Eric Church ended up with the most nominations for this year’s CMA Awards – he’s up for five, including male vocalist, album, single, song, and video. His first-ever CMA nomination was last year, when he was up for New Artist of the Year but was bested by The Band Perry. Eric was shocked by the amount of nominations: “Um, I’m um...truly speechless. I think it’s a testament to really fans that believed in the music and loved the music and told people about the music, otherwise we don’t have really the track record to be the most nominated artist at this point in time in our career for the path that we’ve taken and I think that it’s truly because of the fans.” As for how his songs come together when he’s recording, Eric says it’s pretty organic: “I don’t have a real direction as to what it is—I go in and I play—my producer Jay Joyce—I go in and I play it acoustic for him and the musicians, and then we start hashing it out, you know? We start figuring out what it is, and it takes, you know weeks on a song just trying to figure out what it was.”

Colt Ford is proud as a peacock over Jason Aldean’s CMA nomination for “Dirt Road Anthem,” which Colt co-wrote with Brantley Gilbert. How did Jason come to record the song? Colt explains, “You know, it just turned out that I was opening for him in 2009 and he said, ‘Man, how do all those people know all the words to that song?’ And I was like, ‘I don’t know, man, they just seem to really like it.’ So he called me up and said he wanted to try to cut it and of course, I didn’t have a problem with that. Jason’s been a good friend of mine and he grew up the same way I did, so it wasn’t like it was something made up for him. I mean, that was real life for him as well, and it turned out to be the biggest song of his career.”

Kellie Pickler is beautiful, even bald. Don’t believe me? Check out this video of Kellie shaving her head to support her childhood friend Summer Holt Miller. She’s only 36 but is battling breast cancer.

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George Strait will announce a 2013 tour later this month, and apparently he’s got another big announcement, too. Stay tuned…

“Cheers, It’s Christmas” is the title of Blake Shelton’s Christmas album, which is available for pre-orders now. It comes out October 2nd and here’s the track list:

1. “Jingle Bell Rock” (featuring Miranda Lambert)
2. “White Christmas”
3. “Oklahoma Christmas” (featuring Reba)
4. “Let It Snow”
5. “There's A New Kid In Town” (featuring Kelly Clarkson)
6. “Santa's Got A Choo Choo Train”
7. “Home” (featuring Michael Buble)
8. “Winter Wonderland”
9. “The Christmas Song”
10. “Blue Christmas” (featuring The Pistol Annies)
11. “I'll Be Home For Christmas”
12. “Silver Bells” (featuring Xenia Martinez)
13. “Time For Me To Come Home” (featuring Dorothy Shackleford)
14. “The Very Best Time Of Year” (featuring Trypta-Phunk)

Carrie Underwood tops the Billboard Country Album chart this week with “Blown Away,” and she says that she’s inspired by her new music: “It opened the door for the Blown Away album, and for me to be able to play a little bit, which has been a lot of fun. From the song to the album, to putting together a tour, I feel like that song has allowed me to be able to do different things. It’s definitely making the tour be more dramatic and more of a juicy story.”

Luke Bryan has been given a plaque recognizing sales of seven million downloads of songs from his platinum album, “Tailgates & Tanlines.”

Want to see how Lee Ann Womack roughs it? Check out the next issue of People Country magazine – they went along on a road trip with Lee Ann and two of her girlfriends in her 1973 Airstream Land Yacht, which Lee Ann says is “girly, but ‘60’s timeless.” Chandelier in the bedroom? Portable record player? Cornhole? Sounds like a party!

Little Big Town will be on Good Morning America Monday morning.

Here’s the complete list of CMA nominees for your wagering pleasure:

Entertainer of the Year

Jason Aldean
Kenny Chesney
Brad Paisley
Blake Shelton
Taylor Swift

Female Vocalist of the Year

Kelly Clarkson
Miranda Lambert
Martina McBride
Taylor Swift
Carrie Underwood

Male Vocalist of the Year

Jason Aldean
Luke Bryan
Eric Church
Blake Shelton
Keith Urban

Vocal Group of the Year

Eli Young Band
Lady Antebellum
Little Big Town
The Band Perry
Zac Brown Band

Vocal Duo of the Year

Big & Rich
Love and Theft
Sugarland
The Civil Wars
Thompson Square

Musical Event of the Year

“Dixie Highway” – Alan Jackson, Zac Brown
“Feel Like a Rock Star” – Kenny Chesney, Tim McGraw
“Roll Me Up and Smoke Me When I Die” – Willie Nelson, Snoop Dogg, Kris Kristofferson, Jamey Johnson
“Safe and Sound” – Taylor Swift, The Civil Wars
“Stuck On You” – Lionel Richie, Darius Rucker

New Artist of the Year

Lee Brice
Brantley Gilbert
Hunter Hayes
Love and Theft
Thompson Square

Single of the Year

“Dirt Road Anthem” – Jason Aldean
“God Gave Me You” – Blake Shelton
“Home” – Dierks Bentley
“Pontoon” – Little Big Town
“Springsteen” – Eric Church

Song of the Year

“Even If It Breaks Your Heart” – Eli Young Band
“God Gave Me You” – Blake Shelton
“Home” – Dierks Bentley
“Over You” – Miranda Lambert
“Springsteen” – Eric Church

Album of the Year

Chief - Eric Church
Four the Record - Miranda Lambert
Home - Dierks Bentley
Own the Night - Lady Antebellum
Tailgates and Tanlines - Luke Bryan

Music Video of the Year

“Come Over” – Kenny Chesney
“Over You” – Miranda Lambert
“Pontoon” – Little Big Town
“Red Solo Cup” – Toby Keith
“Springsteen” – Eric Church

Musician of the Year

Sam Bush (mandolin)
Paul Franklin (steel guitar)
Dann Huff (guitar)
Brent Mason (guitar)
Mac McAnally (guitar)

Today's Country Tidbits

Jason Aldean is closing out 2011 with a bang – his “My Kinda Party” cd is double-platinum, he finally won CMA recognition with three awards in October, and he sold over a million concert tickets. According to Jason, "When we did our annual holiday party, we had more to be thankful for and celebrate than we ever have before. It's really cool to be experiencing some of this stuff with a lot of the same guys who have been with me since I started in 2005. We're definitely a family, and that has made the whole experience even more special,"

Pollstar’s list of the top tours of 2011 is out, and two of the top three tours are country acts. Taylor Swift is at #2, grossing $97.7 million with 80 shows, Kenny Chesney is at #3, grossing $84.6 million with 55 shows, and at the top of the list is legendary rock act U2, who grossed $156 million with 25 shows.

Congratulations and best wishes to Wynonna, who is engaged to her long-time boyfriend, Cactus Moser. He’s the drummer for Highway 101, currently on tour with Wy as Wynonna and the Big Noise. He popped the question on Christmas Eve. This will be Wynonna’s third marriage.

Sending good, healing thoughts to Shawna Thompson’s Dad, who is having surgery today.

Lee Ann Womack put safety first when she did her Christmas shopping: she gave everyone on her list a fire extinguisher. Says Lee Ann, “it’s one of those things you don’t think about... until you need it, and then it’s way too late.”

The tweet of the day is from Miranda Lambert: “Spring cleaning in December! Blake even cleaned the garage and people that is HUGE! No more random carcasses!”

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

George Strait, Reba and Lee Ann Womack all played a show in New Mexico Friday night, and the state's Governor, Susana Martinez, signed a proclamation officially declaring the day "George Strait and Reba McEntire Day." Poor Lee Ann...

It was the men winning again last night on "Celebrity Apprentice," and John Rich is safe for another week on the show, as Dionne Warwick ended up being the one who was fired last night. According to John, who hasn't gotten the chance to be the project leader yet, he's ok with that, but is ready when it's his turn. “I didn’t go on there ‘cause I’m sellin’ a book or anything else. I’m on there to wait for my chance to raise a ton of money for St. Jude. Matter of fact my goal is to raise a million dollars for St. Jude. When my time comes, I’m gonna call everybody I know and try to hit that mark.” It's the third week in a row that the men's team won the challenge.

Are you aching for a way to help the poor people of Japan rebuild their lives after the devastating earthquakes and tsunami? Singers from all genres of music have put together an album, available on iTunes, entitled "Songs for Japan." The 38-track download sells for $9.99, with all proceeds going to the Japanese Red Cross. Keith Urban and Lady Antebellum donated songs, as did Elton John, Cee Lo Green and many more.

Here's the track list:

1. John Lennon “Imagine” (Remastered)

2. U2 “Walk On” (Radio Edit)

3. Bob Dylan “Shelter From The Storm”

4. Red Hot Chili Peppers “Around The World” (Live)

5. Lady Gaga “Born This Way” (Starsmith Remix)

6. Beyonce “Irreplaceable”

7. Bruno Mars “Talking To The Moon” (Acoustic Piano Version)

8. Katy Perry “Firework”

9. Rihanna “Only Girl (In The World)”

10. Justin Timberlake “Like I Love You”

11. Madonna “Miles Away” (Live)

12. David Guetta “When Love Takes Over” (feat. Kelly Rowland)

13. Eminem “Love The Way You Lie” (feat. Rihanna) [Clean Version}

14. Bruce Springsteen "Human Touch"

15. Josh Groban "Awake" (Live)

16. Keith Urban "Better Life"

17. Black Eyed Peas "One Tribe"

18. Pink "Sober"

19. Cee Lo Green "It's Ok"

20. Lady Antebellum "I Run To You"

21. Bon Jovi "What Do You Got?"

22. Foo Fighters "My Hero"

23. R.E.M. "Man On The Moon"

24. Nicki Minaj "Save Me" (Clean Version)

25. Sade "By Your Side"

26. Michael Buble "Hold On" (Radio Mix)

27. Justin Bieber "Pray" (Acoustic)

28. Adele "Make You Feel My Love"

29. Enya "If I Could Be Where You Are"

30. Elton John "Don't Let The Sun Go Down On Me"

31. John Mayer "Waiting On The World To Change"

32. Queen "Teo Torriatte (Let Us Cling Together)" [Remastered]

33. Kings Of Leon “Use Somebody”

34. Sting “Fragile” (Live In Berlin)

35. Leona Lewis “Better In Time”

36. Ne-Yo “One In A Million”

37. Shakira “Whenever, Wherever”

38. Norah Jones “Sunrise”

Today is Reba's 56th birthday and her fans showed her some birthday love with a 4-part video appreciation posted on YouTube:

Lee Brice and Chris Young stopped by Monroe Carrell Jr. Children's Hospital at Vanderbilt last week, bearing 30 Zune mp3 players. The donation is for teens who have to spend their birthday in the hospital, to make their special day a bit brighter. According to the hospital's CEO Luke Gregory, “The Zune media players are perfect birthday gifts for our teenaged patients, who, like many of our patients, celebrate life’s milestones while facing difficult medical treatments.”

Lady Gaga did a "country road" version of her hit, "Born This Way." This version adds a new line to the song: “If I wanna make it country baby it’s okay ‘cause I was born, I was born, I was born this way! From London, Paris, Japan back to U.S.A. Yeah, I was born on the road, I was born to be brave.”

People.com has a poll up, asking if she is on to something with this version or if she should just stick to pop music.

Shania Twain was inducted into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame last night. Bryan Adams was the person who got to give her the honor, calling her "a Canadian treasure."

Planning on getting married soon and want to win a dream honeymoon? Thompson Square is hosting the "Crash My Wedding" dream honeymoon contest. Oh, and even better than the honeymoon - Thompson Square will be the entertainment at your wedding! Gotta write an essay...good luck!

Happy birthday to Reba and to Rodney Atkins, who turns 42 today. And she's not country - yet! - but Lady Gaga celebrates her 25th birthday today, too.

Keith Urban is on the Ellen DeGeneres show today and tonight is the airing of last Monday's country-star-studded gala, "All Together Now: A Celebration of Service" on NBC. Garth Brooks, Sheryl Crow, Reba, Brad Paisley, Kid Rock, Darius Rucker and Carrie Underwood all perform.

The tweet of the day is from James Otto: "Today I'm thankful for mending fences with an old friend."

Today's Country Tidbits

There seems to be a baby boom in Nashville, with country star babies cropping up everywhere. Keith Urban, Clay Walker, Luke Bryan, Dierks Bentley, Jay DeMarcus and Zac Brown have all welcomed babies into their lives in the last few months, and there are more on the way. Blake Shelton, of course, has an explanation for the phenomenon: “Uh, people having sex.” He goes on to explain why Luke Bryan now has two kids and is talking about more: “He married over his head. And he probably figures he’s got a hot wife and she’s funny and cool… The only way he can really keep her is to try to get her pregnant. That’s what’s going on with Luke.” After thinking a bit, he thinks there could be a climate-related explanation, too: “There’s been several ice storms in Nashville lately. And the cable goes out and there’s nothing else to do. I mean, you’re sitting there with your wife or husband. You know if there’s nothing else to do you’re probably gonna end up hookin’ up. Next thing you know Jay DeMarcus actually has a kid. You know, it’s weird.” Blake and Miranda Lambert are set to be wed in May. Bet there's a bookie in Las Vegas who's got action on when they'll have their first child. At least Blake will have an entertaining explanation for it!

Martina McBride will be part of a salute to Aretha Franklin Sunday night at the Grammy Awards. And if she can get out of snowy Texas, Jewel is scheduled to be a presenter, so we get to see her growing baby-bump. She's expecting her first child in early July. The Grammys will air live from LA Sunday night at 8 eastern.

What are you doing on March 16th? If you're a Josh Turner fan, you might want to be in Nashville, as he and his wife Jennifer headline the third annual "Stars Go Blue" benefit concert at the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum's Ford Theatre. They'll be joined by Linda Davis and her husband Lang Scott, along with Charlie Kelley and his wife, GAC personality Nan Kelley. Charlie is a colon cancer surviver, and this show is a benefit for colon cancer research. Tickets are $100 per person and include not just the concert, but a VIP coctail reception and an auction.

And speaking of benefit concerts, Clay Walker's second annual "Chords of Hope" show will be at the Wildhorse Saloon on March second. It raises money and awareness for Multiple Schlerosis, which Clay suffers from. Call 615-902-8211 for tickets.

Here's how they received Taylor Swift in Singapore for her opening concert in the "Speak Now World Tour 2011." Ten thousand fans camped out for 24 hours outside the Singapore Indoor Stadium to be sure of getting in. The 90-minute show included two stages, huge video screens and lots of set and costume changes. After the show, Taylor tweeted, "That show ruled! Thank you, Singapore. My band and I love you. And your dancing and jumping and singing and screaming! Good times." Tennessean.com has a photo gallery of the show.

Little Big Town was on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, and performed a song exclusively for the web. Check out "Shut Up Train."

Andy Griggs is performing as part of the Daytona 500, the first time he's ever been to that race. He has a new song he'll be singing...check it out...

Yes, that IS Lee Brice singing "Love Like Crazy" in your local McDonald's. He's part of the chain's new video entertainment screens, and his music is also about to be featured on all Continental Airline flights. Between March 1 and April 30, several songs from his debut album will play for passengers with headphones.

Congrats to Jason Aldean, who has the #1 country album this week. His "My Kinda Party" knocks Taylor Swift's "Speak Now" out of the spot it has held since being released late last year.

Happy birthday to Lionel Cartwright, who turns 51 today.

The tweet of the day is from Terri Clark: "I did not leave the door open when I left Canada. It was not me. Nashville is a snowy disaster...stay home everyone."

Today's Country Tidbits

A huge congrats to Lady Antebellum on first-week sales of their sophomore album. "Need You Now" sold nearly half a million units, giving them the biggest first-week sales of any country album since Taylor Swift first released "Fearless" in November of 2008. It also puts them firmly atop not just the Billboard Country Album chart, but also atop the all-genre Billboard 200.

Newly married Charles Kelly of Lady A has a running joke with his wife. She pretends not to watch the end of the "Need You Now" video, where he kisses another woman. It's tough to be a big star's spouse!

Lee Ann Womack has been on the road with George Strait and Reba. They play Friday night and Saturday night, and are home on Sunday for the Superbowl. Is she planning to celebrate football with America? Lee Ann says she doesn't even know who's playing, but they'll probably have some people over, have too much food, and if she gets her way, about halftime, the guitars will come out, the volume will be muted on the tv, and the Superbowl party will turn into a guitar pull. That wouldn't fly at my house!

Carrie Underwood makes her Hollywood Bowl debut on October 2nd. She'll do the Los Angeles show with the Hollywood Bowl orchestra. Tickets go on sale on Valentine's Day.

Trisha Yearwood and Paula Deen spent yesterday together, filming an upcoming episode of Paula's show on the Food Network. They made jalepeno hush puppies, undoubtedly a recipe from Trisha's upcoming cookbook. No word on an air date for the episode yet.



Who will be the new Simon Cowell on American Idol? Well, if current judge Kara Dioguardi has her way, Garth Brooks or Vince Gill. She'd like to see someone from country music with a big personality and big opinions take Simon's place. One problem...country artists are too nice to be like Simon!

The music sounds like there could be a dangerous shark on the prowl. The visuals look like a huge party is going on. Is it a disaster about to happen? Nah, it's just Luke Bryan's way of promoting his "Spring Break 2: Hangover Edition" release on iTunes. If the party looks fun, head over to Luke's Facebook page and enter to win a spring break crash pad.

The Ellen Degeneres show will feature Taylor Swift's "Grammy-Cam" video on today's show. It was supposed to air yesterday, but they pushed it out a day.

Happy birthday to Clint Black, who turns 48 today.

Today's Country Tidbits

Word's out that Taylor Swift will sing "Today Was a Fairytale" on the Grammy Award show next Sunday night. In the first 24 hours it was available on iTunes, it was downloaded almost 100,000 times. Wow...she's one-fifth of the way to Gold in one day! It was the most she's ever sold on release day...so far.

Meanwhile, Luke Bryan's song, "Do I" has just been certified Gold for sales of more than 500,000.

Tonight's the night - country music's dream team tour hits the road in Baltimore. George Strait, Reba and Lee Ann Womack. No matter what you have to pay for a ticket, you'll get your money's worth!

Gonna be in Nashville on February 2nd? You might get to see a concert for free. For the new Tim McGraw movie, "Love Don't Let Me Down," there'll be a concert scene shot at the Municipal Auditorium. Tim won't be performing, but the Lost Trailers will be, along with Gwyneth Paltrow, Leighton Meester and Garrett Hedlund. If you'd like to be an extra, you need to be at least 18 years old, and the film producers would love for you to put on your best country concert duds.

And oh, to have been in Nashville for this surprise show - Dierks Bentley, who's working on a bluegrass album in addition to a mainstream country one, stopped by the Station Inn to gig with the Infamous Stringdusters, an amazing bluegrass band. He recorded a song with the 'Dusters for their upcoming cd, "Things That Fly." Don't be surprised if they guest on his bluegrass project - Dierks is known for pairing with not-so-well-known-but-really-talented artists on his cds.

Days before the official release, the new Lady Antebellum album is available for you to listen to, free. Might not be there long, so check it out quickly!

Got six minutes? Check out Five Questions with Luke Bryan.

Been a while since Lonestar has put out any new music, but there's some on the horizon. "Party Heard Around the World" hits the streets April 27th, and is their 10th album. It includes all of the original members except Richie McDonald, who left for a solo career. Cody Collins is his replacement, and has been part of the band since 2007.

On the walk across America with Jimmy Wayne, he's got Tennessee behind him and is in Arkansas now. Yesterday afternoon, he tweeted, "Wow! A homeless man pullN a grocery cart stopD me & said "I heard about U; if I had sum $ I'd give 2 U b/c its a good cause" wow wow wow wow"

Keith Urban's Ellen show re-airs today, and tonight, don't miss (how can you??) the Hope for Haiti telethon, with Taylor Swift, Keith Urban, Kid Rock and Sheryl Crow.

Here's how country folks roll...we are the first to help when someone's hurting. If you're wanting to help the Haitian people recover from a disaster at least as big as Katrina, one thing to remember is that scamsters come out at times like this. Here are the safe ways to donate money - you can give $10 to the massive relief effort in Haiti by texting DISASTER to 90999. You can also call 800-Red Cross to donate, or the Catholic Relief Services at 888-277-7575. Both of these organizations are already in Haiti, working to recover trapped survivors, tending to the injured and helping to bury the dead. Give as much as you can, and thank you.

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 music tidbits...

Check out Sugarland getting pranked from a front-row view. At a show last week, strippers interrupted the show, and it's wonderful to see how Jennifer Nettles handled the whole thing.

Lee Ann Womack has launched a free fan club, The Lee Ann Womack Country Music Appreciation Society And Social Club. "I had a fan club when I first started, and then I quit having it because I never felt comfortable taking money from people to be a fan," Womack says. "It's totally free, but you have to agree to my rules, which I think are pretty funny." For example, members are required to admire Lee Ann’s shoes, either in person or on the comments page, refrain from commenting about her not-tall stature and try to attend her concerts and meet & greets when they’re near you.

And in more LeAnn news, LeAnn Rimes will be doing some manual labor today. LeAnn with one "e" was the 2009 recipient of The Home Depot Humanitarian Award at April's 44th Annual Academy of Country Music Awards, so will help build a playground today at Spring Valley Apartments in Murfreesboro. Joining her on the one-day build are volunteers from The Home Depot, Academy of Country Music, KaBOOM!, the United Way of Rutherford and Cannon counties and Murfreesboro community members. Go to Tennessean.com today starting at 10:30 a.m. central time to see live streaming video from the build.

Luke Bryan on songwriting: “That's my inspiration -- trying to speak to a people. I want people to hear my songs and be like, 'Yeah, that guy is just like me."

The only song on “American Ride” that Toby Keith didn’t have a hand in writing is the title cut, which is currently #1 on the charts, proving he can pick ‘em as well as he can write ‘em.

Tube Check : (10/7): Rosanne Cash, Late Show with David Letterman (CBS); Miranda Lambert, Bonnie Hunt Show (syndicated); Toby Keith, Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien (NBC).