Today's country tidbits...

Seeing stars in crazy places, part one: Keith Urban will be doing an acoustic performance at the Verizon Wireless store in Franklin, TN at 2 pm central time this Friday. He'll do a meet and greet, play a few songs, and then answer questions from fans. Admission is free, so expect it to be one big crowded frenzy.

Seeing stars in crazy places, part 2: Alan Jackson's doing an in-store appearance at the Cracker Barrel store in Mt. Juliet, Tennessee next Monday morning. He'll be there from 9 to 11, central, and you can start lining up at 6 for your numbered place in line. Alan is doing this to debut his 40-item collection of lifestyle items - clothes, kitchen goodies and music - available only at Cracker Barrell. He'll be meeting fans, signing autographs and probably hugging a lot of necks.

Details are out on how scalped tickets will be caught and canceled for the Garth Brooks shows: when the tickets are sold, the purchaser has to provide their name and address, which will be checked against a list when the person tries to see the Garth show. If the information doesn't match, the person with the ticket doesn't get in. They'll get back the face value of the ticket, but a quick check of the internet shows scalpers are asking a LOT more than $143 for tickets to the show. Some are in the thousands. Spread the word...people who buy scalped tickets to the Garth shows in Vegas will lose, big time.

Hillary Scott of Lady Antebellum is usually surrounded by guys...her two band-mates, plus the rest of the musicians, stage-hands and drivers that travel with them. So she was in heaven sharing the Kenny Chesney tour with Miranda Lambert. The two have become great friends, even having sleep-overs in Miranda's tour bus, movie nights and toasting with their favorite cocktail: Bacardi and Sprite Zero.

Luke Bryan has decided to barn-storm for a month and a half...his Doin' My Thing tour will stop in 18 cities over 42 days, mostly in the eastern United States.

Gloriana is up for the Breakthrough Artist Award at the American Music Awards. The show is on November 22, but you can vote for your favorite in the category now. Carrie Underwood will be one of the performers on the show.

Now the presenters are being revealed for the 43rd Annual CMA Awards. Country artists Julianne Hough, Randy Houser, Jake Owen, Kellie Pickler and LeAnn Rimes are on the list, and celebrities Dale Earnhardt, Jr., Neil Flynn, Patricia Heaton and Good Morning America's Robin Roberts are, too. Love and Theft are the host for the CMA Broadcast Awards, which are handed out before the award show telecast begins.

Keith Urban's next single will be "Til Summer Comes Around" and you can see him perform it at the Indiana State Fair. Amatuer video, but a great shot of the ferris wheel!