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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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



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

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

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

Oh, look – it’s another award for Taylor Swift! She’s been named the first recipient ever of the Canadian Country Music Association’s Generation Award. They are recognizing her for pushing country music forward to new audiences and bringing awareness of country music to places all across the globe. She’ll be given the award during the September 9th CCMA Award Show in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. And her new song is the first song ever by Taylor to go #1 on the Billboard Hot 100. She credits her fans for that accomplishment: “It’s been absolutely amazing this week with the new single coming out and having it go to #1 on the Hot 100. I’ve never experienced anything like this before, so the fans have just yet again out done themselves. It’s amazing.”

Sometimes being on tour gets monotonous. Not the performances, the down time between the shows. Little Big Town is on the road with Rascal Flatts, and while they can’t have a pontoon with them, they do bring along the next best thing, according to Phillip Sweet: “The kiddie pool really works when you don’t have anywhere to go, and you’re surrounded by not much of anything. The kiddie pool can just be our own little paradise right there. It’s kinda of funny you’ll see some big crew guy go by and go, “I wanna get in that thing!’”

Kix Brooks is getting excited about his “New To This Town” album release on September 11th. What’s got him excited? Fan reaction when he plays the new songs live: “They’re getting to hear them for the first time and there’s nothing that makes you feel better than before the song’s over, they’re singing it with you. And there’s a couple of those songs like “My Baby Ain’t Comin’ Back,” and before the song’s over you just look out there and they’re singing it. They’ve got their hands in the air and you’re goin’...it’s connected! It’s fun! And I really do kinda feel new to this town.”

Darius Rucker has a new song out, “True Believers.” It’s the first single from his next album, which has no title or release date yet, though it will be out in early 2013. Darius explains that the song is a defiant song, and the message is that he’s doing what he wants to be doing, whether you agree or not. Darius promises that the next album will be something a little different and “True Believers” is a great sample of what they’re working on.

Congrats to Hunter Hayes, who has a new platinum song with “Wanted.”

Blake Shelton has the #1 song this week with “Over.”

Tomorrow, Zac Brown Band takes the stage at the Republican National Convention.

How hot is Taylor Swift? Her new song, "We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together," is the #1 most downloaded song in 29 countries! Meanwhile, she gets set for the September release of her new perfume, Wonderstruck Enchanted, and the release of her new album, Red, in October with this new ad for the perfume. Note the clever use of the color red in it.

Dierks Bentley has had three #1 songs in a row from his Home cd, and he admits that his new song, “Tip It On Back,” nearly didn’t make it onto the album: “‘Tip It On Back’ was actually the last song that I really heard for the album. You kinda reach a place where you’re like, ‘I’ve listened to every song out there. There’s no more songs to listen to,’ and then you hear one like that, and you’re like, ‘Man, this is a great song.’” His college tour kicked off last night at the University of Georgia.

Luke Bryan’s 4th annual Farm Tour will kick off October 3rd in Claxton, Georgia and hit Clemson, SC, Valdosta, GA and Auburn, AL before it ends October 13th. Luke enjoys the small-town vibe and says, “I just love the fact that people can come out and have a big time, listen to some music and um...it’s just a fun experience all the way around and I wanna continue to do what I can to keep it rockin’.” This small-town tour raises money so kids from local farming families can go to college. Here’s the list of tour stops:

10/3 - Claxton (Statesboro), GA
10/4 - Clemson, SC
10/5 - Auburn, AL
10/6 - Valdosta, GA
10/10 - Villa Rica, GA
10/11 - Colbert (Athens), GA
10/12 - Tallahassee, FL
10/13 - Macon, GA

David Nail is also doing a series of smaller tour stops, focusing on small venues and featuring scaled-down shows. They’ll be special, though, because he understands the power of his fans: “You can’t help but not reference the people who came out to our shows when ‘Red Light’ was #36 – not even Top 20. Those people have kind of stayed with us, and it’s definitely helped our show a lot.” Here’s the list of his tour stops:

9/6 Cincinnati, OH
9/7 Marietta, OH
9/8 Cleveland, OH
9/9 Arcola, IL
9/13 Knoxville, TN
9/14 Richmond, VA
9/15 Philadelphia, PA
9/16 Baltimore, MD
9/18 New York, NY
9/26 Pittsburgh, PA
9/27 Ridgefield, CT
9/28 W. Springfield, MA
9/29 Boston, MA
10/1 Winston-Salem, NC
10/4 Southaven, MS
10/6 Houston, TX
10/10 Oklahoma City, OK
10/11 Dallas, TX
10/18 Minneapolis, MN
10/19 Milwaukee, WI
10/20 Chicago, IL
10/25 Carbondale, IL
10/26 Columbia, MO
11/2 Birmingham, AL
11/3 Biloxi, MS

Kix Brooks’ latest single, “New To This Town,” is climbing the charts. Wonder how he got Joe Walsh to be his guest on it? Wonder no more – according to Kix, “My manager and Joe’s manager Irving Azoff, who manages The Eagles, are partners. Actually an engineer from my radio show said ‘Man that’d sound great with some Joe Walsh-like guitar on it!’ And I go ‘Wow! I wonder if I could actually…maybe…’” And he found out the answer was “yes.” Kix releases his solo debut album on September 11th.

Singer/songwriter Dustin Lynch, who has his first single climbing the charts, loves to write. “Cowboys and Angels” is just one of the tons of songs he’s written lately: “Ahh, hundreds and hundreds. I’ve written hundreds of songs the past few years. It’s so funny, people are like, ‘Why did you write so many songs?!’ You know, when I woke up one morning and realized I was getting paid to write songs which is what I used to do for fun—you know I just love it! It’s so much fun for me to go into a room with nothing and come out with possibly something that could change my life or mean something to somebody else.”

Tim McGraw will answer fan questions on Pennzoil’s Facebook page this Friday. You can submit questions now, and if one of yours gets answered, you get autographed goodies from Tim.

Another country artist has been added to the Republican National Convention. Rodney Atkins will headline the official welcome party this Sunday in Petersburg Florida.

Dierks Bentley’s Country & Cold Cans EP is out today, as is the self-titled debut album by Dustin Lynch. The Dierks EP includes a special version of “Tip It On Back.”

Kix Brooks has done a lot of concerts and a lot of charity events, but the one this past weekend was extra-special. It was a party and concert at his winery, Arrington Vineyards, and was a benefit for Vanderbilt Children’s Hospital. According to Kix, “We did it just to make awareness. I had eight of my buds with their balloons and they all took off – the wind was blowing so they went right over the crowd. It was just awesome. Probably the best part was taking the stage for the very first time, at my own venue. We’ve been open five years and it’s the first time I played there.” Thousands showed up for the fun, and to hear music that’ll be on Kix’s album, “New to This Town,” due out on September 11th.

The Band Perry is on tour with Brad Paisley, learning even more about working a crowd and playing live in front of really huge audiences. When they were a baby act, they sought advice from more established groups, and now baby acts are coming to them for advice. Kimberly and Reid share what they’ve learned: “[Reid] This guy told us way back when we started, he said, ‘Play anywhere and everywhere you can,’ cause he said, ‘you’ll learn how to deal with different situations on the stage.’ [Kimberly] I would just say sing and play loud, if there’s one pair of ears in the room or a thousand—and also—sing in front of everybody else the way you do in the shower.”

Taylor Swift released her new single, “We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together,” Monday night, and within 24 hours it was at #22 on the country charts, based on airplay. It’s #16 on the adult contemporary chart and #27 on the top 40 chart. Not bad for a day’s work!

Angaleena Presley of Pistol Annies is finally dishing the details of her May wedding to Miranda Lambert’s tour manager, Jordan Powell. They’ve both been married before, so didn’t want a big, splashy affair. They were married in the library of the Four Seasons resort in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. Jordan showed up in a custom-made Manuel suit, saying that he was marrying a part of country music history, so he needed to dress the part. No, she’s not related to Elvis. You can watch Angaleena search for the perfect wedding dress on TLC’s Say Yes to the Dress on August 24th.

After his abortive try at a tour this year, George Jones says he’ll hit 60 cities in 2013 on his last tour ever, The Grand Tour. He admits that it’s tough to stop doing what he loves, but it’s time to slow down and spend time with his wife, children and grandchildren. The Possum has spent more than 50 years on the road.

Kellie Pickler is on The Chew on ABC today.

Today's Country Tidbits

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

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

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

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

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

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

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



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

Happy birthday to David Ball, who turns 53 today.

Today's Country Tidbits

Rascal Flatts have had a very crazy year. They changed record labels, which is a huge upheaval, released a new album, which means tons of media appearances, and have kept up a touring schedule that would wipe out younger artists. But Gary Levox believes they are exactly where they’re supposed to be at this point in their career: “It’s complete heart – 100% heart and soul in this album. Like Joe Don said, ‘It took us 11 years to make this thing.’ Everything feels so great right now in our career - professionally and personally. And we just look forward to the summer tour.” They’re touring with three other vocal groups: Little Big Town, Eli Young Band and Edens Edge.

Taylor Swift is the top country artist on Forbes list of “The World’s Most Powerful Celebrities.” The rankings are based on money, TV/radio/press exposure, web presence and social media influence. Taylor checks in at #11 in the world, Toby Keith is at #49, Kenny Chesney is at #53 and Brad Paisley is at #68. Jennifer Lopez tops the list. By the way, she apparently had an extra $4 million bucks burning a hole in her pocket – she donated it to the Country Music Hall of Fame.

Little Big Town is once again hosting the 6th Annual Ride For a Cure on June 10th. The charity motorcycle ride benefits the TJ Martell Foundation. It starts at 10:30 at Franklin, Tennessee’s Mickey Roo’s and ends at the Harley Davidson Columbia Superstore with an All-Star am Session. The concert includes not just Little Big Town, but also Love and Theft, Lauren Alaina and Dean Alexander.

Kix Brooks and Joe Walsh have a song climbing the charts – “New to This Town” – and Kix is so excited to be able to work with Joe: “He is my favorite guitar player. I mean you can only say that once, ya know. Somebody has to be your favorite, whatever. I just worship the way he plays. God I mean his records are just awesome too. I grew up and James Gang was just the coolest to me.”

The Voice champion Jermaine Paul is so proud to have been a part of Team Blake, and proud to have gotten the win for Team Blake. Says Jermaine of his coach, “You know, he’s been a tremendous support to me throughout this whole process and he’s helped me so much on so many different levels and, you know, I don’t take that for granted at all.”

Lee Brice and his fiancée Sara Reevely are planning a 2013 wedding in Florida. Details, of course, are confidential, but listen to his music and you can hear the love!

Happy birthday to George Strait, who turns 60 today.

The tweet of the day is from Brad Paisley: “Ok, wish someone had told me this was a damn rehearsal and the show’s tomorrow. Bout had a heart attack!”

 

Today's Country Tidbits

Carrie Underwood will perform her new song, "Good Girl," at the ACM Awards on April first, and she's psyched: “Being in Vegas is always a lot of fun and I’m glad to finally get to perform ‘Good Girl’ in a big situation. It’s gonna be really good. We’re having something made for the performance and it’ll be pretty rockin’.” Also added to the lineup are Keith Urban and Sara Evans.

The night before the ACM Awards, stars line up to put on a free show for military families at the Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino. Craig Morgan is part of this annual event and says, “It is going to be awesome! There will be vendors – all kinds of stuff. Saturday night there will be a concert featuring lots of artists and myself. It will be a bit of a military tribute show.”

The artist "please vote for me" videos wars have begun, with Blake Shelton taking a straight-ahead road looking for your votes for Entertainer of the Year.

Kix Brooks is having to take two weeks off the road for what he describes as "banged up vocal chords." Shows in Jacksonville and Las Vegas will be re-scheduled.

The guys from Rascal Flatts are in the studio, working on the soundtrack to Saving Santa.

Martina McBride is a real hands-on mom, in addition to being a very successful country star. What if her daughters wanted to follow in her footsteps? Martina feels that they've got a good understanding of the whole music business: “It can be a great life, obviously. And I think having grown up around it they understand the awesome parts of it and then there’s parts of it, you know, it’s hard work and there’s a lot of rejection and I think that they would have a realistic expectation of what it takes.”

Billy Currington's first headlining tour kicks off tonight in Dothon, Alabama, and he's taking David Nail and singer/songwriter Kip Moore on the road with him. Kip's excited about the opportunity: “There will be some wild times to be had, I can promise you that, and it’s gonna be a blast to play for packed houses every night, and the chance to really get in front of an audience that’s itching to hear some good music.”

Time Magazine has declared Dolly Parton has one of the 140 Best Twitter Feeds of 2012. The article says, “When a legacy this great tweets, we listen. Because she’s Dolly, but mostly, because she’s usually right.” Follow Dolly on Twitter - @Dolly_Parton.

The tweet of the day is from Jerrod Niemann: "Well, I just sat up, that's a step in the right direction."

Today's Country Tidbits

Jukeboxes are still going strong, and country music leads the list of the most-played songs on them in 2011. In the top 10, seven songs are country. Jason Aldean's "Dirt Road Anthem" was the most-played song on jukeboxes this year, and the other country songs people plunked down their cash for were Eric Church's "Smoke a Little Smoke," Kid Rock's "All Summer Long," Zac Brown Band's "Chicken Fried," Steve Earle's "Copperhead Road," Luke Bryan's "Country Girl (Shake It for Me)" and Kenny Chesney's "Somewhere With You."

Jason Aldean spent some time with hip-hop artist Ludacris this week, working on another collaboration. They've hit the stage a few times, performing Jason's "Dirt Road Anthem," and Jason says people shouldn't be surprised: “I think it’s important just to...you know, even though I’m a country artist, and Luda’s a hip-hop artist, I think it’s important to have respect for other types of music. I mean, I grew up listening to everything from hip hop to blues to rock, southern rock, I mean a little bit of everything.”

Last night was the CMT Artists of the Year special, honoring Jason Aldean, Kenny Chesney, Taylor Swift, Brad Paisley and Lady Antebellum. According to Charles and Hillary of Lady A, the night was more than special: “[Hillary] Just knowing all of the hard work that CMT has put into this, and they really take time to make it so personal to each artist, which means a lot. [Charles] And, knowing you’re gonna go home with an award, it makes the whole night a little bit easier doesn’t it? ...a lot more fun.” If you missed it, you can watch the whole show online.

CMT ARTISTS OF THE YEAR SHOW HIGHLIGHTS

Gavin DeGraw performed Kenny Chesney’s “Somewhere With You”

New Orleans Saints head coach Sean Payton and former St. Louis Cardinals manager Tony La Russa presented the award to Kenny Chesney.

Lady Antebellum sang “Dancin’ Away With My Heart” from their Own the Night album.

Sara Evans presented Lady Antebellum with their award.

Jason Aldean performed his single, “Tattoos On This Town.”

Lionel Richie presented Jason Aldean his award.

The Avett Brothers presented a romping live version of their song, “Laundry Room.”

The All-American Rejects performed a mash-up of Taylor Swift’s “Mean” with their hit, “Gives You Hell.”

Faith Hill presented Taylor Swift with her award.

Brad Paisley performed “Life’s Been Good to Me” and “Camouflage” with Joe Walsh.

William Shatner presented Brad Paisley with his award.

Keith Urban asked fans to make a commercial for his new fragrance, "Phoenix." The winner, Eric Noffsinger, has the honor of seeing his commercial on The View December 21st on ABC-TV, and wins a slew of other prizes. You can see his work, but be warned...it's just a little bit on the adult side!

The CMA has pledged to donate $10 million to the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum's "Working On A Building: Country Music Lives Here" fund. It will more than double the current size of the facility and include a new, 800-seat theatre. According to CMA head honcho Steve Moore, "We are proud to support the growth of the Hall and look forward to using the CMA Theater in a variety of ways that will shine a spotlight on the Country music industry and format."

Willie Nelson, politician? Probably not, though people ask him often: “It’s been thrown at me a couple times, and I’m not interested in that. I think, ‘Why should I split my audience,’ you know? Why should I start singing to the Democrats or the Republicans or anybody. Just one audience is all I need.”

There's a Christmas movie in the works, though it won't be out until next year. Kix Brooks is the executive producer and Trace Adkins and Jay DeMarcus have been on the set this week, working on "Saving Santa." Here's the plot line: a disgruntled politician tries to ban Christmas and the kids in the town work to save Santa. Actors Kevin Pollak and Joey Lauren Adams are part of the project, due out in November of 2012.

Got a child on your shopping list this season? Check out Zac Brown Band's online store for a new book, written by Coy Bowles of the band. The book is called "Amy Giggles" and will help kids understand that it's ok to be different.

Lady Antebellum is on Good Morning America today.

The tweet of the day is from David Nail: "Need money, I spent too much in New York! Anyone have a yard that needs mowing? Gutters cleaned? Oh wait, I have both, do I pay myself?"

Today's Country Tidbits

Brad Paisley and Carrie Underwood are hard at work this week, writing and rehearsing for Wednesday night's CMA Awards. They'll duet on the show, co-host the show for the 4th year in a row, and according to Brad, kick a few chuckles out of us, too. “Everything’s pretty -- well no, it’s never just ready -- but we get out there and have a great time and uh, I hope, I hope we make you laugh. I think we have the last few years and, and hopefully we can do it again, uh, we aren’t pulling many punches, it ought to be fun.”

Miranda Lambert is the reigning CMA Female Vocalist, and is nominated again this year, along with Carrie Underwood, Sara Evans, Martina McBride and Taylor Swift. How does she feel about the competition? “Of course we want to win. You know, there’s the disappointment...for a while there I was getting beat out every year by Taylor and Carrie, and I was like, ‘OK, when’s my turn coming?’ You know? But, my turn has come and when it’s somebody else’s turn, I wanna be as gracious as...especially Carrie was to me when I won! You know? It’s not a competition. It’s a family.”

The husband/wife duo Thompson Square is up for New Artist and Vocal Duo. Kiefer and Shawna are pretty amazed to be nominated, saying “To us, it’s like, Ok, now these people take us seriously and accept us into their fold. And to be accepted into this country music family in Nashville is just...it’s a dream come true. It’s why we all move here and to be able to be in that fold is just unbelievable.” The show airs at 8pm Wednesday on ABC.

One of Billy Currington's neighbors needs a time-out. He showed up at Billy's door, inviting him to go fishing and telling him that he'd been watching Billy through binoculors and telescopes for six months! Billy's as calm about it as he can be, but probably won't go fishing with his neighbor any time soon.

Willie Nelson had to cancel a couple of shows last week because he got sick. The Washington DC show will be re-scheduled, but the Akron, Ohio show tickets will be refunded at the point of purchase.

Kenny Rogers will kick off his annual Christmas tour the day after Thanksgiving in Columbus, Ohio. Joining him on the "Christmas and Hits Tour" is Grammy-winner Billy Dean.

Alan Jackson and Kix Brooks both got stars on the Music City Walk of Fame in Nashville yesterday...congrats!

The tweet of the day is from David Nail: "Can't sleep, changed bunks, it's bumpy and loud in the back bottom right! But it beats listening to people up front snore! G Nite take two"

Today's Country Tidbits

Eric Church ticked off his record label last August, taking the entire month off instead of raking in cash by touring. He needed the time off to hide out in a cabin in North Carolina to write songs for "Chief," his latest album. He took a month off the grid - no computer, no phone, no tv, in order to let his creativity flow. The cd's name comes from his grandfather's nickname. According to Eric, "He was chief of police, but he spent every weekend either making or participating in Wilkes County moonshine." Eric's new cd is getting shining reviews from the critics!

Alan Jackson gets ideas for songs in odd places, and there's no telling how many #1 songs he'd have by now if he could just remember them all. According to Alan, “There’s been a lot of places I’ve been, whether it’s a restaurant or bar, or somewhere with people, and you get some kind of little hook or idea that you can’t, you try to remember. A lot of times I get the ideas in places like that, and then I don’t write ‘em down, and then you forget what the idea is anyway.” He's working on a new cd, due out this fall.

Trace Adkins has a new cd coming out Tuesday, and the first single, "Just Fishin'," is doing well. Also on the album is another duet with Blake Shelton called "If I Was a Woman, I'd Love a Man Like Me." About the cut, Trace remarks, “I didn’t know if there would be anybody in this business that would be silly enough to sing ‘If I Was a Woman, I’d Love a Man Like Me’ other than Blake. But, it’s just a perfect song for he and I to do together and the way that we wrote the song pointed straight at Blake.” Their last duet, "Hillbilly Bone," went #1 so both have high hopes for this one.

Tim McGraw and Faith Hill's oldest daughter, Gracie, is taking after her parents in more ways than one. Tim describes his 14-year-old daughter this way, “She grew up all over the sudden last year. She’s 5-foot-6 or 5-foot-7 and looks like a beach volleyball player.” Don't be surprised to see Gracie McGraw's name in tv or movie credits someday, as she's totally immersed in school theater programs and wants to be an actress when she grows up. Apples don't usually fall far from the tree!

ESPN is doing a high school makeover show called "Rise Up." It premiers on September 13, features athletic makeovers for deserving high schools, and the reason I'm telling you about it is that Kenny Chesney will provide the theme song for the show.

Zac Brown Band has partnered with Gander Mountain, seller of outdoor gear and specialty items, to carry the Southern Ground product line. The nationwide chain will carry Zac's cookbooks, spices and sauces, along with a hat being sold to benefit Soles4Souls, a charitable group that gives shoes to those who need them.

Kix Brooks is the featured speaker at the 30th Annual Alumni & Fan Preseason Kickoff at Louisiana Tech next month. Kix graduated from that school in 1978 with a degree in communications.

Chris Young is on Jimmy Kimmel Live! tonight.

Happy birthday to Bill Engvall, Bobbie Gentry and Duncan Cameron of Sawyer Brown.

The tweet of the day is from Jimmy Wayne: "someone said 'I like my coffee like I do my women' I thought ground & stored in the freezer. Was that weird?"

Today's Country Tidbits

Kix Brooks' son Eric is in New Orleans for Mardi Gras, and was injured in a hit and run. According to Kix, "ok - so, how bad can it get in New Orleans? - well my son Eric and his 3 friends called from the hospital at 2am - seems some maniac comes sceaming around the corner missed two of them, but his buddy gets hit and bounces off the windshield - eric gets hit in the leg trying to jump out of the way - guy swerves hits two cars and takes off - can't get the license plate -xrays, but no broken bones - still alive with fat tuesday coming up - are you kidding me - ??? - payback is ..."

Blake Shelton has been tapped to be a coach on "The Voice," a singing competition show that premiers April 26th on NBC. According to Blake, "I'm not sure The Voice knows what they signed on for by bringing me on the show." Blake is joined by Christina Aguilera, Cee Lo Green and Adam Levine, lead singer for Maroon 5. Each coach gets a team of aspiring singers to mold into great talents, and the winner gets a recording contract and $100,000.

It's official - there will be a Brad Paisley/Carrie Underwood duet on Brad's upcoming cd. About a married couple trying to rekindle their romance, "Remind Me" will be part of "This is Country Music," which comes out May 24th.

It's apparently also official - Gwyneth Paltrow is in talks with Atlantic Records for a recording contract. Says Gwyneth, “I think because my mom was an actress and I just thought that’s what I was supposed to do in a way. Because I’ve always loved music and I’ve always loved singing. But I was just kind of on that course. I never questioned it. Since I was little I was just going to be an actress and that was it.” Her dream duet partners? Miranda Lambert, Beyonce and Jay Z.

Keith Urban's first show of 2011 happens tonight at the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo.

Jason Aldean will be taking Chris Young and Thompson Square along on his tour this summer. The 2011 My Kinda Party tour starts July 8th in Milwaukee.

Trace Adkins donated a decorated birdhouse to The 10th Annual Birdhouse Thing, a benefit for the W.O. Smith Nashville Community Music School. There are 161 items in Thursday's auction, not including tickets and meet & greet passes to shows donated by Alan Jackson, Lady Antebellum, Sara Evans, Darius Rucker, Josh Turner, Kellie Pickler and lots more. If you can't be in Nashville Thursday evening for the fun, you can still bid. The celebrity item online auction starts today and goes through March 22nd.

Tomorrow, Trace Adkins will be on Craig Ferguson - and he's taking a friend...

The "Glee" album, featuring Lady Antebellum's "Need You Now," is out today, as are Sara Evans' "Stronger" and Kenny Rogers' "The Love of God."

The tweet of the day is from Trent Tomlinson: "I'd pay big money to see Jamey Johnson and Charlie Sheen in the same room together!"

Today's Country Tidbits

Miranda Lambert is featured on the cover of Cowboys & Indians magazine, where she spilled a few details, including her wedding date - May 14th - but didn't say where the wedding would be. She also revealed that, after their big CMA night, they went back to Oklahoma, where Blake burned a brush pile and Miranda made chocolate chip cookies.

Taylor Swift will feature several up-and-coming artists on the North American part of her "Speak Now World Tour 2011." Performing before NeedToBreathe will be a rotation of Randy Montana, James Wesley, Danny Gokey, Frankie Ballard, James Wesley, Hunter Hayes and Charlie Worsham. The tour kicks off May 27th in Omaha. This weekend, the European leg of the tour begins in Brussels.

Joe Nichols is heading to Australia to headline one of Australia's largest country music festivals, along with Alan Jackson, this weekend. The festival also features Storme Warren as host, Buxton Hughes, Emerson Drive and Jack Ingram, along with a host of Australian country stars. The "CMC Rocks the Hunter" music festival happens on the Hope Estate in Australia's Hunter Valley, a major wine-producing region about two hours from Sydney.

As Ronnie Dunn's first solo single, "Bleed Red," races up the charts, what's Kix Brooks up to? Well, in addition to hosting a weekly radio show and producing great wines, he's heavy into making movies. He's wrapped up filming for "Thriftstore Cowboy" and has been given the leading role in "The Last Ride," which begins filming in May in Arizona. He hasn't abandoned music, though - he's about halfway through writing songs for a new album. When can we hear it? According to Kix, "I’m not in a hurry and I’m not saying when it’s going to come out because when it’s done and I’m proud of it, it will come out.”

There's something about old friends and old trucks, and Dierks Bentley, famous for wearing cowboy boots held together by duct tape, loves his first and only truck, Big White, and shares her "best features" in this video.

Rascal Flatts members Gary Levox and Jay DeMarcus feel very responsible for Jusin Bieber's new 'do. They jokingly told reporters, “[Gary] It was actually our idea for his hairstyle. [Jay] It really was. [Gary] As you can tell by some of the pictures we were the ones that actually cut it. [Jay] I didn’t realize that a tweeted photo was the shot heard ‘round the world. [Gary] But we all gathered enough hair to put our kids through college and we’re real excited about that. [Jay] You can see some of it on eBay under eBay user name ‘Levox 12’. [Gary] Feel free to put a bid in!” In reality, Justin gave some of the shorn locks to Ellen DeGeneres, who put them on eBay in a charity auction. The snipped-off hair sold for $40,668. Proceeds benefit an animal charity.

Trace Adkins will host a private screening of his upcoming movie, "The Lincoln Lawyer," Monday night in Nashville. He plays Eddie Vogel, a tough guy helped by the title character, a lawyer played by Matthew McConaughey. The movie opens the 18th of this month.

Would Sugarland's Jennifer Nettles go on "Dancing With the Stars?" She loves to dance, after all - but this sounds like a "no:" “[Jennifer] I would love to be able to dance all day—without being on the television show. That would be cool, like if somebody wants to volunteer to come and you know just dance with me all day and teach me the stuff, [Kristian] Like a surrogate dancer? [Jennifer] Yeah, without being on TV for that!”

Kellie Pickler is playing a free concert in Indianapolis on April 2nd as part of the fun at the NCAA Women's Final Four.

Lady Antebellum's song "Need You Now" will be featured on "Glee: The Music, Vol. 5" which hits stores next Tuesday. Gwyneth Paltrow will also be on that cd.

Thompson Square is on The Tonight Show tonight.

The tweet of the day is from Eddie Montgomery: "HELLYEAH!!! It's wilder than a Charlie sheen party here at the wildhorse tonight !!!!"

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

Keith Urban is in Australia today, filming two episodes of the Oprah show at the Sydney Opera House. He announced the Australia dates on his 2011 Get Closer World Tour, featuring Lady Antebellum as his opening act. In case you'll be Down Under in April, tickets for these shows go on sale January 21, so get 'em quick!

Friday, April 8 – Adelaide Entertainment Centre

Saturday, April 9 – Rod Laver Arena, Melbourne

Tuesday, April 12 – Tamworth Regional Entertainment & Conference Centre

Thursday, April 14 – Sydney Entertainment Centre

Friday, April 15 – Brisbane Entertainment Centre

Joe Nichols has been quietly launching songs up the country charts for years, and his first greatest hits package is in the works. January 25th is the release date for the collection, which includes "Brokenheartsville," "The Impossible," and "Cool To Be A Fool" up to his latest, "The Shape I'm In."

HBO will be filming a mini-series in the spring, and probably in Tennessee. Why Tennessee? Because country artists are a big part of the cast of "To Appomattox." Rascal Flatts, Kix Brooks, Dwight Yoakam and Laura Bell Bundy will all be part of the show, and no, they won't be playing some Civil War nightclub scene. Rascal Flatts will also be producing the soundtrack for the series, providing original songs as well as their interpretations of traditional American music. They've tapped Kix, Laura, Dwight and John Ondrasik (from the band Five for Fighting) to assist with the soundtrack.

Tim McGraw has been cast in the action-adventure movie, "Safe House." He's excited about the action part of it, saying, "I get to play actually something action-packed. Shoot people and all that stuff. I’m looking forward to all that stuff." The movie also stars Denzel Washington and Ryan Reynolds and should be out in early 2012.

Tim's latest movie won't be out for another few weeks, but here's another song from "Country Strong." Garrett Hedlund plays Beau Hutton, an up and coming country songwriter, and sings "Chances Are."

You’re watching Country Strong - Clip No. 2. See the Web's top videos on AOL Video

What does a big fan give to Taylor Swift for Christmas? A light display on his house, synced to "Love Story."

More details about the Shelton/Lambert wedding are trickling out - they'll serve venison instead of the more traditional chicken or beef, and it'll be from deer they've harvested. And Blake is promising some surprise guests at the wedding - he's in charge of the music and entertainment and has had a blast lining up artists. May in the hill country of Texas is still all we know for sure about the date and place.

Get free Christmas songs from great country artists from People.com.

Kix Brooks is spending this week entertaining the troops as part of a USO tour show. Also traveling with him are Robin Williams, Lance Armstrong and other celebrities. They'll wrap up the tour this weekend, in time to be home with their families for Christmas.

Congratulations to Jason Aldean, who's been named Billboard Magazine's #1 Male Country Artist and the Top Independent Artist of the Year.

The Judds are on Larry King Live tonight. Tomorrow, The Band Perry is on The View.

The tweet of the day is from Jake Owen: "damn.. and my tag is expired. I'm rolling gangsta."

Today's Country Tidbits

The first-ever American Country Awards were handed out last night. Blue Fender Stratocaster guitars were the award, and Carrie Underwood got six of them, including Artist of the Year. Rascal Flatts were recognized for 10 years of success and great music, and the mystery of the evening was that the award for Best Male Artist got so lost in the shuffle that even the official list online didn't have it. Brad Paisley won it, by the way. Here's how it all shook out last night in the fan-voted awards:

Artist of the Year - Carrie Underwood

Artist of the Year, Duo or Group - Lady Antebellum

Artist of the Year, Breakthrough Artist - Easton Corbin

Artist of the Year, Male - Brad Paisley

Artist of the Year, Female - Carrie Underwood

Album of the Year - "Play On" by Carrie Underwood

Single of the Year, Male - "Why Don't We Just Dance" by Josh Turner

Single of the Year, Breakthrough Artist - "A Little More Country Than That" by Easton Corbin

Single of the Year - "Need You Now" by Lady Antebellum

Single of the Year, Female Artist - "Cowboy Cassanova" by Carrie Underwood

Single of the Year, Duo or Group - "Need You Now" by Lady Antebellum

Touring Headline Package of the Year - Carrie Underwood

Music Video of the Year - "Hillbilly Bone" by Blake Shelton with Trace Adkins

Music Video, Male - "Hillbilly Bone" by Blake Shelton with Trace Adkins

Music Video, Breakthrough Artist - "A Little More Country Than That" by Easton Corbin

Music Video, Female - "Cowboy Cassanova" by Carrie Underwood

Music Video, Duo or Group - "Need You Now" by Lady Antebellum

The Kennedy Center Honors awards show taped last night in Washington DC. The show will air December 28th on CBS, and one of the honorees was Merle Haggard. Willie Nelson, Sheryl Crow, Jamey Johnson, Kid Rock, Vince Gill and Brad Paisley were all on hand to celebrate The Hag in a three-song tribute. Also honored this year were Broadway composer Jerry Herman, choreographer Bill T. Jones, Paul McCartney and Oprah Winfrey.

Taylor Swift's fans are living up to her last name. Tickets to her stadium show in Massachussetts sold out in five minutes and two shows at LA's Staples Center sold out in two minutes each. Since there's such demand for tickets, she's added more shows to the world tour, which kicks off February 9th.

Good news for Willie Nelson, for a change. He is now only facing misdemeanor charges in his marijuana possession bust in Texas last month. The official weight of the pot was 4 ounces, not the originally reported 6 ounces. Willie won't face jail time and is looking at a maximum $4,000 fine.

Garth Brooks will be part of Larry King's long goodbye. His last show will air December 16th, and Garth will be a guest for an entire hour this Friday evening.

The CMA Country Christmas special will re-air on December 22nd on ABC. Hosted by Jennifer Nettles, it features beautiful renditions of classic Christmas songs by a host of Nashville's finest.

Darius Rucker will be part of Disney's Christmas Day Parade, airing Christmas Day on ABC.

Here's something you can watch now - Kix Brooks shaving off his mustache for a role in the movie "Thrift Store Cowboy."

Congrats to Rascal Flatts, who have their 11th #1 song with "Why Wait."

Keith Urban is on the Tonight Show with Jay Leno.

The tweet of the day is from Brad Paisley: "There's nothing like being done with touring and working on the next batch of songs in the studio. Especially this time of year."

Today's Country Tidbits

It's the season finale of American Idol tonight, and Carrie Underwood returns to the show, performing her current hit, "Undo It." It's also the final show for Simon Cowell, and Carrie chimed in on who could fill his shoes. “I think it surprised everybody. I honestly have no idea what’s going to happen. People are like ‘Oh do you know who they are going to get to replace him? I don’t know anything, but you know I think they did a great job with Ellen. I wouldn’t have immediately thought of her to be a judge so I’m sure whatever they come up with will be great.”

Faith Hill and Emmylou Harris have been asked to perform at a gala on June 2nd in honor of Sir Paul McCartney. Whoever was in charge of naming the show, which will air on July 28th on PBS, needs an editor, though. "Paul McCartney: The Library of Congress Gershwin Prize for Popular Song in Performance at the White House" is the name of the show. Suppose they could have wedged a few more words into the title??

Benefit concerts continue in and around Nashville, pouring money into the flood relief efforts. Kix Brooks just hosted the "As Long As We Have Voices" show at his Arrington Vineyards, just south of Nashville. He performed, along with Joey + Rory, Ty Herndon, Keith Stegall and others. Tickets were $100 for the sold-out show, and included a bottle of wine from the vineyards. Proceeds went to the Salvation Army's flood relief efforts.

Love to play the game Rock Band? Want to help out the American Red Cross with middle Tennessee flood relief? Musicians like Big Kenny are donating songs to Rock Band Relief, and those songs will be available in a couple of months via download from the Rock Band website. Proceeds from those downloads will go to assist in rebuilding Nashville and the surrounding communities devastated by the floods.

Dierks Bentley's new website is up, and he's proud of all of the changes. His dog, Jake, even has his own forum topic page!

Jewel has a new song out, with a cd coming out on June 8th. She was on Live with Regis & Kelly yesterday, and here's the video in case you missed it.



And Reba's "Unplugged" episode is online for your viewing pleasure.

Today's Country Tidbits

Blake Shelton and Miranda Lambert are engaged. She's been sporting the ring since Sunday, when he popped the question and she said "yes." About the diamond and platinum ring, Miranda said, "We've been together for five years, so he knew exactly what I wanted but it's so much more perfect than I could have picked out myself." Blake popped the question while the two were out in the woods near Miranda's Oklahoma home, and before he asked Miranda, Blake talked to her Dad to get his blessing. No word on a wedding date yet, but I'll keep you posted.

Blake Shelton will perform a free show in Evansville, Indiana on May 26th. Fan club members have first crack at the free tickets for the Roberts Stadium show, which will be filmed for release later this year.

Brad Paisley goes into rehearsals today with a completely new set, new instruments and new sound boxes. His tour opens just two weeks after he lost all of his tour gear in the flood in Nashville, but he says his guys are miracle workers, and the tour will mean so much more to them all this year than ever before. And this little tease about what to expect when Brad's on stage: he says even if your tickets are way in the back, you could be in the front row at some point in the show.

The CMT Music Award nominees were announced yesterday, and Jason Aldean, Lady Antebellum, Taylor Swift and Carrie Underwood all have three nominations each. At two each are Kenny Chesney, Toby Keith, Miranda Lambert, Reba McEntire, Tim McGraw, Brad Paisley, Steel Magnolia, Sugarland, Keith Urban and Zac Brown Band. These awards are fan-voted, and you can vote as often as you want. The awards will be handed out on June 9th.

Wanna be part of CMA Music Festival in a really special way? This Saturday in Nashville, the CMA Music Festival Volunteer Fair will take place from 9 to noon, central time. Volunteers have to be at least 18, and will be assigned jobs like working in the information booths or handing out samples. In return, you'll get free parking, event t-shirts, you'll be fed while you're working and you'll get free tickets to one of the nightly concerts at LP Field.

Taylor Swift will be in New York City on June 17th, accepting the Hal David Starlight Award at the Songwriters Hall of Fame Gala. The award recognizes up and coming songwriters who make a significant impact on the music industry. I'd say Talor qualifies, wouldn't you?

Can't wait to have your own copy of Kenny Chesney: Summer in 3D? You can pre-order the 2D version on DVD and Blu-Ray at K-Mart's website, and on June 13th, it'll be in K-Mart stores nationwide. As incentive to pre-order, you can enter to win autographed merchandise and a trip for two to see Kenny in concert in Las Vegas.

How do you christen a huge cruise ship? With a huge star, that's how. Reba will be breaking the champagne over the bow of the Norwegian Cruise Line's biggest ship ever, the Norwegian Epic, on July 2nd in New York City. The 4200 passenger vessel will go into service immediately after Reba does the honors.

Happy birthday to Kix Brooks, who turns 55 today.

Today's country tidbits...

Oh, to have been in Nashville Tuesday night. Kix Brooks hit the town...well, actually, just Tootsie's Orchid Lounge...sang a couple of songs on both the front and back stages, then settled in to the front corner booth to make an evening of it.

Meanwhile, what was Rodney Atkins up to last night in Nashville? He went to the Bruce Springsteen concert at the Sommet Center. Gonna take a day or two to get his singing voice back after all that yelling of "Bruuuuuuuuce!"

Another day, another congrats to Lady Antebellum - they have the #1 downloaded song of all formats with "Need You Now."

Someone's been combing the records of CMA Award winners and has found that Jamey Johnson is only the 8th songwriter to win two CMA Song of the Year awards. The others? Vince Gill, Alan Jackson, Paul Overstreet, Don Schlitz, Bobby Braddock, Curly Putman and Max D. Barnes.

Sugarland takes their country Christmas music to the Oprah show on the 30th of this month. They're not spilling the beans, but will say that they are the surprise for a bunch of people who need a surprise. Hmmmm...

Another artist has been added to the George Strait/Reba McEntire tour - Lee Ann Womack will hitch her bus to the caravan when the tour heads out in early 2010. Lee Ann jokes, “I’m trying to figure out what to wear…cause you can’t out-starch George and you sure can’t out-spangle Reba!”

Didja miss Carrie Underwood on the Ellen show on Tuesday? Watch the interview here.

Happy birthday to Billy Currington today.

Today's country tidbits...

Tim McGraw's movie, "The Blind Side," had its Nashville debut last night. He and Faith hosted the preview, and Nashville royalty turned out to the screening. Kix Brooks, Martina McBride, Randy Travis, Taylor Swift, Rodney Atkins, Clint Black, the Lady Antebellum trio, Barbara Mandrell and loads more country stars populated the audience. In the movie, Sandra Bullock plays Tim's wife, and when Faith Hill was asked how it felt to watch her husband kissing Sandra Bullock on screen, Faith replied, “She’s gorgeous. I wish I was kissing Sandra Bullock.”

Martina McBride tweeted, after seeing the movie: "Blind Side.I'm telling U and U know I wouldn't lie.GO SEE IT. Tim was gr8.F It was funny,moving inspirational."

Just how big is Taylor Swift's Entertainer of the Year win at the CMAs? International media has likened her to Tiger Woods, saying she is to country music right now what he is to golf.

Piling on the media attention for her, InStyle magazine has Taylor on the cover of the issue coming out next week. Put on your 3-D glasses...it's a 3-D cover shot.

His first country cd went platinum, so now it's time for Best New Artist Darius Rucker to hit the studio and do it again. He's going to start recording his next cd in December, for a release "some time next year." Darius and Brad Paisley have been writing together, and have a song they've decided to cut as a guy-duet.

Enjoy Friday the 13th, and may all of your dreams come true today, just like Taylor's did this week.