Hollywood tabloids are still buzzing about who the next American Idol judges will be, and two country artists’ names keep coming up: Brad Paisley and Keith Urban. There has to be a decision soon, as audition rounds are scheduled to start in just a couple of weeks. Word is the show is desperate to have a country artist…who will it be? Speaking of Brad Paisley, he’ll be playing a show in Paradise this fall – Atlantis resort in Nassau, to be precise, and he’ll be there November 18th. Save your pennies and make plans – that’ll be an event!

It’s seven in a row for Blake Shelton – 7 #1 songs, that is. His latest song, “Over,” from “Red River Blue” has topped the country chart, and Blake knows it’s they mystery, as well as the melody, that made it a hit: “That’s one of those that just—the energy and the melody had me. And it’s one of those lyrics that when you listen to it, you go, ‘Man, wait a minute, what?’ cause there’s lines in there about burning the world down and you could have a different melody, and it would be like a threat, that song…you know?” This marks Blake’s 12th career #1 song, proving he knows how to pick ‘em.

Still have some waiting to do before Jason Aldean’s next album comes out. October 16th is the magic day for “Night Train,” and Jason is as excited as you are: “I think something that we did with this album, I think we found some great songs on the record - some things that I think are kind of things that people are used to hearing from us. And then there’s also some things on there that are kind of different – like the last album. I’m really proud of it, I know there’s a lot of anticipation for this record from a lot of people, just because of what our last album did.” Jason’s road band plays on the album, and tour-mates Luke Bryan and Eric Church show up on one track, called “The Only Way I Know” and fans are haunting YouTube and Jason’s Facebook page for a sneak peek at that one. “Night Train” is the follow-up to Jason’s 2010 release, “My Kinda Party.”

Lee Brice’s latest album, “Hard 2 Love,” is out and Lee admits that the title cut takes a pretty hard jab at men: “If we’re gonna categorize people, if we’re gonna say all women are crazy, then we have to say all men, we’re all idiots. We just do stupid stuff all the time. And you’re like, ‘Why did you do that?’ and we’re like, ‘I have no idea why I did that.’ I’m an idiot.’ That’s the truth, you know it?” Ummmmm…no comment!

Jake Owen is excited to headline the CMT on Tour fall tour this year. Five years ago, he was the opening act when Sugarland headlined and Little Big Town had the middle slot. The line-up this fall will be Florida Georgia Line up first, Love and Theft in the middle slot and Jake Owen headlining. Tickets go on sale Friday.

There’s a new, star-studded version of Little Big Town’s “Pontoon.” Check it out and see if you can figure out who all the stars are…cheat sheet at the end of this blog post!



Chris Young has admitted to an addiction – to a game! “I’m addicted to Golden Tee. It’s a golf game you can find it in most any bar where you would also run into neons, and I am addicted to it. I actually custom-built a road case into a Golden Tee video game, like to the point that the guys from Golden Tee actually sent me a bunch of the equipment for it, and I had to, like, take a picture next to it and show ‘em the finished product.” Chris can celebrate the platinum status of his song “Tomorrow” and the gold status of “The Man I Want to Be” with a rousing game of Golden Tee, but will probably have a party, too.

Willie Nelson’s breathing easier, apparently, after cancelling a show Saturday night in Colorado. His show in Dallas Texas went off without a hitch last night, and his manager says the breathing issues that forced Saturday’s cancellation were altitude related.

Update on Wynonna’s husband, Cactus Moser, who had a head-on collision with a car as he was riding his motorcycle this past Saturday. He lost his left leg, which was severed above the knee and had surgery on one of his hands. Wynonna was on another motorcycle and wasn’t injured, but has cancelled shows in Canada next week to remain at his side in the hospital. Cactus was cited for not having a license to operate a motorcycle and driving on the wrong side of the road.

Congrats to the new crop of inductees into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame: Mary Chapin Carpenter, Tony Arata, Larry Henley and Kim Williams. The ceremony will be October 7th in Nashville.

(Here's your cheat-sheet for the Pontoon video: Carrie Underwood, Luke Bryan, Lady Antebellum, Darius Rucker, Pistol Annies, Jake Owen, Hunter Hayes, Sara Evans, Wynonna, Thompson Square, several CMT show hosts and many more.)

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

Kenny Chesney's sure going to be on stage a lot for someone who's not touring this year. He'll play the Houston Rodeo on March 4th - it's the first time in five years he's played that event. Other country acts performing include Alan Jackson (March 2), Dierks Bentley (March 3), Jason Aldean (March 6), Tim McGraw (March 8), Darius Rucker (March 9), Rascal Flatts (March 10), Brad Paisley (March 11), Toby Keith (March 12), Blake Shelton (March 13), Lady Antebellum (March 15), Keith Urban (March 16), Gary Allan (March 17), the Eli Young Band (March 19) and Brooks & Dunn (March 20). Meanwhile, Kenny Chesney is in the studio, working on a new crop of hits, and is in the final editing stages of his concert film, "Kenny Chesney: Summer in 3-D."

With a plot that sounds a bit like a soap opera, Tim McGraw and Gwyneth Paltrow are hard at work, filming "Love Don't Let Me Down" in Nashville. Tim's got a more intense and complicated role in this movie, where he plays the husband-manager of a washed-up country singer, played by Gwyneth. Another love interest crops up for her, and another beautiful young woman becomes entangled in the mess. The movie should be out sometime this fall. By the way, Tim is sporting a full beard for the part, and he says that the facial hair is driving him crazy.

Darius Rucker is about to hit the road with Rascal Flatts for the final leg of the American Living Unstoppable Tour. Watch for his cd sales to rise as a result - his show is hot!

Vince Gill is giving a big assist to Cupid this Valentine's Day, with the release of his "Love Songs" cd on January 26th.

Singer/songwriter Mary Chapin Carpenter has a new album ready for release. "The Age of Miracles" is due out on April 27th, with a tour to follow.

Gloriana will be on the Ellen DeGeneres Show today, performing, chatting and probably laughing a lot.