Blake Shelton is proving that country artists are a lot more than just a pretty face and a good song: “Nashville – there is a lot of creative people here - and we don’t all fit into a mold. There are a lot of talented people here that can do a lot of different things. I just happen to be one of them. I happen to be one of the guys that happens to be the first to do it on TV. And everybody go, ‘Oh I didn’t even know country people could read – that’s crazy!’ Not that I can read, I’m just saying.” He made Jay Leno laugh last night and tonight will be giggling with Chelsea on Chelsea Lately. Knowing those two, they’ll probably be knocking back a few, too! 

Little Big Town is taking some time off the road following a death in their family. The announcement on their Facebook page didn’t specify the relationship, just that it was an immediate family member. They’ve postponed two shows in California and skipped a slot on the Tonight show this week.

From the “ok, this is kind of weird” file, Lady Antebellum’s Hillary Scott and Chris Tyrell, the band’s drummer, don’t travel together when they’re on the road. Chris rides in the band bus so he can stay in tune with them, and Hillary shares a bus with Charles Kelley and Dave Heywood. According to Hillary, “You have to separate it a little bit, and thankfully – knock on wood and praise God – it’s been such a smooth transition.”

From the “this won’t happen again” file, Kelly Clarkson won’t be giving anymore interviews to British magazine The Mirror. She’s the cover story, but it’s not a flattering story. The headline reads ”No One On The Planet Should Be As Famous As Me,” though Kelly says that’s a misquote. She says she was really saying that she doesn’t want to be as famous as Britney Spears or Madonna, because she’s had a taste of what they have to deal with, and Kelly says she didn’t handle it well. The article also says she’s had a battle with anorexia, and that’s not true either.
What do country music artists think about the new country music TV show, “Nashville?” Chris Young approves: “I actually really like the show. You always get nervous anytime someone wants to do a show on your hometown. I don’t think that would change even if it wasn’t a music town, and obviously something that is the home of country music.” Brad Paisley’s wife Kimberly just signed on for four more episodes, and she’ll likely be a regular if the show gets a second season.

Country music is filled with some beautiful people, and even though People Magazine recognized Channing Tatum as tops in their People’s Sexiest Man Alive for 2012 list, Blake Shelton made the list, too. He’ll be featured in the issue that comes out today. Earlier this year, wife Miranda Lambert made People’s 2012 World’s Most Beautiful Women list. Another country artist is now in the running for Sexiest Man Alive for 2013, since Chris Young is featured as the Sexiest Man of the Week in the current issue of People Magazine. He says he doesn’t see himself as sexy, but admits the ladies go wild when he performs: “Someone threw neon underwear on stage last week, which I just laughed. I’ve gotten bras before. You know, shoot a thong on stage is one thing. If they start going through the process of like, ‘not only underwear, I’m gonna make sure it ties in with the album.’ That’s a lot of thought. That’s a lot of premeditation to throwing underwear on stage.” He’s currently touring behind his album, entitled “Neon.”

Fan reaction to the announcement of Keith Urban’s first headlining tour since 2011 has been very gratifying for Keith, and he’s stoked to hit the road and do what he does best – play live for a crowd, sharing the energy and the love. According to Keith, “I really love, love what I do. It’s really important; it’s just that lessons in gratitude that’s a daily thing. And I think if you really love it, it’s something people pick up on.”

Taylor Swift was on X Factor’s live results show last night, performing “State of Grace” off of her new album, Red. If you looked carefully, you saw a new addition to her band: “We actually have four extra backup singers now, who are amazing! They’re these girls who I love so much, and they’re so good at singing and they move all pretty – they’re adorable. They’ve performed with us on the VMA’s and the TV performances we’ve done.” Taylor was also part of MTV’s Restore the Shore campaign special last night. Growing up in Pennsylvania meant that her family often went to the Jersey shore for summer vacation. She, along with many other country stars, are pitching in to help the victims of Hurricane Sandy.
Jason Aldean was on Jimmy Kimmel Live last night, and, remembering the days of dive bars and half-empty halls, he’s grateful for where his career has gone: “To be able to stand there with the guys that have seen it go from that, to what it is now – I think really those guys are probably the only ones that really understand – that really get it. Family a lot of times doesn’t see the everyday stuff, they just kind of all of sudden notice you’re getting bigger.” 
Lee Brice is in love with his next single, “I Drive Your Truck,” a song about a man who loses his brother, presumably in the Middle East. “It really changed my life when I heard it. I couldn’t believe I got my hands on it – I didn’t write this song. I’m still floored by it to this stay – so we’re really pumped about that one. It is really amazing - the songwriter was straight up touched by God that day.” 
Kristian Bush of Sugarland bought his bandmate Jennifer Nettles what he describes as the perfect baby gift. Dubbed “the Miracle Blanket,” it is supposed to help new babies sleep deeper and longer, allowing their parents to get more rest, too. Jennifer is expecting her first child sometime this month. 
Martina McBride and her family will be spending Thanksgiving in New York City. She’ll be performing during The Thanksgiving Day Parade on CBS Thanksgiving day.

If you’ve been inside a Walgreens store lately, you probably noticed a Taylor Swift display, selling her new album, “Red.” How did that happen? Taylor’s dad had the idea: “He comes in and he’s like, ‘Walgreens has like 8,000 stores. That’s more than anything out there. Do you think they would sell music?’ And we’ve been working on it ever since. We’ve been working on it for ages partnering with Walgreens and we are finally opening the doors to the stores inside Walgreens where they’re gonna sell my music now and it’s amazing to me that that was just something, an idea out of thin air that my dad had.”

Jason Aldean has announced the first leg of his Night Train tour. It’ll kick off February 21st in Louisiana and visit 23 cities through May. Jason says his fans are in for a treat: “We’ve kind of made it a point to go out and make our shows, you know, as good as we can possibly make ‘em. You know, when people come out to our show, that’s what they’re gonna get.” Meanwhile, former tourmate Luke Bryan and Jason are making plans for right now: “[Jason] It’s huntin’ season. [Luke] Go deer hunt a little bit! [Jason] ...huntin’ season and just kinda gives us some time to take a couple months off and get ready for next year.”

Eric Church’s family was with him in Nashville when he accepted the CMA Album of the Year award for “Chief.” Eric’s dad and brother went back home after the show, but his mom hit the road with him for shows on the West Coast. He’s working on songs for his next album, but doesn’t really know when that one will be out, as he’s in no hurry: “I think there’s a lot of reasons to make records. The one thing I won’t do is I won’t make records for an economic reason. It won’t be because a label needs to make a quarterly number or we need to promote a tour.” If you need an Eric Church fix, a live album recorded last month in Chattanooga will be out in early 2013.
Miranda Lambert is getting into the retail spirit on Black Friday this year – she’s opening her new store, The Pink Pistol, in the small Oklahoma town where she and Blake Shelton live. The new boutique will sell, according to Miranda, “antiques, gifts, boots, jeans and pretty much everything you can imagine.” She says she wants to turn Black Friday, the huge shopping day after Thanksgiving, into Pink Friday. 
Kenny Chesney fans, heads-up! He’ll announce details of 2013’s tour, including dates, opening acts and the tour’s name, on Thursday.
Chris Young is People Magazine’s Sexy Man of the Week, meaning he’s up for the annual Sexiest Man Alive award. Miranda and Blake are on the cover of the current issue.

Carrie Underwood is blowing away the competition – her #1 song “Blown Away” is spending its second week on top of the Billboard Country Singles chart and has just been certified platinum. It’s her 16th #1 song, and with those two weeks and with the one week she owned the charts when “Good Girl” hit #1, she now has spent more time at the top of the country charts than any other female country artist this year. That could be about to change…

She sold nearly 4 million downloads before yesterday, and now that “Red” is officially out, Taylor Swift is anxious to hear what her fans think of it: “There’s a lot on this record. There are a lot of different things reflected on this album, and I think that it’s gonna be so interesting to hear people’s different opinions on the different songs ‘cause each one is so different from the others. It’s um...it’s an interesting thing listening to the record top to bottom.” And since it’s release week, you know Taylor will be on TV everywhere – The View on Wednesday, The Ellen DeGeneres Show on Thursday and on Katie with Katie Couric on Friday.

Chris Young is following up #1 songs “Tomorrow” and “You” with “I Can Take It From There.” Chris says his new song has been special from the very beginning: “I wrote this song with two guys in Nashville that have had a whole bunch of cuts together. And it was cool. I’ve always wanted to write with ‘em, and one of ‘em bein’ Rhett Akins, who…I’ve known Rhett forever. And it was exciting just to get in the room with him and hang out — him and Ben Hayslip — and we kinda got on this idea and finished it so fast. I immediately took it out and started playin’ it at live shows, and people reacted to it. And that’s one of the things that I’ve kind of kept as a hallmark of when I love something just listenin’ to it recorded, and then when it also works live, it’s a really, really good sign.”

There was a Garth sighting in Nashville on Sunday, as he, Connie Smith and Hargus “Pig” Robbins were officially inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame. Asked how he was feeling before the ceremony, Garth Brooks replied, “This might be the biggest night of my career. I’m so excited and so nervous and feel so undeserving and excited at the same time.” He could have been nervous about who was in the audience to witness his induction: George Strait, James Taylor, Merle Haggard, Ronnie Dunn and Bob Seger.
Kix Brooks’ movie, “Thrift Store Cowboy,” debuted at the Hollywood Film Festival over the weekend. Couldn’t get there to see it? Here’s the official trailer – check out a moustache-free Kix… 
 
Lady Antebellum is out with their Christmas album, “On This Winter’s Night.” The title track was written by the trio, and the album includes holiday classics, too. What would Charles Kelley’s perfect winter night be? “The perfect winter’s night to me would be just all the family together. As you get a little older and everybody has their jobs and then families and kids, it definitely becomes a harder and harder thing to get everybody together at once.” 
Florida Georgia Line will release their debut album, “Here’s To The Good Times,” featuring their hit song, “Cruise,” on December 4th. 
Sara Evans is working on a new album, but don’t hold your breath – it won’t be out until late spring or early summer of next year. 
Since first becoming headliners in 2004, Rascal Flatts have sold over seven million tickets. They were given a giant commemorative ticket at the Nashville show last Friday night. 

Jason Aldean is in the new issue of People Country, talking about his life off the road. He opens up about daughters Kendyl, who is 5, and Keeley, who is 9. Their favorite store? Target. Their favorite time of day? Bedtime, because the family loves bedtime tickle fights. The article also features photos of Jason’s 18-acre Tennessee property, with photos of the house included, so fans can see how he spends his down time.

Chris Young is about to take off on a headlining tour, and is pleased to be kicking it off November 15th at the Ryman in Nashville. He’s appreciated the opportunity to open for Miranda Lambert this year, and to play to much larger audiences than he’s been used to. As Chris put it, “I found myself constantly going to like people in my band going, ‘Dude, remember when we played in front of like a hundred people, and then like 30 of them left by the end of the show?’ But, it’s...it’s all really exciting.” Tickets for the Ryman show go on sale this Friday at Ticketmaster and at Ryman.com.

Little Big Town releases “Tornado” today, and they’re excited to bring new music to their fans. They used their live show band instead of session players, and collaborated with people they’ve admired for years. Jimi Westbrook says that the collaboration was his favorite part: “That was inspiring too. I think even before we got into the recording process was the writing side of things and the new people we were getting to work with. Some that we had known of, and wanted to write with but hadn’t ever been able to so. I think the inspiration started even back then and just carried all the way through. It was really cool.” “Tornado” includes their first #1 single, the platinum-selling “Pontoon.”

Kix Brooks also has a new album out today – “New To This Town” is his solo debut, and he says it’s a trip back to his real musical roots, especially the song “Moonshine Road:” “It’s just got that swamp groove and it was one of the first songs I wrote for the album, sort of—I felt kinda free and on my own in a way. I’m like ‘This isn’t anything like what Ronnie and I were doing, this really is kinda going back to where I came from.’”

Friday night, Taylor Swift was the highlight of the Stand Up 2 Cancer telethon with a song written especially for the occasion: “Ronan.” Ronan was a 4-year-old boy who lost his battle with neuroblastoma. His mom poured out the journey, the battle, and her loss through a blog that Taylor read, and she wrote the song based on Maya Thompson’s emotion-laden words. Taylor listed Maya as co-writer on the song, and it’s available on iTunes, where it’s the top-selling song by a long shot. Proceeds go to Stand Up 2 Cancer. If you’d like to hear it, here’s video from the show. Get tissues first – you have been warned…



No official announcement that Keith Urban will be a judge on American Idol this year, but Keith does reveal that he’s bad at shows like that: “I would love to be able to do it and hopefully that happens. I actually did a few of those kind of shows when I was very young I went on a few TV talent shows. I was terrible at all of them, but I really enjoyed the experience and the thing about some of these shows is that mentoring aspect. I really like that.”

Did you watch the season 3 premier of The Voice last night? Blake Shelton says that there are things the TV audience doesn’t see, like Cee Lo being distracted: “There have been times where we’re live on TV and Carson will ask a direct question to Cee Lo and Cee Lo not even know ‘cause he’s texting some girl or playing Angry Birds or something on his phone. It’ll completely just go right over his head.”

Carrie Underwood’s “Blown Away” is now a platinum-selling album for her. It’s spent six weeks at the top of the Billboard Country chart.

It’s the year of the bus fire, apparently. Joe Diffie has joined Chris Young, Jerrod Niemann, Lee Brice and Randy Houser on the list of artists whose buses have caught fire this year. Joe’s went up in flames in the early hours of the morning last Friday while they were traveling between shows. The driver safely stopped it, evacuated it and a nearby truck stop helped them get back on the road after the damage was repaired. No injuries – same as with all of the other bus fires.

Even superstars have guilty pleasures, and Lady Antebellum fessed up to theirs in their latest webisode – they’re enthralled by Honey Boo Boo. Charles Kelley says it’s his favorite show on tv, and Dave Haywood says sometimes they have to take a Honey Boo Boo break, even while recording their fourth studio album! No word on when the album will be out – if they keep watching trash tv, it could be a while!



Dierks Bentley just celebrated his 10th #1 song in Nashville at the Tin Roof. He showed up in his ’67 Camaro and told the crowd, “I can’t believe there’s 10 of them, but um...it’s just, I think you put ‘em all together they tell a nice story of my music, my sound and my career so far. But, um...it’s weird. I can’t believe it!”

Darius Rucker has five #1 country songs so far, and just released “True Believers,” the first single from his third country album, due out early next year. About the song, Darius says, “It’s such a defiant song for me. It’s just a song of, ‘I’m gonna make my life work no matter what you all say or think.’ And I’ve lived my life like that for 46 years now.”

Josh Turner’s summer was very busy, what with touring, putting out a new album, “Live Across America,” in partnership with Cracker Barrel, and trying to keep up with his three boys during their summer vacation. What sorts of things does a famous Dad do with his sons? “Sports things or basketball or baseball or just playing outside. You know, anytime we have good weather or even when we don’t we’re trying to get outside and go down to the creek or walking through the pasture or fishing in the pond or whatever it may be so a lot of different things we can do just at home.”

This morning, Jason Aldean and Lady Antebellum announce the final nominees for the CMA Awards on Good Morning America.

Hollywood tabloids are still buzzing about who the next American Idol judges will be, and two country artists’ names keep coming up: Brad Paisley and Keith Urban. There has to be a decision soon, as audition rounds are scheduled to start in just a couple of weeks. Word is the show is desperate to have a country artist…who will it be? Speaking of Brad Paisley, he’ll be playing a show in Paradise this fall – Atlantis resort in Nassau, to be precise, and he’ll be there November 18th. Save your pennies and make plans – that’ll be an event!

It’s seven in a row for Blake Shelton – 7 #1 songs, that is. His latest song, “Over,” from “Red River Blue” has topped the country chart, and Blake knows it’s they mystery, as well as the melody, that made it a hit: “That’s one of those that just—the energy and the melody had me. And it’s one of those lyrics that when you listen to it, you go, ‘Man, wait a minute, what?’ cause there’s lines in there about burning the world down and you could have a different melody, and it would be like a threat, that song…you know?” This marks Blake’s 12th career #1 song, proving he knows how to pick ‘em.

Still have some waiting to do before Jason Aldean’s next album comes out. October 16th is the magic day for “Night Train,” and Jason is as excited as you are: “I think something that we did with this album, I think we found some great songs on the record - some things that I think are kind of things that people are used to hearing from us. And then there’s also some things on there that are kind of different – like the last album. I’m really proud of it, I know there’s a lot of anticipation for this record from a lot of people, just because of what our last album did.” Jason’s road band plays on the album, and tour-mates Luke Bryan and Eric Church show up on one track, called “The Only Way I Know” and fans are haunting YouTube and Jason’s Facebook page for a sneak peek at that one. “Night Train” is the follow-up to Jason’s 2010 release, “My Kinda Party.”

Lee Brice’s latest album, “Hard 2 Love,” is out and Lee admits that the title cut takes a pretty hard jab at men: “If we’re gonna categorize people, if we’re gonna say all women are crazy, then we have to say all men, we’re all idiots. We just do stupid stuff all the time. And you’re like, ‘Why did you do that?’ and we’re like, ‘I have no idea why I did that.’ I’m an idiot.’ That’s the truth, you know it?” Ummmmm…no comment!

Jake Owen is excited to headline the CMT on Tour fall tour this year. Five years ago, he was the opening act when Sugarland headlined and Little Big Town had the middle slot. The line-up this fall will be Florida Georgia Line up first, Love and Theft in the middle slot and Jake Owen headlining. Tickets go on sale Friday.

There’s a new, star-studded version of Little Big Town’s “Pontoon.” Check it out and see if you can figure out who all the stars are…cheat sheet at the end of this blog post!



Chris Young has admitted to an addiction – to a game! “I’m addicted to Golden Tee. It’s a golf game you can find it in most any bar where you would also run into neons, and I am addicted to it. I actually custom-built a road case into a Golden Tee video game, like to the point that the guys from Golden Tee actually sent me a bunch of the equipment for it, and I had to, like, take a picture next to it and show ‘em the finished product.” Chris can celebrate the platinum status of his song “Tomorrow” and the gold status of “The Man I Want to Be” with a rousing game of Golden Tee, but will probably have a party, too.

Willie Nelson’s breathing easier, apparently, after cancelling a show Saturday night in Colorado. His show in Dallas Texas went off without a hitch last night, and his manager says the breathing issues that forced Saturday’s cancellation were altitude related.

Update on Wynonna’s husband, Cactus Moser, who had a head-on collision with a car as he was riding his motorcycle this past Saturday. He lost his left leg, which was severed above the knee and had surgery on one of his hands. Wynonna was on another motorcycle and wasn’t injured, but has cancelled shows in Canada next week to remain at his side in the hospital. Cactus was cited for not having a license to operate a motorcycle and driving on the wrong side of the road.

Congrats to the new crop of inductees into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame: Mary Chapin Carpenter, Tony Arata, Larry Henley and Kim Williams. The ceremony will be October 7th in Nashville.

(Here's your cheat-sheet for the Pontoon video: Carrie Underwood, Luke Bryan, Lady Antebellum, Darius Rucker, Pistol Annies, Jake Owen, Hunter Hayes, Sara Evans, Wynonna, Thompson Square, several CMT show hosts and many more.)

Craig Morgan and a few of his country music friends teamed up with some of his motocross friends and raised money during Craig’s 6th Annual Charity Weekend in Vanleer and Nashville, Tennessee. The event, which included a celebrity motocross ride, concert, banquet, silent a live auction and skeet shoot raises money for Billy’s Place, an organization near and dear to Craig’s heart: “It’s something my wife and I started. We seen the need early on in our community as foster parents. We were foster parents at one point. We seen the need for a place where the children could go during the transition of being removed from the home and being placed in a foster family.” They’re still counting the cash, but it’s sure to be a big pile!

Rascal Flatts latest song, “Come Wake Me Up,” is racing up the charts. The video features Tiffany Fallon, Joe Don’s wife, with motorcycle freestyle world champion Dena Sodano as her motorcycle-riding stunt double. Jay knows why the song is doing so well on the charts: “Everybody’s had their heartbroken – obviously. Everybody can identify with those kinds of emotions that come out in our music.” Check out the video…CMT.com feeds a commercial first…



What happens when a superstar is a fan of yours? Singer-songwriter Mat Kearney found out when Brad Paisley called him up to come over and write. Mat says the call was “a little nerve-wracking at first,” but Brad was “super humble” and described Brad as a workaholic and an awesome musician. Can’t wait to hear what they come up with – both are amazing songwriters.

Lovelovelove Miranda Lambert? There’s an app for that. Whether you use iPhone or Driod, hit your app store for the free Miranda app that includes a news feed, tour schedule, videos, music, pictures and access to exclusive content about Miranda.

Kip Moore is watching his latest single, “Beer Money,” take on a life of its own, and by the time he hits the road with Eric Church this fall, the whole audience will be singing it back to him. According to Kip, “It’s an infectious song and it’s one of those things that every night when we play it, the whole crowd’s singing it.”

Heavy metal of the gold variety was handed out to Dierks Bentley, Love and Theft and Chris Young. Each has sold over half a million digital downloads of their songs – “5-1-5-0” for Dierks, “Angel Eyes” for Love and Theft and “The Man I Want to Be” for Chris Young.

Lady Antebellum is in Great Britain and on one of their tour stops, they opened for Bruce Springsteen. Of that experience, Charles Kelley says, “I’ve seen him several times, every time he comes to Nashville I see him. It is a huge honor...big influence and one of the best songwriters of all time.” Lady A got to complete their set, but Bruce Springsteen’s set was cut short because of a strict curfew at the Hyde Park location.

Eli Young Band is basking in another week at #1, and knew all along it would be a hit: “‘Even If It Breaks Your Heart’ is kind of one of those songs we knew right away that we wanted to record it. For us and the road we have been on the last 10 years, it kind of felt like our story and it felt like we could have or should have written it...it felt right.” It’s looking like Dierks Bentley will take the #1 slot away from Eli Young Band, but I doubt it will break their hearts.

Chris Young likes to box, so when he posted a picture of himself with a black eye, fans assumed for a moment that he got it sparring with someone. No – he tells the real tale: “I actually hit myself in the eye with a guitar the other day. For a second, I wanted to get on Twitter and say ‘Ah, I got punched in the face’ but I didn’t. I just hit myself with my own guitar...not quite as cool, but it’s still funny.”

Going to be in Nashville on September 24th? Slide by the Ryman for some red-carpet fun. The non-televised award winners of ACM awards this spring will be honored at the 6th Annual ACM Honors. Award recipients include Kenny Chesney, Vince Gill and Bobby Braddock. They’ll receive special awards, plus the Industry, Musician, Bandleader and Instrumentalist award winners will be recognized.

Tracy Byrd and his wife Michelle were in a wreck in Texas and were both hospitalized. A woman pulled out in front of the car they were in, and she was also taken to the hospital. Michelle has undergone two surgeries on her left foot since the accident early Tuesday afternoon. The driver of the other car was ticketed for failure to yield the right of way. The extent of Tracy’s injuries hasn’t been disclosed, other to say that they’re “non-life-threatening.”

Glen Campbell’s US tour is going well, but he’s cancelled the Australia and New Zealand legs of the tour. Those six dates will be carried by Kenny Rogers and local country artists. Glen’s people feel that the long plane ride would be more than he could handle as his Alzheimer’s disease progresses.

Tonight is the finale of ABC’s Duets, and the odds favor Jennifer Nettles to have a winner, as her partners J Rome and John Glosson are both in the top three. Kelly Clarkson’s partner, Jason Farol, rounds out the contenders for tonight’s show.

Congratulations to the Zac Brown Band, whose new album “Uncaged” debuted at the top of the Billboard Country Chart and also at the top of the all-genre Billboard 200. Nearly a quarter of a million copies were sold in its first week of release.

Heavy metal alert – Toby Keith’s “Red Solo Cup” has gone double-platinum and Billy Currington’s “Good Directions” was awarded platinum certification.

Today's Country Tidbits

It’s as American as baseball – country music stars lining up to be part of the All-Star Break fun. Tonight, Zac Brown Band will play a show at the Home Run Derby, and tomorrow night, Luke Bryan will sing the National Anthem and Kellie Pickler will sing “God Bless America” as part of the All-Star Game festivities. It all airs on FOX.

Heat waves are bad for bus engines, and Chris Young knows that first-hand. He and his band narrowly averted the bus-fire issues that Jerrod Niemann and Lee Brice have had in the past year. According to Chris, “We were in Charlotte, North Carolina, and my tour manager ran on the bus, was like, ‘Off the bus now. Grab what you need, and get off.’ It was like, engine glowing red, smoke comin’ out of the back of it, and we hit it with a fire extinguisher and turned the bus off, and that’s probably…my bus driver was like, ‘Man, that’s the only thing that kept it from being in flames.’” Fortunately there were no injuries, and they’ll be back on the road this coming weekend.

Carrie Underwood is back state-side after a successful foray into the Great Britain and Australian concert venues. Her album, “Blown Away,” was released in the two nations to coincide with her visits and debuted at #1 in both places.

Miranda Lambert had to sit out her shows this past weekend. Gretchen Wilson and Sawyer Brown filled in for her on Friday’s show, and Saturday’s show was postponed. She hopes to be back on stage this coming weekend.

Dierks Bentley has his own Martin Guitar – a signature, custom six string. It’s taking a little bit of getting used to, though: “The guitar I have that I play all the time has a big hole in it from playing it so much, so it’s kinda weird...everything I have is kinda beat up a little bit. So, it’s weird to have this nice shiny guitar. It’s kinda freaking me out a little bit, but I’m gonna do my best to get it all beat up here pretty soon [Laughs]!” The Dierks Bentley Custom Signature Artist Edition Martin guitar retails for around $5,000 and if you want one, you’d better snap one up quickly – it truly is a limited edition.

Kix Brooks is ready to release his first solo album, “New to This Town.” It’ll be out September 11th, and he’s happy to dish some details about it: “I’m not sure how many songs I started with, but I recorded 49 songs in three weeks. I just got my favorite pickers over at Sony Tree Studio – where we recorded our first Brooks & Dunn album there. It’s our publishing company, and there’s a studio in there that’s kind of like home to me.” Kix and Jay DeMarcus of Rascal Flatts co-produced the project.

Taylor Swift and the man she was named for, James Taylor, hit the stage together last week. Here’s video of their duet of “Fire and Rain.”



Congrats to Kenny Chesney, whose “Welcome to the Fishbowl” is the top country album again this week. About the album, Kenny says, “A lot of artists, when they’re done with a record, they’ll say, ‘This is my favorite record that I’ve ever done,’ no matter if it is or not. I’m not sure it is, but I can tell you this record took me on an emotional journey that none of them have.”

Happy birthday to David Ball, who turns 53 today.

Today's Country Tidbits

Kenny Chesney and his long-time record label, Sony, have come to an agreement that keeps that relationship going. Not only will they stay together, Kenny gets his own imprint – Blue Chair Records. According to Kenny, "I moved to Nashville to be a songwriter, so to have my own label imprint feels like beyond a dream come true."

Tim McGraw has a new record label – Big Machine Music – and will be releasing a new album soon. Meanwhile, he gets to try out the songs that might be on the album on the Brothers of the Sun tour audiences. “That’s one of the highlights of me doing any tour is going out and playing new music. And I look forward to that every single night, I mean—I almost want to run to the new songs when I’m onstage!” Just how big is the Kenny Chesney/Tim McGraw entourage? Check it out - 283 crew members, 20 buses, and 80 tractor-trailers are needed to carry it all around, set it up and tear it down. The vehicles will travel about 20,000 miles by the time the tour ends at the end of summer.

Dierks Bentley says that his dad was the man who taught him about country music: “My dad's my biggest influence in country music, because my dad loved country radio, so we always drove around listening to country radio – George Strait and Hank Williams and Randy Travis and all those guys. So, without him, I wouldn't be doing this, for sure.”

Today in Nashville, Jake Owen, Vince Gill, Florida Georgia Line and stellar songwriter Dallas Davidson will sing their hearts out at the 8th annual Stars for Second Harvest benefit concert at the Ryman. Road trip alert – you can probably still get there in time!

Have you paid attention to the lyrics of Chris Young’s song, “Neon?” You should – Chris explains: “The rhymes in that are so smart, and I had nothing to do with writing that song, so I can totally say that. I love the way they wrote this song. It’s like just when you think they painted themselves into a corner where there’s not a good rhyme they find out a way either around it or a really, really funny one.” Tolerate the commercial and check out the video…



Alan Jackson’s “Thirty Miles West” is out today, and he’s quick to explain the slightly strange title: “Where I grew up was on Highway 34 there outside of Newnan, Georgia and it wasn’t actually the official Dixie Highway. That’s where we came up with thirty miles...I think I’m thirty miles west of the official highway that runs through Georgia that’s called the Dixie Highway, so that’s just kind of the title that came from looking at the map and figuring out where the Dixie Highway was and all that kind of stuff.” Celebrating the album’s release, he’s on the Today show and the Late Show with David Letterman today.

Carrie Underwood’s “Good Girl” is the #1 country song this week.

Today's Country Tidbits

Jake Owen is a married man. He and his new bride, Lacey, were wed in Vero Beach, Florida, barefoot in the sand by the ocean. Jake’s uncle officiated over the sunrise ceremony yesterday morning, and the happy couple will honeymoon before Jake hits the road on the Brothers of the Sun tour with Kenny Chesney and Tim McGraw next month.

Jason Aldean is enjoying touring with Luke Bryan, and has noticed that Luke’s adding some moves to his set: “He’s becoming a bit of a dancer lately. I think he’s started to realize that if he gets up there and swivels his hips around or whatever, you know, all the girls start screamin’ and so...he’s kind of incorporated that into his show! But, he’s awesome man...he’s one of my favorite people to be around and he and I are really good friends.” The “My Kinda Party” tour continues in Illinois and Indiana this week.

Toby Keith is prepping his “Live in Overdrive” tour, kicking off June 14th. He’ll take along Brantley Gilbert and will have more video & more pyrotechnics this time. About the extra glam, Toby says, “I’ve got the worst seat in the house ‘cause I never get to see any of it. My back’s to it...I’m out there workin’, I see the audience and it looks like it always did, so from my view...you know the old saying, if you’re not the lead horse in the wagon train, the view never changes. My view never changes, so the audience gets the bang off the video screen and the pyro and all the effects. I rarely see any of it.”

Carrie Underwood is taking her show to Australia and the United Kingdom this summer. It’s her first time headlining in either place, and she’s excited to “blow away” her fans across the ponds. The UK show on June 21st sold out in less than 90 minutes. The Australian dates aren’t on sale yet, but expect them to sell out quickly, too. By the way, Carrie’s on the cover of Glamour magazine, talking about her married life and what it was like to win American Idol.

Brad Paisley is sharing the love on his Virtual Reality World Tour, bringing along some Nashville newcomers. Kristen Kelly, Jana Kramer and Love and Theft will appear on the outdoor plaza “Escape” stage, in front of a virtual Grand Ole Opry backdrop. Nice opportunity for them all!

Miranda Lambert and Blake Shelton pull no punches on Twitter, making them fan favorites to follow. According to Miranda, she and Blake like having no secrets: “We are exactly who you would think we would be on and off stage. You know, there’s not really a difference. And we don’t have a lot to hide. Both of us are pretty open and honest and our fans pretty much know everything about us, and we like that about our relationship with our fans.” What do she and Blake do when not on the road? Ride four-wheelers, hunt and fish in Oklahoma.

Chris Young and his grandmother are teaming up to raise money for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. Each month his Nanny is donating one of her hand-made quilts and Chris is putting it up for auction on his website. No word on how many quilts Nanny is willing to make, but as long as her fingers hold out, the auction will happen, with all of the money going to St. Jude.

Alan Jackson is on the Grand Ole Opry tonight.

The tweet of the day is from Jerrod Niemann: “Beautiful day in LA…screw this “map of the stars.” I want a map of the bars”

Today's Country Tidbits

Carrie Underwood is getting ready to go out on her “Blown Away” tour, and she’s taking along new artist Hunter Hayes. Why? She’s blown away by him: “Hunter Hayes...I mean what a phenomenal talent – he can play – everything. He’s a prodigy. I don’t think people really quite know that about him yet, how absolutely amazing he is. Not just a singer and writer, but also as a musician.” Carrie will donate a dollar per ticket to American Red Cross disaster relief efforts. Tickets go on sale May 11th for these shows:

5/26 Baton Rouge, Louisiana
6/21 London, England
8/12 Toronto, Ontario, Canada
9/14 Manchester, New Hampshire
9/15 Bridgeport, Connecticut
9/17 Providence, Rhode Island
9/19 Worcester, Massachusetts
9/20 Reading, Pennsylvania
9/22 Louisville, Kentucky
9/23 Nashville, Tennessee
9/26 Green Bay, Wisconsin
9/27 Minneapolis, Minnesota
9/29 Fargo, North Dakota
10/1 Saskatoon, SK, Canada
10/2 Calgary, AB, Canada
10/4 Vancouver, B.C.
10/6 Seattle, Washington
10/7 Portland, Oregon
10/10 West Valley City, Utah
10/12 Reno, Nevada
10/13 Sacramento, California
10/14 San Jose, California
10/16 Los Angeles, California
10/18 Bakersfield, California
10/20 San Diego, California
10/21 Glendale, Arizona
10/24 Dallas, Texas
10/25 Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
10/27 Wichita, Kansas
10/28 Springfield, Missouri
11/3 Charlotte, North Carolina
11/4 Greensboro, North Carolina
11/7 Baltimore, Maryland
11/9 Atlantic City, New Jersey
11/10 Hartford, Connecticut
11/13 University Park, Pennsylvania
11/15 Grand Rapids, Michigan
11/16 Moline, Illinois
11/20 St. Louis, Missouri
11/21 Tulsa, Oklahoma
11/24 Indianapolis, Indiana
11/25 Auburn Hills, Michigan
11/27 Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
11/28 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
11/30 Long Island, New York
12/1 Newark, New Jersey
12/4 Albany, New York
12/6 London, Ont.
12/8 Kanata, Ont.
12/11 Columbus, Ohio
12/12 Chicago, Illinois
12/14 Des Moines, Iowa
12/15 Kansas City, Missouri
12/18 Memphis, Tennessee
12/19 Duluth, Georgia
12/21 Orlando, Florida
12/22 Sunrise, Florida

This Tuesday night, Alan Jackson will perform on the Grand Ole Opry, and he’ll debut a few songs from his upcoming album, “Thirty Miles West.” The album will be out June 5th, and it’s his first new music from his own record label, Alan’s Country Records. Little Big Town, Thompson Square and Chris Young will be part of the Opry show that night, too.

Chris Young thought he was immune to the siren song of reality tv – until he watched an episode of “The Voice.” Then he was hooked! According to Chris, “I watched it and really loved it. I was like, ‘Man this is fun!’ It’s cool to watch and...just how they have everything set up and you know Blake’s funny as hell. So, it’s just cool to watch him get on there and be himself, ‘cause his personality is just so cool.” May 8th is the season finale of “The Voice,” and it will be star-studded. Lady Antebellum will be performing on the show, along with Hall & Oates, Justin Bieber and Flo Rida. Lady A will perform “Wanted You More” from their “Own the Night” cd.

Toby Keith is back in the States after his USO tour to the Middle East. It was his 10th time over there, and he said the shows were great and the troops were awesome.

Love country artists & their music? Want to support the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society? There’s an auction on eBay that runs through May 7th – check it out!

If you’re looking for a special Mother’s Day card and your mom is a Taylor Swift fan, Taylor’s got the perfect card!

Roseanne Cash has written and recorded a song that will be used to promote US tourism. Check out “Land of Dreams”…
  

The tweet of the day is from Martina McBride: “I finally figured out which vegetable goes best with hummus. Pita bread.”

Today's Country Tidbits

The music industry is still struggling to find its way as cd sales plummet and downloadable music takes over. It stands to reason, then, that an artist who can sell a million units in one week has quite a bit of pressure on her to produce new cds. Taylor Swift's next album is in the works, but according to the Blonde One, she won't be hurried: “With this one, it’s gonna be done when it’s done. And it’s only gonna be done when I’m obsessed with it to the point where like every single song is on it for a reason. I still have like, a little bit of time. It might be this year, it might be next year, but… I hope that whenever it comes out, it’s good!” Meanwhile, she's written with Justin Bieber for his next cd and duetted with rapper B.o.B for his new album.

Brad Paisley is in the studio, working on a new album, too.

One week from today, Keith Urban becomes a member of the Grand Ole Opry. He was invited earlier this week and has been buried in well-wishes: “I got swamped with texts and emails from my family and friends, and Brad Paisley sent me a nice text this morning. Dierks Bentley sent me a text yesterday and said, ‘Oh, and from now on, don’t call 911...it’s 912.’ He goes, ‘It’s an Opry thing.’ So, I’m in!” The 912 reference is to an Alec Baldwin line about 912 being the 911 for rich people.

Brantley Gilbert isn't exactly rich yet, but he's well on the way. He's got a project going on in his hometown of Jefferson, GA: “I’m actually building a house in my hometown. I bought some acres out there and have a house going up. It’s pretty exciting – I’m in transition.” He's touring with Eric Church, and tomorrow night, headlines a show in Austin, Texas.

Big & Rich are back, and Jon Bon Jovi gave them the title to their upcoming album, Hillbilly Jedis. John and Kenny explain: “[Kenny] We’re in the middle of writing this new song and these lyrics come out, ‘Hillbilly Jedi.’ Bon Jovi looks at us and says, ‘That’s ya’ll!’ [John] Bon Jovi does say ‘ya’ll’ by the way. [Kenny] He calls us his country cousins.” Jon and Richie Sambora have apparently recorded songs with Big & Rich for their next album.

More details are rolling out for this year's CMA Music Fest. Here's the Riverfront Stage lineup for the free shows:

June 7th: Lee Brice, Colt Ford, Tracy Lawrence, Dustin Lynch, Neal McCoy, Montgomery Gentry, Craig Morgan, Jerrod Niemann, Randy Rogers Band, Josh Thompson, Uncle Kracker

June 8th: Craig Campbell, the Farm, Gloriana, Jo Dee Messina, David Nail, Oak Ridge Boys, Thomas Rhett, Sawyer Brown, Phil Vassar, James Wesley

June 9th: Laura Bell Bundy, Edens Edge, Casey James, Lonestar, Love and Theft, Kip Moore, Heidi Newfield, James Otto, Corey Smith, Mel Tillis

June 10th: Wade Bowen, Brett Eldredge, Larry Gatlin and the Gatlin Brothers, JT Hodges, Steve Holy, Jana Kramer, LoCash Cowboys, Lorrie Morgan, Sunny Sweeney, Darryl Worley

Tonight is the Lionel Richie & friends concert, taped the day after the ACM Awards. The show features country artist like Kenny Chesney, who'll duet with Lionel on "My Love." How did Lionel find out that Kenny would be part of his Tuskeegee project? Kenny tells the tale: “We’d been over-served in red wine, I think, and I decided that I was gonna call Lionel and tell him I was gonna do the record. And then I did a really, not-very-flattering rendition of ‘My Love’ on his voicemail. And so that’s how it happened, and I’m glad he didn’t perceive that—you know how you can put something on the record before it actually starts? I’m glad you didn’t hear that [mimics phone static noise].” Lady Antebellum, Rascal Flatts, Tim McGraw Sara Evans, Martina McBride...those are just some of the country stars on the show tonight at 9 on CBS.

New country baby - Mindy McCreedy has just confirmed the birth of her son, Zayne, on Monday. She and David Wilson released a statement, and in it Mindy said, “Zayne is truly a blessing and a joy. It was a long and trying pregnancy; we're so happy he's here. There are no words to convey how happy we are.”

Happy birthday to Loretta Lynn, who turns 80 tomorrow.

The tweet of the day is from Chris Young: "Today has been surreal and we haven't even played a show yet. Sometimes I really can't believe this stuff is really happening."

Today's Country Tidbits

Miranda Lambert is on fire, so what's up with her girl group, Pistol Annies? New music later this year, apparently: “The new album will be just what you expect. It’s three country girls singin’ about three country girls lives. We write everything on our own, we did on the last record and our goal on this next record is to write everything in our family – just us three girls again. I’m really looking forward to it and I’m gonna start kinda focusing on that that after the summer tour.”

Do you ever wonder what Nashville's old guard thinks about the new stars? Dolly Parton, never one to bite her tongue, dishes on Miranda Lambert and Taylor Swift. About Miranda, Dolly says, “I think I really related to Miranda. She reminds me a lot of myself when I first moved to town somehow. She is just kinda raw and natural – she’s got a lot of gut, heart and soul.” And how does she feel about Taylor? “She represents herself so well for the youth of today I just wish so many more of the young people would follow her lead – in that respect. There’s not a thing that kid can’t do, and she’s beautiful, and she’s smart, and she’s talented. So, I really admire that.” Dolly has a new concert CD/DVD out, available at Cracker Barrel.

Miranda Lambert's tour took this week off, but she, Jerrod Niemann and Chris Young are ready to hit the road again after Easter. Chris Young is having a blast being part of the "On Fire Tour:" “The combination of all three of us—everybody is just having fun all the time. We don’t really prank each other, but, man, Miranda is just so funny. She’s got such a cool personality. It’s definitely one of my favorite tours I’ve been on!”

The Band Perry is working on a new album, due out later this year. Meanwhile, they've gone five deep on singles from their platinum-selling debut album. "Postcards from Paris" is the latest one, and Kimberly Perry explains the story behind it: “It kind of talks about that age old summer romance where it’s brief, but it has this way of kinda ruinin’ ya. The couple in ‘Postcard from Paris,’ neither one of them is quite the same after they’ve seen each other across the room and in the song it’s unclear whether or not they actually get together or not. I guess we’ll leave that up to the listener’s imagination.”

Trace Adkins wants you to check out his sausage. Trace Adkins' Hightower Country Sausage is in stores now, in three flavors - original, hot and jalapeno & cheese. It's "certified Cajun," according to the label, coming from Trace's home state of Louisiana.

Garth Brooks will help celebrate Calgary Stampede's 100th anniversary with a full-band concert. The show will be July 12th, with tickets going on sale this Tuesday.

Remember the song "We Are the World," where tons of singers teamed up to raise money for charity? Well, country stars have teamed up to do a song for Souls4Souls, a charity that provides shoes for poor people around the world. Billy Gilman wrote "The Choice," which will be out on April 16th and features Keith Urban, Reba, Montgomery Gentry and many other Nashville stars.

Brantley Gilbert has added to his tattoo collection - he had Corey Miller, star of LA Ink, add a flaming skull with his BG logo and the words "Prodigal Son" to his left forearm. Here's a picture of the partial work...

Happy birthday to Merle Haggard, who turns 75 today. Tomorrow, Cal Smith turns 80.

The tweet of the day is from Miranda Lambert: "Treating people the way you want to be treated, doesn't always return the favor."

Today's Country Tidbits

A few of the ACM Awards were already announced. There are major awards that won't be televised, so the ACM lets the cat out of the bag a bit early. Vince Gill was given the Career Achievement Award, Kenny Chesney won the Crystal Milestone Award, and Alan Jackson was honored with the Jim Reeves International Award. Alan says that being true to his kind of country helped him earn the award: “I’m just lucky to still be here I think and be able to make the kind of music I like to make – still go out there and sell a few tickets and enjoy it. The music is still what I like and being able to create a song that affects people.” They'll all be feted on September 24th in Nashville at the 6th Annual ACM Honors.

Chris Young was bowled over by one of his ACM nominations. Single of the Year didn't shock him, but Male Vocalist of the Year sure did: “That one kind of surprised me. I wasn’t expecting that this year at least. You know, obviously you always hope to get nominated in all the categories, but that’s a really big one. To be nominated, to be in that category is huge.” He's up against Blake Shelton, Brad Paisley, Jason Aldean and Kenny Chesney. The winner will be announced April first on CBS.

Carrie Underwood has discovered Twitter. Thanks to hubby Mike Fisher, who long ago realized it was a great way to connect with his fans, Carrie is now a convert, with over 140,000 followers already. She explains, “I’ve always I guess been intrigued by it but I’ve always been scared of it as well. I think it’s important that I – I don’t know you see people get themselves in trouble so. We definitely use it as a tool to let people be able to know what I’m up to.” Find her @carrieunderwood

Neal McCoy's new album, Twelve, is in stores. It was produced by Blake Shelton and Miranda Lambert, but Neal says it was an uphill battle to get Blake to take on the project. According to Neal, “He cussed me out a couple of times on text when I asked him, ‘would you be interested in producing an album on me?’ Well, he just texted me back a bunch of cuss words. So I texted him back, and he texted me back a bunch of cuss words. So I finally called him and said, ‘I don’t know what kind of answer this is you’re giving me.’ And then he said, ‘You’re not serious…’ And I said, ‘No, I’m serious!’”

If you run into Blake Shelton and Adam Levine, don't ask them about their "bromance." Adam says he'd like to kill that term, and Blake jokes that he'd like to make out with Adam. It's no secret that all of The Voice coaches enjoy each other's company, hanging out in each other's LA houses when filming of the show ends each day.

BamaJam is getting bigger. Already announced are Zac Brown Band, Alan Jackson and Kid Rock. Added to that list are Willie Nelson, Uncle Kracker and Needtobreathe, the group that opened for Taylor Swift last year. BamaJam 2012 is June 14-16 in Enterprise, Alabama, and tickets are available now.

Don Williams is readying a new album, the first new one in eight years. He's lined up some heavy hitters to help him on the project: Keith Urban, Vince Gill and Alison Krauss will pitch in on "And So It Goes" which will be out this summer.

Luke Bryan's "Tailgates and Tanlines" is back on top of the charts, due in part to his new single, "Drunk on You." About the song, Luke says, “It’s a deeper deal too than just a party. I mean, I think what’s important to be able to do those fun songs but then to hit fans with a big thought song that really gets ‘em.”

Road trip alert - Collin Raye is shooting a live concert DVD this Saturday night at the Marina Civic Center in Panama City, Florida.

One of Miranda Lambert's critters has gone missing from Miranda's Oklahoma property. Her name is Virginia, and Miranda says she misses her a lot. There's a reward for her return.

The tweet of the day is from Miranda Lambert: "Goodnight from me and the 3 dogs in my bed. And no, Blake isn't one of em. :)"

Today's Country Tidbits

The San Antonio Stock Show and Rodeo has been going on for 62 years, and has seen a lot of top country acts grace the stage. Reba, Toby Keith, Taylor Swift, Lady Antebellum, Brooks & Dunn - they've all sold out shows during the event. But there's sold out and then there's record-breaking sold out - Keith Urban just broke the record for concert attendance, playing to 16,799 fans in San Antonio this past Saturday night.

Blake Shelton and Miranda Lambert were at Clive Davis' pre-Grammy party, where they met Tom Hanks and his wife Rita. Apparently the two couples really hit it off, with Rita tweeting that she hoped to spend more time with Miranda and Blake. In true Blake fashion, he replied, “We love you Rita!!! And that weird Tom guy that was with you." Rita replied, “That weird Tom guy is now in my house!" Easy to see that there's a friendship blossoming there!

A California woman was busted for trespass at Kenny Chesney's home south of Nashville. Melissa Mansfield was arrested in the wee hours yesterday morning, caught in a bathroom in the pool house on the property. Not surprisingly, she was also charged with public intoxication. Kenny Chesney wasn't home at the time.

Chris Young is on tour with Miranda Lambert, and is wowing audiences with his limber bass voice. He didn't always sing like that, though, he remembers his voice before it changed: “I was a...like an alto slash soprano when I was getting started singing. I remember my voice changed and I thought my life was over because I couldn’t sing Vince Gill’s songs anymore. And I was like, ‘Man now I like I have to switch to falsetto to get up there and hit those notes.’ And then I realized that when you can sing really low people are ok with that too so I was like, ‘sweet!’” His songs "You" and "Voices" have gone gold, so the voice change seems to have served him well.

Dierks Bentley's new cd, "Home," debuted at the top of the Billboard Country chart. It's the 4th of his albums to do that, and Dierks thinks this one is the best one yet: “What’s cool about this record, and one thing I try to capture on it is a diversity of the music, but it all falls within the confines of who I am as a country singer as far as loving the country sounds, the bluegrass sounds, loving some of the rock sounds and energy and mixing it all together on a record. I think it’s all there, so I think there’s a diversity of subject matter and sounds but in a way that it all kind of gels together pretty well.” Dierks was on the Ellen DeGeneres Show yesterday, performed "Home" and donated $50,000 to a struggling military family. Watch the segment now.

Taylor Swift was on the Today show, talking life, love and Lorax...

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Eric Church has a very young roadie - his 4-month-old son, Boone. About the experience of fatherhood, Eric says, “We went through the first couple months and just like, it was like combat. You know there’s no rhyme or reason he sleeps, it’s his own schedule. So, um, it’s, it’s been, it’s been a total life changing experience. It’s been wonderful. We are all exhausted but it’s a good exhaustion.” About his loss in the Country Album of the Year category at the Grammys Sunday, Eric has a philosophical outlook: “I think win or lose though, I’m proud of the record and I wouldn’t have made a different record. If you would have told me, ‘If you do this you’ll win the Grammy.’ I still wouldn’t have done it because I am proud of the way the record is.”

Craig Morgan is ready to release his sixth studio album, and the first album of new music in three years. Drop date for "This Ole Boy" is February 28th.

The tweet of the day is from Dierks Bentely: "just touched down in Vancouver & saw all the @theellenshow tweets. how strong/amazing is that military couple! honored to be able to help."

Today's Country Tidbits

On this Valentine's Day, thought we'd take a look at how some of your favorite country artists view the holiday:

Dierks Bentley: “It’s that holiday that comes along where you have to really like stamp out on paper exactly where the relationship really stands. You don't want to undershoot it 'cause then you'll be in trouble, you know, if you don't give the right present or don't say the right things, you're gonna be in the doghouse. But then if you overstate your hand, then you're moving the relationship way faster than you actually want to."

The Band Perry on their song "All Your Life" as a Valentine: “(Kimberly) Kind of the first bonafide love song we’ve had out at country radio and I’m the spitfire in the band but Reid and Neil are the hopeless romantics so, uh they’re excited this has done so well. (Reid) We are and you know the song is actually, uh somewhat of a good luck charm for guys who want to propose while the song is being played live at a TBP show. (Kimberly) Yeah we’ve had three. (Reid) We have had three and three yeses.”

Chris Young on his Valentine role model: “I can never live up to my stepdad, because he asked my mom to marry him on Valentine’s Day, and then called us down from upstairs and asked me and my sister permission. So, pretty much anything I do, he made me look like a punk for the rest of my life on Valentine’s Day.”

Kellie Pickler on the state of her love life: “It’s so wild to sing cheatin’ songs and, you know, the heartbreak songs because I’m so happy. For the first time in my life, I’m actually -when I say I’m happy, I really am happy. I have a man that loves me. My husband is my best friend, and he’s so good to me.”

Lady Antebellum's Dave Haywood on the strain touring puts on relationships: “Making that real effort and time when we’re home to have that one on one time together and then you know you have to do your best on the road to stay in touch but know that, you know, I feel like we’re supposed to be out there touring and doing this and you know, living this life. So we’ll make the most of the time we have and be excited for the time that we do get to spend with them.”

Thompson Square: “(Shawna) I have to like force him to go to the mall to buy me something or - (Keifer) oh it’s not that bad (Shawna) give him reminders that it’s Valentine’s Day (Keifer) you don’t have to remind me it’s Valentine’s Day. I know, I just, I hate hallmark holidays. (Shawna) I was about to say that (Keifer) Hate it! I just hate that whole thing. I’d much rather do like flowers or whatever like other times when you’re not expecting it, you know.”

Kelly Clarkson has re-made her current pop hit, "Mr. Know It All," with a more acoustic vibe and with steel guitars. The country music community already accepts her, owing to her duets with Reba and Jason Aldean, so it'll be interesting to see how a solo country effort flies. Give it a listen...

There's a new compilation album out, featuring music from Trace Adkins, Justin Moore, Rodney Atkins, Hank Williams Jr., Lee Brice, Josh Thompson, John Rich and Charlie Daniels Band. "This is NRA Country Volume One" is available on the NRA Country website.

With two shiny new Grammys in hand, that's not all The Civil Wars have to celebrate. The husband/wife duo of Joy Williams and Nate Yetton have a child due in June. The two won Best Folk Album and Best Country Duo/Group Performance Sunday night at the Grammy Awards.

The tweet of the day is from Miranda Lambert: "Y'all look at my V- day gift. I have been wanting this for a year and a half! I have the best husband in the world!"

Today's Country Tidbits

Yesterday, news of Reba's death spread like wildfire on the internet, even becoming the top searched topic on Google. Supposedly she died while filming a movie in Austria from a fall down the Hahnenkamm mountains. Reba herself is very much alive, in spite of the rumors, and is gearing up to host the ACM Awards on April Fools Day. Early hoax? Seems so - the web site that first reported her death has a mice-type disclaimer under the story, saying that it's for entertainment purposes only and is 100% false.

In the wake of losing two people close to her in the span of a week, yesterday Miranda Lambert shot the video for "Over You," a song Blake Shelton wrote about the loss of his brother. To say the set was emotional is an understatement - Miranda says that the video is extremely passionate and the tissue count while filming was high. It should be out by the middle of February.

Just before Keith Urban had surgery to remove polyps from his vocal folds, he was asked to write and produce a song for the upcoming movie, "Act of Valor." He was hesitant, but wife Nicole Kidman worked her magic: “I have to thank Nic for really saying to me, ‘you should do this, you really should. I think you’ll really be able to do this if you just commit to it. And she really kind of gently suggested that I do it. And I’m glad I did.” The soundtrack comes out February 21st and the movie hits theatres the following weekend.

Dierks Bentley is celebrating the release of his cd, "Home," with a concert at the Ryman Auditorium on Thursday. The show will be extra-special, since the revered stage will be torn out two days later. “It’s my most favorite place to play. It’s the place I have the most respect for. I didn’t need any added pressure, and then you find out that they’re ripping up the stage that’s been on there for the last 60 years to put in a stronger stage to support more of the rock bands that come through and play it now. Hopefully, we leave a great last final mark on that stage.”

Trisha Yearwood is cooking up some tv fun with the Food Network. She's filming six episodes of a so-far-unnamed show that will feature family recipes, Sunday dinners and a peek at the kitchen she and Garth Brooks share in Oklahoma. The series will have a name by the time it airs in April.

Happy days for Chris Young, who's just scored his 5th #1 single in a row with "You." That song tops one of the two major country charts - Luke Bryan is at #1 on the other one with "I Don't Want This Night to End." About the song, Luke confesses, “It’s probably the furthest I’ve went from a country-sounding track ever. It’s really not a country track, but then you’ve got my ‘ol country voice on it. That’ll simmer down the most craziest of tracks.”

Jennifer Nettles will be part of the Super Bowl fun - she's the soundtrack for one of the Pepsi Max commercials. She sings the Hank Williams chestnut, "You're Cheatin' Heart." Check it out...

The tweet of the day is actually a series of tweets from Brad Paisley, who was busy correcting pop songs via Twitter last night.

"This land is your land? Sorry. My bad."

"I'm not walking on sunshine. I cast a shadow. It's impossible to walk on sunshine"

"Birds don't actually fly over most rainbows. And I can't fly at all.Therefore I can't fly over the rainbow. Duh."

"You're so vain. You probably think this song isn't about you."

"Billie Jean? Yes, she's my lover...the kid is mine."

"I did not shoot the sherriff. Sorry. But I did shoot the deputy."

"I actually do not have wings, nor are you the wind beneath them."

Today's Country Tidbits

Sunday night is the Super Bowl, and also the premier of The Voice right after the big game. Blake Shelton says that the judges have discussed country collaborations, and Christina Aguilera wants to duet with Miranda Lambert. Meanwhile, Blake has a favorite judge - Cee Lo Green. “Cee Lo is the sweetest guy ever, I mean and he’s the coolest...he is...Cee Lo is the coolest human being I have ever been around in my entire life. I’ve never been around anybody that when they come into the room, I mean, you knock stuff over to go stand by him because he’s gonna say something that...is just...you’re gonna go, ‘Ah! Why didn’t I think of that?’”

Miranda Lambert has rescheduled her show this Friday night so she can attend the funeral of Mark "Tex" Adams. The two had been friends since third grade, and Mark was killed on a Florida highway when he stopped to help a stranded motorist. The show in Tallahassee will now happen May 17th.

Chris Young is on tour with Miranda Lambert, and is up for two ACM Awards - Male Vocalist of the Year and Single of the Year for his song, "Tomorrow." When he plays it live, he sees the power of that song: “It really has lived up to all the expectations I’ve had for it, and I think that is because it’s such a powerful song. There’s a lot of emotion in it, and I think a lot of people can relate to it.”

Keith Urban added two awards to his collection this weekend, but wasn't able to collect them. The Country Music Association of Australia named Keith the male Artist of the Year and he also took the award for Top Selling Album of the Year. He tweeted that he was thrilled and plans to head Down Under soon.

Rascal Flatts started filming a movie yesterday. Describing it as a "performance/documentary style" with more of their individual stories, Jay DeMarcus is pretty sure Flatt-heads are going to love it. No word on a release date yet.

Every year, Billboard Magazine comes out with a Power 100 list - a list of the most influential people in the music business. It's a list heavy on behind-the-scenes movers and shakers, but one country artist made this year's list. Taylor Swift lands at #78, just above Lady Gaga.

Danny Gokey is married. He and Leyicet Peralta were engaged last month, and said it would be a short engagement. It was - and at the reception after yesterday's service, the couple, their families and close friends dined on a cake that Danny described as "three tiers of chocolaty heaven."

The famous boards of the Ryman Auditorium stage will host their last country music show this week. The stage will be taken up and replaced with one that will carry three times the load, ensuring that the historic church-turned-concert-hall can continue as a venue for all kinds of music. The final show for the current stage is Friday and features Keith Urban, the Oak Ridge Boys and Charley Pride. Saturday morning, the old stage will be ripped out and it will be two weeks before the new stage is in place. But it won't be entirely new wood - the front 18 inches will be made of wood from the current stage, so artists can still kiss the revered stage. Yep, happens all the time!

The tweet of the day is from Martina McBride: "Home sweet home. Gorgeous sunny day. Just Dance 3 playing in the other room. Coffee in hand. Kisses from all my girls. #lifeisgood"