Today's Country Tidbits

Going to the CMA Music Festival? Big fan of great songwriting? Then you want to put this benefit concert on your list: the Musicians on Call Songwriter Series will host a tribute to Kenny Chesney on June 10th, with a guitar pull featuring Mac MacAnally, Craig Wiseman, Brett James, Neil Thrasher Wendell Mobley and Casey Beathard. You can buy tickets online before you get to Nashville for the CMA Music Festival.

Brooks & Dunn have a house named for them on Music Row. Knoxville Habitat for Humanity and the Charlie And Moll Anderson Family Foundation are teaming up to build a neighborhood over the next 10 years. A major part of the fund-raising happens at benefit concerts, and Brooks & Dunn headlined the first one. Next year's home will be named for Martina McBride, who headlined the second concert last year.

Martina McBride has a new manager - Clint Higham of Morris Artist Management. Clint is the same guy who manages Kenny Chesney and Jake Owen, and Martina's excited about working with him. Of Martina, Clint says, "Martina is a superstar at the top of her game, but I believe there are many layers to her career that have yet to be explored."

Donations are still pouring in to GAC for the Music City Keep On Playin' benefit for flood relief. You can donate through this Sunday, either online or by texting GAC to 501501. Proceeds benefit the Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee.

When we think of Nashville musicians, we think of the superstars with big fan clubs and big bucks. But most musicians in Nashville live and play in relative obscurity, and have lost not just their livelihood but the instruments they used to make a living in the flood waters. Music Rising, a partnership formed after Hurricane Katrina to assist musicians with instrument repair and replacement, is pitching in after Nashville's floods. Administered by the Gibson Foundation, the charitable arm of Gibson Guitars, Funds will also be used to help flood victims get back into their houses more quickly. Donations are appreciated, and you can donate and read more about it online.

Here's a sneak-peek at this Sunday night's Brooks & Dunn tribute show.







Do you have kids who own Miley Cyrus jewelry? Toss it - Wal-Mart has pulled it from the shelves due to high levels of cadmium, a toxic element. It's thought to be safe to wear, but ingestion can cause bone softening, kidney failure and cancer.

Reba and Brooks & Dunn were on the Today show this morning, and they'll be on the Late Show with David Letterman tomorrow night.