Today's Country Tidbits

How much does Carrie Underwood know about her upcoming wedding? A lot, but she's not talking much. It'll be on a farm in Tennessee and they aren't registered anywhere. Carrie says having the 250 guests attend is all the gift they need. How much does she know about the honeymoon? Not much at all. Fiance Mike Fisher has planned a surprise vacation for the two, and all Carrie knows is that it will be warm. By the way, did you see the cutest moment of the CMT Music Awards? When Carrie's name was announced for Video of the Year, she handed Mike her purse before going up on stage. Wonder what his NHL compatriots thought of that? I hear some trash-talking being cooked up!

Told you last December that Darius Rucker and Brad Paisley had written a song together, and that Darius hoped to record it as a duet with Brad. That recording session happened yesterday. No word on the song's release date, but it has to be awesome!

Gotta Garth? New shows will go on sale Saturday morning at 10 Pacific time for his stint at the Wynn Las Vegas theatre. The shows will be September 10 through 15, October 1-3 and 22-24, November 5-7 and 19-21. Tickets are $125 each.

More names have been added to the Tim McGraw/Faith Hill-led "Nashville Rising: A Benefit Concert for Flood Recovery" scheduled for June 22nd in Nashville. We already knew that Taylor Swift, Carrie Underwood, Brooks & Dunn, Miranda Lambert, Martina McBride, Jason Aldean, Luke Bryan, Amy Grant, Miley Cyrus, Michael W. Smith and LeAnn Rimes would be part of the show. Now so will Toby Keith, Blake Shelton, Montgomery Gentry, ZZ Top, Billy Ray Cyrus and Julie Roberts. The show is sold out except for a limited number of VIP packages.

Stories continue to come out in the wake of another successful CMA Music Festival. Blake Shelton's fan club party was a fund-raiser for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, and Blake told his fans to request whatever songs they wanted to hear and he'd donate $20 for each one he didn't know. His bill topped $500, which he cheerfully paid. ESPN's Erin Andrews was there and requested "Whiskey Bent and Hell Bound" with one catch - she wanted Dierks Bentley, who was in attendance, to perform it. Dierks complied. Miranda Lambert and Laura Bell Bundy were also there and were happy to perform "Proud Mary" when that one got requested.

What did it look like and sound like when Blake Shelton and Trace Adkins hit the stage Sunday night at the CMT Music Festival?



The number-crunchers are having their way with the CMA Music Festival and are finding a lot of good news. Four day ticket package sales were up 33% from last year, daytime attendance at the Riverfront shows was up 6.4% from last year and nighttime concert attendance was up nearly 17%. CMA Chairman Steve Moore said, "After all we have been through, and all the hard work everyone contributed to getting the venues and businesses ready for our fans, this is a huge win for everyone who cares about Music City. This community needed a big win and we got it."

Forbes magazine is out with its annual top ten list of country artists. Based on ticket sales, merchandise and album sales, publishing deals, royalties and endorsements, here's the top 10 country money-makers from June of 2009 to June of 2010:

1. Kenny Chesney $50 million
2. Toby Keith $48 million
3. Taylor Swift $45 million
3. Rascal Flatts $45 million
5. Tim McGraw $30
6. Keith Urban $28
7. George Strait $25
8. Brad Paisley $22
9. Alan Jackson $15
10. Carrie Underwood $13

And another list - this time, People Magazine's 25 Hottest Guys in country music. Topping the list is Tim McGraw, though Faith Hill gets speechless around Kris Kristofferson and George Strait. George made People's list, along with Kenny Chesney, Keith Urban, Luke Bryan, Blake Shelton, Brad Paisley and Billy Currington. The entire list is in the current issue of People magazine.

What's Rascal Flatts got planned for fans during their 10th anniversary tour? Music, music and more music. They're trying to cram in as many hits as they can from their first decade, so that every fan gets to hear their favorite song. Chris Young and Kellie Pickler are the opening acts of the tour, which kicks off June 25th in Raleigh, NC. And this fall, they'll be shooting a miniseries called "To Appomatox" to air on HBO.

The 2010 Teen Choice Awards nominees have been announced, and up for favorite female artist are Taylor Swift and Miley Cyrus. In the country-specific categories, Luke Bryan, Kenny Chesney, Brad Paisley, Darius Rucker and Keith Urban are up for male artist, Miranda Lambert, Martina McBride, Taylor Swift, Carrie Underwood and Gretchen Wilson are up for female artist, and Gloriana, Lady Antebellum, Rascal Flatts, Sugarland and Zac Brown Band are all vying for group recognition. The awards will be handed out on August 9th on Fox-TV.

Did you love the moment on the CMT Awards when two Rebas - the real one and the Saturday Night Live version - were on stage together? Help get Reba a hosting job on Saturday Night Live and we can all see more of it.

Jewel is treating concert-goers to a song about their town. She's out on her Star Light Cafe tour, and goes sight-seeing at each stop, looking for what makes each city unique. She then writes a song about the town, usually just hours before the show. She also takes photos, and those show up on screens behind her as she plays the song during the show. Nice touch!

First it was a walk, then it became articles in People and O magazines, and now it's going to be a book. Jimmy Wayne will write about his walk across America to focus national attention on the problems teens suffer when they age out of the foster care system. He signed the book deal yesterday, as he continues his Project Meet Me Halfway walk. He's expected to reach his destination, Phoenix, around the 4th of July.

Quote of the day, from Trace Adkins, talking about his first grandson, who's due to be born in November to his daughter Tarah. “He’s well hung. My daughter showed me pictures…pretty impressive.”

Tweet of the day, from James Otto: "Went to breast feeding class with my wife tonight & I gotta say I don't know how y'all woman do it. I've never been so happy to be a man."

Sammy Kershaw is on Larry King Live today, talking about the oil spill and its effect on the Gulf Coast. Tomorrow, Lonestar stars on The Price is Right.