Today's Country Tidbits

Tim McGraw has some suggestions for your Easter weekend and your Easter baskets: “Either Friday, Saturday, or Sunday go to church and have family in and hide the Easter eggs. Have or ham, turkey, dressing, butter beans and cornbread. The whole deal. Fill up a basket with "My Little Girl" and "Love Your Heart" books and hand them out to your kids.”

There's a big party in Amarillo, Texas tomorrow, but it doesn't have anything to do with Easter weekend. Jimmy Wayne is expected to reach Amarillo today, and Amarillo is the half-way point in his walk from Nashville to Phoenix to raise awareness about teen homelessness. He will have walked 977 miles when he hits the Amarillo city limits, and a meet and greet party will be held at the Hastings Record Store there.

Dierks Bentley has put the finishing touches on his bluegrass cd, "Up On the Ridge," and is pretty pumped about it. It includes a cover of the U2 hit, "Pride (In the Name of Love)" and he says, “I love being able to listen to my own record. It’s like, gah, it makes me cry and I wrote it. I didn’t write it but I sung it and it’s just, it’s art. It’s beautiful.”

In an interview yesterday, Chris Young was talking about his plans as Alan Jackson's opening act - which songs he would include in his set, and which he would leave out. One that he said he wouldn't be singing is "The Man I Want to Be," his current, destined-for-#1 single. Instead, he said, he's taking lessons and practicing really hard on an old passion - miming. He said the part of the show where "The Man I Want to Be" usually happens will be filled with him doing a mime version - "The Mime I Want to Be." He then remembered something else he wanted to say - April Fools!

And don't forget that voting is underway for the ACM Entertainer of the Year and New Artist of the Year. You can choose between Kenny Chesney, Toby Keith, Brad Paisley, George Strait, Taylor Swift, Carrie Underwood, Keith Urban and Zac Brown Band for Entertainer of the Year, and between Luke Bryan, Gloriana and Joey+Rory for Best New Artist. You can also vote on which song you want to hear Brooks & Dunn perform on the April 18th show, plus enter to win an ACM prize package.

Here's Carrie Underwood's campaign video for your Entertainer of the Year vote.



The two Alabama guys who are trying to get a hug from Taylor Swift have a new challenge from her to earn that hug. She's asking them to use her lucky number 13 in the most creative way possible. They tweeted that they are up for the challenge, so we'll see what they come up with!



Are you in a country band? Looking for that big break? BamaJam Music and Arts Festival has launched the Jim Beam Battle of the Bands, with the winner getting a festival performance slot and a recording session with noted producer James Stroud. Enter before April 21st, and good luck!

Watch Rascal Flatts on the Ellen DeGeneres Show today.

Happy birthday today to Billy Dean, Emmylou Harris, Leon Russell, and to Hal Ketchum on Sunday.