Today's Country Tidbits

Yesterday was Father’s Day, and here are some country music Dads with their thoughts on fatherhood:

Jason Aldean: “My girls are 9 and 4. I’m the Dad that’s gone a lot, and I think my wife’s more the disciplinary. Then when I get home I’m kinda the cool parent, because I take up for them and save the day. She hates me for that but they love me for it – that’s all that counts.”

Keith Urban: “The first thing is probably just having someone call you dad. I’m like, ‘Oh my gosh! I’m her dad! That’s amazing.’ That’s probably the first thing to me. I don’t know, I mean, the different personalities that our two daughters have, that’s amazing.”

Randy Houser: “I really, really love being a daddy. I mean, I’ve done a lot of cool things before, but there is nothing that compares. And I don’t expect anything, I don’t care. I got the gift of my little boy every day, so I don’t need a Father’s Day, to be honest.”

Ok, so Carrie Underwood’s not a dad, but she has one, and about him she says: “My dad’s the kind of person that most likely he’ll never, you know, look at me or my sisters and say, ‘Hey, I’m proud of you,’ or ‘You’re doing a great job,’ or anything like that, but I catch him, like, watching things that he’s taped of me on TV and stuff like that. You know, that means a lot.”

Zac Brown Band is teaming up with ESPN and Major League Baseball for the State Farm Home Run Derby on July 9th. They’ll do a medley of “America the Beautiful” and “Chicken Fried,” along with their new song, “The Wind.

Zac Brown Band, Toby Keith and Brad Paisley are ponying up some concert tickets to support charity. ACM Lifting Lives and Tickets-for-Charity.com will be handling the contests, with proceeds going to the stars’ favorite charities: Camp Southern Ground for ZBB, The Toby Keith Foundation and St. Jude Target House for Brad Paisley.

The Band Perry is working with legendary producer Rick Rubin, who is best known in Nashville for his work with Johnny Cash, but he’s also produced award winning albums for Adele, Tom Petty, Nine Inch Nails and the Beastie Boys. They’re about halfway through the work the new album and Kimberly Perry says they’re wearing Rick out with questions about Johnny Cash.

Some heavy metal has been earned: Jason Aldean’s “Dirt Road Anthem” is triple-platinum, his duet with Kelly Clarkson, “Don’t You Wanna Stay,” is double platinum and Carrie Underwood’s “Good Girl” is platinum.

Kenny Chesney’s “Welcome to the Fishbowl” is out tomorrow.

Happy 36th birthday to Blake Shelton today!