Today's country tidbits...

Today isn't just a big day for country music, it's a big day for America. Today, Veteran's Day, is a day to turn our thoughts and prayers to the men and women who are on the battlefront or have been. They don't make government policy, but they carry out their duties to implement that policy with honor, courage and commitment. Today is a reminder that we shouldn't take those real human beings who are willing to put their bodies and lives in the line of fire for granted. America's military veterans are the finest example of walking the talk: they honor their commitments, responsibilities and also honor us with their service. Today, honor them. And tomorrow, and every tomorrow after that, honor them, too. It's because of our veterans and their fallen brothers and sisters that we are a free nation. Happy Veteran's Day, and if you're a Veteran, like my Dad, thank you and God bless you!

Records could be set when Entertainer of the Year is announced at the CMA's tonight. Taylor Swift will be the youngest winner if she gets the award. If Kenny Chesney wins, then he'll set the record for most times won with five, breaking Garth Brooks' four-win record.

And the Nashville Tennesean has another CMA feature that's worth a look: photographic evidence of the contributions they've made to country music for each of the Entertainer of the Year nominees. Check out their amazing photo gallery.

Martina McBride is promising a big surprise for her performance on the CMA show tonight. Hmmmmm....

Look for Kellie Pickler to be wearing the dress of the night - she describes it as looking like liquid - and check out her new red hair, if it's still red! She went brownish, then a beautiful auburn, but has caught a lot of flack from fans. She loves it...let's see what you think tonight. She's presenting the award for Song of the Year, so will get some good tv time.

Darius Rucker and Brad Paisley have been writing songs together, and have come up with one that they'll duet on. Darius describes it as a two-guy duet, very fun. They'll record it next month and it'll be part of his next cd, due out some time next spring.

When Darius was just a kid, he remembers his views on music: "I think I just said to myself, 'I'm never going to let anybody tell me what I can listen to.' And I never did. When I was sitting there watching 'Hee Haw,' my brother didn't want to watch it. He was older than me but there was going to be a friggin' fight if they didn't let me watch 'Hee Haw.'"

Been waiting for news of Faith Hill's annual Christmas tv special? Wait no more - here's the scoop: December 23 on CBS, catch Faith with Reba, Carrie Underwood, Shakira, Mary J. Blige and more guests to be named later. It's the "11th Annual A Home for the Holidays with Faith Hill" show and it's not only entertaining, it aims to raise awareness on the importance of adoption.

Yesterday morning in Nashville, Carrie Underwood and Brad Paisley put on a free concert for Good Morning America. In case you missed it, here's Brad Paisley's performance of "American Saturday Night" and Carrie Underwood singing "Temporary Home."

More than 18 million votes were cast for the 2010 People's Choice awards, and Country is well-represented in the final slate: Keith Urban and Tim McGraw are both up for Favorite Male Artist, Carrie Underwood and Taylor Swift are both up for Favorite Female Artist, Favorite Country Artist nominees are Taylor, Carrie, Keith Urban, Brad Paisley and Rascal Flatts. Taylor Swift is also nominated in the Favorite Pop Artist category. Miley Cyrus is up for Favorite Web Celeb and Favorite Breakout Movie Actress, and Taylor Swift's recent escort, Taylor Lautner, is up for Breakout Movie Actor. You can cast your vote for the winners here.

People.com has a slide show of country stars best Twitter pictures.

A country-music-couple-breakup: Chuck Wicks and Julianne Hough have split up. Sources say it's "mutual" and that they just need time away from each other.

Happy birthday to Reba's hubby, Narvel Felts, today.