Zac Brown Band is busy spending two weeks at the top of the Billboard Country chart, and Zac tells the story of how the album’s title cut came to be: “You know, I got the idea for that song ‘Uncaged’ from riding my motorcycle, and being out on the road with the wind in my face, looking up, seeing a hawk flying above my head and thinking, ‘Wow. I’ve been sitting on a bus all day, every day for the last five years on the road, and I could have been out getting myself back into nature.’ ‘Cause the nightlife, playing music and everything will definitely void you of nature.”

One year ago this week, Eric Church released his album, Chief, and it debuted at the top of the Billboard Country chart and the all-genre Billboard 200. It’s spawned two #1 songs so far, “Drink in My Hand” and “Springsteen,” and “Creepin’” has just been released as the next single. About the sound of the music, Eric says, “I feel like we’re given a small opportunity as artists to take the music somewhere it hasn’t been before, and that always kinda stokes my fire is to be able to take something and do something a little different with it and take a little different direction and that’s certainly what um...what this record was about.” And what about his signature ball-cap-and-shades style? “I have one style...I have that mirrored shade style, but I have several sunglasses. I have one hat...for the whole...if we lose that hat, that’s it...career’s over!”

Darius Rucker fans know what a sports fan he is, but did you know he’s high on the Olympics and will watch as much coverage over the next two weeks as is humanly possible? “Everybody watches the Olympics because you want to see America beat everybody else in the world. I mean, it sounds crazy, but that’s why you’re watching it; that’s why I’m watching the 100, because I want to see an American cross the line first. You know, that’s why we watch basketball, because we want to see America blow everybody out.”

Little Big Town’s song, “Pontoon,” is sailing up the charts and is instantly recognizable when it comes on the radio. According to Kimberly Schlapman, “I love songs like that as a listener. Just all through my life, there are songs that on the first three, four or five notes, I instantly know what they are. It’s cool that this is one of those songs. I love that just as a music fan!” The song is the first single from Tornado, which streets September 11th.

Didja miss Hunter Hayes on The Talk? Julie Chen surprised Hunter with a gold certification plaque for “Wanted.” Here you go…



Sunday, Martina McBride turns 46 and James Otto celebrates his 39th birthday.

Lionel Ritchie is on Chelsea Lately and Ellen DeGeneres, talking about his country collaboration album. Both are reruns.

Today's Country Tidbits

Last night, Brad Paisley was the halftime entertainment during the Giants/49ers game in San Francisco. The rainy performance wasn't his only brush with football over the weekend - Saturday night in Denver, Broncos quarterback Tim Tebow joined Brad onstage, duetting with him on "I'm Still a Guy." Brad quipped that they probably wouldn't be nominated for Musical Duo of the year, but they had a great time together.

What are you doing on June 9th? You might want to be in Chicago, perched in a seat at Wrigley Field. Not baseball - two big country music shows will team up for a home run of a concert. Brad Paisley's Virtual Reality tour, featuring The Band Perry and Scotty McCreery will be joined by Miranda Lambert's On Fire Tour, with Jerrod Niemann. When Chris found out about the special date, he crowed, “So cool! I mean I think that show is going to be amazing. Obviously, combining those two tours basically that’s so many acts that people get to come see. I’ve gone out there and watched a game! So the fact that we get to get out there and play, I’m really looking forward to that!”

While Tim McGraw and Kenny Chesney tour together this summer, they'll be looking for a song they can duet on. They haven't found it yet, but hope that before the end of the Brothers of the Sun tour, the perfect song will find them.

When you're a country star on tour, your bus is your house. You eat there, sleep there, and should feel safe there. Lee Brice found out over the weekend that when the tour bus attacks, it can be pretty scary. He and his band were racked out on the bus outside of Toby Keith's Bar and Grill in Mesa, Arizona, when the bus caught fire. Everyone made it out safely, and the firefighters kept the fire from spreading to the equipment trailer behind the bus. The bus is a complete loss, but clothes, luggage and musical equipment in the bus was saved. Check out this amateur video of the fire:

And while we're playing with videos, here's the latest episode of DBTV, the first annual Dierks Bentley "Feel That Fire" wing-eating contest. See how it all worked out...

Garth Brooks took the stand on Friday in his lawsuit against Canadian Valley Regional Hospital. He told the jury, "I thought this was one of the great gifts my mom was going to bring to Yukon, Oklahoma," talking about the women's center he donated half a million dollars towards. It was to have been named for her, according to Garth, but according to the hospital, Garth just gave them some cash to do with as they wished. The trial continues today and is expected to wrap up and go to the jury tomorrow.

Lady Antebellum is on top of the country charts with "Own the Night," and Charles Kelley says that the trio is so proud of the effort: “More than anything with this record, I think we’re more proud of the record as a whole, you know, I think we feel like we found our sound a little bit more. You know, just keep honing in on what kind of sound we want to represent.” Their tour kicks off Friday in Oklahoma.

Colt Ford sees his star rising, as he gets ready to release his next cd, "Declaration of Independence," on May first. According to Colt, “I just did a whole west coast run right before Christmas. I had, like, 20 shows out there, and I’ve never been on the west coast. I was excited, but I was really nervous. And then I got out there and it was sold out in Denver, and two shows at the Crystal Palace sold out, and California and Oregon.”

One day, Zac Brown, Wyatt Durette and James Otto sat down to write a song. That song is "No Hurry," and James is, in his words, "blown away and utterly humbled” that it is the next Zac Brown single.

The Hag is doing better. He was released from the hospital and traveled home to California to be checked out by his own doctors. All of his January shows have been rescheduled so he'll have plenty of time to recuperate.

Kellie Pickler's new cd, "100 Proof," is available tomorrow, and she'll make the chat show rounds this week. She'll perform on Good Morning America Wednesday and the Ellen DeGeneres Show on Friday.

The tweet of the day is from Lee Brice: "Appreciate y'all's concern about my bus catchin' on fire! We're very grateful that no one was hurt and that there wasn't too much damage."

Today's Country Tidbits

Trace Adkins is getting ready to release his new cd, "Proud to Be Here" on Tuesday and is thinking about his life as he reflects on the song collection. Thinking about the loss of his home, he said, . "Now, only weeks later, have I begun to realize how it has affected me. It's the gift that keeps on giving every day you remember something you don't have anymore and that really meant a lot to you." One thing is for sure - this cd means a lot to him, right down to the new collaboration he and Blake Shelton did for the project. "If I Was a Woman" is destined to be the must-listen follow up to "Hillbilly Bone." No word on when the song will be released as a single, but you know it will be.

October 25th is the drop date for Toby Keith's next cd. Named after his grandmother's bar, "Clancey's Tavern" features Toby's current single, "Made in America," and the title cut describes his grandmother's talents as a barkeep:

“She knows all their faces, she practically raised 'em

And that's why they're loyal and true

They'll pay their tabs, and that pays the light bill

And she keeps their glass full of brew”

Tim McGraw's new movie, "Dirty Girl," is due out late this year. Here's a sneak peek at it...

Keith Urban's wife, Nicole Kidman, is taking her next project home with her. "Stoker" is her next movie, and it will film in Nashville. According to Keith, "She's bringing a film here to Nashville, which is something she's been trying to do for a long time for so many reasons. Obviously, this is where she lives, and it's easier than having to uproot the kids and everything. And it's a great place for people to come and spend a couple of months shooting a film, and there's such a great infrastructure for that."

At the Brickyard this weekend, Rascal Flatts will perform the National Anthem and Reba will sing "America the Beautiful" before the race on Sunday. Also performing are The Band Perry, Justin Moore and Brantley Gilbert. Waving the green flag for Sunday's race is the head of Big Machine Records, Scott Borchetta. How did Big Machine Records come to be the title sponsor for this race? It's a great story and ESPN has it.

Happy birthday today to Martina McBride, who turns 45 and James Otto, who is 38. Tomorrow, Neal McCoy turns 53. Sunday, it's Zac Brown's 33rd birthday.

Tonight on CMT, Jason Aldean is the "Invitation Only" artist.

The tweet of the day is from Blake Shelton: "Stepped into the elevator drunk and tired... Stepped out of elevator drunk, tired and high.. Welcome to California baby!!!!"

Today's Country Tidbits

Last week, Gloriana was invited to be part of a Motown tribute at the White House. They posted a video blog about the experience, so here's your behind-the scenes taste of the show that will air tonight on PBS.

If you have tickets for the Grand Ole Opry this weekend, you have an extra bonus - Brad Paisley will be part of the Opry All-Star Weekend, joining Blake Shelton, Carrie Underwood, The Band Perry and lots more big stars. Lucky you!

At Brad's show Saturday night in Nashville, while he was performing "Then," applause from the back of the arena stopped the show and drew the attention of the audience as well as Brad. Turns out a guy thought it was the perfect time, place and song to propose to his girlfriend, so he got down on one knee as Brad sang. And she said "yes."

Yesterday, Reba debuted her video for "If I Were a Boy" on Oprah.com. Check it out, along with the wide-ranging interview, here.

Lionel Richie is working on a duets album and will sing with Tim McGraw, Blake Shelton, Darius Rucker and now, according to some gossip columns, is trying to work a deal to have Taylor Swift join him on the project. He's even picked the song out - his song "Angel." No word on whether or not she'll agree, but her producer, Nathan Chapman, is part of the project, so it just might happen. No word on a release date.

Lady Antebellum is the latest in a long line of musical stars to sing the birthday song for The American Cancer Society, official sponsor of birthdays.

And James Otto is the latest in a lengthening line of Nashville artists to part ways with their record label. He tweeted that he and Warner Brothers Records have mutually agreed it's time to end their relationship. James promises it's not the last we'll hear from him, though.

Meanwhile, Gwyneth Paltrow could be signing a record deal soon. She's apparently in talks, though she's not identifying the label. Kelly Clarkson is urging her to record, saying, "You have such an honest and captivating voice!” The producers of Glee appreciate her vocal chops, too - she's set to perform Stevie Nicks' song "Landslide" on an upcoming episode.

Are you a Rascal Flatts fan? On Facebook? Like to make videos? There's an app for that. Rascal Flatts has put an app on their Facebook page that lets you upload your own photos and videos and create a video for their song, "I Won't Let Go." The best submission wins a trip to the set of Rascal Flatts' next music video shoot.

This morning at 9:30 Central, Kix Brooks will reveal the newest inductees into the Country Music Hall of Fame. The 2011 inductees include a contemporary artist, a heritage artist and a songwriter. Watch the fun here.

Congratulations to Taylor Swift, who is #1 this week with "Back to December" on one major country chart, and congratulations to Jason Aldean, who is #1 this week with "Don't You Wanna Stay" on the other major country chart.

New music today from Staind singer Aaron Lewis. "Town Line" is his foray into country, and features guest vocals from Charlie Daniels, Chris Young and George Jones.

On tv tonight, Aaron Lewis is on Jimmy Kimmel Live and Gloriana performs during "The Motown Sound: In Performance at the White House" on PBS.

Happy birthday to Vince Gill's former wife Janice, who turns 57 today, and to Justin Bieber who is 17.

The tweet of the day is from Jack Ingram: "Man, I do love Randy Newman! He can't sing either but in that Kristofferson kind of awesome way! The kind o way I wish I couldn't sing way!"

Today's Country Tidbits

Congratulations to Gwyneth Paltrow, who sang a song nominated for Best Original Song in a Motion Picture. She nails the Bob DiPiero, Tom Douglas, Hillary Lindsey and Troy Verges-written "Coming Home" on the "Country Strong" soundtrack. And congratulations to Carrie Underwood, who is nominated in the same category for "There's A Place For Us," which is on the "Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader" soundtrack. Carrie co-wrote that song with Hillary Lindsey and David Hodges. The awards will be handed out on Sunday, January 16th, 2011, live from Los Angeles on NBC.

So how did Taylor Swift end up spending her 21st birthday? She and her Mom spent the morning at the family's home in Hendersonville, TN, making hors d'oeuvres for the 70 invited guests. They also had sushi catered in. Taylor had thank-you gifts for everyone in her band, and she provided holiday-themed gifts for a Dirty Santa gift exchange. The birthday girl sported a tiara for the evening, and according to one attendee, "Everyone was saying how good the food was and wondering how in the world they had time to do it.”

There's good news and bad news about the autographed Harley that was stolen this summer. It was to have been a fund-raiser for the Susan G. Komen foundation, with it's pretty pink pain job and autographs by Dolly Parton, Tim McGraw, Taylor Swift and Carrie Underwood. Instead, it was stolen. The good news is that the bike has been found and the man who stole it was arrested, but the bad news is that it's damaged, apparently beyond repair. Police working a drug case busted the 45-year-old man for trafficking and found the motorcycle during a search of his property. It has had the seat torn apart, the autographs scratched off and the spokes broken out.

Rascal Flatts has another date with cameras, but this time they're playing themselves. Told you about the HBO mini-series they're filming in 2011 - now there's word that they'll be part of "Ron White's Celebrity Salute to the Troops" on February 15th at the Grand Ole Opry House. That show will be filmed for use on CMT, and the proceeds from the show benefit the Armed Forces Foundation. Tickets go on sale this Friday morning at Ticketmaster.com

Tim McGraw won't be re-signing with Curb Records, saying, “It's a long time coming. Twenty years with any label, I think, is too much, so unless you're really having a great relationship. I think it's a good time for me to go out and see what's out there for me."

Trace Adkins wants you in his mobile fan club. If you'd like to be in the know on the go, text traceadkins to 30103. You'll get a special message from Trace on Christmas day.

Billboard's Year End Country Chart is out, listing the top 10 hot country songs of the year. Lee Brice's "Love Like Crazy" ended up spending 55 weeks on the Billboard chart, more than any other country song. The previous record-holder was Eddy Arnold's "Bouquet of Roses," which spent 54 weeks on the chart. Here's Billboard's list for 2010:

1. “Love Like Crazy” – Lee Brice

2. “Rain Is A Good Thing” – Luke Bryan

3. “Why Don’t We Just Dance” – Josh Turner

4. “All Over Me” – Josh Turner

5. “The Man I Want To Be” – Chris Young

6. “Roll With It” – Easton Corbin

7. “Gimmie The Girl” – Joe Nichols

8. “All About Tonight” – Blake Shelton

9. “Come Back Song” – Darius Rucker

10. “She Won’t Be Lonely Long” – Clay Walker

Congratulations to Rascal Flatts, whose "Why Wait" is number one for the second week in a row.

Happy anniversary to Alan and Denise Jackson, who married on this day in 1979.

The Band Perry is on The View today.

The tweet of the day is from James Otto: "Finally with my babies today. I don't think Ava knew who I was for the first thirty minutes. This daddy being gone stuff is tough."

Today's Country Tidbits

Happy Thanksgiving! As you spend the day in your traditional way - with family, friends, neighbors or maybe working - may you have a safe and wonderful day. And if you are working today, know that I am thankful for you. Because you are on duty, we're all safer. To the firefighters, police officers, EMTs, hospital workers and military who are on duty today instead of on the couch watching parades and football, you are one of the blessings I'll count today. Thank you.

Taylor Swift visited the Chelsea Lately! show and told Chelsea Handler her favorite part about living alone: "You can walk around and have conversations with yourself and like, sing your thoughts. … I think I'm the only one who does that." She also said that she won't be haunting the bars when she turns 21 next year: "I have the deeply engrained fear of getting into trouble and being sent the principal's office of life."

The Guiness Book of World Records people are still tabulating, but Tuesday's 5th annual Mission Possible Turkey Fry was a big success as far as host Tracy Lawrence is concerned. Over 800 turkeys were donated and fried, and clothing and cash donations poured in as well. Tracy and his family will deliver 125 cooked turkeys to a tent city near his home in Wilson County, TN today, and donations are still pourin in to the Nashville Rescue Mission, which hopes to receive a thousand turkeys before week's end.

Keith Urban and Rascal Flatts both had big weeks with their new cds, but Rascal Flatts won the race by 3,000 units. Their "Nothing Like This" is #1 on the country album chart with nearly 165,000 sold, followed by Keith Urban's "Get Closer" at #2 with sales of 162,000.

Keith Urban's halftime performance at the Cowboys/Saints game is the centerpiece of a tv special that airs this Saturday on the NFL Network. Since his arrival in Dallas yesterday, he's had a film crew following him around, documenting what goes into producing a successful halftime show. Knowing Keith, there'll be some up-close-and-personal info included in the show.

Country music is all over your television for Thanksgiving. Watch Carrie Underwood on CBS's "Thanksgiving Day Parade," Gloriana on NBC's "Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade," Keith Urban playing the halftime show for the Cowboys/Saints game on Fox, Josh Gracin singing the National Anthem before the Lions/Patriots game on CBS, Taylor Swift's album release special, "Taylor Swift: Speak Now" on NBC tonight, Dolly Parton on Live with Regis and Kelly, and finally James Otto and Ronnie Milsap perform on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon.

The tweet of the day is from Taylor Swift: "Why, at my family gatherings, do we always have to end up youtubing funny cat videos.."

Today's Country Tidbits

Two hundred volunteers helped Montgomery Gentry build a playground. As the recipients of the ACM/Home depot Humanitarian Award, they got to choose the community that would get the playground and chose Lexington, Kentucky. An outdoor classroom, community bulletin boards, planter benches and raised garden beds were included in the playground. Local schoolkids serenaded Eddie Montgomery and Troy Gentry with their rendition of "My Town."

The first round of voting is underway for the 2011 People's Choice Awards. Kenny Chesney, Carrie Underwood, Keith Urban, Taylor Swift, Miranda Lambert and Jason Aldean all have two nominations each. Voting to determine each catagory's five final nominees goes through November 9th.

Jennifer Nettles will host the CMA Country Christmas special, being taped in Nashville on November 11, the night after the CMA Awards. She quipped, "I love the holidays and, as my first time hosting a show, I am sure it will be full of laughs and surprises both for myself and for the folks watching." The show will air November 29th on ABC.

Trace Adkins and Craig Morgan are teaming up for a charity concert at Opryland. Proceeds from the November 18th show will benefit Hands On Nashville, Second Harvest Food Bank and the Nashville Red Cross. Tickets for the show are $50 and include food, parking and discounted cocktails for those of legal drinking age.

Tomorrow night, Blake Shelton gets inducted into the Grand Ole Opry, and he wants you to help choose the song he'll perform.

Relive the hot mess that was Blake Shelton's visit on the Chelsea Lately show.

James Otto has a military appreciation deal at all of his concerts: the first 10 active-duty military to present their IDs get free tickets and a pair of meet & greet passes.

Wanna help out at Tracy Lawrence's 5th annual "Mission: Possible" turkey fry? It'll be November 23 at the Nashville Rescue Mission, and there'll be special guests in attendance again this year. The event feeds over four thousand people each year and raises more than $100,000 for the mission.

Sugarland is on the Today show this morning, and the Judds are on Fox & Friends.

Happy birthday to Jimmy Wayne and Dwight Yoakam tomorrow.

The tweet of the day is from Taylor Swift: "Just finished a tv interview in a pub and yesterday I passed Kate Moss in a hallway! I'm 100% sure I'm in London."

Today's Country Tidbits

Martina McBride and Faith Hill are performing for babies in Nashville on October 26th. Wait - not an audience filled with babies, they'll performing a benefit concert for babies born at Baptist Hospital. It's a fund-raiser to help renovate the hospital and provide new equipment for the neonatal intensive care unit. Tickets are available now.

Yesterday was Faith Hill's 43rd birthday and she spent it in Australia with her daughters and with hubby Tim McGraw, who's doing a series of concerts there. Australian tv did a story on how they celebrated - with Tim and Faith on stage together, singing "I Need You."

If you want to see Jason Aldean in concert in October and also want to do something charitable, Jason's got a deal for you. An eBay auction to benefit Vanderbilt Childrens Hospital in Nashville includes two tickets and two meet & greet passes to any of his shows in October. The auction closes today, so bid quick!

Luke Bryan celebrated the success of "Rain is a Good Thing" yesterday in Nashville at his #1 party for the song. The timing of the hit was a little off - it was climbing the charts just when the floods hit Nashville, prompting Luke to quip, “I guess it kind of taught me to never do a song again that could possibly have a natural disasters to it. So I won’t I won’t have any songs with hurricanes in it.”

Randy Houser was up early Tuesday morning to be part of Good Morning America on his album release day.

Jack Ingram's Acoustic Motel series continues on YouTube. This week, the song is Guy Clark's "Stuff That Works."

The video for Carrie Underwood's "Mama's Song" will debut on Friday, exclusively on VEVO. People.com has an article about the video, which stars Carrie, her Mom Carole and features hubby Mike Fisher. Carrie's favorite part about making the video? Having Mike share a part of her world for the day.

Taylor Swift is making a cameo in another movie. "Todd vs. High School" is filming now, and Taylor was spotted on the set wearing a red and white basketball uniform. Team name? Squirrels. Taylor's uniform number? 13, of course!

Kenny Chesney's "Invitation Only" episode premiers Monday night, just before the release of "Hemingway's Whiskey." That drops Tuesday, when Kenny starts his day on Good Morning America.

The tweet of the day is from James Otto: "So many good records coming out. Bout to go buy my boy RandyHouser's new one & zacbrownband too. Good month for country music."

Today's Country Tidbits

The ACM Honors award show was last night in Nashville. Martina McBride, Randy Travis, Kenny Rogers, John Rich and Buxton Hughes all performed during the evening. The night is a relaxed party for the winners of the non-televised Academy of Country Music award-winners, and has been held in Nashville for the past four years, in spite of the fact that the ACM is based in southern California.

We now know the stars who'll be featured in the Nashville school re-build on "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition." Carrie Underwood we already knew about, but add Keith Urban and a singer more famous for her tabloid escapades than for country music lately, LeAnn Rimes. Leigh Anne Tuohy of "The Blind Side" fame was part of Ty Pennington's design crew, and they all spent last week in Nashville for the build. The episode is tentatively scheduled for November 7th, just before the CMA Awards air on the 10th.

Wanna fly across the country from New York to LA with Taylor Swift on the day her cd drops? You can, with her "Speak Now"contest. Come up with 40 or fewer perfect words to win...good luck!

Just get set to ice down your credit card - today, there's new music available from Zac Brown Band, Billy Currington and Randy Houser. Next Tuesday, Kenny Chesney's "Hemingway's Whiskey" and Montgomery Gentry's greatest hits package are released, in two weeks, Toby Keith unloads with "Bullets in the Gun" and in three weeks there are new releases from Trace Adkins and Darius Rucker. A month from today, Sugarland is out with a new cd, then the following Tuesday is Taylor Swift's turn. The first Tuesday in November, Jason Aldean and Brad Paisley have elected to release new projects, then it's Reba's turn, Rascal Flatts and Keith Urban on the 16th and Alan Jackson on the 23rd of November. Told you your credit card would be smokin'!!

Congratulations to Lady Antebellum, who have the number one country song again this week with "Our Kind of Love."

Happy birthday to Faith Hill, who turns 43 today.

The tweet of the day is from James Otto, responding to Miranda Lambert's lavish praise of his show: "Love @Miranda_Lambert for her kind words but I still really wanted that gig. Miranda I promise to suck next time."

Today's Country Tidbits

More bling for Bentley...Dierks Bentley, that is. He'll have to find space for another shiny award, as he hauled home the ASCAP Artist/Songwriter of the year title at Tuesday's gala. Charles Kelley, Hillary Scott and Dave Haywood of Lady Antebellum shared Song of the Year honors with their co-writer, Josh Kear, for "Need You Now." During his acceptance speech, Josh thanked Charles Kelley's wife Cassie for letting him attend their songwriting session on her birthday. Nice gift...wonder if she gets to decide where that trophy goes?

Rascal Flatts new video for "Why Wait" is inspired by "The Hangover" and is tons of fun. How could it not be, with Ron White pretending to be one of the boys? See if you can pick out all the stars who appear in this video.

Rascal Flatts More CMT Music More CMT Music Videos

Nickelback played Nashville this week, and Joe Nichols joined them on stage to help them sing "Rockstar." Got it here, but please note - there's some rough language on it...

Wow...what a fun night this will be! Willie Nelson and Woody Harrelson are hosting "Willie & Woody's All-Star Texas Hold 'Em Charity Tournament at the Hustler Casino Los Angeles on September 27th. Dinner, a silent auction and of course poker are just part of the fun...you know Willie will pull out his guitar. There's only space for 50 spectators and 200 players, so if you want in, better hurry!

Loretta Lynn gets a huge salute on October 12th at the Ryman. The Recording Academy's Salute to Country Music Honoring Loretta Lynn will be hosted by Reba, who will be joined onstage by Martin McBride, Gretchen Wilson, Lee Ann Womack and more country stars, serenading Loretta with her hit songs.

Merle Haggard has canceled 10 concert dates due to chest congestion. He was diagnosed with lung cancer a couple of years ago and wants to take it easy instead of pushing through a possible complication.

In case you care, LeAnn Rimes tells why she cheated.

Darryl Worley's Tennessee River Run kicks off today in Savannah, TN.

Happy birthday to David Bellamy of the Bellamy Brothers...he turns 60 today.

The tweet of the day is from James Otto: "So all day yesterday my baby Ava was quite & sweet & and a perfect angel & all night long was a holy terror. Already acting like her dad."

Today's Country Tidbits

"Extreme Makeover: Home Edition" is filming in Nashville this week. The makeover is on a private school just outside of town that was hit hard by the spring flood. Country stars - so far, unnamed by ABC - are helping with the rebuild, and the family that runs the school is shown touring around Nashville, enjoying the sights and sounds of Music City. Part of the show will be this Thursday's Grand Ole Opry performance. Wait, you say, there's not a Thursday performance of the Opry. There is this week, to accomodate the shooting schedule for the show. Carrie Underwood is the featured performer, and is also involved in the school rebuild. No air date has been released yet for this episode.

There's new Kenny Chesney music in a couple of places on the internet. People.com has Kenny's new song "Reality" and from his CMT "Invitation Only" taping, here's another new song from "Hemingway's Whiskey." It's called "Coastal."

Kenny Chesney More CMT Music More CMT Music Videos

The CMA nominations were revealed over a two-day period, and a bunch of stars were involved. Here's a behind-the-scenes peek at it all.

The Lifetime channel is working on a movie based on Garth Brooks' classic song, "Unanswered Prayers." The movie, which will premier in November, follows a happily married man who is faced with a tough decision when his high school sweetheart comes back into his life. Bet the movie ends just like the song does...happily.

Miranda Lambert, Craig Morgan and Patty Loveless are stateside after spending the weekend in Gstaad, Switzerland. They were invited to play the annual, two-day "Country Night" concert.

A little closer to home, Darius Rucker, Troy Olsen, Luke Bryan, Jeanette McCurdy and Walker Hayes will play the third annual Capitol Nashville street party on October 13th. The music starts at 6 on Demonbreun Street.

Jack Ingram's Acoustic Motel continues - here's his new song, "Over You."

Told you last week about the Loretta Lynn tribute album that's been in the works. Today I can show you the track list:

1."Don't Come Home A Drinkin' (With Lovin' On Your Mind)" — Gretchen Wilson

2."I'm A Honky Tonk Girl" — Lee Ann Womack

3."Rated X" — The White Stripes

4."You're Lookin' At Country" — Carrie Underwood

5."Louisiana Woman, Mississippi Man" — Alan Jackson and Martina McBride

6."You Ain't Woman Enough (To Take My Man)" — Paramore

7."Love Is The Foundation" — Faith Hill

8."After The Fire Is Gone" — Steve Earle and Allison Moorer

9."If You're Not Gone Too Long" — Reba

10."I Know How" — Kid Rock

11."Somebody Somewhere (Don't Know What He's Missin' Tonight)" — Lucinda Williams

12."Coal Miner's Daughter" — Loretta Lynn, Sheryl Crow and Miranda Lambert

Congrats to Lady Antebellum, who's "Our Kind of Love" is the #1 song this week on the country charts. It's the third single from "Need You Now" and the third straight #1 song from that cd, which is also #1 on the country album charts this week.

Watch the Judds on the Oprah show today, and Trace Adkins on the Tonight Show with Jay Leno tonight.

New music in stores today - Jamey Johnson's "The Guitar Song," James Otto "Shake What God Gave Ya," Joey+Rory "Album Number Two" and Savannah Jack's self-titled debut.

The tweet of the day is from the Zac Brown Band: "Alright, folks. Nothing to tweet here. Move along."

Today's Country Tidbits

So it wasn't just sympathy pains that James Otto has been feeling. He was hospitalized yesterday to check out the abdominal troubles he's been having off and on for a few weeks. Shows this weekend have been canceled, and James reports, "I may have been a bit distracted by all the excitement of baby Ava's arrival! I'll be down for a few days, but hope to be back in action and on the road again soon."

The Lady Hazing continues...Lady Antebellum has decided to spoof Blake Shelton's song "All About Tonight" with "These Jeans are Mighty Tight." Enjoy the silliness.

Congratulations to Charlie Daniels, who'll get the Lifetime Entertainment Achievement Award at the TJ Martell Foundation's 35th annual awards gala on October 27th in New York City. The event is a fund-raiser for cancer and AIDS research.

Carrie Underwood's skin is so beautiful that it was only a matter of time before she became the celebrity face of a product. That product is Olay Skin Care and Carrie's campaign will debut early next year. She remembers her Mom using Olay, and says “I love that Olay has managed to change with the times, yet stay in touch with women of all ages who want affordable skincare products that do what they promise. Olay’s inspiring campaign echoes my beliefs and feels deeply personal to me.”

Tim McGraw is playing shows in Texas this weekend, then he heads across the Pacific Ocean for shows in Australia.

Gloriana is performing at the private NASCAR Jimmy Jam in Richmond, VA tonight, celebrating Sprint Cup champion Jimmy Johnson.

Taylor Swift helps kick off the NFL's 2010 season tonight at 7:30 eastern on NBC, Blake Shelton performs on the Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson, and Jamey Johnson performs on the Late Show with David Letterman. Early dvr alert - the Judds will help Oprah Winfrey kick off her farewell season next Tuesday, talking about their tour, giving Oprah a private tour of their Tennessee farm and also performing on the show. Speaking of performing, don't miss Sugarland on the Today show tomorrow morning.

The tweet of the day is from James Otto: "Twitters crazy. I've never had so many well wishes. Thank y'all for caring about me. I will be out of the hospital soon no worries."

Today's Country Tidbits

James and Amy Otto's daughter, Ava Katherine, made her arrival just before midnight last night. As he was touring with Toby Keith and Trace Adkins, he tweeted that he feared he wouldn't get home in time to be there when she was born. Plenty of time, James...he got home Sunday, and his first child was born late Tuesday.

Randy Travis will celebrate 25 years in country music by releasing a duets cd, featuring songs with Carrie Underwood, Kenny Chesney, Tim McGraw, Alan Jackson and Josh Turner. Randy notes that he and Carrie had great success with their first duet, "I Told You So," but haven't decided which song to do for their second. No release date for the project has been announced yet.

The annual Charlie Daniels Band & Friends concert, a benefit for Christmas 4 Kids, will happen on November 22nd at the Ryman in Nashville. Joining CDB will be Montgomery Gentry, Jake Owen and Sawyer Brown. Tickets are available September 1st for fan club members and September 15th for everyone else.

Darius Rucker's video for "Comeback Song" is on CMT and it's here, too.

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Martina McBride will be part of the huge "Stand Up to Cancer" 17-network telethon on September 10th. She'll perform with Natasha Bedingfield, Queen Latifah, Aaron Neville and Dave Stewart. The all-star musical collaboration will be led by Stevie Wonder and will air at 8pm eastern time.

Did you miss Martina McBride co-hosting the Today show yesterday morning? Never fear - here she is.

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

John Rich got the co-host chair today, Trisha Yearwood gets it tomorrow and Josh Turner co-hosts the Today show Friday. In other tv-country star news, Little Big Town will be on Fox & Friends tomorrow morning and Luke Bryan will wrap up the day on Jimmy Kimmel Live.

Did you ever want a sneak-peek into Reba's bedroom? She's designing bedding for Dillard's now, and tweeted that she likes the new Gramercy Park line so much, she's got it in her own bedroom.

The country Music Hall of Fame and Museum is about to have a growth spurt. A $250 expansion will include a hotel built by Omni Hotels & Resorts, and an expansion of the museum. It will connect to the new Music City Convention Center, which is already under construction. It's all scheduled to open in 2013.

Congrats to Blake Shelton, who has the #1 song in the country for the second week in a row with "All About Tonight."

Happy birthday to Billy Ray Cyrus and Jo Dee Messina today.

The tweet of the day is from Brad Paisley: "Honored 2 be @ Opryhouse refurbed circle of wood reinstalling. The circle is unbroken. Well unless yours truly trips carrying it..."

Today's Country Tidbits

Brad Paisley is playing his first stadium show tomorrow night at Gillette Stadium near Boston. When the show went on sale in January, 50,000 tickets sold out in less than six hours. More tickets have been made available and you can get them while they last at Brad's website.

Put on your golf togs and get set to go to Vegas to see Lady Antebellum perform on "Justin Timberlake and Friends - A Special evening Benefiting Shriners Hospitals for Children." The concert is on October 23rd at the Las Vegas Planet Hollywood Resort & Casino, and concert passes get you in to the final round of the PGA Tour tournament held in conjunction with the show. A pre-sale for American Express card-holders is going on now, and tickets for everyone else go on sale tomorrow morning.

He's had two 6-paks and now Blake Shelton is ready for...a 15-pak? Yep, in November, Blake will release a Greatest Hits album with 15 tracks, including everything from "The Baby" to "Hillbilly Bone." This first greatest hits package will cover his first 11 years of country music hits.

Taylor Swift's "Speak Now" has it's own pre-order site, chock-full of all sorts of Taylor fun, like a Twitter stream, videos and a way to get a wake-up call from Taylor herself. Ok, so it's a recording...it'll still be Talor Swift's voice calling you!

Kenny Chesney's "Hemingway's Whiskey" deluxe edition is truly deluxe. First of all, it's a cd/dvd set which includes bonus tracks and an extra half hour of video, including Kenny discussing the stories behind each of the songs, in-studio video of the recording of "You and Tequila" with Grace Potter. The cd streets September 28th, and I'll let you know when they're ready for you to pre-order.

In other Kenny news, it looks like his long-time girlfriend, Amy Colley, might be his ex. Kenny Chesney was spotted in Cancun vacationing with ESPN college football reporter Jenn Brown, and apparently the two looked pretty cozy.

Tickets are on sale today for the Hank Williams Jr., Gretchen Wilson and Lee Brice concert in Gulf Shores, Alabama. It's designed to help promote tourism in an area largely unaffected by the oil spill, but hugely affected by a drop in summer vacationers. Tickets are $25 for the Saturday, September 25th show at The Wharf's Amphitheater.

Jake Owen has done something to his right arm. He posted a photo of what looked like his arm, broken just below the elbow, saying he was headed to the ER. But representatives from his label just say it's swollen due to too much wake-boarding. But he's on prescription pain killers, meaning that "just swollen" is probably not quite the whole truth. Nonetheless, he's giving a show tonight in South Dakota - should be interesting to see if he's in a cast or can play guitar.

Trisha Yearwood has been invited to be part of the Food Network New York City Wine & Food Festival on October 9th. She'll be cooking up something wonderful from her latest cookbook. Wanna go? You can get tickets, and the proceeds benefit the Food Bank of New York City and Share Our Strength.

Wanna see a concert this weekend but don't want to go out in the heat and thunderstorms? Cozy up to your computer tomorrow night and catch Lee Brice's hometown concert, live from Charleston, SC, at 9pm eastern time.

This morning, Keith Urban hit the Today show and Trace Adkins appeared on Fox & Friends. Tomorrow night at 7 eastern, Darius Rucker performs on Jimmie Jam on the Speed Channel. And on Monday, Blake Shelton co-hosts the Today Show with Hoda Kotb.

The tweet of the day is from James Otto: "Think about this, we drug test our athletes but not the people who run our country. How messed up is that?"

Today's Country Tidbits

Rascal Flatts fans, rejoice - there's new music on the way from the band. The new song, "Why Wait," has already been sent to radio stations across America and the new album, "Nothing Like This," drops November 16th. There's a new energy in this project as Rascal Flatts moves from their old label, Lyric Street, to Big Machine, the same label as Taylor Swift. At yesterday's press conference, Jay DeMarcus joked, "I'm just thrilled Taylor let us on the label. What, she's in Europe? Let's get this deal done!"

In more Jay DeMarcus news, he and wife Allison found out they're expecting a baby girl in January.

How big a sports fan is Kenny Chesney? The video for his football-themed song, "The Boys of Fall," will premiere on ESPN's "SportsCenter" just before noon eastern this coming Monday, and re-air at 2pm. Kenny Chesney says of the video, "I have friends in this video ... a lot of my heroes are in this video. It has been one of the highlights of my life." The video uses shots filmed for Kenny's upcoming football documentary, "The Boys of Fall," which features Sean Payton, Joe Namath, John Madden, Bill Parcells and many more football greats from college ball and the pros.

Love Blake Shelton? Then you have a date with him Sunday night, when he does a live chat in downtown Nashville. If you're in - or could be in - Nashville on Sunday, enter to win a ticket to the event so you can be at the chat in person. The chat will stream on Blake's website and also on CMT.com.

Yesterday, I showed you Lady Antebellum's spoof of Lee Brice's "Love Like Crazy." Lee Brice weighs in today on being the target of their sharp wit and pen: "This is really funny, and I am honored that Lady A decided to tackle my song. I understand that mine is the second song they've spoofed and only two songs in, they've perfected the craft. Hey guys, how about a writing session in the next few weeks?”

Jimmy Wayne will wrap up his cross-country walk to spotlight the problem of teen homelessness this weekend in Phoenix, Arizona. He started on January 1st and has walked through all kinds of bad weather. He'll arrive in Mesa, just outside of Phoenix, tomorrow and will give a free concert at Toby Keith's "I Love This Bar and Grill." Sunday morning, he'll finish the walk, ending up at HomeBase Youth Services in Phoenix. At least one marching band will be walking the last mile with him, and many fans and friends are expected to walk with him, too.

Mark your calendar - will be September 16-18 in Savannah, Tennessee. Music, golf and a motorcycle poker run are just parts of the weekend of fun.

Happy birthday to Neal McCoy, who turns 52 today.

The tweet of the day is from James Otto: "My wonderful wife & baby mamma totally spoiled me on my Birthday & bought me an I-pad. Daddy Likey"

Today's Country Tidbits

Mike Fisher dished some details about his and Carrie Underwood's wedding and honeymoon. He and some buddies hit the golf course the morning of the wedding but Mike didn't finish all 18 holes because he knew he would be too tired. They spent eight days in Bora Bora, then three days in the wine country of Napa Valley, California. He says that after his hockey career is over, the two of them will live in Nashville. When asked how the marriage is going so far, Mike replied, “I’m with my best friend and I love her to death. There’s nothing better, for sure.” Carrie performed at the Grand Ole Opry Tuesday night, wearing cut-offs and flip flops. She's the musical guest on the Today show tomorrow morning.

Taking a page from Carrie Underwood's playbook, Kellie Pickler isn't talking about her upcoming wedding very much. She will say she hasn't picked out a dress yet and that it will happen within the year.

Kenny Chesney, Billy Currington and Luke Bryan were onstage, performing "The Joker" as one of Kenny's encore songs. Luke was having trouble with his lines, so Kenny, ever the gentleman, helped him out.

What do country stars do during all that travel time between shows? Well, if you're Charles Kelly of Lady Antebellum, you take popular country songs and make up new lyrics for them. You'll remember his first spoof, "A Little More Preppy Than That," a send-up of the Easton Corbin song? Well, now he's taken Lee Brice's song, "Love Like Crazy," and given it a Waffle House twist.

Happy birthday to Martina McBride, who is 44 today, and to James Otto, who turns 37 today.

The tweet of the day comes from Reba: "After 2 recording sessions and a concert in WV, I'm a tired little red head...."

Today's Country Tidbits

It turns out the rumors were true. Carrie Underwood and Mike Fisher are now on their honeymoon after getting married Saturday evening at Reynold's Plantation in Georgia. Garth Brooks, Faith Hill and Tim McGraw were among the 250 guests, and a statement was issued to People.com afterwards: "We could not feel more blessed to have found each other and to have shared this day with our friends and family that mean so much to us!" It was signed Mike & Carrie Fisher. They plan to keep homes in Nashville and Peterborough, Ontario, Canada and are now in the South Pacific on their honeymoon.

Meanwhile, Carrie wasn't the only country star sporting a wedding dress in the past few days. Taylor Swift was, too. She was in Kennebunk, Maine shooting a video, and one scene was of her and the groom emerging from a quaint, lovely church, apparently newly married, with wedding guests blowing bubbles at them. According to her Mom, the video will be released in about 6 months. And yes, Taylor was a beautiful bride.

It didn't include Zac Brown or Kenny Chesney, but it was quite the show last night. Jimmy Buffett's Gulf Shores concert aired in HD and the production was as good as the concert. Thousands of people coated the sand, boats sat at anchor just outside the breakers and Jimmy Buffett played all of his favorites, changing the lyrics now and then to reflect the oil spill, the show location and the long road to recovery the area will have.

Wish you could have been at Willie Nelson's 4th of July picnic and concert? You can buy the concert part of it, if you'd like. Willie Nelson's 30-song set is available for download at his website.

The beer-pong themed video for Billy Currington's new song, "Pretty Good at Drinkin' Beer," is on CMT.com

Jaron and the Long Road to Love will join up with Toby Keith's American Ride tour this Friday night and continue as his opening act through September 25th.

Saddle up for a two-day charity motorcycle ride with Craig Morgan August 7th and 8th. The ride begins in Van Leer, TN, near Craig's home town of Dickson, and at the end of the ride, he'll host an

acoustic concert with special guest Aaron Tippin at Dickson Middle School.

Jerrod Niemann is hosting a free album release concert tonight at The Basement in Nashville. Doors open at 6:30 and the show starts at 7. His debut cd, "Judge Jerrod and the Hung Jury" is out tomorrow. Is he worried? “I just am a little nervous that we didn’t get the ‘no refund’ policy that I was hoping that every store would have. But other than that, I’m looking forward to the album coming out — and my projected sales — as long as it exceeds two copies, then I’m happy because that means more than just my mom and my dad bought the album.”

Baby watch - James Otto's first child is due in 6 weeks, and Luke Bryan's second child is due in a month.

Taylor Swift is on the Ellen DeGeneres Show and Lady Antebellum will perform "Our Kind of Love"Live with Regis and Kelly.

Tweet of the Day is from Brad Paisley, after headlining AquaPalooza on Saturday: "I don't think I've ever seen a cooler place to put on a concert. Now that's an H2O tour. Thank you Austin-pa-looza."

Today's Country Tidbits

Jimmy Buffett's big free concert today has been postponed until the 11th of July, but that didn't stop the Parrothead King from doing a show anyway. He put on an impromptu show last night, playing for several hundred fans. LuLu's Restaurant in Gulf Shores, owned by his sister Lucy Buffett, was the happening place as hundreds of people jammed in to sing along to all of Jimmy's crowd favorites. When he sang "Margaritaville," he changed the lyric to "It's all BP's fault," much to the delight of the crowd. The free concert on July 11th will air on CMT at 7pm eastern, and features Zac Brown and other special guests.

Kenny Chesney, who won't be at the rescheduled show, is featured in the current issue of "Men's Journal" as part of their how to do summer right guide. Kenny's contribution is his four-part plan of how to "Party Like Kenny Chesney."

Congrats to Rascal Flatts' Jay DeMarcus and his wife Allison, who are expecting their first child. Jay says, "I am confident Ali will be a wonderful mother because she has done an incredible job raising me over the past six years." The baby is due in January of 2011.

Jimmy Wayne is still walking across America to raise awareness of the problems teens in foster care face when they become 18. Yesterday he crossed into Arizona, so his goal of Phoenix will happen in the next two weeks. He's been walking since January first, and has weathered all that Mother Nature has to throw at him: snow, ice and freezing temperatures, heavy rain storms, rattlesnakes and now 100+ temperatures in the desert. In his 1700 mile trek, he has about 250 miles to go.

Travis Tritt has decided to launch his own record label for his upcoming cd. He says he's planning to keep it just for his own music, and he won't be signing other artists. No name has been settled on yet, nor is there a release date for his new project.

Colt Ford has put a Twilight Saga spin on his video for "Chicken and Biscuits."

This Saturday morning is the premier of Craig Morgan's new series on The Outdoor Channel. "Craig Morgan: All Access outdoors" follows Craig's life on tour and in the wilderness. Catch it at 11am eastern time.

Also on Saturday, Lady Antebellum's Charles Kelley will be part of a CBS special, "David Feherty's American Journey." The show airs at 2pm eastern, and follows the very funny golf commentator as he explores his new country. David became an American citizen about a month ago.

The tweet of the day comes from James Otto, who is Jay DeMarcus' brother-in-law: "@JayDeMarcus & @allisondemarcus announced they're expecting a baby this year which means I'm gonna not only be a dad this year but an uncle"

Today's Country Tidbits

Last night on the GAC telethon, deep pockets spilled cash. Brad Paisley, who himself lost hundreds of thousands of dollars in gear, gave $100,000. Delta Airlines kicked in a hundred grand, and the Academy of Country Music pledged $250,000.The "Music City Keep On Playin'" benefit concert for flood relief raised nearly 2 million dollars in the three hours it was on tv last night, and the phones stayed open for several more hours, allowing fans who couldn't get through during the show to call and donate, or just chat with the artists who were still manning the phone banks. You can easily give to make that number go higher. Just text GAC to 501501 to donate $10.

The Nashville Tenneseean newspaper has an excellent article about last night's telethon posted online, accompanied by a gallery of great photos taken by staff photographer Jae S. Lee.

Meanwhile, the Tim McGraw/Faith Hill-led flood relief concert nearly sold out as soon as the tickets went on sale Friday. All seats priced from $22.50 to $247.50 are gone. The VIP seats, priced at $1,000, are nearly sold out, but if you have deep pockets, there are still a few of those left. Check Ticketmaster to get them.

Miranda Lambert didn't see it coming at all when Blake proposed to her. “I was very surprised, very surprised. You know, bein’ a girl, you’re always like, ‘When are we gonna get married? When are we gonna get married? When am I gonna get a ring? I don’t care if we get married…just give me the ring,’ you know? (laughs) And I was shocked. I just…I didn’t know when or where or how, and I’m glad, ’cause I love surprises. Usually I can figure those things out, but I had no clue.”

Lady Antebellum is touring with Tim McGraw right now, but one of their fondest memories is opening for Martina McBride. Why? The food. Hillary explains, “It was this catering company out of Knoxville, they’re called Dega. They traveled with us. It felt like you were in a four-star restaurant. Organic, they had an industrial juicer. That was one thing that Martina felt so strongly about – making sure that everybody stays healthy and happy. Whenever you’re well-fed, you’re healthy and you’re happy.” As they're thinking of how to manage their own headlining tour, which they hope to roll out this fall, they're planning to take a page out of Martina's playbook where the food is concerned.

Jimmy Wayne is still walking across America to raise awareness of the kids in foster care who turn 18 with nowhere to go but the streets. He's in New Mexico, and Friday was caught in a rain storm in the desert.

On Friday in Nashville, James Otto felt his baby kick for the first time inside wife Amy's belly. Then on Saturday in Detriot, he got to meet the man he has looked up to since he was a kid, and the man who made him want to be a singer for a living...Bob Seger.

Jewel will be singing the National Anthem before the Indy 500, and catch Zac Brown Band on the David Letterman show tonight.