Today's Country Tidbits

Trace Adkins spent some time under anesthesia yesterday, having kidney stones pulverized. According to an afternoon tweet, Trace said "In recovery. They said that I required an unusually large stint and that it is freakishly long. Thank you Lord!"

Alan Jackson broke the all-time attendance record at the San Antonio Rodeo last week, playing to 17,000 fans. Alan understands that his fans are extra-special: “You just can’t say enough about country music fans. At least mine, for anyway I’ve had fans who have to have a walker to get to the show and some who have to have their momma carry them there. I’ve got this wide range of fans and they’ll be doctors and farmers, you know, it’s just amazing.”

Oh, to be in Texas when the stars go black. In Austin on April 20th, Nashville stars converge for "We Walk the Line: A Celebration of the Music of Johnny Cash." Kenny Chesney, Ronnie Dunn, Jamey Johnson, Kris Kristofferson, Shooter Jennings, Lucinda Williams, Amy Lee and Chris Cornell will honor the man in black in the Austin City Limits theatre. The show is a celebration of what would have been Johnny Cash's 80th birthday.

This week in Kentucky, Miranda Lambert was joined on stage by her friends from Pistol Annies, Angaleena Presley and Ashley Monroe. They ripped into Hell on Heels, and the audience was right there with them, word for word.

Jake Owen says fans are really reacting to his new song, "Alone With You." “It’s this song that’s got this passion to it of uh, don’t put your lips up to my lips and tell me you can’t stay and, and don’t tease me, like don’t mess with my mind. I’ve had girls, girls totally try to pull that on me before.” He's in the hot seat tomorrow, for sure, as he visits the Chelsea Lately show.

Craig Morgan's new album, "This Ole Boy," is out this week. It's a different kind of title - what does it mean to Craig? “I felt like that title, ‘This Ole Boy,’ encompasses who I am and who we are as a people...country people. I tell people, you know, I’m not a redneck, I’m not a hillbilly, I’m not a cowboy. Sometimes, those titles can come with a negative feel. ‘This Ole Boy’ don’t. It feels good.”

Little Big Town will host a Livestream chat at 6:45 Eastern this evening, talking with fans about anything and everything. When the chat is over, the work begins: LBT is in the studio, recording their next album and fans can stay on the stream and see how it's done.

Taylor Swift - hip-hop? Sounds like she and hip-hop artist B.o.B. are collaborating on a song on his next album. No one will confirm or deny the rumors, but they're pretty persistent. The album is due out in May, so we'll know for sure before then.

It's a boy for Jay and Alison DeMarcus, who are expecing their second child in early August. According to Daddy Jay, "Whew!!! Gonna have a house full!"

Shania Twain swung by the Caesars Palace in Las Vegas to see where she and her band would be hanging out for a couple of years. Starting this December, she's got a two-year run in the main theatre at Caesars and she wanted to check out the sound system and the dressing rooms. According to someone on her staff, she's delighted with the digs for the "Shania: Still the One" show.

If you're a David Nail fan and could use a little R & R, head to Florida - he plays Davie tomorrow night, Bradenton Friday and Ft. Walton Beach on Saturday.

The tweet of the day is a series of tweets from Brad Paisley, who was suggesting bad ideas for sequel songs: "Where the streets have new names." "Hot for Professor." "Captive Bird." "Extended-stay Hotel California."

Today's Country Tidbits

Jason Aldean's My Kinda Party tour is on hiatus while he celebrates his birthday. He's 35 today, and his star has never been brighter. He's surrounded by band mates and crew that have been with him for the ride, and he's pretty philosophical about them: “Those guys are probably the only ones that really understand it, you know, or that, that really get it. I think family a lot of times, they, don’t see the everyday stuff. They just kind of, all of a sudden notice that you’re getting bigger and they’re proud of you obviously.”

Early yesterday morning on Music Row in Nashville, The Band Perry and The Henningsens celebrated their co-written song, "All Your Life." The song hit the top of the charts, and Kimberly, Reid and Neil had a couple of reasons to be proud: “One way this one is different, it was a two-week #1, which was a first for us. You know, ‘If I Die Young’ was a one week. But, yeah it’s pretty amazing. It was quite a week, I’ll tell ya. And to share it with our friends The Henningsens is also a brand new experience, and we were really, really thrilled and so proud for them.” They've spent time in the studio, recording their new album and spent the rest of yesterday in a songwriting session with Sheryl Crow.

Keith Urban tops the charts again this week with his song, "You Gonna Fly" and it looks like the follow-up, "For You," will be just as strong. He wrote it for the movie "Act of Valor" and the video is right here...

Get More: For You, Keith Urban, Keith Urban Videos

Time Magazine has recognized Toby Keith's I Love This Bar & Grill restaurants as the #2 celebrity-owned restaurant. Toby's secret to success? “You just try to keep something very consistent, keep the food on top and serve all the Grade A stuff in the adult beverage world and let the people decide.” Gladys Knight topped the list for her Chicken & Waffle soul food outlets.

We don't usually announce Google enhancements here, but this one's important: when you search for your favorite music artist, a short list of upcoming concerts and links to purchase tickets shows up. Score!

Happy birthday to Jason Aldean, who turns 35 today.

Kenny Chesney is on the Jimmy Fallon show tonight, performing "I'm On Fire" in the show's Bruce Springsteen tribute. A little birdie told me that the band behind Kenny will be none other than Bruce Springsteen's E Street Band. DVR alert!

The tweet of the day is from Blake Shelton: "I think I've had birthday since this race started! Upside @Miranda_Lambert has had a full night of sleep and is now up and watching again!!"

Today's Country Tidbits

Jason Aldean is on the 2012 My Kinda Party tour and is not just selling out arenas, he's breaking records: “You know, somebody with the venue, he’ll come up to us and he’s like, ‘Hey, you broke Elvis’ record tonight,’ and stuff like that. You know, anytime you hear that, it’s pretty cool...broke a Garth record not too long ago...broke a Bon Jovi record. So, it’s pretty crazy.”

Told you Friday about the sister of cancer patient Kevin McGuire putting up a Facebook page to convince Taylor Swift to be Kevin's prom date. Well, in true Taylor fashion, she's posted on her Facebook wall: “Kevin, I'm so sorry but I won't be able to make it to your prom. But I was wondering, the ACM Awards are coming up.. Would you be my date?” Kevin is hospitalized, but told reporters that he has cancer, it doesn't have him, and he's delighted to be Taylor's date.

The movie Act of Valor opened this past weekend, and Keith Urban's song "For You" was not just a hit with audience, it was a hit with the SEALS who were part of the movie. According to Keith, “For me, and I said this to some of the SEAL guys too, because they were saying, ‘Thank you so much for the song and being involved in the film’ – and I’d like to say it’s my family’s tiny little way of saying ‘thank you.’ It’s really extraordinary what they do. And I think this film in particularly when people see it will have a new insight as to what they do.”

The CMA Songwriter Series took Bob DiPiero, Clint Black and Bill Anderson to Ireland and the UK for a tour, but all didn't go as planned. A driver ran into the back of the tour bus, causing no injuries but delaying the concert for half an hour. According to Bill Anderson, “This accident happened when we were all on a Gibson bus – but it turned out to only be a Fender-bender – thank goodness!”

Condolences to Shawna and Keifer Thompson on the death of Shawna's father. He lost his battle with cancer last week, and he was surrounded by his family when he passed.

Yesterday, Johnny Cash would have been 80. And yesterday, Ronnie Dunn became a grandpa. Huxton "Huck" Wayne Dunn was born to Ronnie's son Jesse and his wife. All involved are doing great.

Lyle Lovett is on the David Letterman Show tonight.

The tweet of the day is from Joe Don Rooney: "It's a clear blue sky gorgeous day in Nash & Jag just walked outside w me & said hey dad it's a blue-tiful day! Lol"

Today's Country Tidbits

The down side to being a big star is that you can be the target of guilt trips - some of which put you in a no-win situation. That's the case with Taylor Swift right now, as the sister of Kevin McGuire is pushing to have Taylor be Kevin's date to his prom. Kevin was treated for leukemia at the age of 13, beat it, but now it's back. Saying nothing brightens his day more than Taylor Swift, she's put up a Facebook page trying to convince Taylor to go to the prom with Kevin.

Keith Urban is having a wonderful time being a coach on the Australian version of "The Voice." What's his favorite part of the show? “We live in such a visual age, you know, but we still, we don’t buy videos we buy records so what does it matter what an artist looks like. What about, how about how they sound and how does their voice affect me and how does that song affect me. I love that this show is the first one that I have seen that basically go on just the sound of the voice first.”

Miranda Lambert wrote "Airstream Song" for her "Revolution" album, and became so intrigued by them that she owns three. One is along for the ride on her "On Fire" tour, one is fitted out as a bar so she and friends can hang out there when they visit her house, and one is apparently a spare. Hopefully Blake will discourage her if she decides to write a song about a jumbo jet...

Lee Brice is scaling the charts with his new song, "A Woman Like You." It's not a typical love song, as Lee explains: “It walks a very fine line, I always talk about it like, ok this is to the girls because the girls are gonna love it when a man, you know, ‘look I’d be looking for a woman like you.’ Boom. But I was excited because the guys kinda get to say some things, I don’t know they could actually say it in real life and get away with it because it’s written so perfectly that you have to say it just like that or it might not come out right from, from a guy’s, you know, a girl might get a little put off.”

Brad Paisley is a great musician, but he's also a very good artist. If you've seen one of his shows, you've seen his work - he does all of the cartoons that run on the big screen. He's seeing some of that artistic ability in one of his sons: “I’m already seeing a little bit of artistic, uh, artistic drawing ability in one of them, and yeah it’s like, I wonder if that’s what I would have done if I had never been given a guitar because I am a pretty good artist, you know, as far as drawing and there’s a lot of careers for that and it’s a fun way to make a living too.”

Sammy Kershaw turns 54 today, and tomorrow Ralph Stanley turns 85.

The tweet of the day is from Dierks Bentley: "could have leased a new bus a long time ago but I like buses, guitars, boots, etc with stories and character. happy 1 MILLION MILES GOLDIE!"

Today's Country Tidbits

Jason Aldean is totally in love with his new song, "Fly Over States." He shot the video this week at an airport just outside of Nashville, and says, “I remember talking from day one about that song and wanting to make sure it was a single at some point off this record and, um, you know, finally got to a point where you know we were able to put it out there, and um, which is cool. You know a song that’s been around that long and you finally get to put it out there and give people a chance to hear it and see what they think about it.”

Dierks Bentley's Canadian tour leg lent itself to some fun off the stage. Dierks is a huge hockey fan, playing in an amateur league in Nashville when he's in town. He hit the ice with the Calgary Flames after one of their practice sessions, playing a half-ice pick-up game and loving every minute of playing with the pros.

Eric Church is a devoted dad. Not only are wife and son on tour with him in a custom Airstream trailer, fitted out as a nursery, but he's been known to finish a show and walk straight offstage into a diaper change. Eric is fascinated by how quickly son Boone is picking up technology, saying “What’s funny is they love iPhones. They love iPads. I mean, it’s amazing that they’ll...how quick that they’ll reach out and know how to spin a screen, or know how to light...it’s, it’s unreal you know, at four-and-a-half months old that he can do some of those things. You know, I think back to the toys I used to have and we used to play with car keys [laughs]. You know? And now people got cell phones and iPads.”

Hank Williams Jr. kicks off the "Taking Back America Tour" next month in Florida. Along for the ride are Jamey Johnson, Chris Young, Josh Thompson, George Thorogood and 38 Special. Bocephus says the current state of America has inspired his songwriting: “Oh yeah! Oh yeah...me? Yeah. Remember, I was the one with ‘Don’t Give Us a Reason’ and ‘American Can Survive’? Yeah, things are looking up!”

Chris Cagle sings the National Anthem before the Nationwide Series DRIVE4COPD 300 in Daytona this weekend, and his face will be on Mike Wallace's Chevy.

They guys from Rascal Flatts were given the CRS 2012 Humanitarian Award yesterday in Nashville. They were recognized for their work for the American Red Cross, the childrens hospital in Nashville and other charities they support.

Rascal Flatts largesse extended to Sara Evans - they gave her a new Jeep yesterday as a thank-you for touring with them.

Lady Antebellum has the Billboard #1 on the country chart this week, and played a sold-out show last night in Nashville, where they brought some surprise guests Luke Bryan and Sara Evans onstage. Success can be crazy-making for some people, but not for Hillary Scott: “I think we’re all happier. I mean, I think we’ve always had a really close friendship from the very beginning, I mean with Charles and Dave knowing each other for years. But, I think we’ve seen each other grow and I know I can...I’ll speak for myself that I’m in a much happier place.”

Happy birthday to Steve Holy, who turns 40 today.

The tweet of the day is from Joe Nichols: "I'd rather set my head on fire and put it out with a toaster than watch another minute of Larry Crown. Need another Gump movie..."

Today's Country Tidbits

Jason Aldean is selling out arenas like crazy, and it's because he understand the economy is tough for a lot of people. He says it was just common sense to sell tickets for $40 instead of $80 and sell more of them. He's excited about his next album, which he says has a party feel and features famous Nashville collaborators.

Taylor Swift co-stars with Zac Efron in the animated film, "Dr. Seuss' The Lorax" and of course the tabloids have already decided they are a couple. Taylor pointed out on the Ellen DeGeneres Show yesterday that the movie is animated, and animated co-stars don't fall in love. Not only that, they recorded their voice-overs on opposite coasts. Taylor did teach him how to play guitar, and they duetted on the show.

Keith Urban has another #1 song with "You Gonna Fly." He didn't write it, but it was love at first listen: “I didn’t write it. It was brought to me, and I loved it straight away. ‘One, two, three, baby, don’t think twice’ – love that. I’m in! There’s just so much about the song that I loved immediately. I like the swagger, that’s…I like the guy in the song, you know?” Preston Brust and Chris Lucas of LoCash Cowboys wrote it, and it's the 4th single from Keith's latest album.

Joe and Heather Nichols will be hearing the pitter-patter of little feet soon. The couple, married in 2007, have been trying to get pregnant for quite a while and it's finally happened for them. The baby is due this spring, and will have a big sister - Joe has a 13 year old daughter from a previous relationship.

Finally some details on the movie the guys from Rascal Flatts have been working on. It will be in theatres on April 5th, and that's the only night it will play. "Rascal Flatts CHANGED: One Night Exclusive Theatre Event" will feature concert footage, songs from their upcoming album and scenes from their personal lives. Tickets go on sale in early March.

Country music can make for odd friendships. Case in point - Martina McBride and Blake Shelton. She seems so proper and he seems so ... well, definitely NOT proper! But the two are very close friends, and Martina says, “I just think underneath all that craziness is a really good person and you know I’m really drawn to that. Just both...sweet as can be. I mean, I love Miranda too, so it’s really cool to have that friendship.”

Carrie Underwood releases new music next week, and gives us a sneak-listen of the song "Good Girl."

Inductees to the Songwriters Hall of Fame have been announced - Don Schlitz, who wrote Kenny Rogers' "The Gambler," along with Gordon Lightfoot, Bob Seger, Jim Steinman, Tom Jones and the songwriting team of Harvey Schmidt will be honored June 14th in New York City.

Today in country music history, Brad Paisley's first single, "Who Needs Pictures," was released in 1999. Johnny Cash proposed to June Carter in 1968, and in 1956 Elvis Preslet opened for Little Jimmy Dickens at the City Auditorium in Waycross, GA.

The tweet of the day is from Jason Aldean: "Shot the video for "fly over states" today!! Looks cool. Cant wait for yall to see it."

Today's Country Tidbits

Lady Antebellum's Hillary, Dave and Charles are pretty high-profile these days. Just four short years ago, they were hoping to have a hit record, and now they have aspiriing artists asking them for advice. Here's theirs: “It’s something special to wake up and love what you do and I think everybody owes it to themselves to give that a shot. You know, it may not work out, and we everyday feel blessed that it did, but you have to give it a shot or you’ll always look back and regret it so...[Dave] Stay in school too. [All] Stay in school! [Dave] We definitely don’t regret that. [Charles] Although Hillary dropped out of college to join the band. [Hillary laughs] So, I don’t know...”

Keith Urban and his girls are in Australia as he films the Australian version of "The Voice." Nicole and their daughters are enjoying visiting the family, and Keith says this trip won't be all work and no play for him. “Well at some point I think we just want to go to the beach, I think that—you know if it’s the right time of year, which of course it’s in the middle of summer now, so that’s something that I always am anxious to get to. I haven’t gotten to the beach—I don’t even think we got there this summer, cause we were full on touring.”

Miranda Lambert and Chris Brown are still going back and forth, after a Twitter fight following Chris' performance on the Grammys. Miranda was irritated that he was allowed to perform, as he's got a history of beating up women. At a concert, she held up a fan's sign telling Chris to "take notes" as she cranked into "Gunpowder and Lead," a song about a woman who defends herself from an abusive boyfriend.

Brantley Gilbert co-wrote Jason Aldean's "Dirt Road Anthem" and says that songwriting is good for him in so many ways: “I was just too lazy to learn anybody else’s songs [laughs]. It was that and you know, it gets girls too...it works! I’ve seen it happen [laughs]. No, but I don’t know...I always had an itch for wanting to write my own stuff. It’s just something that I always enjoyed doing and it’s therapy for me.”

Craig Campbell is the headliner for the pre-Daytona 500 concert this Sunday. The show starts at 10:45 leading up to the 1pm race.

The "Act of Valor" soundtrack is out today, featuring music from Keith Urban, Sugarland, Lady Antebellum, Jake Owen, Trace Adkins, Lori McKenna, Montgomery Gentry, Josh Kelley, Hunter Hayes and Wynonna Judd.

Jake Owen is on the Jimmy Kimmel Live show tonight.

Happy birthday to Mary Chapin Carpenter, who turns 54 today.

The tweet of the day is from John Rich: "Thx for the lively discussion 2nite on capitalism, music, dogs and rotten meat! Priceless...Hollar at ya'll later!"