Today's Country Tidbits

Carrie Underwood likes kids, but she's not ready to have any yet, so she stopped by PS22 in Staten Island, New York to sing with the school chorus. The kids nailed her song, "Good Girl," and the drummer has mad skills!

Keith Urban is launching a new video feature, and episode one is online. In the first Urban Chat, he's backstage with Seal, Kelly Clarkson and David Foster.

Colt Ford had a rough night last night - he didn't see a bank of speakers, tripped and fell off the stage. He's got "a few broke ribs and hurt knee," as he put it on Twitter, but says he'll be alright. He was doing a show in Danville, Virginia on Friday and kept his date in West Virginia on Saturday night.

Saturday in Nashville it was the St. Jude Marathon, and country music (of course!) was involved. Danny Gokey was one of the runners and Rodney Atkins and Gloriana provided the post-race entertainment.

Blake Shelton performs his new single, "Over," on The Voice tonight.

Tonight, Carrie Underwood will be on the David Letterman show, and Thursday night she'll perform on American Idol. Her cd, "Blown Away," comes out tomorrow.

Happy birthday to Willie Nelson, who is 79 today. He's in Maui, where he likes to spend Monday nights with friends: “We play in Maui, I have a little hideout out in the back of the house next to the ocean out there where we play poker a lot.  Owen Wilson and Woody Harrelson and a lot of my friends from Maui, we’ll get together on Monday nights or whenever and play poker.”

The tweet of the day is from John Rich: "I'm being very inappropriate right now."

Today's Country Tidbits

Lady Antebellum's "Rebuilding Henryville Charity Ball" tickets go on sale today at Ticketmaster. The money raised by the May 16th concert is for tornado relief efforts in the Indiana town that was very hard-hit a couple of months ago. According to Charles Kelley of Lady A, “We’re just so excited to be able to be playing for the community there in Henryville and, you know, our thoughts go out to them. And we kinda just wanted to do something to bring a little joy and excitement to the community.”

Miranda Lambert will be joined by the Pistol Annies at her show in Fresno, California tonight, and they'll be on the rest of the tour with her. Miranda is very supportive of other artists, saying, “I have a kindred spirit with other artists, because I know what they’re going through and they know what I’m going through, and I think that’s why a lot of us get along—Hillary Scott, and with the Pistol Annies, and with Carrie—we don’t hang out that much, but you know I really respect her. And guys, too, I mean, I just feel like if it’s great, there’s room for all of it.”

Eric Church's new song, "Springsteen," has been certified gold and is chewing up the charts. Eric co-wrote it and explains, “The title of the song is ‘Springsteen,’ but what I love about it is it’s not a tribute song, it’s not about Springsteen. It’s just about whatever that artists is becoming the soundtrack for the love or the person your with.”

How far in advance do country artists plan? If you're Luke Bryan and you're planning a headlining tour in 2013, you've started already: “Next year will kinda be our year to get out there and headline. And so, we’re already getting everything lined up and getting all our plans together for a huge tour next year.” He was out with Jason Aldean on the "My Kinda Party" tour and has a shiny new gold record with "Drunk On You," so expect Luke's tour to be a good one.

Steel Magnolia is in the studios, working on a new album and getting set to hit the road for a tour. It kicks off next Saturday night in Winchester, Tennessee.

"No-show Jones" has returned, but this time it's the doctors' fault, not the bottle's. George Jones is still recovering from his recent medical woes and doctors have told him to postpone all concerts through May 20th. He says he's feeling much better but continues mandatory R&R at his home in Franklin, Tennessee.

Sunday night at 10 on ABC, Love and Theft performs their current single, "Angel Eyes," on the drama GCB.

The tweet of the day is from Toby Keith: "USO TOUR #10: CAMP BUEHRING, KUWAIT THANK YOU FOR BEING MY FRIEND!"

Today's Country Tidbits

Toby Keith is spending this week in the Middle East, entertaining troops on his 10th USO tour. He'll do shows in five countries over the 12 day tour, and service men and women in forward staging units won't be left out. He's already done a show on the SS Abraham Lincoln, and by the time this tour is over, he'll have done meet & greets on more than 100 military installations. There've been camera crews recording it all, so expect some sort of video project soon.

Told you earlier this week that "Uncaged" was the probable title for upcoming Zac Brown Band cd, and now it's official - ZBB's next project will be out July 10th and "Uncaged" is officially the title. The band has also added a new member - Daniel de los Reyes, a percussionist who "adds a new kind of pulse" to the band's music, according to Zac. Also adding some flavor to the new album is Trombone Shorty, a legendary New Orleans musician, who appears on the track "Overnight."

Keith Urban's working on a new album, too, and says that the songs will be more personal. Since his vocal chord surgery, he feels his voice is stronger than it's ever been and looks forward to getting into the studio with his new songs.

The Indiana State Fair has announced part of their concert line-up for this summer, and Blake Shelton will be one of the performers. He doesn't have to worry about having the stage collapse, as it did just before the Sugarland show last year. The grandstand stage has been retired since the tragedy that cost seven people their lives last summer. The shows will now be held inside the Bankers Life Fieldhouse.

People Magazine comes out tomorrow with their list of the 2012 World's Most Beautiful Women. Beyonce topped the list, but Miranda Lambert made the cut, too. She once said, in an interview with Seventeen magazine, “I have a horrible girl crush on Beyoncé. I’ve seen her four times. I got to meet her in Dallas. I met her backstage and it was awesome.”

Lionel Richie's "Tuskegee" is at the top of the Billboard album charts again this week, and Lionel Richie knows why - his country collaborators brought it: “Tim McGraw walks in...he sang the song just like Tim McGraw. Everyone brought their A-game and their style.” In other Lionel news, he'll serve as a mentor on the ABC summer show, "Duets."

You can listen to all of Carrie Underwood's "Blown Away" album at iTunes, but you have to use a special link to get it.

It's baby girl #2 for Lady Antebellum's Josh Kelley and Katherine Heigl. They've adopted a second baby. We don't know little sister's name yet, but big sister Naleigh is delighted with her new baby sister.

Happy birthday to Jay DeMarcus of Rascal Flatts who turns 41 today.

The tweet of the day is from Blake Shelton: "Grown men who wear skinny jeans may as well wear a t-shirt that says "Even though I don't have to, I pee sitting down..."

Today's Country Tidbits

Brad Paisley is a huge South Park fan, and has been featured on the Comedy Central animated series before. Well, he's doing it again tonight, adding voice to his cross-eyed, cowboy-hatted caricature. Brad's delighted, saying, “I’m a big South Park fan. I identify with people who have absolutely no fear in making fun of...of everything. And so, I’ve seen almost every episode! As band members on a tour bus, you look for things like that that kind of blow the lid off things. Anyway, I just think they’re brilliant.”

Jason Aldean knows how to take care of his fans - especially the young ones. Tyson Zimmer is seven years old and is fighting an aggressive form of brain cancer. His dream was to hear from Jason, and that dream has come true. Not only did Jason post a video especially for Tyson, he also sent him a package of autographed items and promised tickets to a show, along with backstage passes, for the next time his tour stops near Lincoln, Nebraska. Here's the video Jason made for Tyson:

Jason Aldean on WhoSay

Keith Urban and Nicole Kidman have been waxed - but not the painful kind of waxing. They've been scultped in wax and are part of the Madame Tussauds exhibit in their Sydney, Australia museum. It takes 60 artists 800 hours to create each figure, costing about $220,000 in man-hours and materials.

The Band Perry are known for their innovative way of telling a story, and their latest single, "Postcards from Paris," showcases that talent well. According to Kimberly and Reid, “[Kimberly] It just was a very sort of southern, swampy-feeling song ... a completely hypothetical story...completely...about just seeing that guy, that girl across the room that you immediately fall in love with, but never get to be in a relationship with, which just stinks doesn’t it? [Reid] It happens all the time!”

Something that doesn't usually happen - a superstar changing her look, but that's just what Carrie's thinking of doing. She's not cutting her hair, but is thinking of going to a darker hair color. No word on when that might happen. Congrats to the currently blonde Carrie, whose debut single, "Jesus Take the Wheel," has been certified double-platinum for sales of over two million copies.

Congratulations to Brantley Gilbert, whose "Halfway to Heaven" has been certified gold. The album has his first #1 hit, "Country Must Be Country Wide" on it, and Brantley knows why the album has been such a success: “You know I got the best support group ever. I like to think we got the best of the best. These people are on fire you know. Anything we ask them to do – even things we don’t ask them to do, they just go out on a limb for us just to support us, and be there for us. I’m telling you we got a lot of good friends.”

Zimbio is out with their list of the "100 Hottest Celebrity Couples of 2012" and several country couples make the list. Beyonce and Jay-Z top it, and here are the country couples that ranked for their attractiveness, popularity and staying power."

#24) Nicole Kidman & Keith Urban

#28) Faith Hill & Tim McGraw

#39) Carrie Underwood & Mike Fisher

#47) Katherine Heigl & Josh Kelley

#50) Miranda Lambert & Blake Shelton

#52) Julianne Hough & Ryan Seacrest

#96) LeAnn Rimes & Eddie Cibrian

Jake Owen fans got a double-header last night, as Jake put on a couple of StageIt online shows from his kitchen. He tweeted that he couldn't sleep, so at about 1am he did a set of what he called "old school country songs" from Haggard, Waylon and David Allen Coe. Finished that show up and did another one. This is one of the best uses of Twitter - follow your favorite stars to catch the surprises they come up with.

The tweet of the day is from Miranda Lambert: "Blake is playing "Single White Female" right now. And he knows all the words. And the chords. Um....."

Today's Country Tidbits

Blake Shelton is on top of the charts again this week with "Drink on It." It's his second week at #1, and he attributes the success of the song to it's relatability: “I just love the idea of the whole song being about a guy just trying to pick up a girl at the bar, and saying everything she wants to hear.”

Zac Brown Band is touring, and has been in the studio working on a new album due out this summer. Officially, the project doesn't have a title, but little birdies are chirping that "Uncaged" is a top contender. If you catch them on stage, you'll hear some of the new music, as they're mixing in three or four new songs each night.

Lee Brice's "Hard 2 Love" is out today, and according to Lee, his record label gave him the freedom to pick the songs he wanted and to record them his way. Several of the song are live, one-take, full-band recordings instead of the usual instrument-by-instrument layering production that's become normal in Nashville. According to Lee, “I was able to do exactly what I wanted to do—let my heart go free, and just try stuff. The label really allowed me to have so much freedom to just go do things. And that’s why some songs came out like they did.”

Carrie Underwood is admitting to an addiction. Even though she's known for her vegetarian, and now vegan, lifestyle, she is addicted - to shoes! “I mean, I have a lot of shoes. I’m not gonna lie...like, an unnecessary amount of shoes. Um, I did revamp my closet and then I thought, ‘I’ll never be able to fill all these shoe spaces,’ and I’m out of shoe spaces. So, what’s a girl to do?”

Happy birthday to the first American Idol winner Kelly Clarkson, who turns 30 today. About his "Don't You Wanna Stay" duet partner, Jason Aldean says, “I’ve always been a fan of her voice. I love her voice it’s really soulful and kind of has this raspy-ness in it. There’s something about when she starts to sing it’s really powerful and soulful – that’s the thing.”

The tweet of the day is from Miranda Lambert: "At the grocery store just now, I had to use lip liner to cross items off my list. No pen:)"

Today's Country Tidbits

Keith Urban is the newest member of the Grand Ole Opry. There were stars on stage for the induction - Vince Gill did the inviting earlier this month, and Trace Adkins and Josh Turner were on hand Saturday night. What does being in the Opry family mean to Keith? “What it means to me to be inducted into the Opry is probably no more than just a feeling of they know where my heart is. That’s what it means to me to get this induction. This is exactly where my heart is...always has been.” His wife, Nicole, was there Saturday night for the festivities. In case you missed it, here it is again, including a special message from Keith...

Trace Adkins will perform at the PBS National Memorial Day Concert on May 27th. The show honors our military men and women and takes place on the west lawn of the US Capitol. The show will air live on PBS at 8pm Eastern.

Lee Brice hit the top of the charts with "A Woman Like You" and is looking forward to sharing his new album with fans tomorrow. How is "Hard 2 Love" different? According to Lee, “This album is definitely two things: It’s definitely more true to where I’ve been in a section of my life, a year of my life, last year. And it’s also just a more mature...you know, me.” His new tour sponsor is Bud Light, and Lee jokes, "It looks like all the years I spent supporting Bud Light are paying off.”

Taylor Swift is looking at being part of another big-screen project. "Girls Like Us" explores the careers of Carole King, Carly Simon and Joni Mitchell, and Taylor's name keeps popping up as a contender for the Joni Mitchell role. If the movie goes forward, it'll go into production later this year.

Jerrod Niemann is part of Miranda Lambert's "On Fire" tour and has been trying his new songs out on the audiences. He's also working on his second album, and according to Jerrod, “I’ve just really been concentrating on what the fans care to hear, because in my opinion, country music fans do know everything, and that’s why they’re the best. So, this next album, I’m very excited. We have put so much work into it and passion, and I’m just thrilled to see what everybody else thinks.”

Miranda Lambert's 5th Annual Cause for the Paws will happen on June 22nd in Beaumont, Texas. It raises money to build animals shelters across the country. Wade Bowen and the Josh Abbott Band will join her for the show.

Little Big Town is getting set to tour with Rascal Flatts this summer, and both groups share a love of the movie "Anchorman." They're planning at least one big viewing party during the tour: “[Karen] I think we quoted almost every line from Anchorman, cause they love it as much as we do! [Kimberly] And there’s a sequel coming! [Jimi] Yes, there is a sequel coming. [Karen] So we talked about having an Anchorman party backstage one night with big plasma TVs and margaritas…you know the Little Big Town ‘ritas!”

The tweet of the day is from Trace Adkins: "It was an honor to hand the Opry Statue to keith urban last night. I also kissed Nicole on the cheek. Damn good night!"

Today's Country Tidbits

Tomorrow, Keith Urban will be inducted into the Grand Ole Opry, after a surprise invitation the night of the All for the Hall benefit concert. About surprises, Keith says, “You know, it’s funny because my wife and I have a very strict rule that we don’t keep secrets, we’re not into surprises. My wife’s like, ‘I don’t like surprises, don’t ever have a surprise—always tell me if there’s going to be a surprise party’—that kind of thing. And so we’ve never surprised each other with anything or kept any secret about anything and this was the rare exception. When I got home she said, ‘Do you wish I’d told you?’ And I said, ‘No!’” Carrie Underwood isn't surprised at all - she says he's the perfect Opry member: “I mean Keith Urban - I can’t believe he’s not an Opry member already. People already thought of him, you know, being associated with the Opry, so it’s only fitting that he is actually a member! What a great addition to our Opry family.”

Lady Antebellum is doing their tornado relief concert up right. "Rebuilding Henryville Charity Ball" in Louisville, Kentucky on May 16th will include the Lady A show and probably a surprise guest or two. A fan-voted poster contest is going on right now at the band's website, looking for the design that'll be featured on commemorative t-shirts. Tickets for the show go on sale April 27th at Ticketmaster.

How do country stars relax before going out on tour? Well, if you're Jake Owen, you buy a new boat and float: “Just went for a little joyride the other day and had a good time. I love, especially when I’m in Nashville, just getting away and getting out on the river and turning the engine off and just floating with the current down the river. It’s just very relaxing. It’s good for your mind and soul.” Jake is getting set to be part of the Brothers of the Sun tour with Tim McGraw and Kenny Chesney this summer.

Miranda Lambert is now part-owner of the Green Bay Packers football team. Her tour hit Wisconsin on Wednesday, and she was presented with one share of stock in the team. She and 99,999 others own a tiny bit of football.

A little birdie told me that Blake Shelton and Christina Aguilera are planning to do a country duet.

When Justin Bieber surprised the audience with a visit on The Voice, Blake Shelton got to see Bieber Fever first-hand, and was impressed, saying, “I never witnessed anything like that, it’s got to be similar to what happened with Elvis when he would come walking into a room...I literally looked at a group of girls that were in the audience and they were crying!”

Today is April 20th, a day many people celebrate as Weed Day. Who else to chime in on this but Willie Nelson, who was asked if marijuana makes him a better songwriter: “I’ve never thought about it that way because I wrote a lot of hit songs before I smoked and I’ve written a lot since I started so I can’t even make that comparison. It doesn’t compute. I think a songwriter will write songs and if he gets too high to write he’ll sober up and write again so I can’t say that it’s affected it one way or another.”

Late night tv is repeats tonight - catch Jason Aldean and Lionel Richie on the David Letterman Show and The Civil Wars on Jimmy Kimmel.

The tweet of the day is from Miranda Lambert: "Bed. Dogs. Need to wash face and tryin to talk myself into it. Ok... I will. It's not worth a zit :)!"