Today's country tidbits...

Brooks & Dunn have tough duty today - performing at the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series awards ceremony tonight in Las Vegas. They'll open the show with "Only in America" to set the perfect tone for the night.

David Nail and Billy Ray Cyrus have a command performance on Wall Street, as part of the official tree-lighting party for the New York Stock Exchange. The performances will happen next Thursday afternoon, and can be seen here.

One of the perks of owning your own label is you can record any song you want, any way you want. Gretchen Wilson grabbed her daughter and all of her friends and hit the studio for a country version of the '50s classic, "I Want a Hippopotamus for Christmas." She originally worked the song up for Charlie Daniels' Christmas for Kids concert in November.

PBS's "Soundstage" series will feature a lot of great country music in season 8, which begins on January 21st with Tim McGraw. Emmylou Harris, Patty Griffin, Shawn Colvin and Buddy Miller perform on February 4th, Faith Hill on February 18th and Willie Nelson on February 25th.

On tv tonight, catch Brad Paisley on the David Letterman show and Taylor Swift on the Jay Leno show.

And tomorrow is the double-duty-day for Jo Dee Messina, as she performs two free concerts in Nashville. The shows at Brentwood United Methodist Church benefit Harvest Hands Community Development, so if you'll be there, be generous when the plate gets passed.

Faith Hill is your charming hostess for the 11th annual "A Home for the Holidays" special December 23rd on CBS. Reba McEntire and Carrie Underwood are two of the guest performers. It's Faith's second time hosting the show, which shares people's personal stories about foster care and adoption. Faith herself was adopted shortly after her birth.

When the Shine All Night tour comes to your town, be sure to pay close attention to Twitter - Martina McBride is hiding tickets to the shows in each city and tweeting clues to their location. First person to find them gets to go to see her and Trace Adkins in concert for free. Some of the tickets are front-row, so watch this video and start following Martina!

Congrats to Taylor Swift and Lady Antebellum, who sit atop the Billboard country album and single charts, respectively.

On yesterday's list of country artists nominated for Grammys, I missed a couple of stellar ones:

Tracy Lawrence is nominated for Best Southern, Country, Or Bluegrass Gospel Album for his inspirational album, "The Rock." And Dolly Parton, who has won 7 Grammy's, is nominated for another one. Her "Original Cast Recording of 9 to 5: The Musical" picked a nomination for Best Musical Show Album.