Taylor Swift’s new single, “We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together,” is selling so fast that if it keeps up the current pace, it’ll be a gold record by Sunday. Sales of this song rival Lady Gaga’s “Born This Way,” which came out in 2011. Taylor’s a worldwide superstar, which explains her face on nearly every magazine cover, but she admits she ignores the gossipy ones: “My friends make fun of me because if I see my name somewhere I just click off of it. I just don’t want to see anything that’s inaccurate.” Sounds like a good plan to me!

Carrie Underwood and hubby Mike Fisher just spent some time at Animal Kingdom in Disney World. While there, they had a date night or two, and Carrie says they really value that time: “Not just have dinner, but like sit and talk. We’re one of those annoying couples that like goes to a restaurant and never leaves.”

Keith Urban takes fans on a tour of his favorite places in Nashville – when you’ve got about 5 and a half minutes, check out his Nashville…

Did you catch John Rich on the series premiere of “The Next: Fame is on Your Doorstep” last night on the CW? The show follows John and his fellow mentors Gloria Estefan, Nelly and Joe Jonas as they travel across the country looking for America’s next big singing stars. John loves being part of the show because “I’ve always enjoyed working with new artists and artists that need a little helping hand. I’ve had people help me along the way, so a show like The Next is perfect for a guy like me.” By the way, the next Big and Rich album, Hllbilly Jedi, comes out September18th.

Congratulations to Colt Ford and everyone at Average Joes Records – Colt’s new cd, Independence Day, debuted at #1 on the Billboard country album chart and #4 on the all-genre chart. About the album, Colt says, “This is so personal for me. And it’s me at my best – which is being honest and real and open with the fans. It’s what I’ve always tried to do.” Nice job, Colt and crew! The first single, Colt and Luke Bryan singing “Back,” will have a wild video, apparently. If we can believe Colt’s Facebook post, it’ll be a dance competition, Chippendale style.

Speaking of Jake Owen, his summer EP, Endless Summer, comes out September 25th. According to Jake, “These songs are just a way, that even though the summer is winding down. It’s a way to always have a mix that caters to that feeling of what it feels like when summer rolls around.”

Lynyrd Skynyrd is on FOX & Friends this morning.

Jason Aldean is about to make history. His new song, “Take a Little Ride,” debuted at #19 on the Billboard country single chart, and they predict it’ll make history as the top-selling digital song ever by a male artist in it’s first week out. So far, after just a few days, it’s sold more than 200,000 digital copies. Just how hot is his career right now? He sold out a 20,000 seat theatre in Cleveland, Ohio in 30 seconds!

Lady Antebellum has been touring, but that’s not all they’ve been doing. While on the road, the trio makes good use of their down time by writing, and according to Charles Kelley, they’re rarin’ to hit the studio once the tour is over: “We’re going to start working on new material in the fall. We’ve been touring so much this year, and now I think we’re writing all these songs, and can’t wait to get in there and see what it turns into. I’m actually really anxious about it and excited.”

With the American Idol judge turnover, it’s only natural that country stars might want to see one of their own in the judge’s role next season. Kelly Clarkson has gone public with her support for Carrie Underwood as an AI judge, and Scotty McCreery thinks Garth Brooks would be the perfect choice. There’s still one seat to fill on the show – no word on who FOX is considering.

Kenny Chesney has new heavy metal for his walls – “Come Over” has been certified gold and “Don’t Blink” received platinum certification. “Come Over” went gold faster than any other single of his, and Kenny knows why: “When you get to a point in your career that I am, you have to search for melodies that are just different. You just do. So I think that it was a perfect song for me, and it’s a song that I needed at this point in my career, and it was an incredible way to kick off the record, I think production-wise and emotionally ’cause it does set a tone.” It’s #2 on the country charts this week – watch it take over the #1 spot next week.

Dierks Bentley is a good guy to tour with, apparently. Eli Young Band was his opening act on the Country & Cold Cans Tour, and when it wrapped, EYB had some nice swag: “Dierks Bentley was nice enough, after we finished the tour with him, he bought us a big outdoor tent, chairs and travel grill. We can grill out on those long days where we don’t have a lot to do so. It was a really nice gift.”

Dierks Bentley has the #1 country song in America this week with “5-1-5-0.” He’s happy with fan reaction to it: “They’ve been great, the song’s definitely taken a life of its own and that’s what you want. You want people to hear it and just, you know, bring as much out of it as they possibly can.” It’s his 10th #1 song and the third in a row from his “Home” album.

Congrats to songwriter-extraordinaire Sarah Buxton. She and hubby Tom Bukovac are expeting their first child in December. You know her by her songs for Keith Urban, “Stupid Boy,” “Put You In A Song,” and the new Big & Rich song, “That’s Why I Pray.”

Pistol Annies are on The View today, and John Rich is on Live With Kelly.

Today's Country Tidbits

Love her or not, one thing’s for sure – Taylor Swift takes care of her fans. One fan, 13-year-old Summer, had waited nearly a year to see her idol, Taylor. On the way to the concert at the sold-out Power Balance Pavilion in Sacramento, California, the car she was riding in was hit by a drunk driver. Summer ended up in the emergency room instead of in her seat at the show. The responding officer, Mike Lowry, couldn’t help but notice what a great attitude Summer had, putting on a brave face in spite of her injuries, so her parents wouldn’t worry. Officer Lowry decided to make it his mission to let Taylor know what happened. When Taylor’s managers heard the news, they set aside tickets for the next show Taylor does in Sacramento, and sent some personalized, autographed merchandise to help Summer feel better. Here’s the local news coverage of the story:



Jake Owen is getting set to hit the road with Kenny Chesney and Tim McGraw on the “Brothers of the Sun” tour. He’s had a roller-coaster few months, and hasn’t kept himself as toned as he would like, and he says he can’t take the stage looking soft. “I’m really trying to get myself back into shape because for like three months, I wasn’t able to do anything. I had shoulder surgery after I broke my collarbone. I couldn’t go to the gym, I couldn’t run, I couldn’t do anything. I just felt worthless, and I’m like a really active outdoorsy guy, and I like to do a lot—and when I had to sit inside and cancel shows, and not be able—it was bad.”

Lady Antebellum played Radio City Music Hall, and while doing the sold-out shows, Charles Kelly decided to take their show to new heights – literally! He climbed up to the highest point in the building, even “borrowing” a beer from the audience. Check out the fun…



The John Rich & Friends benefit concert for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital will happen on June 5th and will include Darius Rucker, Kellie Pickler, Jeff Foxworthy and of course, Big & Rich. The concert kicks off the FedEx St. Jude Classic golf tournament and celebrates the 50th year St. Jude has been leading the fight against childhood cancer.

Willie Nelson has a new album out. “Heroes” is his fifty-somethingth album (even he’s lost count!) and much of what’s on them, Willie wrote. That’s a lot of songs! Has he ever hit a rough patch? According to Willie, “Well, occasionally, you go through dry spells where you don’t write anything and Roger Miller was a good friend of mine and one of the greatest writers ever. And he used to say, ‘Well sometimes you just gotta, when the well goes dry, you have to wait a while til the well fills up and you can write some more,’ and I’ve always kept that in the back of my mind and never worried too much whether I was producing too much or too little.”

Congrats to Justin Moore, whose “Flyover States” is the #1 song on the country charts this week.

Carrie Underwood will be on “Dancing With the Stars” tonight, performing “Good Girl.” Alanis Morissette will also be on the show.

The tweet of the day is from Martina McBride: “Sitting outside and the temperature just literally dropped 5 degrees. Looks like we might get some rain or a thunderstorm. Love it!”

Today's Country Tidbits

Carrie Underwood likes kids, but she's not ready to have any yet, so she stopped by PS22 in Staten Island, New York to sing with the school chorus. The kids nailed her song, "Good Girl," and the drummer has mad skills!

Keith Urban is launching a new video feature, and episode one is online. In the first Urban Chat, he's backstage with Seal, Kelly Clarkson and David Foster.

Colt Ford had a rough night last night - he didn't see a bank of speakers, tripped and fell off the stage. He's got "a few broke ribs and hurt knee," as he put it on Twitter, but says he'll be alright. He was doing a show in Danville, Virginia on Friday and kept his date in West Virginia on Saturday night.

Saturday in Nashville it was the St. Jude Marathon, and country music (of course!) was involved. Danny Gokey was one of the runners and Rodney Atkins and Gloriana provided the post-race entertainment.

Blake Shelton performs his new single, "Over," on The Voice tonight.

Tonight, Carrie Underwood will be on the David Letterman show, and Thursday night she'll perform on American Idol. Her cd, "Blown Away," comes out tomorrow.

Happy birthday to Willie Nelson, who is 79 today. He's in Maui, where he likes to spend Monday nights with friends: “We play in Maui, I have a little hideout out in the back of the house next to the ocean out there where we play poker a lot.  Owen Wilson and Woody Harrelson and a lot of my friends from Maui, we’ll get together on Monday nights or whenever and play poker.”

The tweet of the day is from John Rich: "I'm being very inappropriate right now."

Today's Country Tidbits

Lady Antebellum's Hillary, Dave and Charles are pretty high-profile these days. Just four short years ago, they were hoping to have a hit record, and now they have aspiriing artists asking them for advice. Here's theirs: “It’s something special to wake up and love what you do and I think everybody owes it to themselves to give that a shot. You know, it may not work out, and we everyday feel blessed that it did, but you have to give it a shot or you’ll always look back and regret it so...[Dave] Stay in school too. [All] Stay in school! [Dave] We definitely don’t regret that. [Charles] Although Hillary dropped out of college to join the band. [Hillary laughs] So, I don’t know...”

Keith Urban and his girls are in Australia as he films the Australian version of "The Voice." Nicole and their daughters are enjoying visiting the family, and Keith says this trip won't be all work and no play for him. “Well at some point I think we just want to go to the beach, I think that—you know if it’s the right time of year, which of course it’s in the middle of summer now, so that’s something that I always am anxious to get to. I haven’t gotten to the beach—I don’t even think we got there this summer, cause we were full on touring.”

Miranda Lambert and Chris Brown are still going back and forth, after a Twitter fight following Chris' performance on the Grammys. Miranda was irritated that he was allowed to perform, as he's got a history of beating up women. At a concert, she held up a fan's sign telling Chris to "take notes" as she cranked into "Gunpowder and Lead," a song about a woman who defends herself from an abusive boyfriend.

Brantley Gilbert co-wrote Jason Aldean's "Dirt Road Anthem" and says that songwriting is good for him in so many ways: “I was just too lazy to learn anybody else’s songs [laughs]. It was that and you know, it gets girls too...it works! I’ve seen it happen [laughs]. No, but I don’t know...I always had an itch for wanting to write my own stuff. It’s just something that I always enjoyed doing and it’s therapy for me.”

Craig Campbell is the headliner for the pre-Daytona 500 concert this Sunday. The show starts at 10:45 leading up to the 1pm race.

The "Act of Valor" soundtrack is out today, featuring music from Keith Urban, Sugarland, Lady Antebellum, Jake Owen, Trace Adkins, Lori McKenna, Montgomery Gentry, Josh Kelley, Hunter Hayes and Wynonna Judd.

Jake Owen is on the Jimmy Kimmel Live show tonight.

Happy birthday to Mary Chapin Carpenter, who turns 54 today.

The tweet of the day is from John Rich: "Thx for the lively discussion 2nite on capitalism, music, dogs and rotten meat! Priceless...Hollar at ya'll later!"

Today's Country Tidbits

Don't tick Garth Brooks off - he can afford the best attorneys! He's suing an Oklahoma hospital over a half-million dollar donation he made in 2005. According to Garth, they promised to name a building after his late mom, Colleen. According to the hospital, the donation was "anonymous and unconditional." The trial begins this week.

Rumors are floating around that maybe Kenny Chesney is looking to change record labels and become more of a mainstream artist. According to Kenny's manager, the rumors are totally inaccurate. Meanwhile, Kenny is in the islands, recording in a beach-side studio.

It's a good thing to be Brad Paisley's opening act, despite the pranks. The Band Perry and Scotty McCreery are on the road with him now, and previous tour openers include Taylor Swift, Rodney Atkins and Jake Owen. About his warm-up acts, Brad says, “We’ve gotten really lucky with picking some really wonderful people to be out there on the road. And one of the things I’m proudest of is having had some hand in the beginning of some of these careers that are now on fire.”

Blake Shelton hit the stage last week, and at a stop in Missouri, he started singing "Let It Rain." The crowd ate it up, because that's David Nail's home state. Blake said to the crowd, "Wouldn't it be cool if he walked out right now?" As the crowd cheered, David came out and he and Blake duetted on "Let It Rain."

Condolences to Blake Shelton and his family. His dad, Dick Shelton, passed away Tuesday night, surrounded by his family. Blake is postponing several tour dates as his family makes arrangements. In a statement, Blake said, "I appreciate your understanding during this difficult time and thank you for all your prayers. Your support means the world to me. I love you guys." The Well Lit and Amplified tour will resume January 26th in Columbus, GA.

Rescheduled Dates:

Bismarck, ND - March 20th

Rapid City, SD - March 21st

Bozeman, MT - March 22nd

Billings, MT - March 23rd

Eric Church kicks off his "Blood, Sweat & Beers" tour tomorrow in Arkansas, and he has the #1 country song in America this week. Nice timing, and Eric says the song came from his fans: “We just walked off stage and saw the crowd...saw our fans, and saw them put their beers up in the air, and you could just tell that they’d worked all week and this was their moment to let all that wash away. And that’s where the title was born from, really. And that just became a really good song, born from our fans.”

Brantley Gilbert celebrated his first #1 song in Nashville yesterday. Joined by "Country Must Be Countrywide's" co-writers, Colt Ford and Mike Dekle, the Georgia native talked about the truth behind the lyrics: “Oh, anytime we tour up north or northwest, it takes you by surprise, you know? Before we toured, I didn’t go much farther than the beach on vacation, you know? So, I always thought northerners were city folks. Not the case at all! They’re just like us, they’ve just got a different accent.”

Merle Haggard logged some time in a hospital bed instead of on stage this week. He had to cancel shows in South Carolina and Macon, and ended up in the hospital in Macon. His manager said the 74-year-old singer has been sick since leaving home last week. He is expected to perform tomorrow night in Paducah, Kentucky.

John Rich's time on "Celebrity Apprentice" has boosted St. Jude Childrens Research Hospital to new heights of awareness. John's charity was St. Jude, and he raised $1.4 million for them, but the giving has continued since then. According to John, “The folks at St. Jude have told me there’s been a huge spike in people online signing up to become Partners in Hope, which is where, you know, somebody can donate $20 a month or $10 a month. They said there’s been thousands of people...have come on since Apprentice. I just couldn’t ask for anything more.” John was just given the first "Randy Owen Angels Among Us Award" from St. Jude in recognition of his work for them.

The tweet of the day is from Sarah Buxton: "@jakeowen prayers for a speedy recovery for you!! Movies and ice cream in the meantime..."

Today's Country Tidbits

Rehearsals are done and tonight is the night for the CMA Award Show. Brad Paisley and Carrie Underwood will host the show for the 4th straight year, and will also perform "Remind Me," their #1 duet, for the first time together in front of a live audience. Faith Hill will sing her new song, "Come Home," Martina McBride will sing her breast cancer anthem, "I'm Gonna Love You Through It" and The Band Perry will sing "All Your Life." The show starts at 8pm Eastern on ABC.

What can we expect? Well, apparently Blake Shelton will be the butt of at least one joke. Brad Paisley reveals, “I think...Blake Shelton’s a good target somewhere. He’s had a great year. I think he’s...I toured with him, you know?” Meanwhile, what's Blake hoping for? Winning his favorite award. “I always thought Album of the Year is the coolest award even, even over Entertainer of the Year. I don’t know why, I just always thought that would be the coolest award to get. That’s what makes this town work, you know, record sales and good music and stuff.” What will Mrs. Blake Shelton be wearing? Miranda Lambert doesn't know, but she knows it'll be good. “You know, on stage for my own shows I love to be comfortable. I like to look stylish but I have to have something I can move in ‘cause I’m kinda all over the place. But for award shows and stuff I have a stylist named, Tiffany Gifford, and she, she really knows my style and knows my body, so she brings great options and you know, girls kinda get dressed depending on their mood. So, it usually depends on the day what I feel like, but, but I usually have some great options to choose from.”

In the audience tonight will be a speech-language pathologist named Jennifer Dotson. She won the NARM/RIAA essay contest with her story about how Lady Antebellum's music affected her students. In addition to the VIP seating, she also gets $1,000. "Give the Gift of Music" recognizes educators who are making a difference in their students' lives through music.

Last night at the BMI Awards, Rhett Akins and Dallas Davidson won Songwriters of the Year. The two Georgia natives had five of the year's most-played songs, including "All Over Me," a song made popular by Josh Turner. That one won Song of the Year last night.

In other award show news, Taylor Swift has three nominations in the 2012 People's Choce Awards, Lady Antebellum and Blake Shelton have two each and Rascal Flatts and Keith Urban have one apiece. Those awards will be handed out on January 11th, 2012 on CBS.

Did you miss Brad Paisley in front of Bridgestone Arena yesterday morning? Here you go...

Tonight, the CMT Red Carpet Special includes all of the big stars as they arrive at the CMA Awards, the 45th Annual Country Music Association Awards airs on ABC and Thompson Square is on Jimmy Kimmel Live after the award show.

The tweet of the day is from John Rich: ""The 8th of November" was written as a thank you to all the veterans for their service. Today is the 8th. BLAST that song 2day! God bless.."

Today's Country Tidbits

Toby Keith was doing an interview with Allison DeMarcus for CMT Insider, and the topic of gays, gay weddings and gays in the military came up. Toby's take? "That whole gay issue thing, that's never bothered me. I've never seen what that affects and why anybody should care, and they never do affect me." He went on to say, "First of all, we're going to stop somebody from getting a marriage license because they're gay? You won't stop them from living together, so what have you accomplished? ... Wasting a lot of money here and a lot of time that could be spent working on this deficit that we're under ... I never saw the reasoning behind getting in people's personal lives." About "don't ask, don't tell," Toby said, "The military is a tough thing. I don't worry as much about the heterosexual people fighting as I do about the gays. In the military or any class in life, you have people who have problems with it, and I'm wondering how that's going to be compatible on the battlefield. That's the only question I have, other than that, I don't care. It's just such a big issue that people make such a big stink about 'don't ask, don't tell.' And that sounds like our government: 'We'll fix it by saying, "Don't ask, don't tell." Everybody agree, raise your hands. All right, let's go get a snack!"

In other Toby news, he's part of "The Wayman Tisdale Story," a documentary about the life of the late NBA star and jazz musician. Toby and Wayman were close friends, and Toby's song "Cryin' for Me" was written as a eulogy for Wayman. The DVD will be out November 22nd.

Rodney Atkins' new album, "Take a Back Road," streets tomorrow, and he's excited to share a new sound with his fans. He's got a goal for the project - “To sell one million copies. It’s just, I’m really proud of this album. We’ve tried some different things and production wise, I mean ‘Take a Back Road,’ when we first played it for people it sounded different. Some of the stuff is simplified, but it’s meant to not just lightly tap on the door, you know, it’s to shake you up a little bit.”

Trace Adkins is in North Carolina, filming his part in the upcoming movie, "The Healer." How did he learn to act? “Movies are just like music videos. You sit around and wait for ‘em to set up the next shot, and light it, and all that kind of stuff. You’re there a long time but you don’t really work that much.”

Lady Antebellum performed on Saturday Night Live - didja miss it? Here you go!

Blake Shelton tweeted his tour announcement yesterday, saying that his "Well Lit and Amplified" tour kicks off in January. He'll be taking along Justin Moore and Dia Frampton, a finalist on "The Voice." It'll hit 27 cities, with those locations being rolled out on Blake's website as they get closer.

Congratulations are in order for John Rich and his wife Joan. Their second son was born last Thursday, and the official birth announcement happened on Twitter early yesterday morning. Here's what John tweeted: “Ladies and Gentlemen, please welcome to the world.. ‘Colt Daniel Rich!’ 7lbs14ozs, born 9-29-11....He's a real ‘Son of a Gun!’ VERY Proud!!”

Condolences to Trisha Yearwood, who lost her mom over the weekend. Gwen Yearwood had been battling breast cancer for several years. Both of her daughters were at her side when she died.

Tm McGraw is on the Today Show and LIVE! with Regis and Kelly this morning. Scotty McCreery is on the Today show this morning.

The tweet of the day is from Martina McBride: "Standing with all those courageous cancer survivors while I sang the anthem was amazing. Powerful way to kick off BCA month. Way to go @nfl."

Today's Country Tidbits

Hurricane Irene has already blown a big event away - Kenny Chesney's "Goin' Coastal" tour was supposed to wrap up on Sunday in Foxboro, Massachusetts. But because Irene could come calling in a wet and wild way on Sunday, the show has been moved up to tomorrow night.According to Kenny, "I want the last weekend of the Goin' Coastal tour to be a great experience for everybody. But I also want it to be the safest experience for everyone." The final show on the tour is now Saturday night at Foxboro's Gillette Stadium.

Luke Bryan is crediting his wife Caroline with helping him get a #1 album. "Tailgates and Tanlines" is spending its second week atop the Billboard Country Album chart, and he says his wife influenced the track list. She really didn't like a song Luke wrote, but loved "Too Damn Young" and "You Don't Know Jack." As Luke tells it, “The first time I heard them, Caroline was sitting right there and she was like, ‘Oh, wow.’ I mean, we both fell in love with them, and then, I actually recorded a song that I wrote, that she just did not like…ya know, lyrically, what it was saying. And then it didn’t make the album, just because she was right on the money. So, any time you got people that know

you helping you through the process it helps the album become better.”

Dierks Bentley is at it again, hosting another "Miles & Music for Kids" benefit ride and concert in Chicago on October 9th. The event benefits Chicago's Children's Memorial Hospital, and the concert features Eli Young Band and Jerrod Niemann. Dierks loves doing these events, saying “We’ve raised several million dollars for Children’s Hospitals across the country. It’s been great, man. It’s a motorcycle ride that anybody can sign up for. A really family-oriented concert, down-home style just, you know…different collaborations with different people and it’s been a real blessing.”

And speaking of benefit concerts, Big & Rich and Gretchen Wilson will donate 100% of the

proceeds from their Fontanel show to Operation Finally Home, an organization that provides houses to wounded and disabled veterans. According to Big Kenny, “Building a home is noble, but constructing a home tailored to the needs of a specific injury or disability is one of the things Operation Finally Home really understands and has done well time and again.” The show takes place on September 2nd at the historic property just outside of Nashville.

Taylor Swift - real estate mogul? She's bought another home, this one a historic four bedroom, four and a half bathroom, 5,601 square foot stunner. She won't be the one living in it - she bought it for her parents. Here's a picture, but there's a whole gallery at CasaSugar.

Wanna be John Rich's neighbor in Nashville? It could happen...

Untitled from Phillip Poynor on Vimeo.

Those size-six stilettos that Shania Twain was wearing when she fell at the CMT Music Awards this year sold on eBay for $9,000. Shania autographed the shoes and the money will go to a charitable foundation she set up. In other Shania news, she'll appear via video link at her alleged stalker's trial. Dr. John Palumbo has been in jail since March 27th after being arrested at the Juno Awards show. His trial begins this month in Toronto, Canada.

Ancestry.com teamed up with USA Today for a photo gallery of stars' yearbook photos. Garth Brooks and Kenny Chesney are part of the feature.

Little Big Town was on The Talk yesterday, and performed their song, "The Reason Why."

Dolly Parton is on the Tonight Show tonight.

Happy birthday to Billy Ray Cyrus, who is 50 today, Jo Dee Messina, celebrating her 41st birthday and Henry Paul of Blackhawk, who turns 62. He's not country, but he's a classic - happy birthday to Monty Hall, who is 90 today.

The tweet of the day is from Jaron and the Long Road to Love: "In honor of Steve Jobs... an amazing quote: “Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life..."

Today's Country Tidbits

Brad Paisley's H2O II tour has been romping around the country, with newcomer Brett Eldredge on board for some of the shows. This past weekend was his last show on the tour, so he

wanted to show Brad his appreciation for being included...and also maybe prank the prankmaster just a little bit. Brad's ride of choice is a Chevy Corvette when he's not on his tour bus, and Brett decided to give Brad a new 'Vette, complete with a "Paisley" license plate. Brett arranged to replace Brad's full-sized red Corvette with this sporty yellow one. But Brad didn't have to worry...his real 'Vette was nearby, plus now he has a special ride for his two boys.

Pranks on Brad's tour continued, with openers Edens Edge stealing the West Virginia doormat outside his tour bus and replacing it with an Arkansas Razorback mat. Showing his displeasure with the "gift," Brad lit it on fire.

Some artists are really open with their fans, including them in play dates. Case in point - Jake Owen, who tweeted an invitation for people to join him at the river yesterday. He offered to bring the boat, the wake board, beer and a towel. He even gave the exact address of the boat ramp so anyone who wanted to play on the water with him could be there. Wow...tha

t's a life wide open!

Luke Bryan was on the Today show yesterday, and took a special gift to Hoda and Kathy Lee. Beer for breakfast, anyone?

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

After the show, Luke must have had a clumsy moment, because he tweeted a photo of himself after getting some stitches in his forehead. He didn't offer up any explanation about how it happened, though.

John Rich aced Celebrity Apprectice, and has kept a video blog during and after his journey. Here's the last vlog entry.

While we're playing with videos, have you seen the one shot in Phil Vassar's back yard?

Congrats to Eric Church, who sits atop the Billboard Country Album chart again this week with his new release, "Chief."

Trace Adkins is on Chelsea Lately! tonight, and Jerrod Niemann is on the Ellen DeGeneres show today.

The tweet of the day is from Justin Moore: "Guys...chill. I'm the farthest thing from a Yankees fan. I said I'm at Yankee stadium, not go Yankees. GO BRAVES!!!"

Today's Country Tidbits

Tim McGraw wraps up his "Emotional Traffic" tour this weekend in Washington DC. Since April, he's been on the road with Luke Bryan and The Band Perry, hitting about 50 cities and playing to millions of fans. According to Tim, touring is what it's all about for him: “I don’t think any kid’s ever dreamed about being a rock star and dreamed about, you know, being in a studio singing the same song over and over for about three days. I think the impetus for doing what we do for a living and loving what we do is to be on stage in front of 20, 30-thousand people and slinging sweat, you know?” Saturday night is the last show of the tour, and Tim continues to be at loggerheads with his old record label over his "Emotional Traffic" project. Still no word on when or even if the tracks will be released.

When a major country music touring artist camps out for a weekend in a major city or two, they can play for a lot of people. Case in point - Brad Paisley was in Ohio and Detroit Lakes last weekend, playing a festival and an amphitheatre show. Along with Blake Shelton and Jerrod Niemann, he played for over 100,000 people in three days. Blake showed up on the Water World stage and joined Brett Edlredge on "Tulsa Time," surprising the crowd of several thousand in the pre-show fan zone.

US Magazine has put together a list of Hollywood's most eligible singles, and wouldn't you know it - Taylor Swift is on the list. The article does note that, since Taylor often uses exes as the subject matter for songs, "dating Swift can be a risky move."

Jason Aldean has been Lady Hazed by Lady Antebellum, with the help of Colt Ford, co-writer of "Dirt Road Anthem."

Gonna be in LA on September 13th? Then make plans to join Zac Brown, Sheryl Crow, Emmylou Harris and Vince Gill for the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum's "All For The Hall" benefit guitar pull. Cocktails and dinner are included in the ticket price. Call 800-852-6437 for information and tickets.

Tim and Faith are planning a trip down under to play "CMC Rocks the Hunter 2012 Festival." It'll be the first time Faith has performed in Australia and the first time the two of them have performed together outside of North America.

After a couple of decades of dominance in the music business as half of Brooks & Dunn, how does Ronnie Dunn stay in touch with what's new in the world of music? He turns to his 16 year old daughter Haley. Says the proud Dad, “She’s all over the map. You know, I’m proud of her because I’ll go up to her room sometimes and I’ll say, ‘Play me what’s happenin’,’ you know something cool and stuff. And she listens to groups that are like under the radar at times like Randy Rogers and some of these younger, developing acts. She’s got a great taste in music. She kinda keeps me…keeps me current.”

Darius Rucker and actor/comedian Bill Murray are the team captains for "Slim Down the South Celebrity Softball Challenge" in Charleston, SC. Darius will head up the Piggly Wiggly team and Bill helms the Wells Fargo gang. The challenge happens on October first.

Up and coming country act The Dirt Drifters has a novel way to get their music out to their fans - they're giving away 30,000 copies of their new cd, "This is my Blood." Fans who attend their shows get two copies - one for themselves and one to give to a friend. Great way to double your fan base!

Watch Luke Bryan on the Today show this morning, and Trace Adkins on Piers Morgan's show tonight.

The tweet of the day is from John Rich: "You wanna WIN in this world? Show up early, stay late, out work and out think the competition. Simple."

Today's Country Tidbits

According to those who have seen the show, Taylor Swift's north American "Speak Now" show is pretty amazing. She includes a mini fireworks display, a flying balcony and a snowfall. Says Taylor, "The tour is exactly how my imagination looks and I'm so excited that we get to have these entire scenes created onstage." The show lasts for two hours and includes all of her biggest hits as well as songs from her new cd.

Jason Aldean is just blown away at how well the Colt Ford/Brantley Gilbert-written "Dirt Road Anthem" is doing for him. As it continues to march up the country charts, Jason says the fan reaction is amazing: “You know, it’s one of those big anthem-type songs. You hold the microphone out and they know every word, you know, and that’s always a really good sign for a song. So it’s been great. It’s become one of the fan favorites in our show.”

The reigning Celebrity Apprentice, John Rich, has some ideas on which country artist should be part of the next Celebrity Apprentice, and in typical John style, he's not being quiet about his opinion. Says John, “The directors of the show…They’ve all been asking me, ‘Who do I think? Who do I think?’ and I have told them Dierks’ name, of course it’s up to Dierks. I don’t know if he’d want to do it. But, you know to me there’s so many different looks in country music. You know, we don’t all wear cowboy hats. That’s the iconic image I guess of it is a cowboy hat but I would love to see another country artist that’s totally different than a ‘hat act’. You know, somebody else with a different look that represents a different part of our genre.”

Asked if they would consider doing reality TV, both Tim McGraw and Brad Paisley say heck, no. Tim, who sang with Scotty McCreery on the finale of American Idol, says that if he was just starting out in the business, he'd forgo reality tv and "go to college and stay there." Brad Paisley said he'd never be part of something like "The Voice," even though Blake Shelton is doing really well as a coach. Both men just want to concentrate on what they do best - country music.

Willie Nelson's Country Throwdown is underway and the reviews are great. A side stage alternates with the main stage, meaning that everyone gets a great seat to the shows they want to see. Check out this preview of the fun...

Luke Bryan and the Doobie Brothers taped a CMT Crossroads episode last night. The songs included the Doobie Brothers’ “Black Water,” Long Train Runnin’” and “China Grove,” as well as Luke’s “Rain Is a Good Thing,” “Do I” and “Country Girl (Shake It for Me).” The episode will air June 24th on CMT.

Lee Ann Womack is working on her first new album since the Grammy-nominated "Call Me Crazy" came out in 2008. She's excited about her producer, saying “I'm getting to work with this hot producer named Frank Liddell, who does Miranda Lambert, David Nail and back when Chris Knight. He's kind of something... Though, I am a little prejudiced: he's my husband!” No release date for the album yet.

Congratulations to Brad Paisley, who's notched another #1 debut for his cd, "This is Country Music." It sold nearly 152,000 copies during it's first week last week. He also has the #1 country song in America this week with "Old Alabama."

And congrats to The Band Perry, whose "If I Die Young" has been certifed double platinum in sales. That means two million units have sold, either in hard copy or by download.

Shania Twain gets a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame today. The ceremony starts at 11:30am Pacific time.

Mark your calendars and set your DVRs - the 45th annual CMA Awards will air live from Nashville on November 9th on ABC.

On this day in 1986, Randy Travis debuted with "Storms of Life."

Scotty McCreery and Lauren Alaina are on the Today show this morning. Tomorrow, catchThompson Square on Fox & Friends.

The tweet of the day is from Blake Shelton: "I'm so hung over right now I just put two pot holders in the toaster and poured milk in a bowl of Gardettos.."

Today's Country Tidbits

Congratulations to Scotty McCreery, the winner of season 10's American Idol. Both Scotty and Lauren Alaina were prepared for the other one to win. According to Scotty, “Me and her have been together since day one and we’re gonna stick together.” And Lauren chimed in, "He's my best friend and I love him and I couldn't be happier for him." Carrie Underwood made a special appearance and duetted with Lauren Alaina on the show. 122 million votes were cast Tuesday night in the lowest-rated performance finale in American Idol's history.

Reba and Blake Shelton threw a benefit concert for tornado victims in Oklahoma, and Blake told the story watching the tornado that did so much damage to a town close to him. “It was coming literally directly to my house. Being the, you know, the smart guy that I am I walked outside and stood in the driveway and we actually filmed the tornado…it was only about, you know, a mile and a half from our house and we filmed it come out and it touched the ground for a minute and then it went away and it kept moving east and ultimately ended up going through Tushka.” Donations are still being accepted - text “OKGIVE” to 27722 to make a one-time $10 donation, added to your cell phone bill. Funds will be donated to The mGive Foundation for the benefit of the Tushka Disaster Relief Fund. Checks can also be made out to the Tushka Disaster Relief Fund and mailed to: 101 SE 1st Street, Tushka, OK 74525.

An online charity auction is underway through mid-June, with proceeds benefiting Musicians on Call. Kenny Chesney, Brad Paisley, Darius Rucker, Carrie Underwood, Keith Urban, Blake Shelton, Dolly Parton and Gwyneth Paltrow have all donated memorabilia and meet & greet opportunities. Sports stars have also donated items, so check out the auction and be generous!

Luke Bryan is on tour with Tim McGraw, and Tim had a birthday this week. Luke interrupted Tim's set to sing him the birthday song, with a little help from the audience.

Speaking of Luke, a new CMT Crossroads is in the offing, featuring Luke Bryan and the Doobie Brothers. The special has already taped and it premiers June 24th on CMT.

Sara Evans had a #1 party for "A Little Bit Stronger" yesterday in Nashville. The songwriters, Luke Laird, Hillary Lindsey and Lady Antebellum’s Hillary Scott, were also at the party. According to Sara, “When the album was all done and we knew that ‘Little Bit Stronger’ was the first single, I knew that as soon as I heard it. I…I said, ‘That is the first single, no question…We have to name the album Stronger.’ And it’s a great song! You know, it’s a song that everybody can relate to. Very well written.”

Did you miss Sara Evans on Dancing With the Stars? Here she is...

People are going "huh??" over Craig Campbell's new song, "Fish." It'll either shock you or make you laugh out loud...you've been warned!

Congratulations to Jason Aldean, who has the #1 country album for the 4th week in a row with "My Kinda Party." The album has been on the charts for 29 weeks, never outside the top 5.

Loretta Lynn's ranch, The Plantation, will be featured on an upcoming episode of Ghost Adventures on the Travel Channel. The show's hosts visit with Miss Loretta and hear stories about the many ghostly encounters she and her family have had on the property. The episode will air June 10th.

John Rich is on the Ellen DeGeneres show today.

Happy birthday to Hank Williams Jr., who turns 62 today.

The tweet of the day is from Kellie Pickler: "I wish these dang cicadas would watch where their going. They keep flying in my hair. Maybe I should use bug spray instead of hairspray??"

Today's Country Tidbits

Tonight's American Idol is the sing-off before tomorrow night's season finale, so Lauren Alaina and Scotty McCreery have to sing their hearts out. They'll each do three songs - their personal favorite from this season, their debut single, chosen for them from the Idol producers and a song chosen for them by their own personal idol. Lauren's musical hero is Carrie Underwood and Scotty's is George Strait, so we'll see what those two country superstars pick for these superstar-wannabes. Tomorrow night is the night one of them is crowned our next American Idol, and it's nice to know that they're keeping it country.

Sugarland, Little Big Town and Matt Nathanson highlighted the fact that the Harold Camping rapture prediction didn't quite come true at their concert Saturday night...

Big & Rich, Toby Keith, Zac Brown Band and Luke Bryan have all been announced as performers at the 2011 CMT Music Awards. It's Big & Rich's first televised appearance as a duo in nearly four years. Kid Rock, who is hosting the show, will do a duet with Sheryl Crow. The show airs on June 8th at 8pm Eastern on CMT.

John Rich is making the talk-show rounds this week, basking in the glow of his victory on Celebrity Apprentice. He's proudest not of the win, but of being able to help out St. Jude Children's Research Hospital. Says John, “I’ll raise money for St. Jude ‘til the day I die. You know, Randy Owen from Alabama really is the great-granddaddy of country singers to raise money for St. Jude. He started it 25, 30 years ago. I think country music as a genre’s approaching a billion dollars that they’re responsible for, for raising money for that hospital. So, I’m a miniscule part of that, but I definitely want to do my part.” He'll be on the Ellen DeGeneres Show on Thursday.

Darius Rucker spoke to the Medical University of South Carolina's graduating class over the weekend, and was given an honorary doctorate for all of the charity work he's done for the MUSC Children's Hospital.

Miranda Lambert will be featured in the new season of VH1's "Behind the Music." Her episode premieres July 13th on VH1.

Kenny Chesney will be featured in the June issue of Boating magazine, talking about how the water and his boat enhance his life.

Congratulations to Brad Paisley, who has his 19th #1 song with "Old Alabama." He's also the latest artist to join in the 1 For All movement, to help Americans understand what the First Amendment is all about.

Catch Brad Paisley on Good Morning America, the Late Show with David Letterman and Hannity today. Also today, Blake Shelton is on The Voice, Sara Evans is on Dancing With the Stars and Josh Kelly is on The Talk.

Happy birthday to Rosanne Cash, who turns 56 today and Mike Reid is 64.

The tweet of the day is from Blake Shelton: "Married to Miranda.. by Blake Shelton Yes dear.. Of course baby.. Oh absolutely honey.. Yes.. Yes.. No.... Ouch!! Yes dear.."

Today's Country Tidbits

Well, he did it! Last night, John Rich won Celebrity Apprentice. After a season filled with drama and big-star clashes, John won out by playing it cool. According to John, “You had to keep your head in the game and you had to be thinking forward and not become a victim of that game. You had to make that game work for you.” Asked why he did the show, he pointed to the performance of "For the Kids" that he did last night and replied, “You had to keep your head in the game and you had to be thinking forward and not become a victim of that game. You had to make that game work for you.” On hand to support John during the finale were Trace Adkins, Two Foot Fred and radio talk-show host Dave Ramsey, all friends of the Rich half of Big & Rich. John's goal was to earn over a million dollars for St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, a feat he more than accomplished when he pocketed the $250,000 prize last night.

While John Rich was busy winning Celebrity Apprentice, Lady Antebellum and Taylor Swift were busy winning Billboard Music Awards. Taylor won Top Billboard 200 Artist, Tops Country Artist and Top Country Album for "Speak Now." Lady Antebellum won Top Country Song with "Need You Now." Lady Antebellum performed on the show, singing "Just a Kiss" and Keith Urban performed "Long Hot Summer.

Taylor Swift's Saturday night dress-rehearsal-turned-fund-raiser raised over $750,000 for tornado relief. Speak Now, Help Now happened at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, with all tickets sold for $50, and those in attendence got a commemorative t-shirt in addition to the show. The North American leg of Taylor's "Speak Now" tour kicks off Friday night.

Reba was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame yesterday, along with Bobby Braddock and Jean Shepard. On hand to help celebrate were Miranda Lambert, Blake Shelton, Martina McBride, Trisha Yearwood, Vince Gill, Kelly Clarkson and Garth Brooks. The inductees will be honored again during the CMA Awards this fall. What does this honor mean to Reba? According to country music's favorite redhead, “Well, you know I hadn’t been nervous at all until now. We’re walking into the doors of the Country Music Hall of Fame, a place I’ve been to visit. But, to have my bronze plaque up on the wall of all my heroes, people who I’ve learned and studied and admired through all these years. That’s just a dream come true.”

Dierks Bentley raised some dough over the weekend, too, as his Miles and Music for Kids benefit ride and concert hit Columbus, Ohio. Joe Nichols, Uncle Kracker, Troy Gentry, Josh Thompson and Miss Willie Brown were all part of the fun. Over a thousand riders participated in the event, which resulted in an 8-mile-long string of motorcycles on Ohio roads. The ride benefitted Nationwide Children's Hospital.

Carrie Underwood is now officially the top-earning artist spawned by American Idol. She's sold 12.5 million albums and 18.5 million digital tracks since she won AI in 2005. Kelly Clarkson is second on the sales list, followed by Chris Daughtry, Clay Aiken, Fantasia, Ruben Studdard, Jordin Sparks, Jennifer Hudson, David Cook and Kellie Pickler. American Idol creator Simon Fuller will be honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame today and Carrie will be on hand to support him.

Tomorrow night, Sara Evans returns to Dancing With The Stars, performing "A Little Bit Stronger." She was a contestant on the show in 2006, but dropped out before the end of the season due to the instability in her previous marriage.

John Rich's benefit cd, "For the Kids," is available at Dollar General stores as well as at the chain's website. Proceeds go to St. Jude Children's Research Hospital.

Brad Paisley's "This Is Country Music" is out today, and the video debuted over the weekend at the NASCAR All-Star race.

Rascal Flatts is on the Oprah show today.

Happy birthday to Jewel, Shelly West and Mac Wiseman today.

The tweet of the day is from Blake Shelton: "Oh god I'm bleeding!!! I'm bleeding!!! Wait. Oh.... It's just ketchup."

Today's Country Tidbits

John Rich and Marlee Matlin face off in the finals of "Celebrity Apprentice" this Sunday night. John says the show is unpredictable, and he's psyched about going for the win. “I know that it’s me and Marlee Matlin and one of us is gonna win and I hope it’s me because if I win I get another 250-thousand dollars for the kids at St. Jude and that will put me well over a million dollars raised. My goal coming into this was to raise a million bucks. So, to hit my goal, I gotta win.” The show airs from 9 to 11 Eastern Sunday night on NBC.

Brad Paisley is hangin' at the tracks this weekend, getting set to world-premier the video for "Old Alabama." His new cd, "This is Country Music," drops Monday and it's likely that the second single from it will be the #1 country song next week. Brad will celebrate at the NASCAR Spring All-Star Race tomorrow, and world-premier the video to "Old Alabama" at the race, on the SPEED channel on tv and at NASCAR.com. The video includes not only Alabama, but Darrell Waltrip, Jeff Gordon and Rick Hendrick, and takes viewers down a virtual memory lane of Alabama music videos from the '80's.

Tomorrow night is Taylor Swift's final dress rehearsal before her "Speak Now" tour fires up in the US. At Bridgestone Arena, the show is sold out, and is a benefit for tornado relief. At least two songs will be streamed live starting at 10 Eastern on her website, and she's cautioning the audience that it won't be a perfectly polished show. “Because it is actually a true dress rehearsal, there might be some fine tuning, there might be some things we’ll have to do over again…I can imagine that it might be a very, very true dress rehearsal, but I don’t care—it’s worth it to raise money for people who really need it right now.”

Garth Brooks will be inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in New York City on June 16th. Doing the honors is Garth's friend of 20 years, Billy Joel.

Carrie Underwood is about to take her first trip to Australia to tour. She's going there in mid-June and will play shows in Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane. She's there in support of the June 10th release of "Play On: Deluxe Edition" in Australia and New Zealand.

Heading to Nashville for the CMA Music Festival? Here are the Opry performances that week:

June 4 - Rascal Flatts and Jimmy Wayne

June 7 in the afternoon - free Plaza Party with Jerrod Niemann

June 7 - Carrie Underwood, Lady Antebellum, Martina McBride, Darius Rucker, Oak ridge Boys and Jerrod Niemann

June 10 - Billy Ray Cyrus and Randy Travis

June 10 & 11 - Charley Pride, Mel Tillis, Roy Clark and more.

June 11 matinee - Thompson Square, Mandy Barnett, Anna Wilson and more

Blake Shelton's next cd, "Red River Blue," drops on July 12th. It's his 9th studio album, and includes his hottest single yet, "Honey Bee." And Blake Shelton will likely return for season two of The Voice. The other three judges have also indicated that they're open to being part of the hit show, too.

This Sunday, Craig Campbell sings the National Anthem before the NASCAR "Iowa Dealers 250" on Sunday, and then plays a free concert after the race for those at the track. The race airs at 2pm Eastern on ABC.

This Sunday night, Lady Antebellum and Taylor Swift are up for a combined 13 awards at the Billboard Music Awards. Lady A is up for eight and Taylor's nominated in five categories, and performers include Lady Antebellum and Keith Urban. The show airs Sunday night starting at 8 Eastern on ABC.

The tweet of the day is from Martina McBride: "In the studio this morning with my band singing a few songs live for some radio stations. Waffle House is on the way..."

Today's Country Tidbits

Mr. and Mrs. Blake Shelton grace the cover of US Weekly, on newsstands today. The article features details of the wedding as well as official photographs. By the way, Miranda wore her Mother's wedding gown and a pair of custom-made Casadei cowboy boots. Quipped Miranda, "My parents have been married for 33 years, so this dress is already a good-luck charm." Us Weekly is filled with the details of the wedding last Saturday, and the quotes are flying from attendees:

“At one point when the pastor was reading their vows, he actually made a joke. He was saying, ‘Do you put Miranda before hunting?’ Everybody laughed. I mean, Blake looked down it was just hilarious.”

“The dogs were in the ceremony of course and one of them escaped actually right in the middle of the ceremony so they had to kind of find the dogs. So, that was another funny moment.”

“Neal McCoy played and then it was like this who’s who of sort-of performers getting up and doing all of these songs. Reba and Kelly Clarkson performed “Why Haven’t I Heard From You”. Uh, Miranda got on stage with Brandi Carlisle and did her song, “Crazy”. Uh, it was just one after another and then after all that was over they plugged in a karaoke machine and Kellie Pickler got on the mic and was doing a bunch of songs way into the wee hours. So, it was just everyone got up one-by-one and did a song and it was just…that was like the country music awards show from heaven. Everyone would have loved to have been there.”

Some strong words from Tim McGraw's camp relating to the breach of contract lawsuit that Curb Records has filed against Tim. According to Tim's spokesman, "Tim McGraw delivered his new album, Emotional Traffic, to Curb in the fall of 2010. The label is holding the album hostage from country music fans in an attempt to force Tim McGraw to serve perpetually under a contract that he has already fully and faithfully completed." The label maintains that Tim delivered the music too early, so it's not "topical and new."

Who are the top country artists, according to Forbes Magazine in their "Celebrity 100?" Taylor Swift is at #7, Brad Paisley lands at #48, Toby Keith is #51 and Tim McGraw is #61. Google searches, Nielsen ratings and Lexis/Nexis rankings fed into the list of top celebrities.

Congratulations to Jason Aldean, who has the number 1 country album with "My Kinda Party" and the number 1 ringtone with "Dirt Road Anthem." How does Jason feel about having his songs turned into ringtones? “When ‘Tractor’ was out, it seemed like every time we’d go somewhere to eat, I would hear that song. Almost to the point where I hated it! But yeah, it’s definitely happened, and I think a lot of times somebody will know that I’m around or see me in the mall or something, and they’ll grab their phone and play it just as loud as they can to let me know that it’s on there. So it’s pretty funny—it happens quite a bit.”

Lady Antebellum picked up BMI Pop Music Awards this week, scoring Pop Song of the Year with "Need You Now." The award went to another Nashville country act last year - Taylor Swift for "Love Story."

Ashton Shepherd has finally made it public - she and hubby Roland are expecting a baby girl this summer.

Kid Rock will return as the host of the CMT Music Awards on June 8th. He had a blast doing it last year, and the ratings called for a return.

Told you yesterday that Rascal Flatts will be part of the Oprah farewell shows. Today I can reveal that they performed "I Won't Let Go," because the song perfectly fits Oprah. This episode airs on May 23rd, and the very, very, very last show will air on May 25th.

On tonight's American Idol, one contestant goes home, leaving only two to compete in the finals. Two out of three of the contestants sing country music, so won't it be fun if both of them squeak through tonight? Lauren Alaina and Scotty McCreery both sang only country songs last night, while Haley Reinhart sang pop/rock classics. The show airs at 8 Eastern time tonight.

John Rich is on the Today show, Access Hollywood and Piers Morgan

s show today. You can catch him on Fox & Friends tomorrow. If he wins Celebrity Apprentice Sunday night, he'll be on Today, Access Hollywood and Regis & Kelly on Monday. Josh Turner is on American Idol tonight.

Happy birthday to Shooter Jennings, who turns 32 today.

The tweet of the day is from Trent Tomlinson: "I love songs and the people who write them! Without song our world and way of life probably wouldn't exist! #justsaying"

Today's Country Tidbits

Oh dear, it's getting nasty between Tim McGraw and his long-time label, Curb Records. The honchos at Curb have filed a breach of contract lawsuit against Tim, claiming that the tracks for his upcoming album, "Emotional Traffic," were delivered too soon after his last cd, "Southern Voice." They say that his contract calls for new music no more often than every 12 to 18 months. Tim's attorneys maintain that the master recordings for the new album complete Tim's contractual obligation with Curb Records. For the fans, this means that a release date for the project probably won't be set for a while.

Hungry for more details of the Blake & Miranda nuptials before tomorrow's release of US Weekly, with the official scoop? Ok, here goes - wedding attendees had to surrender their cell phones and other electronic devices before being bused to the ranch for the wedding and then on to the reception. The country-royalty wedding attracted three media helicoptors hovering overhead, trying to catch a glimpse of something. The wedding was in a well-decorated barn described as "country shabby-chic" and was officiated by a Baptist preacher. Neal McCoy performed for two hours, and then karaoke broke out, which is when some of the star-guests got to shine. Reba and Kelly Clarkson duetted, with Reba and the bride duetting on "Little Rock." The reception featured beef tenderloin, gorditas, venison quesadillas and other southwestern delights. Once the guests got their phones back, they took to Twitter...

"So I went to Miranda Lambert's and Blake Shelton's wedding last night, and it was the greatest wedding I've ever been to! I feel as though they should renew their vows every year and throw a party, as well, because everything about it was awesome! The cutest couple ever!" — Kelly Clarkson

"Just leaving Miranda's and Blake's wedding. It was unreal awesome sauce crazy, crazy fun. Congrats to such a rad couple!" — Josh Kelley

"Last night I witnessed the union of two of the best people on the planet. Such a beautiful wedding and fantastic party. Honored to be there." — Martina McBride

"What a wedding and especially a reception! Beautiful wedding of my friends Blake Shelton & Miranda Lambert. Fun, energetic reception. Best to both of them!" — Neal McCoy

"Best wedding ever. Ever, ever, ever!" — Ashley Monroe

"Congrats to Miranda and Blake on their big day! Wonder if Blake will catch hell for changing his last name to Lambert?" — James Otto

"Best wishes Blake and Miranda." — Brad Paisley

"Just got back from one helluva party ... I mean wedding. Congrats to Mr. and Mrs. Shelton! Luv y'all!" — Kellie Pickler

Taylor Swift is in this week's issue of InStyle magazine, gracing the cover and discussing her love life inside. She's been linked with a bad boy or two, and was asked about why she chooses guys who end up not being right for her. "There are no rules when it comes to love," Taylor replies. "I just try to let love surprise me because you never know who you're going to fall in love with. You never know who's going to come into your life – and for me, when I picture the person I want to end up with, I don't think about what their career is, or what they look like. I picture the feeling I get when I'm with them." The magazine is on newsstands this Friday.

John Rich is telling a little bit about what will happen on this Sunday's finale of "Celebrity Apprentice," where he and Marlee Matlin are the last two contestants standing. He asked Donald Trump if he could perform "For the Kids" on the show, and not only did The Donald agree, he got Marlee to agree to sign the lyrics as John performs them. As John Rich said, "It will be a big moment." John has a busy week this week, filming the video for "Fake ID," the first new Big & Rich song in years, and then he heads for New York to be on The View, The Today Show and Late Night with Jimmy Fallon.

June 9th, the third annual Guitars of the Stars benefit auction will be held at Hall of Fame Park in the midst of the CMA Music Fest. Fans will have a chance to bid on acoustic guitars decorated by stars like Carrie Underwood, Darius Rucker, Rascal Flatts and Jerrod Niemann. All proceeds go to the Opry Trust Fund, which helps members of the country music community when they're in need. A concert goes along with the auciton, and Josh Thompson and Steve Wariner will be performing, as well as donating autographed guitars.

June 14th, many of Nashville's biggest stars team up in a tornado relief concert in Birmingham, Alabama. "BAMA Rising: A Benefit Concert for Alabama Tornado Recovery" will be held at the BJCC Arena in the center of a state very hard-hit by the freakish tornado outbreak last month. Alabama is spearheading the event, and so far Brad Paisley, Dierks Bentley, Sara Evans, Rodney Atkins, Luke Bryan, Martina McBride, Montgomery Gentry, Darius Rucker, Kellie Pickler, Little Big Town, David Nail, Jake Owen, Ashton Shepherd, Bo Bice and Taylor Hicks. Tickets go on sale Friday morning at 10 Eastern through Ticketmaster. Prices range from $25 to $150.

This Friday and Saturday, Toby Keith's 8th annual Golf Classic happens in Oklahoma, and the list of one-of-a-kind auction items is growing. Miranda Lambert has offered up a package that includes several bottles of her private label wine, Jimmy Johnson autographed a champagne bottle and racing helmet, Mohammad Ali donated an autographed boxing glove, Peyton Manning delivered a signed jersey and Alex Rodriguez signed a baseball to be auctioned off. All proceeds go to the Toby Keith Foundation, which is raising money to build the OK Kids Korral, a home-away-from-home for families of kids being treated for serious illnesses at the Oklahoma University Medical Center's Children's Hospital.

Willie Nelson's Country Throwdown tour just got a bit cooler. Joining Willie, Randy Houser, Craig Campbell and Lee Brice is Jamey Johnson. The tour kicks off May 27th in Philadelphia.

Oprah's last show will feature an appearance by Rascal Flatts.

Shania Twain is on The Talk, and Little Big Town is on the Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson.

Happy birthday to George Strait, who turns 59 today, and to David Nail, who is 32.

The tweet of the day is from Jake Owen: "I wish I could tweet in cursive. My tweet would be so elegant."

Today's Country Tidbits

Over the weekend, American Idol finalists had parties thrown in their honor in their hometowns, with the AI crews on hand to capture the fun. Country singer Scott McCreery's party was Saturday and about 30,000 fans turned out to celebrate his success. Who was on hand to celebrate with him? None other than Josh Turner, who said, "He didn't see me until we were almost face-to-face. I think I almost gave him a heart attack." The two performed "Long Black Train" and "Your Man" together. "Your Man" was the song Scott sang in his auditions for American Idol. Here's a sneak-peek of what this will look like when it airs this Thursday night on Fox.

Also Saturday night, but down the road in Lexington, Kentucky, Kenny Chesney was giving a concert at Rupp Arena. He started singing "Small Y'all," a song originally done by George Jones and covered by Kenny on "Hemingway's Whiskey." None other than the Possum himself strolled out onto the stage, surprising and delighting Kenny. The two of them sang "Small Y'all" and "I Don't Need Your Rockin' Chair," after which Kenny invited George to hang around for one more song, and requested "He Stopped Loving Her Today."

There was some SERIOUS bling on the bride at Saturday's wedding of Blake Shelton and Miranda Lambert. The two exchanged eternity rings crusted in diamonds. Blake's ring is custom-made and was inspired by the tatoo on his arm. Miranda sported a $1.2 million necklace made by Jonathan Arndt, the designer of their rings. Her necklace was a three-tiered diamond sparkler, set off by huge diamond teardrop earrings. For the reception, she added a quarter of a million dollar cocktail ring featuring over 60 carats of sapphires set in black gold.

The photographer who was hired to shoot Miranda Lambert and Blake Shelton's wedding photos says some of the shots will be featured in Us Magazine this week. Robert Evans said that shooting a celebrity wedding is no different than shooting a "normal" wedding. "There is no difference. What makes for great wedding pictures for me is the personal connection I have with my bride and groom and the time to create photographic magic. From the first moment I met each of them I was touched by their big hearts and contagious personalities, which made the privilege of photographing their wedding an absolute joy, not a job.” According to Robert, they didn't follow wedding tradition, and by breaking a rule, they'll have better photos because of it. He explains, "They took my advice and saw each other before the wedding and took all their photos before their nuptials, so after they said ‘I do’ and walked down the aisle, they could go do whatever they wanted, instead of spending time taking photographs. Spending time alone or spending more time with your guests is a smarter choice, especially when your normal human reaction after you kiss and travel down the aisle is ‘Let’s go party and be with our friends and family.’ A wedding is a celebration, and when the months of planning are over, it’s time to PLAY!”

In more Miranda news, her latest song, "Heart Like Mine," tops the country singles charts this week.

How smokin' hot is Lady Antebellum? They've just had the highest chart debut of their career with the new song, "Just a Kiss." It landed at #7 on Billboard's Hot 100 chart, which is an all-genre chart. In the first week the song sold over 211,000 digital copies, topping the iTunes country singles chart.

Head for an auction and get great stuff for an even greater cause. MusiCares and the Grammy Foundation have rounded up some amazing artist memorabilia for you to bid on, including a bass guitar signed by Kenny Rogers, an electric guitar signed by Keith Urban, a CD/DVD "Revolution" set autographed by Miranda Lambert and much more. The auction ends day after tomorrow, so hurry!

John Rich is out with not one but two six-paks of music. One is "For the Kids" with all proceeds going to St. Jude Children's Research Hospital. The other is "Rich Rocks," a high-energy collection of vintage John Rich music. Both include high-profile duets with Kid Rock, Hank Williams Jr. and Lil John.

The tweet of the day is from Kellie Pickler: "It's my lucky day. Found an old pair of jeans I wore in high school. There was a $10 bill in the back pocket! Best part is they still fit!"