Today's Country Tidbits

The star-studded Hope for Haiti telethon Friday night just picked up a bit of twang. Taylor Swift, Keith Urban, Sheryl Crow and Kid Rock will all be part of the two-hour event airing on dozens of networks and media outlets simultaneously. Taylor Swift will be part of the Los Angeles segments, where Keith Urban, Sheryl Crow and Kid Rock will perform together on the show. Los Angeles also includes Alicia Keys, Christina Aguilera, Dave Matthews, John Legend, Justin Timberlake and Stevie Wonder. Performing in New York are Wyclef Jean, Bruce Springsteen, Jennifer Hudson, Mary J. Blige, Shakira and Sting. The London lineup features Coldplay and a group performance by Bono, the Edge, Jay-Z and Rihanna. Starting Saturday, each performance will be available for download from iTunes for 99 cents each, with all proceeds going to Hatian relief efforts.

The Grammy Award show is getting more country by the minute. Confirmed to appear are the Zac Brown Band, Lady Antebellum, Taylor Swift and Miranda Lambert.

Taylor Swift has a new nomination in this new year...this one for Breakthrough International Artist at the Brit Awards, the UK equivalent of the Grammys. The awards will be handed out February 16th.

Kellie Pickler, Jamey Johnson and Randy Houser have returned from their USO tour of the middle east. All are glowing about the experience, and how proud they are to be Americans.

Kellie Pickler got a haircut yesterday, after she returned from her USO tour. She says she feels like a pixie, so we know two things: it must be a pretty short haircut, and it's probably as cute as her puppy, Pixie!

Gretchen Wilson released a greatest hits package yesterday and her new cd, "I Got Your Country Right Here" has a release date of March 30th. Her first single from it, "Work Hard, Play Harder," is working it's way up the country charts now.

Kenny Chesney has been sequestered in a movie studio in LA working on his "Summer in 3D" movie. The release date is April 21st. This year marks 15 years in country music for him, and he's the cover story in Country Weekly magazine this week.

How did Lady Antebellum land the plum gig as Tim McGraw's opening act on tour? Well, as Tim puts it, he's a fan of their music, so they were on his short list. Then his 12-year-old daughter Gracie started in on him - "come on, Dad...come on, Dad...come on, dad!" so he had no choice but to bow to the will of the even bigger Lady A fan in his life.

Jo Dee Messina is taking her Music Room show to New York City in March for a 5 night, seven show stint at the Regency Hotel, where there's a lovely theatre. According to Jo Dee, “This tour is whatever the audience wants. We do a couple songs then we flip it over to the audience and they make requests, so no two shows are the same. Sometimes the audience just wants to hear the hits; sometimes people want to hear stuff from the new record...It’s whatever they want. That’s the magic of this show, there’s no set list."

Charlie Daniels continues to recover from the mild stroke he suffered while on vacation in Colorado last Friday. He's home and doing well, and his tour, which kicks off next month, isn't expected to be affected.

Happy birthday today to John Michael Montgomery.