Today's Country Tidbits

When Kenny Chesney's "The Boys of Fall" hit #1 he hit a big milestone. He's had at least one Billboard Country Chart #1 song each year for the past 10 years. Only a handful of artists have done better - he's tied at 10 #1's in 10 years with Merle Haggard and Conway Twitty. Tim McGraw and Dolly Parton topped the charts for 11 years, Loretta Lynn did it for 12, Alabama had 14 straight years of #1's, Ronnie Milsap had 16 and George Strait is the all-time leader with 19 years in a row of #1 songs.

Tonight and tomorrow, the Grand Ole Opry is celebrating "Spirit of Nashville Day." The celebration starts tonight with Dierks Bentley onstage at the Opry, celebrating his 5-year milestone as an Opry member. Tomorrow, there'll be free tours of the Opry House between 10 and 4, but if you can't be in Nashville, check out the Opry Facebook page, where Dierks will host a tour of the facility starting at 10 central time. On the plaza outside of the Opry House, bands will play free shows starting at noon, with The Band Perry taking the stage for a free show at 6pm.

"Farm Aid 25" happens in Wisconsin tomorrow, and Jamey Johnson will join Willie Nelson, John Mellencamp, Neil Young, Kenny Chesney, Dave Matthews and the Randy Rogers Band for the day-long food and music festival. DirectTV will air the show starting at 6pm eastern on channel 101.

Jason Aldean's 5th annual Concert for the Cure will be October 15th in Evansville, IN. He decided to do a benefit concert after the death of a good friend who was only 29. Proceeds benefit Susan G. Komen For The Cure and a few tickets are still available.

Want Toby Keith to call you Tuesday to remind you to pick up his new cd, "Bullets in the Gun?" Text TOBYKEITH to 30103 and he'll be calling you Tuesday.

Did you miss Miranda Lambert on the Today show this week? Here it is:

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And Kenny Chesney, who'll be on the Ellen Degeneres Show Monday, performed "The Boys of Fall" on Good Morning America:

Congratulations to The Band Perry, whose "If I Die Young" has been certified gold. Their debut cd comes out October 12th.

Kenny Chesney is on the Tonight Show with Jay Leno.

The tweet of the day is from Terri Clark: "Thinking I drink far too much coffee. I could thread a sewing machine with it running right now."

Today's Country Tidbits

Names are trickling out - performers at the 44th Annual CMA Awards will include Kenny Chesney, Lady Antebellum, Zac Brown Band, Dierks Bentley, Miranda Lambert, Blake Shelton and Alan Jackson. The night, in case it's not on your calendar already, is November 10th and the show will air on ABC.

For the past 4 years, Rascal Flatts has done an intimate show in Nashville - undisclosed location, beautiful setting, great food and an amazing auction - as a fund-raiser for the Children's Hospital at Vanderbilt. This year, for the first time, fans will have the opportunity to buy tickets and attend. Some of the items being auctioned include a personalized recording studio experience with Jay DeMarcus, a golf outing on a world-class course with Joe Don Rooney and a hunting trip with Gary LeVox. The available 100 tickets go on sale tomorrow.

In more Rascal Flatts news, Jay DeMarcus and his wife Allison have revealed their upcoming daughter's name: Madeline Leigh. She'll be called Maddy and is due in January. Leigh is Allison's middle name, and Madeline is a name they both like, though it has no family ties. Says the impending Dad, "I 'm really excited and can't wait to kiss her face off."

The soundtrack to "Country Strong," Tim McGraw's movie with Gwyneth Paltrow, features Nashville's finest singers, producers and songwriters. Expect this cd to be "Country Strong" on the charts...here's the track list & credits:

Gwyneth Paltrow – “Country Strong”

(Jennifer Hanson/Tony Martin/Mark Nesler) Produced by Byron Gallimore

Chris Young & Patty Loveless – “Love Don’t Let Me Down”

(Marv Green/Troy Olsen) Produced by James Stroud

Sara Evans – “A Little Bit Stronger”

(Luke Laird/Hillary Lindsey/Hillary Scott) Produced by Tony Brown

Garrett Hedlund – “Chances Are”

(Nathan Chapman/Lori McKenna/Liz Rose) Produced by Frank Liddell and Luke Wooten for Carnival Productions

Lee Ann Womack – “Liars Lie”

(Sally Barris/Morgane Hayes/Liz Rose) Produced by Frank Liddell and Chuck Ainlay for Carnival Productions

Ronnie Dunn – “She’s Actin’ Single (I’m Drinkin’ Double)”

(Wayne Carson Thompson) Produced by Ronnie Dunn

Gwyneth Paltrow – “Shake That Thing”

(Mark Irwin/Josh Kear/Chris Tompkins) Produced by Byron Gallimore

Hank Williams, Jr. – “Thirsty”

(Dallas Davidson/Rhett Akins/Brett Eldredge) Produced by Michael Knox

Faith Hill – “Give in to Me”

(Billy Falcon/Rose Falcon/Elisha Hoffman) Produced by Jay Joyce

Trace Adkins – “Timing Is Everything”

(Natalie Hemby/Troy Jones) Produced by Kenny Beard

Leighton Meester – “Words I Couldn’t Say”

(Gregory Becker/Tammi Kidd/Steve Robson) Produced by Nathan Chapman

Gwyneth Paltrow – “Coming Home”

(Bob DiPiero/Tom Douglas/Hillary Lindsey/Troy Verges) Produced by Byron Gallimore

Tim McGraw and Gwyneth Paltrow – “Me and Tennessee”

(Chris Martin) Produced by Byron Gallimore, Tim McGraw, and A. Martin

The album was produced by Randall Poster and Shana Feste, and executive produced by Tim McGraw. It streets October 26th.

Keith Urban is using Facebook to let his fans choose his next cd cover.

Ronnie Dunn is wasting no time - he's in the studio producing a solo album that should be available early next year.

Which red is the right red? Dave Stewart of Lady Antebellum had a tough time answering that question when it came to choosing the shade of red to paint his piano:

During Tuesday's Opry House reopening, stars had a lot to say about the experience:

"Tonight truly feels like having the family home for Christmas Day." — Grand Ole Opry Group Pres. Steve Buchanan

"It's not what we're given, it's what we do with it. And what these people have done with this is nothing less than a miracle. I think that me and Brad's guitars experienced the same sort of Baptismal rebirth that I'd like to think Opry has experienced as well, and the spirit has come back stronger than ever." — Keith Urban on the Opry House renovation

"The flood goes completely unnoticed if this building was not underwater ... This is the most famous export of this city [and] there's a reason it's on 'Welcome to Nashville' road signs." — Brad Paisley

"When the floodwaters were four feet high, Little Jimmy Dickens would have been swimming if he was standing [in the Circle]. I'd have been alright, though." — Trace Adkins

"I feel kind of awkward singing this song tonight because it's all about water. But I'm going to do it anyway." — Josh Turner introducing "All Over Me"

"When I worked at TNN ... during a lunch break I decided to come over here by myself and see if the doors were unlocked. [So] I started creeping on the stage, made sure no one was looking, walked out on the Circle and sang a little bit of a Hank Williams song. I was sure that the Circle police were going to come arrest me and lock me up in a secret Opry jail." — Dierks Bentley

Uncle Kracker embarks on his "It's Good To Be Me" club tour, starting in Athens, GA on November 3rd at the 40 Watt Club.

Yesterday's congrats to the Zac Brown Band need to be doubled - not only are they perched atop the Billboard Country Album chart, they also dominated the Billboard Top 200 chart with sales of over 154,000 copies. Nice!

Happy birthday to Eddie Montgomery of Montgomery Gentry, who turns 46 today, and to Marty Stuart, who turns 51.

The tweet of the day is from Martina McBride: "I just realized that "granola" is a decidedly un-sexy word. There is just nothing sexy about "granola"."

Today's Country Tidbits

Huge congratulations to Blake Shelton. Last night, as the Opry celebrated its homecoming, Blake was invited to become it's newest member. He had just finished singing "Hillbilly Bone" with Opry member Trace Adkins when Trace whipped out his smartphone and showed Blake a tweet from the Grand Ole Opry: "@blakeshelton, you're invited to join the Grand Ole Opry. See you on 10/23/2010!" His reply? "This right here is the highlight of my career." His fiance, Miranda Lambert, whipped out her phone and tweeted, "I am engaged to a member of the Grand Ole Opry!!!! That rocks :)" It was the perfect way for the Opry to invite him, because Blake is nearly as famous for his often-tasteless twitter use as he is for his great country music.

Speaking of Miranda Lambert, her CMT On Tour gig starts tonight in New York with Eric Church and Josh Kelley as her openers.

Yesterday, "Hemingway's Whiskey" came out, and Kenny Chesney says he loves every song on it, but this one takes him to a place he loves. Here he is, talking about "You and Tequila."

What happens when you team up Uncle Kracker and Kid Rock? A happy tune with a great country sound...

Martina McBride will headline the annual Nashville Symphony's "Home for the Holidays" concert on December 10th. The concert will be at Lipscomb University's Allen Arena, and tickets are available now.

Congratulations to the Zac Brown Band, whose "You Get What You Give" is the number one country album this week.

Zac Brown Band is on the Ellen Degeneres show today, and tonight catch Blake Shelton on the Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson.

The tweet of the day is from Martina McBride: "Oh and CONGRATS @blakeshelton. So happy for you. This calls for a drink!"

Today's Country Tidbits

Tonight's the night that the Grand Ole Opry returns to the Opry House, and the stars are lined up to play: Brad Paisley, Keith Urban, Trace Adkins, Dierks Bentley, Martina McBride, Montgomery Gentry, Jason Aldean and the Charlie Daniels Band will all be part of the first show back in the Opry House since the flooding in May. The show will air live on GAC from 9-11 eastern time tonight, and will also stream on GACTV.com and participating artists' websites. Dierks Bentley is so happy to be back on stage at the Grand Ole Opry that he couldn't contain himself...

Alan Jackson and Miranda Lambert will tour Australia this coming March. “I’ve always heard that it’s just beautiful down there,” Alan says. “Everyone I know that’s been has loved it, said the people down there are really nice and welcome people from the U.S. so generously. I know I’ve got a lot of fans down there and I know they like my kind of music, so I think it’ll be a fun trip.” The tour includes a show in Melbourne, one in Sydney and two in Brisbane.

On October 8th, Toby Keith's "Invitation Only" show premiers on CMT. Here's a sneak-peek:

Martina McBride took a tour of a Naval Air Station before a show last week. Enjoy the ride!

Taylor Swift fans have a month to go before they can get "Speak Now," Taylor's new cd, but through the iTunes' countdown program, they can get a song a week starting next Tuesday. The title track will be available then, followed by "Back to December" on the 12th and "Mean" on the 19th. On October 25th, those who've gotten the early songs can just use the "complete my album" option to get the rest of it.

Jack Ingram's acoustic motel series continues with a cover of Katy Perry's song, "Teenage Dream."

Congratulations to Kenny Chesney, who's "The Boys of Fall" is his 20th #1 single.

New music out today includes Kenny Chesney's "Hemingway's Whiskey," and Shawn Camp's "1994."

Today, Kenny Chesney is on Good Morning America and a bunch of country A-listers are on "Country Comes Home: An Opry Live Celebration" on GAC.

The tweet of the day is from Blake Shelton: "I used to hear people talk about the fact that I was getting older... Now days I hardly ever hear them. I win!!!"

Today's Country Tidbits

Kenny Chesney showed up at a pep rally at Celina High School in Texas Friday afternoon. What students thought would be a regular pre-game pump-up turned into Kenny's thank-you note to the team and community for their help with his documentary. The school and team are featured prominently in it.

Next month, a two-volume set of country songs will be released. These are songs you know by heart, but versions you've never heard before. Songs like "Jesus Take the Wheel," "I Hope You Dance" and "The House That Built Me" will be released in their demo versions, just the way your favorite country artists heard them when they decided to record them. "Original Songwriter Demos" is due out on October 19th.

Every artist needs a "hook"...something that sets them apart in the eyes of their industry and to fans. With Trace Adkins, he says there's no song so nasty he won't cut it. Songwriters send their dirty songs to Trace, who is collecting them for a special project he'll release under a fictitous name. He won't tell us the name he'll use, but he has already recorded three songs. One of them ended up on his new cd, "Cowboy's Back in Town" and if you've heard the phrase "bow-chica-bow-wow" you get the "Brown Chicken, Brown Cow" joke.

Travis Tritt is working on a movie role. "Fishers of Men" is shooting in Georgia, using the Cairo county jail for some scenes. The movie is due out in January.

Today, catch Taylor Swift on the Rachel Ray show. Tonight, Kenny Chesney's "Invitation Only" episode debuts on CMT. Randy Houser is on Jimmy KImmel Live and the Zac Brown Band is on the Tonight Show with Jay Leno.

The tweet of the day is from Jason Aldean: "I'm sittin in a deer stand for the first time this year and have not even seen a squirrel, much less a deer."

Today's Country Tidbits

Carrie Underwood's video for "Mama's Song" debuted today on VEVO and is here now...

The full moon makes for strange bedfellows. Yesterday, Jack Ingram checked into a hotel. The person at the front desk gave him a key, and when he used it, he found Joe Nichols on the bed!! OOPS!!

Last night in Nashville, a star-studded guitar pull happened: Kris Kristofferson, Emmylou Harris, Vince Gill, Lionel Ritchie and Taylor Swift. She tweeted, "Just played an acoustic show with Kris Kristofferson, Emmylou Harris, Vince Gill, and Lionel Richie-- it was one of those magical nights..One of those nights I just need to remember every detail of. All of us sitting on stools, taking turns playing songs and telling stories." Hope someone taped it and will make a tv show out of it!

The Grand Ole Opry birthday bash is getting bigger by the minute. The 85th Birthday Bash will be October 8th & 9th at the re-opened Grand Ole Opry House in Nashville, and will feature Taylor Swift, Trace Adkins, Dolly Parton, Crystal Gayle and Charles Osgood of CBS Sunday Morning fame. More stars are expected to be added to the weekend of shows, so you might want to think about a road trip.

Since Kenny Chesney's cd comes out Tuesday, you know he'll be all over tv next week. Here's the scoop: Monday night, his CMT Invitation Only episode premiers. Tuesday morning, catch him on Good Morning America. Then Friday night, he'll be on the Tonight Show with Jay Leno. He's excited about this album because his time in the studio was so much more relaxed than it was for the last five albums. "I would get off the road on a Sunday night, then I would go in the studio on a Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday and try to make a record. The whole time I was on my BlackBerry thinking about what time we had to leave Thursday, talking to my road manager, doing this or doing that. In the meantime, I was sitting there with the guitar players telling them what I'm hearing in my head." At noon today, you can hear the entire cd online.

Gloriana's Cheyenne Kimball is engaged to marry Casey Twist, a singer/songwriter from Arkansas. No date has been announced, but the "Wild at Heart" singer has broken a lot of boys' hearts with this news.

JoDee Messina will sing the National Anthem before the Nashville Women's Running Magazine Half-Marathon, then will run in the event. After a shower and maybe a nap, she'll perform at the Grand Ole Opry tomorrow night. Nice Saturday!

Willie Nelson is on the Late, Late Show with Craig Ferguson tonight. Monday, Randy Houser will be on Jimmy Kimmel Live and Zac Brown Band will be on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno.

The tweet of the day is from Jack Ingram: "Just accidentally lived out many women's fantasy- on accident! Hotel gave me a key and a room. I opened door 2 find Joe Nichols n the bed!!!"

Today's Country Tidbits

Brad Paisley's tour stops tonight, tomorrow and Saturday in Idaho, Utah and Colorado, and opening act Easton Corbin is nervous. It's his last weekend with the tour and Brad hasn't pranked him yet. “I’m thinkin’ since we haven’t seen anything yet, I’d be very surprised if we didn’t see something here in the next week. Whatever happens I’ll take it. Take it like a man, I guess.” Will he retaliate if pranked? “Well, we just got a lot of guys on the bus. There’s a lot of time to think about things, you know. Well one guy was like, “I got a great idea. If he pranks us you know. I got this great idea.” And he told us about it. He’s like, “you can’t tell anybody.” He said, “Just keep it under your hat.” And I’m like alright.”

Lady Antebellum will play a benefit concert in New York City on October 13th for Musicians On Call. The money raised will help bring entertainment to hospital patients. You can buy front row tickets if you hurry...and if you've got a grand each for them.

Shania Twain may not be a new American Idol judge, but she is writing an autobiography that will be out in the spring of next year, plus she's working on a series for Oprah's network, OWN, which will also debut next spring.

Are you an award-show buff? Or maybe just a fan of country music since way back? Then this book's for you. Journalist Deborah Evans Price authored a scrapbook-style history of the CMA Awards, going all the way back to their inception in 1967, and including program replicas, rare photographs, a forward by Kenny Chesney and an afterward by Barbara Mandrell. "The CMA Awards Vault" is available at the official CMA Awards site.

What will Sugarland be for Halloween? Maybe the BeeGees...!

Congrats to Jamey Johnson on having the top-selling country album on the charts this week. His double-disc "The Guitar Song" sold nearly 63,000 copies.

And wall bling for Luke Bryan, who's earned gold certification for his cd, "Doin' My Thing." Carrie Underwood's "Before He Cheats" is triple-platinum for digital downloads and "Undo It" earned digital gold. Miranda Lambert's "The House That Built Me" has also gone gold.

The tweet of the day is from Taylor Swift: "Walked out of my room and my mom says to the hair/make up team, "You guys sure got your work cut out for you this morning, don't you.."