As you try to keep your hands out of the Halloween candy stash from last night, country stars share some of their favorite Halloween memories. Lady Antebellum’s Dave Haywood remembers his best costume as a kid – half of a pair of dice: “I was a die for Halloween. I had a big cardboard box that I had painted white and had the polka dots and stuff. And I remember I was walking up this hill to go to this hill and literally fell back down the entire hill, rolling in this giant cardboard box that I couldn’t do anything about, because I rolled down about 50-feet.” Luke Bryan says Halloween is great for researching your neighbors: “You can find out a lot about your neighbors by what kind of candy they put out. So, well, like full bars of Snickers bars, that’s what, and Reese’s cups, but the old chocolate popcorn ball of stuff, that’s no good either, like Dots – you get Dots one time of year and they pull your teeth.” And Taylor Swift has a different kind of Halloween memory: “All I remember about Halloween last year is that it’s when I bought my cat. She’s a Halloween cat. I didn’t really dress up for anything last year - I just went out and bought a kitten.”

Last week was the biggest sales week for any album in over a decade. Taylor Swift’s “Red” sold 1.2 million copies last week, meaning it is platinum after just seven days in release. It’s her second straight album to sell more than a million copies in its first week – “Speak Now” accomplished that feat in 2010. The last artist to sell over a million was Eminem in 2002, with the release of “The Eminem Show.”

What you’ll see tonight on the CMA Awards show: the show-opener will be Jason Aldean, Luke Bryan and Eric Church singing Jason’s new song, “The Only Way I Know How,” Tim McGraw performing his new single, “One of Those Nights,” Faith Hill performing “American Heart,” then Tim and Faith will be part of a tribute to Willie Nelson which will also include Lady Antebellum and Blake Shelton. Brad Paisley and Carrie Underwood performing separately, Taylor Swift doing her new single, “Begin Again,” Kelly Clarkson singing her new country song, “Don’t Rush,” backed by Vince Gill, and John Rich with the biggest smile on his face ever, because he and Big Kenny are nominated for Vocal Duo of the Year. “To see our name back in the lineup is pretty cool. It is like, ‘Alright there it is!’ It’s just a manifestation of what we’ve been doing for the last couple of years. You know, hookin’ the cables back together between Big Kenny and myself. It’s been quite a ride to do that, because you wonder if the fans are still there and you wonder if anyone gives a damn about your music anymore.”

The cash has finally all been counted, and Jason Aldean’s breast cancer benefit concert last weekend raised $509,125. Wanna bet he rounds the check up to $510,000?
Taylor Swift is the magazine cover queen right now – she’s on December’s Cosmopolitan magazine, plus the United Kingdom’s “You” and Australia’s “Sunday” publications.

You’re not on it either? The Blake Shelton and Friends Cruise set sail yesterday, and Blake says there’ll be shenanigans, and someone might have to go overboard: “Well it won’t be Trace—although he may put us over the weight limit. I don’t know, I’d say—Easton’s gonna be there. I don’t think any of us would miss him if we through him over.” Also along for the ride are Jerrod Niemann, Neal McCoy, Lee Brice, Brett Eldredge, Randy Houser and Jana Kramer. Jana’s got mixed feelings about going on a cruise: “I’ve never done a cruise before because I’m really claustrophobic and I’m afraid – or if I get motion sickness. I was like, ‘You know what I’m getting over a fear, and hanging with some of my buddies on a boat. I get to bring my mom – it’s going to be awesome. I can’t wait to play and then meet people and hang out – go swimming and tan!”

In the wake of video showing an admittedly drunk Jason Aldean flirting with American Idol contestant Brittany Kerr in Hollywood, Jason Aldean says that the situation, though tough, is taken care of: “You can handle it two ways, you can go hide and run from it or you can get up and face it and deal with it and that’s kinda what we tried to do and just kinda move on, you know? And the main thing is that me and my family are OK.” He talked with CMT Insider and that segment aired this past weekend.

Jason Aldean is planning to hit a few more stadiums during his 2013 tour, saying that the sellout at Crew Stadium in Columbus, Ohio was pretty awesome. According to Jason, “This next year we’ll probably dabble in it a little more, try a couple places and really just try to build on that. There’s not a lot of people that can do that [consistently], and that’s where we’re trying to figure it out —can we do that in certain markets? Or can we do that on a consistent basis? That’ll be a little bit of a learning pro­cess for us over the next year.”
Tim McGraw and Faith Hill’s Soul2Soul show in Las Vegas kicks off in December, but preparations are in high gear now, and Tim says it’s pretty cool: “It’s different to think somebody offers you a ton of money to come do three years in Vegas or something, and they say ‘Here’s your theater and you can build it like you want it...’ For all we’ve done in our career past, and all we hope to do in the future with our careers, to have this sort of moment to do this thing for these ten weekends and then to turn the theatre over to us and build what you want is sort of rare.” 
Jamey Johnson and Alison Krauss performed on the David Letterman Show Friday night. They collaborated on a song on his “Living for a Song: A Tribute to Hank Cochran” album which comes out tomorrow. He’ll announce tour plans later this week. 
Luke Bryan announced some tour plans – he’ll kick off his first headlining tour on January 17th in Evansville, Indiana, with shows running through at least March. Thompson Square and Florida Georgia Line will open on the first leg of the tour. 
Taylor Swift’s new album, “Red,” doesn’t come out until the 22nd, but she’s working the publicity angle hard. She’s on the cover of the October 24th issue of Rolling Stone Magazine, presumably dishing some details of her love life, and has partnered with Keds to release a new, limited-edition line of “Red” footwear. But wait, there’s more – she’s also partnered with Walgreens, where you’ll find a Taylor Swift Store, with t-shirs, tour books, backpacks, journals and lots more. And of course, “Red” will be on sale one minute after midnight on October 22nd at all Walgreens stores. 
Keith Urban will receive the Harmony Award from the Nashville Symphony in a gala later this year. The award honors him for his work to help the Country Music Hall of Fame, St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital and Habitat for Humanity. 
Trishia Yearwood is on The View and Josh Turner is on Jimmy Kimmel Live tonight.

Where was Little Big Town when they heard they had their first #1 song? Karen, Phillip and Jimi spill the beans: “[Karen] We were grilling out with Rascal Flatts. It was Saturday. [Phillip] College football Saturday and all of the sudden we all got the text and I immediately got off the bus and went looking for Jimi. [Jimi] Yeah, Phillip and I ran and hugged each other from across the parking lot and slapped each other five!” They had a #1 party in Nashville on Friday, and day after tomorrow they’ll be on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, performing their next single, “Tornado.” By the way, Kimberly Schlapman now has her own cooking show on GAC. “Kimberly’s Simply Southern” kicked off Saturday morning and continues for 12 more weeks.

Hunter Hayes just had his first #1 song with “Wanted,” and the song is a favorite of Lady Antebellum’s Hillary Scott: “[Hillary] When I got that album, that was the song that I had on repeat that I listened to over and over and over. He’s just such a breath of fresh air, he’s such a cute guy. And my little sister is the biggest fan of his! And he’s a great talent! He has all of the chops you’d ever need to back it up. [Dave] Uh-huh!” Charles Kelley and Dave Haywood had a writing session with Hunter and were blown away by his talent. Hunter co-wrote, sang, played all the instruments and co-produced his self-titled debut album. He’s opening for Carrie Underwood on her Blown Away tour.

Starting tonight at midnight, a new Taylor Swift song from her upcoming album “Red” will be released weekly. “Red” comes out October 22nd. Catch Taylor on Good Morning America, revealing the next song each Monday morning.

Brad Paisley released a new song on Friday, but it won’t be available on an album until April 9th, 2013. “Southern Comfort Zone” is a song Brad says he hopes makes people see all the amazing things the world has to offer, and then appreciate their own comfort zone, wherever it may be.

Toby Keith is excited about the success of his current single, “I Like Girls That Drink Beer.” About the song and about girls that drink beer, Toby says, “I think she just makes a statement, because you don’t see many ya know? Most of the time it’s an umbrella. You just don’t see a girl drink with the guys, so it was just funny to me when you see that all the time. It used to be more common and now it has gotten where it isn’t.” His next album, “Hope On The Rocks,” comes out October 30th.

Faith Hill is getting set to release her 8th studio album, just released a new single, “American Heart,” and will hit the stage with hubby Tim McGraw in Vegas for a series of concerts. But it wasn’t always bright lights and fame for Faith, who celebrated her 45th birthday on Friday: “I don’t even remember how many years ago this was, but I sold t-shirts for Reba. I worked for that fan club. I boxed merchandise up and stuff and I just remember that more vividly than I even remember the beginnings of my career. It was just kind of embedded in my brain!”

Brantley Gilbert just wrapped up his opening slot on Toby Keith’s “Live In Overdrive” tour, and is taking a few days off before kicking off his own “Hell On Wheels” tour later this week. What does he do when he gets home? According to Brantley, “I’m spending a lot more time away from home, but I think in a way it’s really showing me how much those people I’m missing mean to me. I’m in a hurry to get back and when I do get there, I’m always going to the next place, seeing my mom or my dad or going to see the guys I ride with and spending all that time on my motorcycle, which is a big plus!”

Congrats to Jason Aldean, who just got another gold record for “Take A Little Ride.”



More country music news on my blog every weekday – just click the “sandy’s blog” button at moby in the morning.com. yeah baby!

What can we expect from the Tim McGraw and Faith Hill concerts in Las Vegas? Apparently they won’t be doing their individual hits, but will do a show full of duets. But, you say, they haven’t done a whole show’s worth of duets in their career – will it be a short show? Oh, no – they’re apparently thinking Loretta and Conway, Tammy and George – according to Tim: “We’re going to do some different stuff, there’s a list of those kind of songs that we want to figure out what’s the coolest thing for us to do and the most fun that we’ll have doing the things the audience will enjoy hearing the most. But, I mean, God, there’s so many great duets out there that are fun to do.” The first show is on December 7th at the Venetian.

Toby Keith was flattered to be under consideration for a seat at the judge’s table on American Idol, but he turned it down. Why? “Ten years ago, I’d of said ‘yea.’ I’ve done enough movies and television now to know how time-consuming those things are. It was a wonderful number. I mean, they offered me incredible dollars to do it, but it’s probably better suited for somebody who’s got the time on their hands I don’t have.” Meanwhile, he’s seeing the average age of concert attendees drop, and he believes that “Red Solo Cup dropped my average age down from about 35 down to about 25 I think. We got a lot of youth. And that’s what you gotta do, you know, you’ve been around 18, 19 years, you’ve gotta find a way to reinvent or regenerate or do something, and it did!”

With their new album, “Tornado,” coming out tomorrow, Little Big Town has had a great week before the release. What did it sound like when they heard they were nominated for three CMA Awards this year? “[SCREAMS] [Jimi] “We were freaking out! It kinda sounded like that.” [Kimberly] “Yeah, it did.” [Karen] “We’re so thrilled and so honored. The Group of the Year category is fierce, fierce. We’re so honored to be a part of it.” [Phillip] “We literally were jumping up and slapping and high fives and hugging each other. I mean, we’re so thrilled. This is the best. Living on cloud nine right now.” They’re nominated for Music Video of the Year, Single of the Year and Vocal Group of the Year, in the same week that they scored their first #1 song. How did they feel when “Pontoon” hit #1? They’re dancing in the streets…check it out!



Lee Brice has co-written a fight anthem for his alma mater, Clemson. The song is called “Orange Empire” and you can get it on iTunes.

The politics of ugly got hung out on Twitter this week. Bocephus apparently tweeted something not very nice about President Obama, to which Alec Baldwin responded, “If Hank Williams Jr wasn't such a pathetic, wheezing fossil, I'd have a talk with him.” He then tweeted, “I think we need to call Hank Williams Jr what he is.... A broken-down, senile, racist coot.” Hank Jr. has been uncharacteristically unresponsive to Alec’s rant.

Little Big Town is on Good Morning America this morning, Blake Shelton is on Live With Kelly, “The Voice” returns tonight, with Blake Shelton in the big revolving red chair and Martina McBride is on Opening Act on E!.

As Tim McGraw wraps up the Brothers of the Sun tour with Kenny Chesney, he’s looking forward to his stint in Vegas with wife Faith Hill. Sort of. After playing huge arenas all summer, the 1,800 seat Venetian Theatre is a little bit intimidating to Tim: “Makes me nervous to be that intimate. I mean, I’ve only done it a few times, early in my career of course when I played clubs, but only a few times have I played small rooms.”

Brad Paisley knows how to show his fans a good time, and apparently knows how to show his tourmates the same good time. “Why Ya Wanna” singer Jana Kramer is on the Virtual Opry stage, which is near The Escape plaza, filled with games, water slides and more fun things to bring out the kid in everyone. Apparently Jana is hooked: “Can I please like go now and after I perform. Yes, yes and yes. I’m such a kid, like in the jumpy house – oh, there’s a jumpy house! So, [laughs.]”

Taylor Swift has gone from being an anonymous songwriter in Nashville to being a record-breaking phenomenon whose face is on the cover of magazines all over the world in just 6 years. But according to Taylor, her day-to-day life hasn’t changed that much: “A lot of things have changed, but in a way I just feel like a lot of things have stayed the same – a lot of basic ways of going about your life. It’s not like I can’t go and do things that I used to do. Everywhere I go it’s more of a social situation now, but once you adjust your brain to that, it just seems normal.” Her 4th album, “Red,” comes out October 22nd, and she and Tim McGraw are lending their voices to the 3rd Annual Stand Up To Cancer telethon, which airs September 7th on several networks simultaneously.

Craig Morgan heads to Fort Hood Texas on August 28th to help stuff 7,500 care packages for soldiers serving in the Middle East. After a day of packing bags, he’ll perform a free concert for military ID card holders and their families. Jack Daniels is picking up the staging costs.

If you were hoping to see Thomas Rhett open for Toby Keith this weekend, sorry to disappoint you – he’s been diagnosed with tonsillitis and mono and has to sit out the weekend. He’s hoping to schedule something for his Atlanta and Charlotte fans later this fall.

If a hurricane doesn’t interrupt the event, Jake Owen, Rodney Atkins, Lynyrd Skynyrd and The Oak Ridge Boys are all scheduled to perform in Tampa this weekend as part of the Republican National Convention. Willie Nelson and Randy Travis were both supposed to perform, too, but Willie’s been sick and Randy’s been in trouble with the law, so they’ll both miss out.

Wall bling for Trace Atkins – his “American Man, Greatest Hits Vol. 2” earned platinum status. Luke Bryan has two new certifications: double platinum for “Country Girl (Shake It For Me)” and platinum for “Rain Is A Good Thing.” Jana Kramer’s “Why Ya Wanna” has gone gold.

LeAnn Rimes is on The Talk today – it’s a rerun.

Brad Paisley is in the studio, working on his next album and worrying just a little bit about what the fans will make of it: “It’s kinda refreshing that I haven’t had a song on the radio for a couple months and in that sense it’s kinda nice to know that whatever is bubbling right now is the next thing I’ll hand them. And there’s both a pressure and a freedom in that. And so, I’m really more thinking about that. I’m thinking about things like what can I do that’s unique that I’ve never done musically.” 

Sure, you may think that Tim McGraw and Faith Hill live a glamorous life, but with back-to-school season upon us, you might be surprised to find that in at least one way, their life is a lot like yours. With three daughters, they spend a lot of time in the car, though oldest daughter Gracie has her learner’s permit. “Next year, she’ll have her full on license. The bad part is it’s a whole other set of nerves, but the good part is it cuts down on our taxi service a little bit. [Faith] Exactly! Being the taxi service isn’t glamorous at all. I’ve tried to make it, going to the studio… [Tim] How many days or hours do you spend in the car when you’re a parent? [Faith] Oh my goodness!”

Jennifer Nettles is pregnant with her first baby, due in November. She and Kristian Bush are on tour, and Jennifer’s first order of business in every new town is to find the best Mexican food. That’s what she’s craving – everything from salsa to black beans to fish tacos, as long as it’s Mexican. She normally watches her calorie intake but says that “it’s pretty much a free-for-all at this point.”
 

Another incident with autos, alcohol and authorities happened to Randy Travis this week. Tuesday night around midnight, officers responded to a report of a man lying in the middle of the road. They found Randy Travis, completely naked, intoxicated and with minor cuts and bruises, his car off the road nearby, wrecked in the midst of a construction zone. Thankfully, there was no construction going on at the time of the crash, so no one besides Randy was hurt in the incident. In addition to drunk and disorderly, public indecency and other charges, Randy has been charged with “retaliation,” because he threatened to shoot and kill the troopers after they placed him in the police vehicle. He bonded out of jail Wednesday morning, and had to have someone bring him clothes to wear home, because apparently he was naked when he started driving his car. He had to be given clothing to wear for his mug shot. In February of this year, Randy was arrested on suspicion of public intoxication in the parking lot of a church in Texas.

 

Curb Records is celebrating 50 years of success by putting 50 titles on sale for $5.99. C’mon, you know 50 cents would be too good to be true! Grab albums from LeAnn Rimes, Wynonna, Tim McGraw, Jo Dee Messina, Hank Williams, Jr., Clay Walker, Lee Greenwood and lots more. Search “Curb 50” on iTunes to see the whole list.

Zac Brown Band sits atop the country music album charts for the 4th week in a row with “Uncaged.” How does that make Zac feel? “It is dead center right down the middle for people who like our other music. I feel like it’s the best record we’ve made so far. I feel like we’re a better band now. I feel like we’ve just continued to improve and I feel like it’s – I really do feel like it’s the best record we’ve ever made.”

Miranda Lambert is on the Ellen DeGeneres Show – it’s a rerun.

Tim McGraw had some details to share about the Soul2Soul shows he and wife Faith Hill will do in Las Vegas. The eighteen-hundred seat Venetian Theater will be home to them for ten weekends, starting December 7th, and Tim says, “We’re in the process of building the show now, and we can say that the production’s gonna be very cutting edge. We wanna do really cool stuff...things that certainly we haven’t done before and probably some things that haven’t been done before in a lot of ways. Um, we don’t wanna give away too much of what the show’s gonna be, but it’s certainly gonna be a lot of us. I mean, it’s gonna be us together.” Just what do their daughters think of spending two and a half months in Vegas? “[Tim] They’re excited! They’re very excited ‘cause they love going to the shows, so they probably won’t see ours [laughs]. [Faith] They’ve been to most of the shows here over the years when we’ve been coming in and out, so they’re thrilled!” Tickets go on sale to the general public Monday at the theatre box office and online at Ticketmaster.

Taylor Swift is planning an interactive webcast this Monday night, and she’s got some news to share. Is it new music news? Tour news? Boyfriend news? She’s being pretty coy: “You can ask questions! I wanna share some news with you. Some really cool news—not gonna go into it too much—but it’s cool!” The webcast starts Monday at 7pm Eastern time on TaylorSwift.com.

Rascal Flatts’ Jay DeMarcus and wife Allison are enjoying their new son, Dylan Jay, even though Daddy Jay is on tour right now. When asked how being on the road with his dad’s band might affect little Dylan, Jay replied, “All of his bad habits, I’m sure he will learn from Uncle Gary and Uncle Joe Don. I hope that Gary teaches him how to sing like he does and hopefully Joe Don will teach him to play guitar like he does and then I’ll have the best of both worlds… Then I can go out on the road with my son and leave these two yahoos.” The tour hits Raleigh, NC tomorrow night.

Jason Aldean’s My Kinda Party Tour scored a major hit Monday night – he broke the attendance record at Columbus Crew Stadium in Ohio. Over 27,000 people showed up for the concert, and Jason remarked, “It’s been a pretty crazy year as far as the tour goes. I mean, it’s kind of exceeded any expectations we could have had for ourselves.”

Craig Morgan’s 6th annual charity weekend is this weekend in Tennessee. Saturday, motocross stars lead a trail ride in Vanleer and Saturday night, Craig, Darryl Worley, Robin Meade and Nan Kelley of GAC team up for a concert to support the Craig Morgan Charity Fund. Sunday features the Celebrity Sporting Clay Event at the Tennessee Clay Target Complex in Nashville, led by “The Ultimate Shooter,” Tim Bradley. If you’d like to be on the trail ride but you don’t have the right wheels, fear not – there’s anauction on eBay that runs through tomorrow. The Husqvarna For a Day experience puts you on a great ride and up front with the celebrities!

First it was Garth Brooks. Then it was Shania Twain. Now, Tim McGraw and Faith Hill are setting up house in Vegas for a stint at the Venetian Theatre. They’ll do a ten-weekend run of shows beginning December 7th, calling the shows “Soul2Soul,” the same name as their two successful tours together. Those tours happened in 2000 and 2006, and the two have not performed a full concert together since the last tour. Tim says that the residency arrangement in Vegas will be good for their family and he’s been looking for a way to work with Faith onstage, and this fits the bill. Presale tickets will be available tomorrow and the general public can start buying them on Monday the 13th at the hotel box office. This announcement comes on the heels of the mega-successful “Brothers of the Sun” tour with Kenny Chesney and being inducted into the Louisiana Music Hall of Fame. Tim was born and raised in Delhi, Louisiana.

Speaking of Garth Brooks, he’s been added to the list of performers on the Teachers Rock special on CBS. He joins Carrie Underwood and Dierks Bentley as the country performers. The show tapes on August 14th and will air on August 18th.

Keith Urban is working on a new album, and is laying down tracks all around the world. He’s planning a tour next year, so feels the pressure to get new music out, but wants it to feel fresh and different. Check out a tiny piece of his new song, “Tidal Wave,” in this video…



Blake Shelton worked hard to make his Christmas album a very special one. He’s co-written a song with his mom, Dorothy Shackleford, and she sings on it. He and Michael Buble re-worked the song “Home” into a holiday tune and for the first time ever, Blake Shelton and Reba duet on a song. “Cheers It’s Christmas” drops on October second.

Other country artists got in the Christmas spirit, lending their voices to the 25th anniversary of the Very Special Christmas project, a benefit for Special Olympics. Rascal Flatts, The Band Perry and Vince Gill all have cuts on this double-album project, which streets October 16th.

Miranda Lambert and Pistol Annies will kick off the new season of Say Yes to the Dress! Angaleena Presley and her hubby Jordan Powell eloped in May, but went dress-shopping at Bridals by Lori in Atlanta with her band members Ashley Monroe and Miranda Lambert. The episode airs on August 24th at 9pm on TLC.

Congrats to Kenny Chesney, who has the #1 country song in America with “Come Over.”

Zac Brown Band is on Jimmy Kimmel tonight – it’s a rerun.

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

Tim McGraw is on the road with Kenny Chesney, and the two of them had a hit duet this spring. Rumors are swirling that Faith Hill and Tim will have a duets album out soon, but Faith says, not so fast – she’s working on a solo project right now. “We are married, we live together – it’s kind of inevitable that that will happen. But the truth is it’s not something that’s on the schedule right now. I look forward to the opportunity someday to do a record with my husband, because you know, he’s my husband! We’ve already had some really great songs together, and it’ll be good when it happens for sure.”

How many people were at a live country music event over the past weekend? Let’s run the numbers:

• CMA Music Festival – 71,000 people per day over four days 
• 
  
• Miranda Lambert in Detroit – 100,000 over three days 
• 
  
• Kenny Chesney and Tim McGraw in Dallas and Kansas City – 95,000 people 
• 
  
• Brad Paisley at Wrigley Field – 38,500 concert-goers 

Total – a boatload of country music fans! (and by “boatload” we mean 517,500)

Martina McBride knocked it out of the park with her closing concert at the CMA Music Festival. Her set included favorites, plus a few newer nuggets from her latest album. “I love the record Eleven that we made. It’s a special record to me for a lot of reasons. For me, it signaled a lot of new beginnings and trying new things – getting out of my comfort zone a bit and digging a little deeper. So I’m really proud of it.”

Jason Aldean took a few days off to hit the beach after the CMA Music Festival, but all wasn’t white sand and umbrella drinks. He was ticketed on Monday for swimming while double red flags were posted at the beach. He can afford the $100 fine for sure, but wasn’t really happy about the ticket, tweeting, “Dear officer who gave me a ticket on the beach today for swimming in the water with double red flags.. Thanx for the warning Barney Fife!”

Kenny Chesney has a part in a promo for ESPN. Haven’t seen it? Here you go…



Congratulations to Eric Church on his latest wall bling – “Springsteen” has been certified platinum and his debut album, “Sinners Like Me,” has been certified gold. Plus, “Springsteen” is the #1 country song in America this week.

Lee Brice is on the Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson.

Today's Country Tidbits

It’s official…Tim McGraw joins Taylor Swift, Rascal Flatts, Reba, Martina McBride and a host of other up and coming country stars as part of the Big Machine record label group. Tim signed with what is arguably the most influential record label in Nashville, run by Scott Borchetta. Scott’s dad, Mike Borchetta, originally signed Tim to his deal at Curb Records, the label he parted ways with last year. About the new partnership, Tim says, “For me, it’s a new day. I have a great partner, great label, a lot of great people working around me and I’m lookin’ toward the future. I’m lookin’ toward bigger and better things than I’ve ever done and better music than I’ve ever made. It’s a new beginning to sort of a new career for me, I think.” Will there be new music? Yes – and according to Scott Borchetta, fairly soon. Tim’s energized about the new project: “The songs are incredible. I mean, I had a fantastic group of musicians in the studio, and I think I’ve had more fun than I’ve had in a long time in the studio. I just...got a lot of energy, and music has a lot of energy in it and it’s infused with all this enthusiasm. I haven’t felt this way about music in a long time.” No release date yet…I’ll let you know. Meanwhile, how did Tim introduce himself to the staff at Big Machine? He and wife Faith Hill stopped by the label headquarters and brought ice cream for everyone. Sweet! 

It’s good to be on Brad Paisley’s tour. Sure, you might be scared about the pranks, but he also does thoughtful, fun things for his tour mates, like taking them out to the movies. Over the weekend in Indianapolis, Brad coughed up for tickets and anything anyone wanted at the concession stand for a 12:30am showing of The Avengers in 3D. No, he didn’t leave the crew out – they were all invited, too. 

The CMT Music Awards will be handed out on June 6th, right in the middle of the CMA Music Festival. Toby Keith and Kristen Bell will host the awards show live from Nashville on CMT, and Kenny Chesney, Lady Antebellum, Little Big Town, Brad Paisley, Carrie Underwood and Zac Brown Band will be performing. With lots of young talent snapping up awards these days, Toby recently said, “Some of the younger people comin’ around goin’, you know, ‘He’s a freakin’ legend,’ you know...this and that. And it’s like, I don’t see myself as that. I see myself as...I’ve been in the league a long time, but I always felt like I filled a void.” That’s true – there’s truly only one Toby Keith!

Taylor Swift has reached out to the family of a fallen Marine. Sgt. Wade Wilson. Wilson, a native of Leona, TX, was a huge fan, and when Taylor learned of his passing, she sent his family a note of condolence and asked if they would allow her to wear his dog tags in her next video to show her respect for him and all of our service men and women. Sgt. Wilson’s best buddy posted a video – watch it knowing there’s a bad word in there, and there’s the strong possibility that you’ll need tissues. There…you’ve been warned.



George Jones is back in the hospital, undergoing tests for the upper respiratory infection that just won’t go away. According to a message on his website, the Country Music Hall of Famer was admitted yesterday for “testing and evaluation,” and that all concerts scheduled through the end of June will be rescheduled “where possible.”

The tweet of the day is from Josh Thompson: “Just realized my Christmas tree is still up.”

Jake Owen had a bit of a run-in with the law in his hometown of Vero Beach, Florida. Saturday night, after performing, he was celebrating Cinco de Mayo with some buddies and apparently the fun got out of hand. He tweeted a photo of himself and said, “I’m calling it a night. My mom cried. My dad was embarrassed. I lived out another day. Happy Cinco de Mayo!”

Brad Paisley could record anywhere he wanted to because he’s just that big a star. So where does he choose to record? In a studio he built on his own farm. He recorded “Remind Me” with Carrie Underwood there, and is working on his next album right there on the farm. According to Brad, “There’s something about this, in the place that you live, these really iconic things are happening. These people who are so cool are showing up on my farm, coming out here and putting down a piece of music that will live forever.” Check out Brad hard at work at home on this video…



Alan Jackson plays the Grand Ole Opry on Tuesday night and will showcase music from his upcoming album, “Thirty Miles West.” He says fans don’t have too much to worry about – he stayed true to his style on this project: “My voice has gotten a little deeper sounding to me, I think, ‘cause I’ve gotten older. I don’t know that I’ve changed that much musically. I still have always recorded songs—I’ve tried to—that are just fun things like ‘Chattahoochee’ and then much later you have like ‘5 O’Clock Somewhere.’ And then I’ve had songs from heartache like ‘Wanted’ in my early career that are not dissimilar to this song that’s out now.” What he has out now is “So You Don’t Have To Love Me Anymore,” and it continues to climb the charts. The new album comes out June 5th.

Jay and Allison DeMarcus are having a son, due to be born this summer, and his name will be Dylan Jay DeMarcus. According to the Rascal Flatts member, “You know I was hoping for a healthy child, whatever it was I was going to be okay with it. But, I would be lying if I didn’t say that I’m really thrilled that it’s a boy. In the back of mind I wanted one of each.” Big sister Madeline Leigh is excited about her baby brother and can’t wait for him to arrive.

Garth Brooks is doing Vegas shows at the Wynn Hotel. Shania Twain is about to start a two-year run of shows at Caesar’s Palace. Does Las Vegas have room for another country show? Apparently so – rumors are flying hot and heavy that Tim McGraw and Faith Hill are in talks to perform weekend shows at a major venue in Las Vegas. Stay tuned…

Later this month, Trace Adkins will be part of a very special send-off. HonorFlight will send 33 World War II veterans on an all-expense paid trip to Washington DC for a VIP tour of our national treasures. Trace will be in Tyler, TX on May 31st to wish them well and sing the National Anthem.

Congrats to Miranda Lambert, who has the #1 country song this week with “Over You.”

The tweet of the day is from Jake Owen: “The sheriffs were doing their job and I made an immature decision to announce it to the world. This is me talkin, not some puppet reciting what he “should” say. I take full responsibility – I am truly sorry.”

Today's Country Tidbits

Dierks Bentley is in Australia, taking his Country & Cold Cans tour down under. He loves to water ski, but in Australia, a different water sport is king: “I’ll try anything, I love just – I love being outside so put a surfboard in my hand and I’ll give it a go. You know, they love country music down there, country is everywhere. People love country music, doesn’t really matter where you are and a chance to go down there and tour with a friend of mine Lee Kernaghan who’s a huge Australian artist and has a lot of fans over here as well. It just sounded like a lot of fun.”

Oh, this was predictable! Carrie Underwood got married and it's the question on every reporter's lips. Ditto Miranda Lambert, so now that Hillary Scott of Lady Antebellum is a wife, they're asking when she'll become a mother: “Not for a while. I mean, God knows the time better than any of us, but not for a while. I think we’re just excited to be settling in to being married and sharing life together and being able to travel together and so, I mean, I don’t think we’ll wait too terribly long, but definitely not anytime in the near future.”

Billboard is out with their "Top 40 Money Makers of 2012," though the list reflects how much different artists made last year. Taylor Swift made nearly $36 million, landing her squarely at the top of the list. Other country acts on the list:

#34 – Sugarland: $5.6-million

#28 – Zac Brown Band: $6.5-million

#27 – Keith Urban: $6.6-million

#26 – Lady Antebellum: $6.7-million

#21 – Brad Paisley: $8.6-million

#19 – Tim McGraw: $9.3-milllion

#18 – Rascal Flatts: $9.6-million

#15 – Toby Keith: $10.4-million

#9 – Jason Aldean: $13.4-million

#3 – Kenny Chesney: $29.8-million

#1 – Taylor Swift: $35.7-million

A little too much excitement at Garth Brooks' house last week. Someone abandoned a stolen car on Garth's property, setting it on fire. Police are searching for the culprit, who may or may not have known that a superstar's farm was where he committed a crime.

Luke Bryan doesn't have an ACM nomination this year, but he'll still have a big week in Vegas. He's performing on the show, and also on the Lionel Ritchie tribute show being filmed the day after the awards. According to Luke, “We got the news of my ACM performance, which was really, really rewarding and flattering news. To not have a nomination out there, and you know to get a performance slot, we were super-excited. And certainly very excited to be a part of the Lionel show.”

Randy Houser, Justin Moore, Lee Brice and Jerrod Niemann have all had their tour buses catch fire in the last few months, and Josh Thompson isn't taking any chances: “And screw Lee Brice ever comin’ on my bus because he was on Jerrod’s bus, and he’s like, ‘I think your bus is on fire; it’s burning.’ And Jerrod just told me the story today, and I don’t know…somethin’ ’bout it, somethin’ ’bout it. I’m not pointin’ any fingers at Lee, but I’ll just be goin’ to Lee’s bus, if we’re gonna hang out. I’ll just be goin’ over there.”

A new compilation album will be in Starbucks, just in time for Mother's Day, and Faith Hill's "Wish For You" will be part of it. The song was originally on her 2005 "Fireflies" album.

The tweet of the day is from Lauren Alaina: “returned to idol & then went to the studio to record background vocals for the new Aerosmith record. #ISTHISREAL? Thank u Steven!”

Today's Country Tidbits

A judge in Tennessee has ordered Rodney Atkins to do 30 hours of community service and stay out of trouble for 11 months and 29 days, and if he does, the domestic assault charge his wife filed against him will be expunged from the record. Tammy Atkins claimed that he tried to smother her with a pillow and threw her down the hallway on November 21st. Rodney got to cool his heels in jail that night and filed for divorce shortly after getting out the next day. He and Tammy are sharing custody of their son Elijah and are working out the details of a permanent custody arrangement.

Jason Aldean watched the Super Bowl, but made a point to watch Kelly Clarkson sing the National Anthem, and he was nervous for his "Don't You Wanna Stay" duet partner. How did he think she did? “I was blown away. You rarely ever hear anybody do it justice. I mean, everybody tries to put their spin on it, and more times than not—it doesn’t work. With me, I’ve done it a couple of times, but it’s not something, you know—I’m always scared I’m gonna mess it up. I was watching her and I thought she, I texted her right away and said ‘You just killed it! That was one of the best renditions I’ve ever heard.’”

Trace Adkins has partnered with the Smithsonian National Postal Museum. He's performing the audio version of the book "Owney: Tales from the Rails." It's a childrens book and is the story of a dog that rides the rails, visiting post offices across the country. Check out the project on the Owney website.

The Grammy Awards are getting more and more country - word came out yesterday Reba will present an award. Already planning to be there are Taylor Swift, Jason Aldean, Blake Shelton, Miranda Lambert, The Band Perry, Carrie Underwood, Dierks Bentley, Lady Antebellum, Glen Campbell and Kelly Clarkson.

"Act of Valor" had it's Nashville premier on Tuesday night and Keith Urban and Jake Owen were on hand to soak it in. Keith contributed an original song, "For You," to the soundtrack, which also includes Lady Antebellum, Trace Adkins, Sugarland, Josh Kelley and Hunter Hayes. The movie opens for the rest of us February 24th.

Toby Keith's "Red Solo Cup" keeps getting bigger. It's sold nearly a million and a half downloads so far, and Toby's surprised - and not surprised. “I knew it was gonna be successful and I knew that it was gonna be big in my show. I didn’t know it was gonna be a...like a household drinking vessel.”

Tim McGraw's "Emotional Traffic" is the top-selling country cd for the second week in a row. About his success, Tim says, “You know any chance you get—and what I’ve been lucky with throughout my career, in music, movies, songwriting, and books, everything—is working with fantastic people whom you learn something from every time you do a project.”

Ever wonder how Faith Hill stays so trim? In an article in Self magazine, she says she watches what she eats, but splurges on sweet tea. And she doesn't skip her daily workout, which she says gives her more energy throughout the day and has a positive impact on her life.

Watch for Clay Walker on the AT&T Celebrity Pro-Am golf tournament from Pebble Beach today.

Happy birthday to Travis Tritt, who turns 49 today.

The tweet of the day is from Miranda Lambert: "Ahhhh!! Thanks to @nbcsvu I got to check something off my bucket list. Acting on my favorite show! I can't stop screaming like a 3 year old!"

Today's Country Tidbits

Lots of country stars were part of the Super Bowl yesterday, starting with Faith Hill, who kicked off the day's festivities with a special version of her NFL on NBC song. Blake Shelton and Miranda Lambert sang "America the Beautiful," and just before they started singing, Patriots quarterback Tom Brady yelled at Blake, "I got your back!" Kelly Clarkson nailed the National Anthem, Hillary Scott of Lady Antebellum was at the game purely as a spectator, and after the Giants won, "The Voice" began it's second season, with Blake Shelton as a mentor and Pistol Annies kicking off the show with their song, "Hell on Heels." Yep - good night for country music!

Dierks Bentley's new cd, "Home," comes out tomorrow and "Thinking of You" features his three-year-old daughter Evie. About how family influences his songwriting, Dierks says, “You know, life for me is...I’ve moved from, you know, I’ve gone through first, second, third, fourth gear. You know, I’m movin’ up the gears and having a chance to experience more of life and having a...you know, couple kids is an amazing experience that ah...you know, as...trying to be honest as a person, as a songwriter, that’s definitely gonna make its way into the music, so that’s a big part of my life.” Wanna check out Dierks and Evie's duet? Here you go...

Keith Urban and family are headed down under as Keith gets set to film the Australian version of "The Voice." While he's working, Nicole and their daughters will get a little quality time with the family. “I’m gonna be a mentor and um...spending a bit of time there, which actually will be great as far as, uh...particularly seeing all the grandparents, you know, for our kids and that’s the thing. But ah...it’s also a very short trip too, so I’m gonna be, you know, in Nashville just as much as anywhere.”

Martina McBride will hit some small theatres when she and George Strait finish their tour. Martina says she's looking forward to more intimate shows, starting in April.

If you go see Brad Paisley on tour and catch The Band Perry opening for him, don't be surprised when they throw a little Queen into their set. Kimberly Perry says, “Well, ‘Fat Bottom Girls’ is always a tip of the hat to both our dad Steve and our mother Marie. He’s a rock ‘n roll lover and that’s one of his favorite rock songs. Mom is the country fan so we always threw a little bit of a bluegrass jam at the end of it. It’s sort of a tip of the hat to our parents and where we’ve come from musically.”

Happy birthday to Richie McDonald of Lonestar, who turns 50 today.

The tweet of the day is from Blake Shelton: "As @Miranda_Lambert walked out on the field a football flew past my head... Then I heard "Don't worry Blake I got your back"... Tom Brady!!!"

Today's Country Tidbits

Well, we knew she could sing, but who knew she was so proper? Taylor Swift has landed at #5 on the list of the 10 Best-Mannered People of 2011. The list was compiled by the National League of Junior Cotillions, and the rest of the top five are Kate Middleton, Justin Bieber, Paula Abdul and Aaron Rogers. Kim Kardashian was named the "Most Ill-Mannered Person" of the year.

While Lady Antebellum was busy owning the night Sunday night - the last night of this leg of their tour - Josh Kelley and Edens Edge were planning a pranking. Check it out...

Ever wonder if the stars have special Christmas traditions they observe with their kids? Faith Hill shares one of hers: “They make reindeer food the night before Christmas. We make it with oatmeal and glitter so the reindeer will be fed, and they also can see our house because the glitter will shine up through the stars. So, the reindeer come down and land in the front yard, sometimes on the roof, depending on where we are, and each time it’s amazing, they have left one of their bells behind off of the reindeer sled. Isn’t that remarkable? So, that’s one tradition.”

Darius Rucker will spend the early months of 2012 working on a new album and touring with Lady Antebellum, but he'll take time out to perform his annual fund-raiser for the Medical University of South Carolina Children's Hospital. This year, he'll offer up a night of Sinatra on February 13th, which is a Monday night. Tickets will set you back from $50 to $250.

Congratulations to Zac Brown Band on having the #1 song again this week with "Keep Me In Mind."

The tweet of the day is from Blake Shelton: "Holiday Help... by Blake Shelton Hate being asked to do the dishes after Christmas dinner? Drop some of moms fine china.. Hello football!!"

Today's Country Tidbits

Today is Bill of Rights Day, and to celebrate, 1 For All has declared today "Free to Tweet" day, celebrating the freedom of speech promised by the First Amendment. Brad Paisley, Blake Shelton, Darius Rucker, Joe Nichols, Wynonna, Gloriana and Mary Chapin Carpenter are just some of the country artists taking part in the day. For students, there's a chance to win $5,000 college scholarships with the Free to Tweet event. Use hashtag #freetotweet to follow along or participate on Twitter.

Big congratulations to Trailor Choir's Big Vinny Hickerson, who is no longer big. He didn't win the grand prize on The Biggest Loser, but he did lose 184 pounds in six months on the show. Along the way, he got engaged to his long-time girlfriend, Lori Diaz, and according to Vinny, "This is a stepping stone to the rest of my life."

Faith Hill is the first announced performer for the People's Choice Awards 2012, airing live on CBS January 11th. Check out the nominees so you're ready to root for your favorite.

Trace Adkins is surrounded by girls - he has a wife and three daughters. How does he handle all that estrogen? “I get on my tractor and disappear. It's the most therapeutic machine ever invented...It goes against who I am to be interested in ballet.”

Dierks Bentley's life also revolves around girls, with a wife and two daughters. His holiday down time this year is spent decorating, apparently: “I’m Clark Griswold out there, you know? Decorating the tree, putting lights up around the house—all those things you did as a kid and appreciated as a kid. You get a chance to do all over again when you have kids because you kind of become one again.”

Taylor Swift is in the Christmas spirit: “Yeah, I really love Christmas. I wish it was all year round. Um, just like, for the feeling that everybody has. Everybody’s buying gifts for each other, and there’s sort of a feeling about it.” What's she asking for? A pasta maker, antique picture frames and anything from the Free People and Anthropologie stores.

Brad Paisley got to spend some time in the studio with John Fogarty yesterday, and tweeted a photo of he and one of his musical heroes.

Didja miss Lady Antebellum on GMA yesterday morning? Here you go...

Dolly Parton has been named one of the 100 Hottest Women of All Time by Men's Health Magazine. How does Dolly get all dolled up? “People ask me how long it takes to do my hair, and I say ‘I don’t know! I’m never there when she does it! [Laughs] And I just—I never have a bad hair day! If I don’t like that one, I just put on another one! But sincerely, because I’m so used to doing my own makeup, I just put it on and I go and touch it up, so I can be out of the house in thirty minutes if it’s necessary. I like to have a good hour like all women.”

Happy 32nd anniversary to Alan and Denise Jackson, married on this day in 1979 in Newnan, GA.

Lady Antebellum is on Live with Regis and Kelly today.

The tweet of the day is from Blake Shelton: "Ba! Ha! Ha! Quote of the night... "I'm so drunk I can't proper functionally..." - Miranda Lambert"

Today's Country Tidbits

There's activity at the site of Trace Adkins' former home, which burned down about 6 months ago. Trace and his wife Rhonda have begun the rebuilding process, and Trace says they've designed a relatively modest home, not a garish mansion. One indulgence being added - a swimming pool. Trace jokes, "I guess I'm finally going to be one of those snooty home owners that has a pool."

Looking for a unique gift for the country music lover in your life? Miranda Lambert, Taylor Swift, Keith Urban, Jason Aldean, Rascal Flatts, Sara Evans, Toby Keith, Lady Antebellum, Kenny Chesney and Garth Brooks have all teamed up with Charitybuzz to give fans VIP packages and memorabilia. The online auction ends today on some items, so better hurry!

Darius Rucker will be part of the 4th annual Grammy Artists Revealed showcase. The event will be held in New York City, and features artists who have shown musical excellence telling their stories and performing. Sort of like a guitar pull, but it includes musicians from all genres of music. You can win your way into the show, if you'd like to go.

Jake Owen had a party in Nashville yesterday, celebrating hitting #1 with "Barefoot Blue Jean Night."

If you were looking forward to seeing Faith Hill on the Rockefeller Center show tonight, sorry...she's cancelled the appearance, with no reason given at this point.

Jason Aldean, The Band Perry and Sugarland are on The Grammy Nominations Concert Live! tonight on CBS and The Civil Wars are on the Late Show with David Letterman.

The tweet of the day is from Jake Owen: "Cracked a beer. Popped some popcorn. Got a blanket. Victoria Secret fashion show is on. :)"

Today's Country Tidbits

Kenny Chesney and Tim McGraw have made it official...they'll tour together next summer, doing stadiums and domes with their "Brothers of the Sun" co-headlining show. In addition, they're working on at least one song together. Tim and Kenny have been friends for years...ticket info coming soon, and they'll be on sale in time for stuffing stockings this Christmas.

With a little time to help give him perspective, Jason Aldean is talking about finally winning a CMA (he actually won two last Wednesday) and his next album. According to Jason, he thought he had a decent shot at the Musical Event award, but was blown away by the Album of the Year award. What will his next project sound like? “I feel like on the next record, we’ve already found some great songs and the ball is rolling now. But (My Kinda Party) has been special in a lot of different ways. I don’t know if you can compare another record to this, you just got to go out and try and make the best record you can the next time around and hope it can do some of the same things.”

Every major artist has a song that marks the flashpoint in their career - that time when success turned into stardom. For Blake Shelton, the song is his collaboration with Trace Adkins. “That’s when everything kinda, really, truly changed, I think, when we released ‘Hillbilly Bone.’ And, all of a sudden, it’s just like things started happening, one after the other. Yeah, 18 months ago, if you’d told me what was about to happen, I’d have told you, you were crazy. And, it just doesn’t seem real to me still.” Blake just won CMA Male Vocalist of the Year for the second straight year, and is taping season two of The Voice.

Blake's bride Miranda Lambert earned CMA Female Vocalist of the Year for the second time last week, and will be making the rounds of the tv talk shows this week. How is she feeling about her shooting star? “It’s kinda crazy, you know, you, you hope when you get into this business that you can make history, and to actually see it happening is, it’s a dream come true. And, I’m, I’ve worked my butt off and it’s like, ‘Thank you, God. It’s payin’ off.’” She'll perform "Baggage Claim" on the Tonight Show tonight and will be on the Ellen DeGeneres show and Jimmy Kimmel Live later this week.

Pollstar rankings are showing that the new CMA Entertainer of the Year is also the top touring act right now. Taylor Swift has the #1 tour, with Rascal Flatts coming in at #6, the American Idols Live tour with Scotty McCreery and Lauren Alaina in 7th place, Jason Aldean in 8th place and Keith Urban at #9.

Meanwhile, at the Billboard Touring Awards, Taylor's tour won for best Concert Marketing and Promotion. Kenny Chesney was honored for Top Tour with his "Goin' Coastal" tour, which included Zac Brown Band, Uncle Kracker and Billy Currington. Jason Aldean won the Breakthrough award for 2011.

Taylor's still on the road with her "Speak Now" tour, but she's thinking about what's next. Specifically, the next album and how those songs will play on stage. “With this next album, I’m so excited because I’ve been writing so much and we’re still in the first year of making it. So, I’m kind of seeing ideas as we finish songs and as we demo them up in my producer’s basement, I can kind of picture them being played on a stage.”

Saturday night in Dallas, the audience at the Zac Brown Band show got a treat - and so did Zac! Randy Travis showed up and joined the band on stage. The crowd went nuts, and judging from his tweets, so did Zac.

Did you notice that Garth Brooks and Trisha Yearwood weren't at the CMA Awards? There's a good reason - they were in Haiti, helping Habitat for Humanity build 100 houses. They were two of 500 volunteers who showed up to build new homes as part of the Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter Work Project.

Trace Adkins' daughter Brianna is a budding humanitarian, too. You'll remember that when their house burned down earlier this year, it was Brianna who ran back in to save the family dogs, Bella and Daisy. An anonymous donor gave her $500 for her bravery, which she donated to a rescue group to help a dog that is lame. He needs, as Dad Trace explains, “one of those doggy walker things.” Trace says “She feels bad about it. That’s the kind of kid she is.” Then he goes on to say he's “proud of her passion.”

Rascal Flatts surprised a high school in Franklin, TN, visiting with the students to talk about the importance of music education and to donate $5,000 towards the school's music program.

The Christmas specials are tipping their hands about stars, and Faith Hill is the only country artist invited to be part of NBC's "Christmas at Rockefeller Center." Tony Bennett, Michael Buble, Justin Bieber and Cee Lo Green are some of the other performers for the November 30th special, which features the lighting of the Rockefeller Tree.

Lady Antebellum's "Own the Night" went platinum in just four weeks. According to Dave Haywood, "It's been a dizzying and exciting few months launching this album." Ya think??

Miranda Lambert is on the Tonight Show.

The tweet of the day is from LeAnn Womack: "well i am dreading getting the house ready for thanksgiving festivities...anyone else? im a thanksgiving grinch"

Today's Country Tidbits

Imagine the schedule-juggling necessary for the normal working mother, then add to it the demands of touring as part of your work, and trying to get home to spend special times with your kids. Martina McBride had a stressful day yesterday, trying to fly home from Memphis in order to go trick-or-treating with her girls. Nope - no flight would do it, so Martina rented a car and high-tailed it home on the interstate. She made it just in time, reporting that she had one happy devil in her back seat. Phew!

Tim McGraw and Faith Hill are collaborating - not on a duet, but on a duo of fragrances. Soul2Soul is actually a pair of fragrances in one package, one feminine and one masculine. Faith tells Women's Wear Daily that the process of designing a fragrance is like baking, explaining that the different mixes of essential essences produce completely different aromas. The fragrance set hits stores in February and the price point is under $20.

The American Country Awards will be handed out on December 5th, with Trace Adkins as one of the hosts. Performing on the show will be Blake Shelton, The Band Perry, Eli Young Band, Thompson Square and Pistol Annies. The awards will be handed out live on FOX.

Speaking of award shows, Vince Gill, Brad Paisley and Keith Urban will gang up to perform a tribute to Glen Campbell on the CMA Awards next week (November 9th) on ABC.

Thompson Square's Shauna and Keifer are excited to be part of the CMA award show. “[Shawna] It has not sunk in with me yet. It probably won’t sink in until the red carpet and then I’ll be like ‘Oh, my gosh! This is really happenin’.’ [Keifer] Yeah, you know…last year to go to the CMAs as a, as a spectator, then be nominated this year, it’s pretty freaky. It’s pretty crazy.”

Today is the day that Brad Paisley goes from being a guitar hero to an author. Actually, the book's been written for quite a while, but today's the day it hits store shelves. "Diary of a Player" is a tribute to the musical influences Brad has had, and perhaps the major musical influence was his Grandfather, when he gave Brad a guitar at the age of 8. According to Brad, “It’s really an inspirational book in the sense—I don’t think I was destined to do this. You know, that could be argued. I don’t know what I’d be doing. I don’t know that it was a guarantee that I would have made my way to the Opry or country music at all if it weren’t for a grandfather that sort of said, ‘Don’t let this get away from you. This could be the greatest thing that ever happens to you in your life,’ as far as that instrument goes.”

Today is also the day that Jimmy Wayne, the country artist who walked across America last year, becomes a published author. His book, "Paper Angels," is fiction but Jimmy says the characters are based on people he's known in his life. He weaves his tough upbringing as a homeless child into the story.

Miranda Lambert is on the Today Show this morning, talking about her new cd, "Four the Record," out today. It's been two years since "Revolution" caused a revolution in her career. How is this new one different? “I feel like I’ve come a long way in my normal life, not just my career. I’ve grown a ton in my career, but I’ve also grown as a person, and I usually reflect where I am in life on my albums. And, this album has humor in it, and it has some sad songs and some happy songs. It kinda has a little bit of everything, and I think before I wasn’t open-minded enough to put a little bit of everything on an album, but I was ready to on this one.”

Congratulations to Blake Shelton, who has the #1 country song in America this week with "God Gave Me You."

Happy birthday to Big Kenny Alphin of Big & Rich, Bill Anderson, Lyle Lovett and Keith Stegall.

The tweet of the day is from Jake Owen: "Going to bed feeling safe about my neighborhood. Lot of little Superman and Batmans running around"