Today's Country Tidbits

Last night belonged to Nashville and to Taylor Swift as the Grammys noticed some cool things happening in country music. Taylor won four of the 8 Grammy Awards she was nominated for, including the top honor, Album of the Year for "Fearless." She's now the youngest person to win that award. She also won Country Album of the Year, Best Country Song for "White Horse" and Best Female Country Vocal Performance, also for "White Horse." There was one person who won more Grammys than Taylor: Beyonce won 6 of the 10 for which she was nominated. The reaction of the other artists on Twitter was really sweet - Martina McBride gave a concert in Virginia last night, but before she went to bed, she tweeted her congrats to Taylor on her big night. And in the wee hours of the morning, Taylor tweeted, "I will remember this night, this celebration, the screaming and hugging of people I love. The words on cards of hotel room good luck roses.." Today, Taylor, Kellie Pickler and Gloriana are on their way to Australia for shows there.

Zac Brown Band took home the award for Best New Artist...of all genres. To make it even sweeter, it was Keith Urban and Miranda Lambert who announced their win.

Keith Urban was truly proud and humbled just to be nominated, and when he won Best Male Country Vocal Performance, he was blown away. Wife Nicole was in the audience - it's only the second award ceremony where she's been there to see him win.

Carrie Underwood won her Grammy before the show started, but won a lot of hearts for her part in the Michael Jackson tribute. It didn't take 3D glasses to see she was the best-dressed on that stage, and her voice gave that song wings. Carrie and Randy Travis shared a Grammy win for Best Country Collaboration with Vocals for their remake of Randy's "I Told You So."

The country performances last night were star-studded. Taylor Swift performed with Stevie Nicks, Zac Brown Band was joined by Leonn Russell, and Bon Jovi and Jennifer Nettles of Sugarland blew it out of the park. And when the curtain landed on Hillary's head while Lady A was performing "Need You Now," she didn't miss a beat, sweeping it off and fixing her hair and singing like an angel.

Here's how the country awards ended up:
Best Country Song & Best Female Country Vocal Performance - Taylor Swift, "White Horse"
Best Country Album - Taylor Swift, "Fearless"
Best Male Country Vocal Performance - Keith Urban, "Sweet Thing"
Best Performance by Country Duo or Group With Vocals - Lady Antebellum, "I Run to You"
Best Country Collaboration With Vocals - Carrie Underwood and Randy Travis, "I Told You So"

"All Genre" categories rewarded country music like this:
Album of the Year - Taylor Swift, "Fearless"
Best New Artist - Zac Brown Band

If you want to relive some of the Grammy moments, here's some video links:
Carrie Underwood on the red carpet...Taylor Swift's first Grammy...and her second Grammy...and Taylor on the red carpet after winning two Grammys, on her way to the other two...and here's a link to the Tennessean.com's great slide show of last night's festivities.

Friday night was the MusiCares Person of the Year concert, where one artist is given the Person of the Year award and is serenaded by fellow artists. Lady Antebellum was part of the show, celebrating the music of Neil Young.

Today, just like 25 years ago, dozens of artists of all genres are getting together to sing "We Are the World." This time, it's for Haitian relief efforts, and though it's supposed to be a secret who the artists are, Sugarland is part of it.

And in non-Grammy-related news, Jimmy Wayne learned something valuable on Saturday while walking through Arkansas. He tweeted that he's learned not to put hand warmers in the same pocket as Chap Stick...what a mess!