Eric Church ended up with the most nominations for this year’s CMA Awards – he’s up for five, including male vocalist, album, single, song, and video. His first-ever CMA nomination was last year, when he was up for New Artist of the Year but was bested by The Band Perry. Eric was shocked by the amount of nominations: “Um, I’m um...truly speechless. I think it’s a testament to really fans that believed in the music and loved the music and told people about the music, otherwise we don’t have really the track record to be the most nominated artist at this point in time in our career for the path that we’ve taken and I think that it’s truly because of the fans.” As for how his songs come together when he’s recording, Eric says it’s pretty organic: “I don’t have a real direction as to what it is—I go in and I play—my producer Jay Joyce—I go in and I play it acoustic for him and the musicians, and then we start hashing it out, you know? We start figuring out what it is, and it takes, you know weeks on a song just trying to figure out what it was.”

Colt Ford is proud as a peacock over Jason Aldean’s CMA nomination for “Dirt Road Anthem,” which Colt co-wrote with Brantley Gilbert. How did Jason come to record the song? Colt explains, “You know, it just turned out that I was opening for him in 2009 and he said, ‘Man, how do all those people know all the words to that song?’ And I was like, ‘I don’t know, man, they just seem to really like it.’ So he called me up and said he wanted to try to cut it and of course, I didn’t have a problem with that. Jason’s been a good friend of mine and he grew up the same way I did, so it wasn’t like it was something made up for him. I mean, that was real life for him as well, and it turned out to be the biggest song of his career.”

Kellie Pickler is beautiful, even bald. Don’t believe me? Check out this video of Kellie shaving her head to support her childhood friend Summer Holt Miller. She’s only 36 but is battling breast cancer.

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George Strait will announce a 2013 tour later this month, and apparently he’s got another big announcement, too. Stay tuned…

“Cheers, It’s Christmas” is the title of Blake Shelton’s Christmas album, which is available for pre-orders now. It comes out October 2nd and here’s the track list:

1. “Jingle Bell Rock” (featuring Miranda Lambert)
2. “White Christmas”
3. “Oklahoma Christmas” (featuring Reba)
4. “Let It Snow”
5. “There's A New Kid In Town” (featuring Kelly Clarkson)
6. “Santa's Got A Choo Choo Train”
7. “Home” (featuring Michael Buble)
8. “Winter Wonderland”
9. “The Christmas Song”
10. “Blue Christmas” (featuring The Pistol Annies)
11. “I'll Be Home For Christmas”
12. “Silver Bells” (featuring Xenia Martinez)
13. “Time For Me To Come Home” (featuring Dorothy Shackleford)
14. “The Very Best Time Of Year” (featuring Trypta-Phunk)

Carrie Underwood tops the Billboard Country Album chart this week with “Blown Away,” and she says that she’s inspired by her new music: “It opened the door for the Blown Away album, and for me to be able to play a little bit, which has been a lot of fun. From the song to the album, to putting together a tour, I feel like that song has allowed me to be able to do different things. It’s definitely making the tour be more dramatic and more of a juicy story.”

Luke Bryan has been given a plaque recognizing sales of seven million downloads of songs from his platinum album, “Tailgates & Tanlines.”

Want to see how Lee Ann Womack roughs it? Check out the next issue of People Country magazine – they went along on a road trip with Lee Ann and two of her girlfriends in her 1973 Airstream Land Yacht, which Lee Ann says is “girly, but ‘60’s timeless.” Chandelier in the bedroom? Portable record player? Cornhole? Sounds like a party!

Little Big Town will be on Good Morning America Monday morning.

Here’s the complete list of CMA nominees for your wagering pleasure:

Entertainer of the Year

Jason Aldean
Kenny Chesney
Brad Paisley
Blake Shelton
Taylor Swift

Female Vocalist of the Year

Kelly Clarkson
Miranda Lambert
Martina McBride
Taylor Swift
Carrie Underwood

Male Vocalist of the Year

Jason Aldean
Luke Bryan
Eric Church
Blake Shelton
Keith Urban

Vocal Group of the Year

Eli Young Band
Lady Antebellum
Little Big Town
The Band Perry
Zac Brown Band

Vocal Duo of the Year

Big & Rich
Love and Theft
Sugarland
The Civil Wars
Thompson Square

Musical Event of the Year

“Dixie Highway” – Alan Jackson, Zac Brown
“Feel Like a Rock Star” – Kenny Chesney, Tim McGraw
“Roll Me Up and Smoke Me When I Die” – Willie Nelson, Snoop Dogg, Kris Kristofferson, Jamey Johnson
“Safe and Sound” – Taylor Swift, The Civil Wars
“Stuck On You” – Lionel Richie, Darius Rucker

New Artist of the Year

Lee Brice
Brantley Gilbert
Hunter Hayes
Love and Theft
Thompson Square

Single of the Year

“Dirt Road Anthem” – Jason Aldean
“God Gave Me You” – Blake Shelton
“Home” – Dierks Bentley
“Pontoon” – Little Big Town
“Springsteen” – Eric Church

Song of the Year

“Even If It Breaks Your Heart” – Eli Young Band
“God Gave Me You” – Blake Shelton
“Home” – Dierks Bentley
“Over You” – Miranda Lambert
“Springsteen” – Eric Church

Album of the Year

Chief - Eric Church
Four the Record - Miranda Lambert
Home - Dierks Bentley
Own the Night - Lady Antebellum
Tailgates and Tanlines - Luke Bryan

Music Video of the Year

“Come Over” – Kenny Chesney
“Over You” – Miranda Lambert
“Pontoon” – Little Big Town
“Red Solo Cup” – Toby Keith
“Springsteen” – Eric Church

Musician of the Year

Sam Bush (mandolin)
Paul Franklin (steel guitar)
Dann Huff (guitar)
Brent Mason (guitar)
Mac McAnally (guitar)