Oh, to have been in this Nashville bar – Tim McGraw played a show in Nashville before the CMA Awards last week, warming up his band and working out some of his new songs. How did it feel? According to Tim, “Anytime you get to play new music, it energizes you. And playing new stuff, and knowing I’ve got an album coming and knowing it’s sort of a new day in my career, I was really energized.”

Little Big Town is delighted to have their first CMA wins in their decade-long career, and think that the success of “Pontoon” might lie in the mystery in the lyrics: “Who would’ve thought that ‘Motorboatin’’ would be up for Single of the Year, you know? But that’s how big an impact, I guess, it’s had with the fans and with people. People want to have a good time.” Ok, so if that’s the case, then their follow-up single, “Tornado,” should be a success because – people want to have a bad time? “It’s so much fun to sing, I mean the writers—they’re the ones that—they paint the picture of ‘thought you’d change the weather, start a little storm, make a little rain, I’m gonna do one better, hide the sun until you pray [laugh]—I’m a tornado’. I’m that kinda sets the whole scene of what’s to come.” Yeah, you don’t want to get on the bad side of that storm!

A little news broke on the red carpet last week – Jake Owen and his wife Lacey will name their daughter Pearl, after his Godmother, who passed away in July. Jake already has her name tattooed on his left wrist. Pearl should make her debut sometime this month.

Hunter Hayes is psyched to be Carrie Underwood’s opening act on the second leg of her “Blown Away” tour. He had a great time on the first leg, saying, “The crowds have been really cool. They’re showing up early. You know, and as an opening act it means a lot. And it’s really cool to be like direct support, you know, be right in front of Carrie and to get that slot and for her to say that I’m sort of worthy of that slot...it’s awesome and it’s really cool for her to say, ‘Hey, come back out next year! We’re doing some more.’” Probably didn’t hurt for him to win New Artist of the Year at the CMAs last week, with Carrie hosting!
You can’t see it until this weekend, but Eli Young Band went in a very different direction for the “Say Goodnight” video. “For the video, we could have very easily gone in more of a romantic love story kind of direction, but we chose to go science fiction with it. It’s pretty much the exact opposite of what you think it would be when you’re listening to the song.” Why science fiction? Oh, heck – why not? CMT will air it this weekend. 
Kellie Pickler has a bone to pick with the media – Summer, the woman with breast cancer that Kellie shaved her head to support, is more than a friend: “It’s so weird for people to call her my best friend, because she’s not my best friend – she’s my sister. We’ve never referred to each other as friends – ever. She’s always been my sister Summer. So it is weird. She actually brought that up to me and goes, ‘It’s so weird to see headlines and people say were best friends because I feel like that’s an understatement.” 

There was magic on stage last night at the CMA Awards. No, it wasn’t the performances, and no, it wasn’t the acceptance speeches – it was the interplay between Brad Paisley and Carrie Underwood as they co-hosted the show for the fifth year in a row. “[Carrie] He’s just a great guy. He’s like the big brother I never had and we really do get along very well. We have kind of the same type of humor. [Brad] We have a great time. She is the best co-host I could ever ask for and really it’s a great combination. You can tell I think that we have a good time with it.” Uh, yeah, we sure can!

It hasn’t been that long ago – two years – since The Band Perry first played live on the CMA Awards Show. Many artists say it’s the toughest crowd to play to, because the audience is comprised of their peers, so it’s pretty intimidating. How did the Perry siblings handle the nerves last night? According to Kimberly, “We just kind of mentally have to get to that place that it’s ‘just another live performance’ and forget about the rest of it.” The crowd loved their new single, “Better Dig Two.”

Eli Young Band were pleased to perform their #1 song, “Even If It Breaks Your Heart,” in front of their peers. The song, which includes the lyric,

“Downtown is where I used to wander.
Old enough to get there but too young to get inside.
So I would stand out on the sidewalk,
Listen to the music playin' every Friday night.
Ohhh, I can hear 'em playin'.
I can hear the ringin' of a beat up ol' guitar.
Ohhh, I can hear 'em singin',
"Keep on dreamin', even if it breaks your heart."

is special to the band, and Jon Jones says it might have been a special moment for the audience, too: “For us, ‘Even If It Breaks Your Heart’ could not tell our story more. And I think it’s great to play this in front of all our peers because looking out in the audience, that same story rings true for them. I think everybody got into country music on any side of it because it’s a dream, it’s a passion.” 
Little Big Town knocked it out of the park last night when they performed on the CMA show, and will be hitting the road in January, taking their live show to beautiful theatres all over America. If you want to see them knock it out of the park live, here’s where they’ll be: 

1/31 Murray, KY Lovett Auditorium 2/1 Birmingham, AL Alabama Theatre 
2/12 New York, NY Irving Plaza 
2/14 Washington, DC 9:30 Club 
2/15 Atlantic City, NJ Harrah’s AC Concert Venue 
2/16 Lowell, MA Lowell Memorial Auditorium 
2/22 Huntsville, AL Von Braun Center 
3/1 Huntington, WV Keith Albee Theatre 
3/2 Cherokee, NC Harrah’s Cherokee Resort 
3/3 Lancaster, PA American Music Theatre 
3/7 Peoria, IL Peoria Civic Center Theater 
3/8 New Buffalo, MI Four Winds Casino Silver Creek Event Center 
3/9 Mt. Pleasant, MI Soaring Eagle Casino & Resort 
3/21 Joliet, IL Rialto Square Theatre 
3/22 Rochester, MN Mayo Civic Center 
3/23 Appleton, WI Fox Cities Performing Arts Center 
3/26 Winnipeg, MB Pantages Playhouse Theatre 
3/27 Saskatoon, SK TCU Place 
3/28 Regina, SK Conexus Arts Centre 
3/30 Edmonton, AB Winspear Centre for Music 
4/1 Calgary, AB Southern Alberta Jubilee Auditorium 
4/3 Vancouver, BC Orpheum 
4/19 Fayetteville, AR Arkansas Music Pavilion 
4/20 Bossier City, LA Riverdome at Horseshoe Casino 
4/26 Catoosa, OK Hard Rock Hotel & Casino 
4/28 San Antonio, TX Majestic Theatre 
5/8 Augusta, GA William G. Bell Auditorium 
5/9 N. Charleston, SC North Charleston PAC 
CMA week also includes the BMI Country Awards, a songwriter competition, and Songwriters Dallas Davidson and Luke Laird shared Songwriter of the Year honors. Dallas' credits this year include "Country Girl (Shake It For Me)," "I Don't Want This Night To End," "If Heaven Wasn't So Far Away," "Just A Kiss" and "We Owned the Night." Luke wrote "A Little Bit Stronger," "Baggage Claim," "Drink In My Hand," "You," and "Take A Back Road," which was honored as Song of the Year. 
Rascal Flatts spread a little Halloween cheer this week, performing at the Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital in Nashville. Children, their families and hospital staff gathered around for the show, and afterwards Gary, Jay and Joe Don visited the kids who couldn’t leave their rooms for the show. No tricks there, just a really big treat!

What will The Voice be like without Blake Shelton? Get used to the idea – he says leaving the show may happen soon. NBC has decided to air two seasons per year of the show, and according to Blake, that is “not acceptable.” He says if he wants to tour, “there’s not a chance of that doing back-to-back seasons.” He’s to the point of telling NBC honchos that “It’s changed my life, but it’s not my life.” In other Blake news, by the end of the year, membership in his fan club will be free. Still the same access, just no cash needed. Several other country artists have decided that their fans do enough for them and their careers – they shouldn’t have to pay to be fans.

Eric Church’s Blood, Sweat & Beers tour is underway, and Eric feels like he has the perfect opening acts in Justin Moore and Kip Moore. (no relation) According to Eric, “You know, Justin’s been around for a while now. I’ve been impressed with the fact that he’s gone out played bars, played clubs, whether he had a radio hit or he didn’t have a radio hit. With Kip, I’m impressed with just the songwriter sense and his instinct from a songwriter’s side. I like the grit in his music.”

Eli Young Band’s Jon Jones and his wife Sarah are expecting their first child late this year. In July, Mike Eli and his wife had their first child. The two credit Little Big Town with showing them that having a life and having a career that involves a lot of road time can work: “We were on the Throwdown tour watching them have their families out on the road and seeing that it actually can be done. That’s one of those things that we always weren’t quite sure how do you have a family and be out on the road at the same time? Cause being out on the road is tough, and we really credit them with convincing us that you can actually have a productive life outside of being on the road.”

Big & Rich are climbing the charts with “That’s Why I Pray,” from their first album in five years, “Hillbilly Jedi.” Why Hillbilly Jedi? John and Kenny explain just what or who Hillbilly Jedi are: “[John] They’re the guys that go all over the universe. [Kenny] They represent The Force...the light! [John] Kenny and I, we’re hard to describe. We can’t even describe us. It is an intangible thing that you really don’t know what it is, but it’s there. Kind of like The Force, as goofy as that is, so Hillbilly Jedi suits us a little bit. [Kenny] And I don’t know if you realize this or not, but we are both a tad bit hillbilly.”

Congratulations to Hunter Hayes, who has his first #1 song with “Wanted.” How does that feel? “It’s just so cool to be considered an artist in this world, you know? It’s like I’ve been a fan for so long...I still am. But, to be able to get on stage and say I get to do it too is pretty cool, you know? I don’t know. I’m still passing the amazement part [laughs] ...Still passing that.” He’s on the road, opening for Carrie Underwood.

Meanwhile, Carrie Underwood and Brad Paisley are gearing up for their 5th year of hosting the CMA Awards together. Promos have started airing, but you don’t have to try to catch them on TV…here you go:

Hungry? You’ll soon be able to fill up at a Rascal Flatts-themed restaurant. They’ve partnered with restaurant developers to open their own eateries, starting in Phoenix Arizona and rolling out to Columbus Ohio, Pittsburgh Pennsylvania, Raleigh North Carolina, Minneapolis Minnesota and Long Island New York. The restaurants will feature a state-of-the-art soundstage, two bars, the Flatts Lounge and a retail area. Not sure what the name will be yet, but according to Gary Levox, the guys aren’t stressing over that. “You know we’re just thankful and blessed. We thank God that we have the jobs that we have and to do what we feel like were called to do.”

Nashville gets a big kiss from the Grammys – the Grammy Nominations Concert Live! – Countdown to Music’s Biggest Night will happen in Nashville this year, airing live from Bridgestone Arena on December 5th. The nominees for the 55th Annual Grammy Awards will be announced during the show.

Jason Aldean and Lady Antebellum will team up on Good Morning America to reveal the final nominees for the CMA Awards. On September 5th during the 8:30 half-hour the first five categories will be announced, and the rest will happen at 9:15 Eastern.

Taylor Swift has officially made history again – she’s sold more digital downloads of one song during it’s release week than any other woman, ever. “We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together” sold over 623,000 copies from last Monday night through Sunday night. She missed the overall record by about 13,000 copies – rapper Flo Rida holds that record. Taylor’s teaming up with VH1 Storytellers, universities and high schools, looking for the schools that can get the most votes for their music program. The top 5 schools get a $10,000 grant for those programs from Taylor and Chegg for Good. The winning school gets to host an acoustic concert featuring Taylor.

Eli Young Band celebrated their second #1 song in Nashville this week – “Even If It Breaks Your Heart” is more than just a #1 song to the band, according to Mike Eli: “We felt empowered by this song. And so that’s exactly why we wanted to record it. Did we necessarily have any foresight to see that it would be our second number one? No we didn’t! We just thought we loved the song and thought that it told our story and felt empowered by it!”

Did you see the all-star Pontoon video yesterday on this blog? If not, scroll down and watch it – everyone from Wynonna to Darius Rucker to Charlie Daniels sings along with Little Big Town, but which star got the ball rolling? “It might have been Luke Bryan’s idea. I think Capitol [Records] had the idea, and the Luke – you know how he likes to mess around. I think he really went crazy when he was doing his motorboatin’, if you know what I mean. So he inspired the whole clip, I’m fairly confident he was the first clip.”

If you’re a Johnny Cash junkie, you’re about to get the ultimate fix: a 63-disc Johnny Cash boxed set. It starts with his 1958 debut, “The Fabulous Johnny Cash,” which included his first #1 song, “Don’t Take Your Guns to Town.” It concludes with “Highwayman 2” which came out in 1990 and includes Waylon Jennings, Willie Nelson and Kris Kristofferson. Concert albums recorded in Europe are also included.

Do you think you could be the next country star? Then click your mouse and enter The Next Country Star Competition, for unsigned bands and artists over the age of 13 to strut their stuff online. Music industry executives will choose 5 finalists and fans will pick the winner, who gets to record three singles in Nashville, plus gets a website and a trip to this fall’s CMA Awards.

Josh Turner is on The Chew and David Letterman today. Taylor Swift is on the Ellen DeGeneres show - that's a rerun.

Make it five in a row for Brad Paisley and Carrie Underwood – they’ll be hosting the CMA Awards again this fall. The two did a publicity photo shoot for it, and Brad said, “We have a great time. She is the best co-host I could ever ask for, and really, it’s a great combination. You can tell I think that we have a good time with it.” Mark your calendars for November first on ABC.

The very next night, also on ABC, Reba’s new tv show, Malibu Country, debuts. She plays a single mother of three who moves from LA to Nashville, and Lily Tomlin stars as her mother, Lily May. About her co-star, Reba says, “I’ve known Lily since 2001, so I was really wanting to working with her in some form or fashion- and this television show has been perfect.”

Dierks Bentley is still trying to process the fact that he’s has 10 #1 songs over the course of 9 years. His first happened in 2003 – “What Was I Thinkin’” – and his latest is “5-1-5-0.” His next single will be “Tip It On Back” and is the first single he’s released that he didn’t write. It was written by Tully Kennedy, Ross Copperman, and Jon Nite, and here he is performing it on the David Letterman show.



Darius Rucker found himself the target of a dare on Twitter. The fictional, funny and sometimes inappropriate spoof Twitter “personality,” @NotJakeOwen, tweeted “$500 reward to anyone that can prove @DariusRucker owns the best of Patsy Cline in his music collection.” Darius responded with a photo of himself and that album, which he sings about in the song “Alright,” with the line “I don’t need no concert in the city, I’ve got a stereo and the best of Patsy Cline.” Darius added the note, “pay up – and make it out to @St. Jude.” Whoever is behind the @NotJakeOwen Twitter account is a stand-up person – they responded with a screen shot of their computer, proving they’d donated the $500 to St. Jude Childrens Research Hospital.

Eli Young Band has been hard at work for over a decade, waiting for success to come their way. With the release of their Life at Best album, looks like life is getting better for the band: they’re on tour with Rascal Flatts, have had two back-to-back #1 songs and band member Mike Eli says, “The biggest goal of ours has always been longevity, and to be able to build a career that we can have for a long time. So I hope with this year, we can hope to get to the next step of solidifying more of a longer career.”

Martina McBride is on Opening Act and Katie Armiger is on Bachelor Pad tonight.

Eric Church had a party in Nashville this week to celebrate the platinum success of his album Chief, as well as the two-week stint at the top of the charts for the song “Springsteen.” At the party, Eric said, “There are moments I think in your life that you just want to kind of pause and go, ‘Is this my life?’ This is one of ‘em. It’s been an unreal year. From Chief coming out, to ‘Springsteen’ and ‘Drink In My Hand’ before that.” His gifts included a pair of platinum sunglasses, a commemorative bottle of Jack Daniels with a platinum label, a keg of Jack to refill the bottle when it gets empty, and a platinum-label box of cigars.

Danica Patrick had fun working with Miranda Lambert on the video for “Fastest Girl in Town.” According to the race car driver, “She was really sweet. She’s got a lot of pep and a lot of spark. I just feel like her and I are sort of kindred spirits and we could be trouble together.” In case you’d like to see their collaboration again, here you go…



Taylor Swift and Conor Kennedy, the son of Robert F. Kennedy Jr., have apparently been spending some quality time together. Reports have them attending church, eating pizza and strolling hand-in-hand on the Kennedy compound in Hyannis Port, Massachusetts. Taylor is 22 and Conor is 18. The New York Post has a photo spread.

Gloriana member Tom Gossin has set a date to wed his girlfriend of ten years, Jamie Moffett. The couple will have until October of 2013 to plan the event, and Jamie has already told Tom that he will NOT be singing at the wedding. About the group’s current song, “(Kissed You) Goodnight,” co-written by Tom, he says, “It’s just about a situation I think everybody’s been in on a first date, and I was always real shy...like I could never make that first move. And so, I think I wrote a song about what I wish I was like back in the day...a little more confident.”

There’s a new young ‘un in the Eli Young Band – Mike Eli and his wife Kacey have been graced with a baby girl. Kline Olivia Diaz is the couple’s first child, and about the experience, Mike says, “I feel like I accomplished something quite special there. You know, the career is one thing, but makin’ a baby’s another.” EYB hits the road with Rascal Flatts again next week, as both of the new dads on the tour had time off with their little ones. (Jay DeMarcus and his wife welcomed their second child just 10 days ago.)

Jamey Johnson has invited George Strait, Willie Nelson, Vince Gill and many more country artists to join him for a tribute album to Hank Cochran, considered one of the greatest songwriters in the history of country music. Jamey says Hank influenced him “not only as an artist and songwriter, but also as a person.” Check out the song list and artists:

Livin’ For a Song: A Tribute to Hank Cochran Track Listing

1. “Make the World Go Away” – Jamey Johnson and Alison Krauss
2. “I Fall to Pieces” – Jamey Johnson and Merle Haggard
3. “A Way to Survive” – Jamey Johnson, Vince Gill and Leon Russell
4. “Don’t Touch Me” – Jamey Johnson and Emmylou Harris
5. “You Wouldn’t Know Love” – Jamey Johnson and Ray Price
6. “I Don’t Do Windows” – Jamey Johnson and Asleep at the Wheel
7. “She’ll Be Back” – Jamey Johnson and Elvis Costello
8. “Would These Arms Be in Your Way” – Jamey Johnson
9. “The Eagle” – Jamey Johnson and George Strait
10. “A-11” – Jamey Johnson and Ronnie Dunn
11. “I’d Fight the World” – Jamey Johnson and Bobby Bare
12. “Don’t You Ever Get Tired of Hurting Me” – Jamey Johnson and Willie Nelson
13. “This Ain’t My First Rodeo” – Jamey Johnson and Lee Ann Womack
14. “Love Makes a Fool of Us All” – Jamey Johnson and Kris Kristofferson
15. “Everything But You” – Jamey Johnson, Vince Gill, Willie Nelson and Leon Russell
16. “Livin’ for a Song” – Jamey Johnson, Hank Cochran, Merle Haggard, Kris Kristofferson and Willie Nelson

Congrats to Zac Brown Band, as their “Uncaged” cd lands at the top of the Billboard 200 again this week.

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.

The first female country music superstar has passed away. Kitty Wells, who rose to fame in the 1950’s, was the first woman ever to top the country charts. She did it in 1952 with “It Wasn’t God Who Made Honky Tonk Angels,” a controversial song that was banned by many country stations and from the stage of the Grand Ole Opry for a time. She was the first female country singer to be given the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award, was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame, and received many other honors, earning her the nickname, “The Queen of Country Music.” Kitty Wells was 92 and passed away from complications following a stroke.

Told you yesterday that Taylor Swift is atop the Forbes Magazine list of top earners under 30. We know what she does in her professional life, but what does someone so wealthy do in her down time? According to Taylor, “I go home and I like, either have dinner with my friends, or by myself. Then, I’ll watch Friends until I go to sleep.”

Miranda Lambert is still being quiet – hopefully she can play her shows this coming weekend. Meanwhile, the video for Pistol Annie’s new song, “Takin’ Pills,” is raising Cain – and eyebrows! “We love that song. It’s fun. We wrote it on the bus. It’s how we just describe…we would describe ourselves if we had put this band together at 18, right out of high school. And it’s exaggerated, of course, but we would have probably been bums on the street at this point because I don’t know that we could have made it through all that, but that’s a fun one to do, live, too. People love that.” See what all the fuss is about…



Garth Brooks says he’s still two years away from going back out on tour, because he’s still raising his girls. About his daughter Allie, Garth says, “My youngest has got it. She’s got the bug, but she’s got the goods, too.” She wants to pursue music and he’s not going to try to talk her out of it.

With seven kids in the house, Sara Evans spends a lot of time playing referee – especially during the summer time: “Our kids are very competitive...to a negative sometimes. We try to rein that in all the time like, ‘Right now what we’re doing is just for fun. This is not the NBA. This is not the NFL. This is for fun. So, chill out!’ So, we really try to teach them...be competitive, but don’t be ridiculous [laughs]. Have fun!”

Congratulations to Eli Young Band. “Even if it Breaks Your Heart” is the #1 country song this week, meaning that they now have back-to-back #1’s. “Crazy Girl” was their first #1 song.

Craig Morgan is on Rizzoli and Isles tonight and Kip Moore is on Conan O’Brien, performing “Beer Money.”

Today's Country Tidbits

Luke Bryan is psyched to be part of Good Morning America's Summer Concert Series today. "City folks, and certainly every time we've played this city, they're like, 'We love coming to see a country act, because we don't get to see it as much as all of the other music.' So I love bringing that to New York City, and obviously, I love having it on TV." Luke's not the only country act on morning tv today - Zac Brown Band is on the Today show and Craig Morgan is on Fox & Friends.

Eli Young Band is touring with Rascal Flatts this summer, and are watching their song "Even if it Breaks Your Heart" creep closer to #1. It's at #5 now and Mike Eli weighs in on the song's meaning:   “You know it’s really true, ‘Even If It Breaks Your Heart’ is about going out there and following your dreams. I think we’re extremely luckily to live in a country where, that is possible in the first place. And it’s encouraged.”

Darius Rucker is glowing over recording with Lady Antebellum. They're covering Old Crow Medicine Show's song, "Wagon Wheel," and according to Darius:   “I cut it to put it as the last song on my record, to end the record that way, and when they were done, I was like, ‘Man, it’ll probably be second, and [laughs] if it’s the first single, I’m OK with that too.’ It was just so great…and it’s really great to get a song that’s so big in its own way, but there’s so many people out there that haven’t heard it, you know, that should hear it.”

Two of the three Band Perry siblings celebrate birthdays this month - Kimberly turned 29 yesterday and Neil turns 22 on the 23rd. Believe it or not, they are competitive over cake! "[Kimberly] Size does matter when it comes to birthday cake, and I've always wanted the biggest one. I'm very passionate about them. [Neil] Yes, but I did 'up' her one year whenever I got ice cream cake. [Kimberly] Oh, well, that's...yeah, I'm not a big ice cream cake fan, but you are. I was a little jealous." Reid Perry stays out of the cake fight - his birthday is in November.

Wondering what happened to the Taylor Swift/Justin Bieber collaboration? They were left off of his album, and there aren't any plans to release the song. But Taylor can take heart - hers wasn't the only duet that didn't make the cut: Kanye West's didn't either.

Oh dear - there was a little dust-up over Luke Bryan's performance of the National Anthem at baseball's All-Star game. He was caught sneaking a peek at his wrist, and has admitted to having a "few key words" written down so he could do his best. He did - give him a break. TMZ conducted a poll, and with over 10,000 responses, 93% of them were in Luke's favor.

Congrats to Little Big Town, who scored a #1 song based on digital downloads. "Pontoon" was purchased 86,000 times last week.

Today's Country Tidbits

Carrie Underwood and hubby Mike Fisher are in Australia as Carrie takes her “Blown Away” tour there. It’s not her first time there, but this time she hopes to actually see more: “I really hope I get the opportunity to see more. You know, last time we were in Australia, I got to go to the Zoo in Melbourne, and we got to just kind of walking around Sydney a little bit. We toured the Opera House—of course, we’ll be playing there this time! But I’ll definitely be snapping pictures everywhere!”

Miranda Lambert scored #1 on the country charts with her last song, “Over You,” and she’s hoping for another with her new single, “Fastest Girl In Town.” About the song, she says, “I love ‘Fastest Girl In Town.’ I love so many songs on this record, but I really was ready for like a ‘Miranda song’, like ‘Kerosene’ days, you know? And ‘Fastest Girl’ I wrote it with Angeleena, so it’s obviously close to my heart, cause I wrote it with a friend. And ‘Over You’ I wrote with Blake, so it’s kinda this trend going—I’m putting out singles that I write with people I love!” Miranda’s on tour and is in the studio during her down time, recording the next Pistol Annies project.

Country music women did ok on Rolling Stone Magazine’s list of “Women Who Rock: The 50 Greatest Albums of All Time.” Patsy Cline’s “The Patsy Cline Collection” showed up at #15, Dolly Parton’s 1975 greatest hits album earned the #32 slot and at #45, Taylor Swift’s “Speak Now” album made the list. Rolling Stone says Taylor has “a flawless ear for what makes a song click,” and called her “one of the few genuine rock stars we’ve got these days.”

If you’re into great music by more obscure singers and songwriters, chances are you have heard Eli Young Band’s “Even if it Breaks Your Heart” before. The song was written and recorded by Eric Paslay and Will Hoge and showed up on Will’s album, “The Wreckage.” When the guys in Eli Young Band heard it, they knew two things: one, they loved it and wanted to record it, and two, they wanted to stick to the sound of the original: “This one is kinda one that we found, umm, and really fell in love with his version. So, when we recorded it, we wanted to stay as true to his version as we could. But still make it our own a little bit. But, we just loved the Tom Petty feel and the classic rock vibe he had to the song.” Eli Young Band is on the road with Rascal Flatts this summer.

From the “well, now, this is awkward” file – Wynonna Judd and new hubby Cactus Moser didn’t invite Naomi Judd or Ashley Judd to the wedding, even though they all live on the same piece of property. It gets worse – Cactus Moser strapped a .44 Magnum on as part of his wedding tuxedo outfit, and as soon as the vows were taken, he fired his gun near Ashley’s house. Awkward... 

And this is, too – Randy and Elizabeth Travis are swapping lawsuits, each claiming that the other is somehow in breach of one or more of their agreements. Randy says Lib is badmouthing him, and Lib claims that he undermined her effectiveness as his manager. She’s asking a judge to award her damages based on “lost earnings.” This is going to be not pretty for a very long time, sadly.

And a little bit of good news – George Jones is apparently feeling so well that he’s rehearsing with his band in anticipation of getting back out on the road to make up those shows he missed this spring. Apparently his recovery from respiratory issues is complete – he says “he don’t need no rockin’ chair!”

Happy birthday to Gretchen Wilson, who turns 39 today.

Today's Country Tidbits

Zac Brown Band has a new song out – “The Wind” – and Zac loves what it does for the band and the radio: “It gets to showcase everybody’s musicianship in the band. Very quickly, it’s a real fast and short song. I think it’s the most country thing that has been on the radio in a long time. It’s got a little bit of bluegrass and pickin’ and everything in it. But there is still great song lyrics buried in that speed of the tune.” All the guys in the band share their thoughts on “The Wind” in this video:



Miranda Lambert is having a blast with her girl group, Pistol Annies. “We are doing just a Pistol Annies tour in September. The girls are out with me all summer – but then all of September is just Pistol Annies. Then we are doing a new record in November!” While they’re out with Miranda, the trio is writing material for that album.

She’s named after him – she invited him to join her onstage during her Madison Square Garden Speak Now tour stop, so it’s not a huge surprise that Taylor Swift will be the guest star at James Taylor’s concert in Lenox, MA on July 2nd. They’ll perform a few songs together, and Taylor will do a solo or two. No word on the set list. You might still be able to get a ticket.

In other cross-genre news, Grace Potter isn’t going country, but she’s adding some country flavor to the deluxe edition of her new album, “The Lion The Beast The Beat.” Kenny Chesney duets with her on “Stars” and Willie Nelson sings and plays on “Ragged Company.” Grace Potter and the Nocturnals are part of the Brothers of the Sun tour with Kenny and Tim McGraw.

Faith Hill hasn’t released any new music in seven years, but she’s been having fun working in the studio on a new project. It doesn’t have a name or release date yet, but Faith is tipping her hand on what the music might sound like: “My love of country music – that has been my backbone. I was raised with country music, but I am a soul singer. So to bring those two worlds together in a way that is authentic and that is true – to me – that is the most important thing. I want to have a good time and I want my music to be truthful.”

They’ve been married 12 days and somehow managed to keep it a secret – Wynonna and long-time boyfriend Cactus Moser were married June 10th in a very private sunset ceremony on her farm in Leiper’s Fork, Tennessee. Us Weekly has the story and pictures.

Wall bling for Eli Young Band - “Even If It Breaks Your Heart” has been certified gold. Eric Church’s “Chief” album has been certified platinum. Now here’s a weird coincidence: 28 years ago on the very same week that Eric’s single “Springsteen” went to #1 on the country charts, Bruce Springsteen had his only #1 song on the pop charts - “Dancing in the Dark.”

Congrats to Josh Turner on the #1 debut of his new album, “Punching Bag.” It’s the second time he’s accomplished a #1 album debut – the first was in 2006 with “Your Man.” About the title cut on this album, Josh says, “Everybody has those kinds of days. So, I want this song to motivate people to not get discouraged and just take those punches. Make something good out of it, keeping moving forward and just be tough.”

Today's Country Tidbits

At the ACM's last night, there were great performances, amazing outfits and oh, yeah - some awards were handed out.

Taylor Swift won Entertainer of the Year again this year, as she prepares to cut a new album: “You know, for me I’m always looking forward, and I’m always ahead at what’s next – and I’m writing my next record right now, as I have been for the last two years, but intensely writing my next record right now. I hope it’s good, keep your fingers crossed I would love it if it was good!” Taylor's date was to have been high schooler Kevin McGuire, who is a cancer patient, but he was hospitalized on Friday night and unable to attend. Taylor tweeted, “Please keep him in your thoughts. I’ll make it up to you, Kevin!”

Blake Shelton, co-host and winner of Male Vocalist, watched Dierks Bentley perform "Home" just before he won. Blake noted, “I was standing there listening to Dierks sing that song and the lyrics of that song...I really was thinking, ‘Man...’ That kinda fits where I’m at, you know what I mean? It has been a long time to get to this point for me and I’ve seen a lot of people come and go since I’ve started that passed me and had big hits and I was always the guy that was in the audience wondering what it takes to be that.” On his loss to Taylor in the Entertainer of the Year category, Blake said, “I think she deserves it. I don’t think I said I hope Taylor wins...cause I hoped I would win! But, I remember saying, Taylor deserves it...I mean, she truly does.”

Miranda Lambert won Female Vocalist and Album of the Year for "Four the Record." Her date to the show was her grandmother, and Miranda said, “Nonny had the best night ever. My grandmother is rockin’. She was like, ‘I’m not gonna go to the after parties, I’m going to the slots.’ I was like, ‘Ok!’” About the Album of the Year win, Miranda said, “I really did want this really bad. But, I’m good now. I don’t need to win another ACM ever. I love the ACMs. I love the industry. I’m so thankful. I don’t want to be greedy. I’m so thankful and humbled, but I do believe that a time comes where, for a certain awards, you pass the torch and I do believe I’m ready to do that.”

Jason Aldean and Kelly Clarkson won two awards for "Don't You Wanna Stay" - Single Record of the Year and Vocal Event. About the song, Jason says, “That song has been huge man for me and my career. I remember sitting around talking about who we wanted to get to sing on the song and she was the first person I came up with. The way that song worked out I’m really glad that it went the way it did because I don’t think it could have been any better. Once she came in and put her voice on it it really made the song take off.”

Eli Young Band seemed completely blown away by their win in the Song of the Year category. “With the success of ‘Crazy Girl’ our life has kinda changed for the better. I think everything we’ve been used to before this has been these baby steps of success. We’ve never gone backwards which is good – it’s always been forward movement. But this song gave us – we took the elevator this time!”

Lady Antebellum took home Vocal Group of the Year after a stripped-down performance of their latest song, "Dancin' Away With My Heart." About the ACM's Hillary Scott remembers their first one: “It was all so new to us. I think literally the second red carpet we’ve walked down. The ACM’s have just been so fantastic to us and all the people involved are really important and special to us. So we are always happy to come back.”

Thompson Square won in the Vocal Duo category, and were given the award on Saturday night as part of the ACM Salute to the Military show. Kiefer recounts their journey to success: “Two years ago today, we did our first showcase for radio. A year ago today, we had the number one song in country. So, it’s been three good years for us.”

Toby Keith won Video of the Year for "Red Solo Cup," and remembers that some of his friends didn't believe they were really filming a video: “They weren’t convinced until about halfway through the video shoot that we were really shooting a video – they thought we were doing an episode of Punk’d. They were going, ‘Alright at what point are you going to tell us this is fake.’ They really were hesitant and reluctant about buying into the thing until we got halfway through the video. Then they finally said, ‘Oh this is the real deal,’ they were all excited.”

Scotty McCreery won the fan-voted New Artist award, and has this to say about his fans: “They never cease to amaze me. They are wild – on Twitter they call themselves the McCreerians and they’re just insane man – they’ve been by my side since American Idol and they keep on coming out so I appreciate them.”

The surprise of the night was that the top nominee went home with no awards. Kenny Chesney went into the night with nine nominations but went 0-fer on the evening.

The song Kenny Chesney and Tim McGraw sang last night is Kenny's next single. "Feel Like a Rock Star" is the first single off of "Welcome to the Fishbowl," due out June 19th.

Catch the probably still-astonished Eli Young Band on Jimmy Kimmel tonight.

Happy birthday to Country Music Hall of Famer Emmylou Harris, who turns 65 today.

The tweet of the day is from Justin Moore: "Seen Ashton kutcher at the acms tonight. What a douche! I don't care for people making a mockery of the way country artists' dress."

Today's Country Tidbits

It's a big week for Kenny Chesney - his 44th birthday is today and Sunday night, he's up for nine ACM Awards. He'll probably cap off his birthday week by winning at least a couple of categories. Kenny's outlook? “I think one of the most important lessons that I’ve learned from my mom is no matter what life throws at you, is just to take a step back, take a deep breath, and just take life as it comes. She loves life, and I thank God that I got my love of life from her.”

The Eli Young Band turned a career corner in 2011 with the song "Crazy Girl." They're nominated for Group of the Year and Song of the Year this Sunday night at the ACM Awards, and are humbled by the company they're keeping: “That song has absolutely changed our lives. And the fact that we’re included in Group of the Year, I mean, everyone on that list has had not only a huge year, but huge careers.” In the Group of the Year category with EYB are Rascal Flatts, Zac Brown Band, The Band Perry and Lady Antebellum.

Brantley Gilbert is feeling pretty confident going into Sunday night. He's nominated in the fan-voted New Artist category and says, “Well, I always say we don’t have fans, we have friends. I think a friend is somebody that supports you, #1...and these people are paying money to get CDs and to get into shows and, you know, to support me. So, that and, you know, trust...I can trust that they’re gonna be there.”

Hunter Hayes is eagerly anticipating Sunday night's ACM Award show. He's a first-time nominee and is psyched:“It’s like my Super Bowl. It’s like we gather around as a family, we shut off the phones, we don’t pay attention to anything but the awards show. I mean, it’s that moment when all my favorites come out on TV. It’s my chance to see everybody, and now of course getting to go—totally different ballgame. And way cooler I might add!”

Dr. Seuss didn't write "The Lorax 2" but Hollywood is apparently going to try to make the movie, anyway. According to scuttlebutt, Taylor Swift will be part of the sequel, if there is one.

In other Taylor news, two men are under arrest for pretending to represent Taylor Swift. They duped a California investor out of nearly a quarter-million dollars, promising to deliver a Taylor Swift concert in Arizona. The two have no connection to Taylor and could spend 15 years in jail if convicted of grand larceny and forgery.

Jake Owen is on The Tonight Show tonight.

The tweet of the day is from Jake Owen: "Landed in LA. Flight attendant gave me 16 bottles of Jack D minis because I signed a photo for her. I think I made out like a bandit."

Today's Country Tidbits

When Brad Paisley sings "Remind Me" in his live shows, he duets with a virtual Carrie Underwood. He wrapped up his winter tour in Knoxville and as he was singing "Remind Me," a real, live duet partner joined him on stage and really surprised him...

In other Carrie news, check out the cover of her album, "Blown Away," which streets May first...

In Las Vegas the night after the ACM Awards, many stars are staying in town to tape "ACM Presents: Lionel Richie and Friends." Jason Aldean, The Band Perry, Martina McBride, Lady Antebellum, Kenny Chesney, Rascal Flatts, Tim McGraw, Jennifer Nettles, Sara Evans and Luke Bryan are just a few of the artists who'll be featured on the show. Lionel himself is blown away by how country artists found his music: “To listen to them go, ‘Lionel, I can’t believe I’m doing this because you know when I was a kid ‘Sail On’ was this song,’ or ‘Stuck on You’ was this song. And they’re telling me these stories. Jennifer Nettles tells a story about how her mother took her to a fair, you know, and that’s how she heard ‘Hello’ for the first time. I mean, come on! Are you kidding me?”

Congrats to Kenny Chesney, who tops the country charts this week with his song, "Reality." What's his? “Everybody has their way of getting away from it, whether it’s – for me it’s a beach bar on the boat underneath the stars or with my band on the stage even thought that is our reality but that’s a great part of our reality.” His next album streets on June 19th.

They have one #1 song, "Crazy Girl," under their belts and another one climbing the charts. Eli Young Band isn't resting on their laurels, though: “With all these tour opportunities we have and the ability to be in front of these large crowds that probably wouldn’t or may have not seen us before, we’re kind of retooling our show and tweaking it a bit. You know, we’ve always been a road band. We’ve always pride ourselves on putting on a good show, but I think every year we sort of have to figure out how we can do better than the year before.”

Thompson Square has teamed up with ChildFund International to help at-risk children. For the rest of this year, fans who sign up and sponsor a child will get an autographed copy of Thompson Square's debut album.

He may be Your American Idol, but Scotty McCreery will probably warm the bench today. He was the pitcher on his high school baseball team up until his Idol schedule made him choose one or the other. Today is Garner High School's season opener, and Scotty will be there. He's been working out, but doesn't expect to play quite yet, telling reporters “I’m in an adult world now, but I want to be able to play baseball with my friends.”

A new biography of Johnny Cash is in the works. Former LA Times music critic Robert Hilburn is writing "In Search of Johnny Cash," a look at the Man in Black's childhood and rise to stardom. No release date has been set yet.

Luke Bryan's "Spring Break 4: Suntan City" is out today. How does he do this, year after year? “We kind of come back in the beginning of the year and we start writing for it. I typically have about twenty, twenty-five days to try to write Spring Break material so I get with a couple writers and we um – we just want to make a fun little album.”

Neal McCoy has new music out today - his new project, "XII," produced by Blake Shelton and Miranda Lambert, reflects his live shows: “It’s similar to what I’ve done on all my albums. I try and put a little bit of everything on there. I want it to be like coming to a show of ours and in our shows were are notorious and have been for my whole career of doing kind of crazy stuff.”

Congratulations to Randy Houser, who tweeted in the wee hours of this morning that he's about to be a daddy. He and Jessa Lee Yantz were married last September.

Happy birthday to singer/songwriter Skip Ewing, who is 48 today.

The tweet of the day is from Uncle Kracker: "Confidence...It's that feeling you get right before you fully understand the situation."

Today's Country Tidbits

CMT staged a brand-new award show last night - The Teddys. The categories are a bit different, since these are awards for music videos, not the music itself. Miranda Lambert won for Best Break-Up Video with "Kerosene," and thinks it's a fitting win for her, saying, “I’m not a love song person. I always have one or two but you know because I am in love and I have been in love whether you know, whether my heart is broken at the time or not, um, I lean more towards the sad song and the cheating song and the revenge songs.” Here's the list of winners:

Best Kiss in a Video - Chris Young – “Tomorrow”

Best Cheating Video - Carrie Underwood – “Before He Cheats”

Steamiest Video - Rascal Flatts – “I Melt”

Best Use of Lingerie - Carrie Underwood – “Cowboy Casanova”

Best Breakup Video - Miranda Lambert – “Kerosene”

Best Flirting Video - Lauren Alaina – “Georgia Peaches” and Blake Shelton – “Honey Bee” (tie)

Sweetest Video - Keith Urban – “Without You”

Tightest Jeans in a Video - Luke Bryan – “Country Girl (Shake It For Me)”

Alan Jackson's latest single, "So You Don't Have to Love Me Anymore," is out on iTunes this week, and he's so proud of it: “The record just came out beautiful and everybody that heard it, first thing they said was ‘Man, that thing gave me goose bumps on my arms’ and it’s just a great song, great melody. You know I’m a song writer and I appreciate songs and so I definitely appreciate this song.”

The Eli Young Band is headed to Canada with Dierks Bentley and couldn't make it home to Nashville to be with their wives for Valentine's Day. According to Chris and Mike, it's not a big deal, though. “[Chris] We married women who, who have been around us for quiet awhile and who really understand what we do and everything we do was really nothing new to them when they said yes. [Mike] They have to be extremely understanding ladies to be able to be with us in the first place with how much we travel.”

Another country artist is suing his record label. Kenny Rogers is suing Capitol Records, saying they “deliberately misled Rogers and other artists about payments owed to them for online music sales.” Kenny says he's owed more than $400,000 by Capitol for digital sales of his music.

In true Judd style, Wynonna is planning a "barefoot and just fun" wedding. She say's it'll be in the fall, because that's "not a sweaty time for brides," and will take place on her farm. Wynonna and Cactus Moser got engaged Christmas Eve.

Spring break with Luke Bryan? Sure - why not! For the 4th year in a row, Luke will play shows in the panhandle of Florida during spring break, plus release a Spring Break EP. The shows are March 13th and 14th, and the album is Spring Break 4 - Suntan City, due out March 6th.

The tweet of the day is from Miranda Lambert: "Still awake. Listening to music. Hey @Jason_Aldean.... Fly Over States makes my heart swell. Thanks:)"

Today's Country Tidbits

In a video announcement on the Lady Antebellum website, Chris Tyrell introduced the world to Hillary Scott Tyrell. They wed on Saturday at sunset in upstate New York in an intimate ceremony. The two met when Lady Antebellum and Love and Theft were touring with Tim McGraw. Chris was the drummer for Love and Theft. Hillary turned the details of the wedding over to a wedding planner, saying “That’s the beauty of getting a planner is you give them your ideas and you give them your vision and if it’s the right person, they can kind of take it and run with it and kinda turn it into what you want. And that’s what I said in the beginning, I was like, ‘This is your art, so I’m gonna let you do this because this is not my art. My art is to write songs and perform them and tour around, you know? So, I’m gonna let you do what you’re great at.’”

Miranda Lambert is making her acting debut on what she calls her favorite tv show ever - Law & Order: SVU. She'll play an actress who claims to have been sexually assaulted by a reality show producer. No air date has been set for Miranda's episode yet.

Miranda will appear on another show, too - hubby Blake Shelton's "The Voice." She'll mentor contestants, as will Kelly Clarkson, in upcoming episodes. Blake loves the process of doing the show, and loves the blind auditions best: "“That is so much fun, it’s ridiculous. I mean, to be given that kind of power, sitting in a chair like you’re the king of the world or whatever, and to be able to hit that button and ... and ... it really is a lot of fun. And as ego-y as it sounds, you feel like the king sittin’ there, you know what I mean? And you’re deciding ... ah, you know, who gets thrown into the alligator pit or not.”" The Voice premiers February 5th, right after the end of the Super Bowl.

Did you see Rascal Flatts sing the National Anthem before the Steelers/Broncos game yesterday afternoon? Turns out they did more than just sing while they were at the game - they played a little catch with Tim Tebow before the game. Tim said recently in an interview that Rascal Flatts is his favorite band. Might have helped his confidence a bit - after three losses in a row, Tim led the Broncos to a 29-23 win over the Steelers.

Turns out, country wildman Eric Church is a softie at heart. For Christmas, he bought his newborn son Boone McCoy Church a guitar. Why? “I wanted to buy a guitar that was from the year he was born. I mean as a guitar fan, you know, one of the things you always ask ... I mean, any guitar, you say, ‘What year is that?’ And I want it to be something I can put up and when the time came ... it’s a really nice guitar ... and when the time came, I wanted to tell him the significance of it.”

This year's Grammy Nominees album, an annual fund-raiser for the Grammy Foundation and MusicCares, will feature Lady Antebellum, Taylor Swift, Jason Aldean and The Band Perry. The album is due out January 24th and the Grammys will be held on February 12th.

Congratulations to David Nail, who has a #1 song with "Let It Rain."

Eli Young Band is on the Tonight Show tonight.

Happy birthday to Crystal Gayle, who turns 61 today.

The tweet of the day is from Miranda Lambert: "“Yall I'm so freaking excited to be on my favorite show ever !!!”"

Today's Country Tidbits

Sugarland played the concert for the Nobel Peace Prize winner yesterday, and shared their view of the audience from backstage at the event in a Twitter photo...

Tim McGraw's new Christmas song, "Christmas All Over the World," is available as a free download. Tim says "I'm very appreciative of the support my fans have given me over the years, and I wanted to say 'thank you' to them with this new holiday song."

Yesterday in Washington DC, The Band Perry performed during a taping of Christmas in Washington at the National Building Museum. The First Family was in attendance, and TBP performed "I'll Be Home for Christmas." The show will air this Friday night on TNT. And The Band Perry's 12 Days of Christmas giveaway starts today on their Facebook page. Good luck!

Amazon.com's Best Country Albums of 2011 list is out, and Lady Antebellum's "Own the Night" tops it. Filling out the rest of the top 5 are Luke Bryan's "Tailgates & Tanlines," Martina McBride's "Eleven," Toby Keith's "Clancy's Tavern" and Scotty McCreery's "Clear As Day." Lady Antebellum also owns the #1 slot on the Best Country Songs of 2011.

iTunes has weighed in with their end-of-year list of the best country album, song and breakthrough artist of the year. For Album, Jason Aldean takes it with "My Kinda Party," for song, Thompson Square wins with "Are You Gonna Kiss Me or Not" and the Breakthrough Artist is Eric Church. Jason Aldean is just hanging on for the ride: “You know it kind of all started with the release of ‘Wide Open’ album and ‘She’s Country’. Everything just kind of snowballed and went right into this album, too. And with ‘Dirt Road Anthem’ and the duet with Kelly, things just kind of exploded for us over the last couple years, so it’s been fun. It’s been a fun ride.” And Thompson Square isn't resting on their laurels, either. Kiefer's dishing on their next cd: “We’ve got, you know, two or three-hundred songs to go through again and just make sure it’s all the right stuff. But, I think we got a few things good that we’re very, very happy with.”

And not to be outdone, Billboard Magazine put out their Year End Country Songs chart, and at #1 is Eli Young Band's "Crazy Girl." That's a love song, but according to the band, some people have a different idea of what the title means: “The funny thing about being on the road right now—we’ve got these ‘Crazy Girl’ bracelets—and we saw on Facebook not too long ago, there were these girls that had taken a picture of their bracelets and they called them ‘Warning Labels’ and we thought that was extremely appropriate."

National Public Radio has come out with their 50 Favorite Albums of 2011, and three country artists landed on the list: Ashton Shepherd's "Where Country Grows," The Civil Wars' "Barton Hollow" and Eric Church's "Chief."

Rascal Flatts' song, "Easy," has been certified gold.

Condolences to family, friends and fans of Bee Spears, Willie Nelson's bassist for over 40 years, who passed away last week. He fell outside of his Nashville-area home and died of exposure in the sub-freezing temperatures. Bee Spears was 62.

Congratulations to Zac Brown Band, who have yet another #1 song with "Keep Me In Mind." Is that nine #1 songs in a row for them? Why yes, yes it is! Let's run 'em down - "Chicken Fried,", "Whatever It Is," "Toes," "Highway 20 Ride," "Free," "As She's Walking Away," "Colder Weather," "Knee Deep" and now "Keep Me in Mind."

The tweet of the day is from Colt Ford, who must be feeling better: "I hope no one gets a photo of me eating these Nachos it is kinda messy I think I got Sour Cream in my ear how does that happen!"

Today's Country Tidbits

Wow...just wow. Apparently Kenny Chesney and Tim McGraw will co-headline a tour next year, and they're recording a song together. Can't wait...for both!

Well now they've done it! Rascal Flatts' live cd is in stores today. "The Best of Rascal Flatts Live" is important to the trio because of their fans. “Our live show means the most to us and gettin’ in front of the fans and showing the fans how much we appreciate their support. It’s the utmost importance to us.”

Eric Church hits it hard on stage on a normal night, but he's planning a little something extra tomorrow night on the CMA show. Why? Peer pressure, apparently. “You know, at the ACMs, I was in front of the Fan Jam part, so this will be my first time on an awards show performing in front of the industry. So, I’m not real sure what to think about it, you know? It might be a little bit harder to get them up on their feet. Might not be like my crowd in Council Bluffs, Iowa.”

Carrie Underwood is looking forward to her fourth year co-hosting the CMA Awards with Brad Paisley tomorrow night. “I feel like each time we do it, we get better, and we get more comfortable. It’s already been fun! Like, sitting down and talking about what jokes we’re gonna make, and what we’re gonna do, and see who’s performing before everybody else knows who’s performing and what they are doing. It’s just a lot of fun, and I’m so honored that they’ve asked both of us back to do it again.”

Congratulations to the Eli Young Band, who have their first-ever #1 song with "Crazy Girl." Success hasn't gone to their heads yet, though. “It is kinda hard to take in the moment just ‘cause, you know, we started out just four friends from college just playin’ the bars and now, you know, hangin’ Platinum records on our walls and uh...movin’ up the charts, it’s just like...kinda feels like you’re talkin’ about somebody else right now, you know?” They're on tour with Dierks Bentley, and he surprised them onstage Sunday with a cake to celebrate their success.

Congrats to Lady Antebellum's Hillary Scott for being named SESAC's Songwriter of the Year.

Brad Paisley is on Good Morning America today, performing outside Bridgestone Arena. Robin Roberts gets up close and personal with country music's biggest stars tonight. She also gets to play with Kenny Chesney's flying chair. "In The Spotlight with Robin Roberts: Bright Lights, Big Stars, All Access Nashville" airs tonight at 10PM Eastern on ABC.

Lyle Lovett is on the Tonight show.

Happy birthday to Lauren Alaina, celebrating her 17th birthday, Bucky Covington, who turns 34, and Bonnie Raitt, who is 62 today.

The tweet of the day is from Corey Smith: "I just had a debate with my 5 yr old about whether or not songwriting counts as work. He won. "If you like it, it's not work."

Today's Country Tidbits

Yesterday I told you about Tim & Faith and their new fragrance line. Today the story is Rascal Flatts and the clothing line they're working on. Inspired by their stylist, John Murphy, they've decided to be like Reba and branch out into retail clothing sales. “We’re right now in the design phase, but it’s definitely something we want to do. We’re looking for the right partner to help us implement those things right now.” It won't be in stores in time for Christmas, but maybe in time for their summer tour.

Lady Antebellum hits the road for their "Own the Night" tour next week, and one of the opening acts is Charles Kelley's brother Josh Kelley. How will that work out? According to Charles, “We’ll probably start out really friendly and then start fighting like brothers. But...no, it’s gonna be great. Man, we’ll probably play a lot of golf and have a lot of late-night writing sessions, I’m sure.” The tour kicks off Friday the 11th in Knoxville.

Didja miss Miranda Lambert on the Today show yesterday? Here you go...

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

The Band Perry is featured on "Home This Christmas," a track on Justin Bieber's new holiday album. They loved working with him, and want to make it permanent. According to Kimberly Perry, “Well, we invited him to be in the band because of his haircut. That’s kind of our superpower and it’s sort of his too. So, we thought, let’s all be in a band. But, he turned us down. I still have Bieber fever.”

Reba is the host for the 2011 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Award Ceremony on December 2. The event takes place at the Wynn Las Vegas, and will include several other country luminaries to be named later.

Congratulations to the Eli Young Band, who've earned platinum certification for "Crazy Girl."

Miranda Lambert is on Live! With Regis and Kelly today.

The tweet of the day is from Martina McBride: "Epic amazing family dinner tonight in our house. At one point all 3 girls were on the floor laughing"

Today's Country Tidbits

Sugarland's tour manager, Hellen Rollens, may have saved some lives Saturday night, chief among them Jennifer and Kristian's. The band was gathered backstage, ready to go on, when Hellen looked at the sky and decided to hold them off the stage. One minute later, the stage collapsed around them, with debris and dust swirling around them. When they heard the thunderous roar of the roof collapsing, Sugarland and their crew hit the ground, then huddled up against a nearby wall, thinking the roof would fall on them. Sugarland's manager, Gail Gellman, said the other people backstage felt it was safe to go onstage, but that Hellen stuck to her guns and instinct and probably saved some lives.

Eric Church is one of the hottest new acts out of Nashville in years, and it's thanks to his hard work and his parents' support. Eric's dad, Ken Church, promised him that if he graduated college, he would pay Eric's living expenses in Nashville for a year while he tried to make it as a star. Eric hit town, got a job answering phones at the Home Shopping Network and in the evenings he played free shows around town, trying to get noticed. His work ethic and great stage presence couldn't be ignored, and now Eric's on tour with Toby Keith. Apparently, in Eric's mind anyway, there's an on-stage rivalry. “We take the stage every night to step on it and I try to bring it every night and kick Toby’s tail. And it’s up to Toby to either kick back or not and I think it makes for a great show for the fans. I’d do that whether it was Toby or Garth or the Rolling Stones…doesn’t matter. I’m still gonna do what I do. I think it makes for a great show because Toby’s the same way. It makes it fun for the fans.” Ken and Rita Church, meanwhile, are enjoying their son's success - somewhat. Says Rita, what her son does isn't "as easy as it looks," and about some of the wild road behavior, his dad said, “I’ve been a Sunday school teacher for a lot of years, and I’ve cringed sometimes.” Eric and his wife Katherine are expecting their first child, a boy, this October.

The inspectors are going over the stage set-up in the wake of the tragedy Saturday night at the Indiana Sugarland show. Sunday night's show was cancelled and much of Sugarland's touring

equipment is still on the stage, under the mangled lighting trusses. For this year, at least, there

will be no more shows on the racetrack stage, and the Lady Antebellum concert scheduled for this Friday night has been cancelled. Kristian Bush of Sugarland posted on their web site, "I thank God for every fan and emergency responder, for everyone who ran to the trouble instead of away from it. The courage of those men and women will forever be with me."

Luke Bryan's "Farm Tour 2011" opens September 29th in Clemson, SC, and there will be a total of six shows. Luke loves taking his show into rural areas where normal tours can't stop, saying, "There’s nothing like building a tour set in the middle of a crop field!” The tour also stops in Athens, GA on September 30th, Macon, GA on October first, Statesboro, GA on October 5th, Valdosta, GA on October 6th, and Carrollton, GA on October 7th.

Toby Keith is preparing for an album release and a European tour. "Clancy's Tavern" comes out on October 25th and hs 12-date European tour kicks off five days later. Says Toby about his previous

European tours, "The accents are a little different and the food sure isn't what you get in Oklahoma. But they say music's a universal language, and the folks we saw sure seemed to be having a good time. And so did we."

Lady Antebellum's fall tour will kick off November 11th in Knoxville, TN. The "We Owned the Night" tour includes Josh Kelly, Edens Edge and Randy Montana, with opening acts changing from show

to show.

Dierks Bentley's version of Octoberfest is the "Country & Cold Cans" tour. First date is October 6th in La Crosse, Wisconsin and includes Jerrod Niemann and the Eli Young Band.

Entertainment Weekly has a stream of the new Pistol Annie's song, "Bad Example." The cd, "Hell on Heels," is out on August 23rd.

Congratulatons to Easton Corbin, who earned platinum certification for "A Little More Country Than That." Also raking in the heavy metal are Lady Antebellum's quintuple platinum certification for "Need Yo Now and first platinum certification for "Just a Kiss," plus Blake's platinum "Honey Bee."

Lady Antebellum's "Just a Kiss" is the #1 song this week.

Happy birthday to Ashton Shepherd, who turns 25 today and to Emily Robison of the Dixie Chicks, who is 39. Billy Joe Shaver turns 72 today.

Eli Young Band's cd, "Life at Best," is out today. The lead-off single, "Crazy Girl," has already been certified gold.

The tweet of the day is from Colt Ford: "Got to play 2 shows with Ronnie Dunn. He is without a doubt 1 of the Greatest Country Singers there has ever been."