Jason Aldean is apparently very inspirational – to the Washington Nationals baseball team! Several of the players had tickets to his concert last Saturday night, and the Nats were playing an afternoon game. Adam Laroche, first baseman for the Nationals, stole an extra base so the game could end early, saying they “had to win that game in a hurry or [they] were going to miss that concert.” They beat the Florida Marlins 7-6.

Brantley Gilbert is riding high on his new-found success in country music, and has re-released “Kick it in the Sticks” due to fan demand. That song is a pretty rockin’ song – was Brantley leaning more to his rock and roll side when it was written and recorded? According to him, “I will be completely honest with you those were not my intentions when I wrote that song or when we produced it – either one. I can honestly say that about every song on that record. I did not try to make it sound country. I did not try to make it sound rock. We just wrote songs and we played them like we heard ‘em.”

Bucky Covington’s new album, “Good Guys,” came out yesterday, and Bucky says there’s a really good reason for that: “We figured we would put the album out on September 11th and a portion of the proceeds will go to Help The Good Guys - to help firefighters all over the U.S. and Canada. We figured it’d be great – of course you can’t say September 11th and not think firefighters.” He spent yesterday in New York City, hanging with public safety officers and joining in their remembrance ceremonies.

Aaron Lewis, frontman for the rock group Staind, also released a new album yesterday. He’s proud of the work, but admits that recording it was quite an ordeal: “I recorded the record on my days off from a Staind tour. So I’d play like three Staind shows in a row, and then have a day off, and I would fly from wherever I was in the country to Nashville, record for the afternoon and fly back to wherever I had to be next. That’s how I recorded the record.”

There’s holiday music coming from Scotty McCreery, Blake Shelton and Lady Antebellum, and Dave Heywood dishes a few details about trying to get in the Christmas spirit in the summertime: “We recorded this record kind of in two sections, but both times were in the summertime, which is always weird to be in the studio in July and June. So, we decorated the entire studio, we really did. We brought out lights, little, you know fake trees all around and decorated the place to kind of get in the Christmas spirit. It was definitely a new adventure to record it.” All three Christmas albums will be out next month.

Luke Bryan fans, here’s your road trip alert: you need to be in Nashville on October 17th, when Luke headlines the 5th Annual Capitol Street Party. Streets are closed off on Lower Broadway, and Luke’s excited to be part of the fun. Oh, and it’s free, too!

Scuttlebutt has it that Keith Urban is on the short list to be a judge on American Idol, but what does Keith have to say about it? “Well, I mean...all I can say right now is I’m trying to make an album and it’s strange how these opportunities seem to all come in one big fell swoop, but my priority right now is just making a record and that’s really gotta lead the charge for me.” Meanwhile, wife Nicole Kidman is featured in V magazine, with a very racy photo spread and juicy details of her life with Keith. Before you click the link, you should know the title of the piece is “Truth or Bare.”

Bucky Covington has chimed in on the American Idol judge selection process, and his choice might surprise you: “I’m sure I’ll probably here something about this. Kanye West would probably be an absolute wonderful choice. That guy definitely does not have a problem saying what’s on his mind. So he’d probably be an absolute wonderful choice for that show. I would be scared to death to be in front of Kanye West to be honest.” He also mentioned that Judge Judy would be a great choice.

How’s this for a memento? Eric Church ran his song “Springsteen” up the charts, never knowing how Bruce Springsteen himself might feel about it. According to Eric, “I’m a big Springsteen fan, I mean I love the way Bruce built his career. It’s similar to the way we built ours in bars and clubs and little teeny tiny places that we would sell out multiple nights.” After a show, Eric was handed a set list from one of Bruce’s shows with a hand-written letter on the back from Bruce. The note said he and his family were fans of the song, and he signed it, “I hope we cross paths somewhere, Bruce.” The note is locked up in a safe place, according to Eric.

Josh Turner is rooting for his song, “Time is Love,” to hit the top of the country music chart. It’s at #3, and Josh says his favorite part about the song is the life of it’s own it’s taken on: “You put it out as a single, and you think it means one thing and then you hear a fan come along with a completely different perspective. It just makes you realize time and time again the power of music and how it can relate to people in their own peculiar way and their own specific situation.”

Brantley Gilbert just celebrated his second #1 song, “You Don’t Know Her Like I Do,” and the song’s co-writer, Jim McCormick, was part of the celebration. How did they set out to write such a broken-hearted song? According to Brantley, “We just exchanged stories for a minute and you know it got deeper and deeper into what was going on and I was havin’ an issue with a girl at that time. Brought it up and we just really as honest and as simple as possible put it into words and you know it turned out to be a really good thing.”

October 3rd in New York, a benefit concert to save the barn on the late Levon Helm’s property is happening and Dierks Bentley and Eric Church will be part of it. Levon was known for his “Midnight Ramble Sessions,” held in his barn and featuring jam sessions and guitar pulls with some of the best rock, blues and country artists. The “Love for Levon” show will raise money to keep the sessions going on Levon’s estate.

Blake Shelton says he’s come up with a classic Christmas album that he’s proud of. “Cheers, It’s Christmas” comes out October 2nd, and was recorded with a full orchestra, taking Blake out of his element. His mom, Dorothy Shackleford, and Reba duet with him on a couple of the tracks.

Today's Country Tidbits

Before "The Horrible Fall" last Saturday night in Charleston, Brad Paisley got pranked by Justin Moore and his band. They donned Speedos and snorkeling gear and joined Brad on stage.



And the pranking continued, this time on the road with Rascal Flatts and Darius Rucker. Last Friday night in Columbus, GA, the guys from Rascal Flatts made Darius Rucker the "butt" of their prank. They called on some locals to bring in four goats, let them loose in Darius' dressing room while he was performing, and then paraded them on stage while he was singing "Family Tradition." The goats weren't used to walking on leashes, so the volunteers got a real workout! Be sure to watch the musicians' faces when the goats come on stage.



Miranda Lambert's "Roadside Bars and Pink Guitars" tour schedule is posted, and her opening acts will be rotating. She's signed up James Otto, David Nail, Randy Houser, Cross Canadian Ragweed, Eric Church, Jake Owen, Wade Bowen, Luke Bryan and Chris Young to take turns opening shows. What, no women? Miranda says, "I’ve been on tour with some great male headliners so I thought it’s only natural that I invite some talented guys on my first official headlining tour!”

A music teacher in Idaho noticed that suddenly he has a lot of young girls wanting to learn to play guitar, and they all seemed drawn to learning Taylor Swift songs. He formed the Taylor Swift Club so the girls could all have fun learning, playing and singing together. Smart guy! Their favorite songs to play? "The Best Day" and "You Belong With Me."

The night after the ACM Awards in Las Vegas, there's a big tv show taping in Sin City in honor of Brooks & Dunn. "ACM Presents: Brooks & Dunn - The Last Rodeo" will tape on April 19th and air on May 23, and more performers have been added to the lineup. Joining Kenny Chesney, Reba, Rascal Flatts, Carrie Underwood and Keith Urban are Jason Aldean, Lady A, Miranda Lambert, Brad Paisley, George Strait, Taylor Swift and Sugarland. ACM's charity, "Lifting Lives" will benefit from ticket sales, and the show is open to the public.

Uh-oh...cops shut down Bucky Covington's show in New Jersey last night. The crowd wasn't unruly, the bar was just overcrowded. Once authorities approved of the size of the audience, the show went on, and apparently Bucky was gracious and accommodating. He says he wants to go back and do another show for everyone who missed out on last night's.

Planning on running in the Music City Marathon or Half-Marathon? Yay for you if you said yes, but even if you said no, you can get in on a great post-race concert, featuring John Rich, Cowboy Troy, Heidi Newfield and Jerrod Niemann. The race and show are on April 24th in Nashville.

You won't see his face, but you'll know his voice right away. Saturday night on CMT, Trace Adkins narrates "True Blue: Ten Years of Blue Collar Comedy."

Happy birthday to Kristian Bush of Sugarland, who turns 40 on Sunday.

Gotta see Garth in Vegas before anyone else does? Tickets go on sale tomorrow morning at 11am Eastern time. $125 per ticket, plus $13 tax and a $5 service charge means they're $143 each. The first show will be on December 11 at 8pm. with three more shows to follow that weekend. Call 702-770-7469 or visit the Wynn Theatre box office to buy tickets.

A major tour kicks off in February of next year - Tim McGraw is finalizing tour plans now. Lady Antebellum, the Lost Trailers and Love and Theft will be the opening acts, with Lady A on the entire tour, the Lost Trailers doing early dates and Love and Theft doing the late spring and summer dates..

Bucky Covington was born in a town with a NASCAR track, so it's no surprise that his two great passions are music and cars. Tomorrow, he's the headliner for the post-race concert at the Memphis Motorsports Park. The show will include new stuff from his sophomore album, "I'm Alright" which is due out next spring.

Alan Jackson and Cracker Barrel have partnered up to offer the Alan Jackson Collection. The 40-item collection includes coffee mugs, rocking chairs and a 12-track cd of previously unreleased AJ songs.

Tomorrow night, Brad Paisley wraps up this year's leg of the American Saturday Night tour in Connecticut. The tour resumes in January of next year, with Miranda Lambert and Justin Moore also on the bill. It'll be a bit of stress for Justin, who's wife Kate is expecting their first child in February.

Country Crossing just south of Dothon, AL, has it's first concert scheduled: Kellie Pickler will perform on December 12th, and the show is a benefit for the Wiregrass Area United Way Food Bank. Wanna go to the show? Starting November 2nd, donate at least 10 cans of food to the food bank and get 2 tickets to the show.

Jamey Johnson and Randy Houser are touring together, but they're doing something special at each tour stop: they're encouraging concert goers to send thank-you postcards to the troops overseas. Marine Corps veteran Jamey Johnson says that the project will bring a little bit of home to them, which is important for morale.

Carrie Underwood's hockey-playing boyfriend, Mike Fisher, is featured in an article on People.com. He's pretty open about the fact that he must not be a great singer, saying that every time he tries to sing for her, she laughs. He also thinks the best song on her upcoming cd, "Play On," is "Temporary Home."

It's almost official...the All for the Hall benefit concert that Keith Urban arranged has raised half a million dollars so far. There's still the corporate donations to consider, and Taylor Swift's autographed guitar from that night to auction off before the final tally will be known. Proceeds will be used by the Country Music Hall of Fame for their collections, school and family programs.

Happy birthday to Jimmy Wayne today.

Remember to set your DVRs for the Oprah show on Monday - it's the day Martina McBride and Oprah hit the Texas State Fair. Watch Big Kenny of Big and Rich Monday morning on the Today show, and catch Taylor Swift on the Dancing With the Stars results show Tuesday, performing at least two songs.

Today's country tidbits...

Miranda Lambert sold out the Ryman last night for a performance of her upcoming CD, Revolution. It streets Tuesday, but you can hear it here now.

And quotes from Miranda Lambert and Blake Shelton on their enduring relationship: "She's a person who can relate to me in a way that very few people in this world can," says Blake. "We're both from the same part of the country. We're both into the outdoors. It should be illegal how much fun we have when we're home. It's absolutely redneck heaven!" Miranda adds, "We love to fish, hunt, drive around back roads listening to music, and sit on the tailgate with the cooler. Literally, what people sing about in songs is what we do in our downtime."

Bucky Covington, after winning 25 grand on "Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader:" - "Just like any good student would do, I called my mom first after the class ended. Arthritis hits close to home with our family and I had to let her know about the A+ win!"

Dierks Bentley announced some new names for his annual Miles & Music For Kids ride and concert on Sunday October 11. Darius Rucker, Eric Church, Wynonna, Heidi Newfield and Michelle Branch will join Bentley for the charity motorcycle ride through rural Tennessee to Nashville's Riverfront Park. Tickets are through Ticketmaster and start at just $20.


And finally, Wynonna was performing last night and a mouse ran across the stage. The unflappable redhead kept the show going, but remarked later on – "I must say, that’s a first!"