnight from me and the 3 dogs in my bed. And no, Blake isn't one of em. :)"

Today's Country Tidbits

Jason Aldean is the featured performer at tonight's State Farm Home Run Derby, part of Major League Baseball's 2011 All Star Week. He took part in the Legends & Celebrity Softball Game yesterday, which will air right after the home run derby tonight. This is sort of a dream come true for him, being part of the All-Star celebrations. He used to dream of being a pro baseball player, and even went to college on a baseball scholarship. Who's his favorite team? The Braves.

This morning at 11am Eastern, two of country's biggest superstars will make what the CMA calls a "major announcement" via the CMA's Facebook page. No word on who the stars might be or what their announcement is, but it's sure to be something about the 45th Annual CMA Awards, scheduled to be handed out on November 9th at Bridgestone Arena.

Tim McGraw is hobbling around in a cast onstage because he's broken a bone in his foot. According to a post on his Facebook page, Tim said, “FOOTBALL, BASEBALL, car wrecks, bar fights, bullridin'...and this is the first broken bone I've ever had!” No details on how it happened, but it won't keep him from performing.

Congratulations to Justin Moore and his wife Kate, who are expecting their second daughter in November. Their first daughter, Ella Kole, was born in February of last year.

Taylor Swift missed out on a whole week of shows, rescheduling the sold-out Charlotte and Atlanta shows until this fall. Bronchitis has laid her voice low and her doctor said she has to rest. The tour resumes in Montreal on July 14th.

Miranda Lambert announced her next album plans while on Good Morning America Friday. It'll be out on November first, will be called "Four the Record" and she hopes to record a duet with hubby Blake Shelton for the project. And in more Miranda music news, her "girl group" Pistol Annies will release their debut cd featuring "Hell on Heels" August 23rd.

Earlier this year, Neal McCoy added "wedding singer" to his resume, when he was the featured entertainment at Blake Shelton and Miranda Lambert's shindig. Now, he can add the title "Grandpa" to his list of accomplishments. Neal's daughter Miki and her husband Trevor welcomed their first child and Neal's first grandchild into the world on July 7th. Titan McCoy Strong was 7 pounds, 6 ounces and 21 inches long, and he and his mama are both doing great.

New music out tomorrow includes Blake Shelton's "Red River Blue," Ashton Shepherd's "Where Country Grows" and Chris Young's "Neon." Chris will celebrate the release by playing live on Good Morning America tomorrow.

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"