Today's Country Tidbits

The ACM award show isn't until April 18th, but already we know who the Top New Solo Vocalist, Vocal Group and Vocal Duo are. Congrats to Luke Bryan, Gloriana and Joey+Rory for winning those fan-voted categories. They're now competing against each other for the ACM Top New Artist, which again will be fan-voted. That starts on April 1, the same day that GAC will air the Trace Adkins hosted "ACM Top New Artist" special.

Another awards show is getting set to announce nominees - the ninth annual CMT Music Awards happens on June 9th at Nashville's Bridgestone Arena. The awards recognize excellence in country music videos, and the show will feature live performances from fan favorites. Tickets to the show go on sale at all Ticketmaster outlets on April 10th.

And there should be some sort of award for this - it's the 25th year for Farm Aid, and founding board member Willie Nelson says, "In 1985, we started out to save the family farmer. Now it looks like the family farmer is going to save us as our nation continues to endure a historic economic downturn." Farm Aid 25: Growing Home For America is in the planning stages, but everyone knows Willie will be there.

Something tasty from the Zac Brown Band - the Southern Ground Cookbook is now available at their website and also at Cracker Barrel's site. The book features removable recipe cards for ease of recipe-following, and Zac Brown's Southern Ground Grub foods will be in stores soon. Which recipe is Zac's favorite? “There’s one in there called ‘Chicken and Corn,’ and its homemade fried chicken and homemade fresh cream corn and you bury the chicken in the corn and bake it for a little while. It’s ridiculous, I mean really.”

Craig Morgan, who's touring with Carrie Underwood, had to catch a flight home early this morning to check on his son and pickup truck. Apparently his son had a wreck, and Craig's been told that he's ok, but he wants to go see for himself. He'll be back on stage for the Atlantic City show Friday night.

Jo Dee Messina and her hubby are expecting their first child in three months. It's a boy, and they're ecstatic: "We knew we wanted to have kids, but we just said, 'Whenever it happens, it happens.' And it happened! We were both surprised at first. It's such a lifestyle change. But then we're like, 'Wow, we're going to be parents.'"

The Eagles will tour with the Dixie Chicks this summer, and Keith Urban will join the tour for five shows. The eight-city stadium stomp happens in June, and it's the first time the Dixie Chicks have toured in four years. Here's the itinerary, and the * indicates the shows that include Keith Urban:

June-8 Toronto, ON Rogers Centre
June-10 *East *Rutherford, NJ New Meadowlands Stadium
June-12 *Boston, MA Gillette Stadium
June-14 *Philadelphia, PA Citizens Bank Ball Park
June-15 *Washington, DC Nationals Park
June-19 *Chicago, IL Soldier Field
June-22 Winnipeg, MB Canad Inna Stadium
June-24 St. Louis, MO Busch Stadium

Mindy McCready is on "The View" today, Craig Morgan is on "Hannity" and Gary Allan is on "Jimmy Kimmel Live." And set your dvr's...the Zac Brown Band/Jimmy Buffett CMT Crossroads episode debuts this Friday night.