Taylor Swift is working to top her Speak Now Tour with the Red tour, which kicks off next March. Tickets for some of the dates went on sale last Friday and even the stadium shows sold out in mere minutes. About what she has in store for her fans, Taylor says, “The next tour I really just want it to be even more entertaining than the last one. Which is going to be hard because we had a lot of stuff going on, on the Speak Now Tour. It was a tour that I was so proud of – and I always will be. So I’m trying to figure out what to do with this tour to make it different and a spectacle – but a different kind of spectacle.”

Carrie Underwood has a new song out called “Two Black Cadillacs,” and it’s causing quite a stir. The song is dark, almost sinister, and has been compared to an iconic Reba hit: “There’s a lot [laughs]—there’s a lot to be left to the imagination, and I love that. We don’t—we don’t go into too much detail, but I’ve heard it described umm like ‘The Night The Lights Went Out In Georgia’. People keep bringing that one up, and I’m like ‘Yeah, it is a story like that!’ You wanna listen more to it, you wanna find out what happens.” Her “Blown Away” tour stops in St. Louis tonight, then takes a break for Thanksgiving.
Justin Moore is working on new music, and thinks his fans will like what they hear: “I love traditional country music, always have and always will. That’s what I grew up on and I’m always gonna try to do my part to keep that music alive, for not only the generations who grew up on it when that’s all there was, but also trying to keep it out there for the coming generation so that it’ll continue to be relevant down the road.” No word on when the new album will be out, especially since his latest hit song from his gold-selling sophomore album, “Til My Last Day,” is doing so well on the country music charts. 
Taylor Swift may have picked up more than just a couple of awards Sunday night. It looks like she and Harry Styles of the band One Direction could be an item. Harry was hanging out with Taylor’s mom during rehearsals and he and Taylor were spotted holding hands on the set of The X Factor when Taylor performed there last week. 
Yes, Hunter Hayes traveled with Taylor Swift, opening her show on the Speak Now Tour, and he loved every minute of it. Yes, the two did interact, did talk about writing together, but didn’t date, and if you ask Hunter if there’s a song about him on her new album, Red, Hunter says, “Ah that’s funny. No probably not. I didn’t hear any songs about opening acts. I didn’t hear any of that. So I would probably guess no.” 
Kristian Bush of Sugarland bought his bandmate Jennifer Nettles what he describes as the perfect baby gift. Dubbed “the Miracle Blanket,” it is supposed to help new babies sleep deeper and longer, allowing their parents to get more rest, too.

Brad Paisley is in the studio, working on his next album and worrying just a little bit about what the fans will make of it: “It’s kinda refreshing that I haven’t had a song on the radio for a couple months and in that sense it’s kinda nice to know that whatever is bubbling right now is the next thing I’ll hand them. And there’s both a pressure and a freedom in that. And so, I’m really more thinking about that. I’m thinking about things like what can I do that’s unique that I’ve never done musically.” 

Sure, you may think that Tim McGraw and Faith Hill live a glamorous life, but with back-to-school season upon us, you might be surprised to find that in at least one way, their life is a lot like yours. With three daughters, they spend a lot of time in the car, though oldest daughter Gracie has her learner’s permit. “Next year, she’ll have her full on license. The bad part is it’s a whole other set of nerves, but the good part is it cuts down on our taxi service a little bit. [Faith] Exactly! Being the taxi service isn’t glamorous at all. I’ve tried to make it, going to the studio… [Tim] How many days or hours do you spend in the car when you’re a parent? [Faith] Oh my goodness!”

Jennifer Nettles is pregnant with her first baby, due in November. She and Kristian Bush are on tour, and Jennifer’s first order of business in every new town is to find the best Mexican food. That’s what she’s craving – everything from salsa to black beans to fish tacos, as long as it’s Mexican. She normally watches her calorie intake but says that “it’s pretty much a free-for-all at this point.”
 

Another incident with autos, alcohol and authorities happened to Randy Travis this week. Tuesday night around midnight, officers responded to a report of a man lying in the middle of the road. They found Randy Travis, completely naked, intoxicated and with minor cuts and bruises, his car off the road nearby, wrecked in the midst of a construction zone. Thankfully, there was no construction going on at the time of the crash, so no one besides Randy was hurt in the incident. In addition to drunk and disorderly, public indecency and other charges, Randy has been charged with “retaliation,” because he threatened to shoot and kill the troopers after they placed him in the police vehicle. He bonded out of jail Wednesday morning, and had to have someone bring him clothes to wear home, because apparently he was naked when he started driving his car. He had to be given clothing to wear for his mug shot. In February of this year, Randy was arrested on suspicion of public intoxication in the parking lot of a church in Texas.

 

Curb Records is celebrating 50 years of success by putting 50 titles on sale for $5.99. C’mon, you know 50 cents would be too good to be true! Grab albums from LeAnn Rimes, Wynonna, Tim McGraw, Jo Dee Messina, Hank Williams, Jr., Clay Walker, Lee Greenwood and lots more. Search “Curb 50” on iTunes to see the whole list.

Zac Brown Band sits atop the country music album charts for the 4th week in a row with “Uncaged.” How does that make Zac feel? “It is dead center right down the middle for people who like our other music. I feel like it’s the best record we’ve made so far. I feel like we’re a better band now. I feel like we’ve just continued to improve and I feel like it’s – I really do feel like it’s the best record we’ve ever made.”

Miranda Lambert is on the Ellen DeGeneres Show – it’s a rerun.

Today's Country Tidbits

What did you do – and what did you think about – on Independence Day? The 4th of July evokes a lot of memories and emotions from country artists. Here are some of them…

Dierks Bentley: “The definition of America to me is getting the chance to travel across the county in a tour bus, stepping on stages, whether it be county fairs, state fairs, arenas, rock bars, the Opry stage - anywhere across this county and looking across the crowd and seeing the people. The people to me are what America is all about.”

Tim McGraw: “Country music, baseball, trucks – look from where I came from, the small town I grew up in, the situation I grew up in – I don’t think there’s any other country in the world that I could have had the success I had, and come from where I come from.”

Jay DeMarcus of Rascal Flatts: “I used to watch my Uncle Jimmy light firecrackers and then hold them until they got down to the end and toss them. You’ve got to throw it. You can’t hold it that long. You’ve got to throw it sooner than later. I was about 12 years old when it went off in my hand. Oddly enough my fingers were numb for a few minutes, but it didn’t do any damage.”

Carrie Underwood: “America really is, you know, the land of opportunity. It’s the only place in the world that I could try out for some show and win and…amongst hundreds of thousands of people…and go on to do great things. I mean, it’s just the land of ‘anything could happen.’ The people in it are what makes it great.”

Eric Church: “The Fourth of July growing up for me, we would always go on the lake. We didn’t live on the lake, but we would always go to the lake. I had a buddy who had a pontoon. We would always get on the pontoon - you’d go out and tie all of the pontoons together and just have a big time.”

Jake Owen: “Some of my favorite Fourth of July memories were spent on Lake Blackshear down in Georgia with all of my family. I was always in charge of driving home from Tennessee and picking up all of the fireworks. My nieces and nephews always got excited when I rolled in because they knew I had all of the fireworks, but it was always a great memory and I miss not getting to do that as much as we used to.”

Andy Griffith, the star of Matlock and The Andy Griffith Show, passed away on Tuesday, and country artists mourn the loss. Two who worked with him, Brad Paisley and Randy Travis, weigh in with their thoughts on the loss of an icon. According to Brad, “You know, when you think of ‘Andy Taylor,’ the character that Andy Griffith played on the show, he was the ultimate sort-of stand up guy. He was the guy you could count on. If he gave you his word, he was gonna keep it. If he, you know...he was trustworthy, he was a good dad to his son, he passed on great lessons and every show pretty much had a great message.” Brad asked Andy Griffith to help him out on the 2008 hit, “Waitin’ On A Woman.” Brad said, “He’s my favorite TV character of all time, and to be able to take that guy and not only honor the song with his presence, but in some ways honor him. He’s just as proud of it as I am. It’s just a great thrill for me.” Randy Travis worked with Andy Griffith, and talked about working with him: “I got to know him personally while working on Matlock. I actually did two episodes two years, back to back, and I found him to be one of the nicest, easiest to like, down to earth man I ever met in my life. So it was just an incredibly good experience for me.”

Charles Kelly of Lady Antebellum pranked Darius Rucker during the final show of their tour. Darius closes his set with Prince’s “Purple Rain,” and Charles, all decked out as the tallest Prince impersonator ever, showed up on stage to help. Watch him crack Darius up…



Sugarland is offering one fan the chance to join them onstage August 9th and sing “Baby Girl” at the Sturgis Buffalo Chip motorcycle rally. You have to post a video of yourself singing the song and complete an entry form on their website. Good luck!

If you were part of BamaJam last month, you helped do good deeds in the Wiregrass area. BamaJam 2012 is donating $25,000 to 17 area organizations as a way to thank the southern Alabama region for supporting the annual music festival.

Congratulations to Phil Vassar, who has been named Distinguished Virginian by the Virginia Association of Broadcasters. A native of Lynchburg, VA, Phil has distinguished himself as a successful singer/songwriter and has a man cave full of awards. This latest one honors him for substantial contributions to the wellbeing of Virginia, it’s citizens and the broadcast industry.

Today's Country Tidbits

Sugarland has put it "In the Hands of the Fans" for their tour, which kicks off April 5th in Toledo, OH. Fans can text, tweet, Facebook and call in song requests, which will determine the set list for each show. Jennifer Nettles says, "If it’s on one of our records or if we’ve played it on stage it is fair game.” Lauren Alaina and Canaan Smith will be along for the ride.

Dr. Seuss' "The Lorax" opens as an animated movie tomorrow, and Taylor Swift plays the part of Audrey. She thinks people will love the story, saying, “I think my fans and anybody will love The Lorax because it’s just got this magical essence to it. I mean, there’s something...there’s something so insane about the story. There’s such loss, but there’s such hope at the end of it. And that’s always been my favorite thing about this story.” Betty White, Danny DeVito, and Zac Efron also voice characters in the movie version of the classic children's book. Taylor won't be in the states for the movie opening tomorrow - she's in Australia, taking her "Speak Now World Tour" down under.

In Taylor gossip, not news, one online celebrity-watcher site has spotted Taylor Swift and Tim Tebow together twice in the past week.

Keith Urban is still in Australia filming "The Voice," but wanted to celebrate his second week at #1 with "You Gonna Fly." He arranged for a Nashville-area high school marching band to go to the Capitol Nashville building and march through it, playing "You Gonna Fly" for everyone who helped get it to #1. Here's video of the band learning the song and taking it to Capitol...

Tim McGraw and Faith Hill are in Australia, and while Faith was sound-checking, Tim showed off one of his hidden talents...

Joe Don Rooney is excited that Jay DeMarcus and his wife Ali are having a boy. Joe Don has it all planned out: “[Joe Don] I think I wanted Jay to have a boy just...you know, just because he’s got a little girl and just experiencing that boy bond is really special. And, you know, I needed Jagger to have a duo partner. So, maybe he’s got one now. [Jay] They’re gonna start rehearsing as soon as mine’s out of the womb. [Joe Don] And the other thing is, Britney could be the lead singer, so... ‘cause Gary’s daughter can sing like a bird.” Boy DeMarcus is due August first, and the new Rascal Flatts album, "Changed," will be here April 3rd.

How did Sara Evans react when the guys from Rascal Flatts gave her a Jeep as a tour gift? Let her tell it: “So I – I got them a really nice watch and I’m like ‘Oh my gosh I am so sweet I mean they probably didn’t get me anything.’ And I’m, just was so proud of myself for getting them these watches and my manager says you know Gary, Jay, and Joe Don want to come and give you a gift. And I am like ‘Oh that’s just because I got them the watches, that’s sweet. You know, they’re probably going to give me some flowers or something.’ They come on the bus and he holds up a keychain, an Alabama keychain with a key on it. And I – I feel like I was such a dork because I didn’t, I was in shock I’m like ‘I gave you a watch.’”

Do you watch horse races? If you're a Toby Keith fan, be sure to watch the Kentucky Derby the first Saturday in May and root for "Reckless Jerry." That's Toby's horse from his Dream Walkin' Farms.

Zac Brown Band's tour sponsor, Jack Daniels, has enlisted the guys to do a couple of tv commercials for them:

Professional Bull Riders will use Ronnie Dunn's new song, "Let the Cowboy Rock" in their promotional campaign this year.

The tweet of the day is from Blake Shelton: "Folding the third pile of laundry Miranda has handed me tonight... This is bull!! Clothes should be disposable like toilet paper!!!"

Today's Country Tidbits

Amid the tragic loss of life and devastating injuries caused when the stage at the Indiana State Fair collapsed in August, two Indianapolis women tried to get money that they didn’t deserve. According to the state prosecutor, Stephanie Murry and Sandra Hurn both filed claims for settlements from the State Fair Remembrance Fund and the Indiana Tort Claim Fund, even though neither of them was at the Sugarland show that night. Heck, according to court records, they weren’t even at the fair! Both face lengthy jail time, if convicted.

DoSomething.org is out with their annual year-end list of Celebs Gone Good. The list recognizes stars who give of their time and talents to help others, and this year, several country stars show up on it. Taylor Swift is there – this year, she gave over a million dollars to charitable causes and did a benefit concert for tornado relief after the bad spring storms in the Southeast. Blake Shelton and Miranda Lambert made the list, too, Blake for his work with tornado relief efforts and wife Miranda for her work with the Mary Kay Ash Foundation.

Congratulations to Vince Gill and Amy Grant, who have been named Tennesseeans of the Year by the Tennesseean newspaper. In bestowing the honor, the paper noted: “Amy Grant and Vince Gill not only make a meaningful impact on the global stage through their music, but their philanthropy also helps people throughout Tennessee. Their years of charity work reached a crescendo in 2011, from St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital and American Red Cross to the Mental Health Association of Middle Tennessee and many, many more causes."

Lee Greenwood will be part of a tribute to fallen war heroes tomorrow at the Valero Alamo Bowl in San Antonio. He’ll perform the National Anthem and sing “God Bless the USA” before the game between the Washington Huskies and the Baylor Bears. The event will be especially poignant to the 2011 Valero Bowl Chairman and team physician for the Spurs, Dr. David Schmidt, whose son died not long ago while serving in the Marines.

Jake Owen is part of the pre-game fun at the Orange Bowl on January 4th from Sun Life Stadium in south Florida. He’s the headliner for the Bud Light Orange Bowl Game Day Fan Zone. The Voice winner Javier Colon will also be part of the show.

It’s always interesting to follow a conversation between two stars on Twitter. In the wee hours of this morning Martina McBride and Sarah Buxton were chatting about David Nail’s current (headed for #1) hit, “Let it Rain.” Sarah Buxton sings on it with David and the blend of their voices is so magical that Martina was gushing to Sarah about how good she sounds. The conversation turned into a mutual admiration society, so don’t be surprised if Martina and Sarah team up on something one of these days.

Happy birthday to Diamond Rio’s Marty Roe and Joe Diffie, who both turn 51 today.

The tweet of the day is from Kellie Pickler: “My grandpa got me a radar detector for Christmas. Think he's trying to tell me something?? ;)”

Today's Country Tidbits

Dave Haywood of Lady Antebellum has decided that Charles Kelley and Hillary Scott must be on to something with their significant others, so he decided to join the club. Monday night, Dave proposed to his longtime friend/girlfriend, Kelli Cashiola, and she said yes. Who could have refused such an inventive proposal - Dave strung Christmas lights all over the front of her house, spelling out the words "will you marry me." He picked her up from work, drove her around until it was dark enough, then blind-folded her and drove to her house for the big reveal. No date for the wedding has been released, though it's assumed that it will be after Hillary Scott and fiance, Chris Tyrell, marry this winter.

Blake Shelton is preparing for his "2012 Well Lit and Amplified" tour, Miranda Lambert is working on her "2012 On Fire" tour, and Blake's deep into filming season two of NBC's hit tv show, The Voice, in LA. Miranda visits him there, but they're not thinking about buying a house there just yet. According to Blake, “I just rent houses out there. It keeps me from having to say that I live in Los Angeles. I just, something about that, even though I love that town and I have fun out there, I don’t want to...I’m still an Okie.” The couuple has purchased land in Oklahoma and intend to build their "together" home there. Neither one is willing to sell their own properties in the Sooner State.

Blake Shelton isn't the only country artist inviting fans to cruise with him in 2012. Rascal Flatts will play a show on board the Norwegian Spirit, departing New Orleans on February 26th. The show will happen on March 2nd when the ship is docked in Cozumel, Mexico. Tickets for the concert range from $50 to $150, with those springing for the top tier being invited to a private cocktail reception and photo op with the trio. Check with your travel agent if you'd like to be aboard for the fun.

Songs written by Zac Brown and Brad Paisley are up for Oscars for Best Original Song. Zac and Wyatt Durette, Drew Pearson and Anne Preven collaborated on "Where the River Goes" for the Footloose soundtrack, and Brad teamed up with Robbie Williams for "Collision of Worlds" for the Cars 2 soundtrack. There are 39 songs nominated in the category, competing for the final nominations, which will be announced on January 24th. The Oscars will be handed out February 26th.

Trying to get into the holiday spirit? Sugarland's Kristian Bush and Jennifer Nettles suggest their favorite Christmas shows: "[Kristian] You have to have watched ‘Rudolph The Red Nose Reindeer’ in claymation—whatever that is—the Burl Ives bit. [Jennifer] For me, it is usually ‘A Christmas Story’—you know the one ‘you’ll put your eye out with a B-B gun.’ Isn’t that what it’s called? [Kristian] Oh yeah, yeah…that’s got the leg lamp. [Jennifer] Oh yes, the leg lamp. I love this movie. I love everything about this movie. It is the perfect Christmas movie!” Jennifer is spending her first married Christmas with new hubby, Justin Miller - they wed last month.

Martina McBride's adoption special, "A Home for the Holidays," is on CBS tonight.

Happy birthday to Freddie Hart, who is 85 today, Lee Roy Parnell, who turns 55, Brad Warren of the Warren Brothers, who is 43 and Eric Gunderson of Love and Theft, who turns 27.

The tweet of the day is from Terri Clark: "The best free lunch is the one I just had tasting every sample at the grocery store. Makes for a nice meal. They threw me out."

Today's Country Tidbits

Sugarland played the concert for the Nobel Peace Prize winner yesterday, and shared their view of the audience from backstage at the event in a Twitter photo...

Tim McGraw's new Christmas song, "Christmas All Over the World," is available as a free download. Tim says "I'm very appreciative of the support my fans have given me over the years, and I wanted to say 'thank you' to them with this new holiday song."

Yesterday in Washington DC, The Band Perry performed during a taping of Christmas in Washington at the National Building Museum. The First Family was in attendance, and TBP performed "I'll Be Home for Christmas." The show will air this Friday night on TNT. And The Band Perry's 12 Days of Christmas giveaway starts today on their Facebook page. Good luck!

Amazon.com's Best Country Albums of 2011 list is out, and Lady Antebellum's "Own the Night" tops it. Filling out the rest of the top 5 are Luke Bryan's "Tailgates & Tanlines," Martina McBride's "Eleven," Toby Keith's "Clancy's Tavern" and Scotty McCreery's "Clear As Day." Lady Antebellum also owns the #1 slot on the Best Country Songs of 2011.

iTunes has weighed in with their end-of-year list of the best country album, song and breakthrough artist of the year. For Album, Jason Aldean takes it with "My Kinda Party," for song, Thompson Square wins with "Are You Gonna Kiss Me or Not" and the Breakthrough Artist is Eric Church. Jason Aldean is just hanging on for the ride: “You know it kind of all started with the release of ‘Wide Open’ album and ‘She’s Country’. Everything just kind of snowballed and went right into this album, too. And with ‘Dirt Road Anthem’ and the duet with Kelly, things just kind of exploded for us over the last couple years, so it’s been fun. It’s been a fun ride.” And Thompson Square isn't resting on their laurels, either. Kiefer's dishing on their next cd: “We’ve got, you know, two or three-hundred songs to go through again and just make sure it’s all the right stuff. But, I think we got a few things good that we’re very, very happy with.”

And not to be outdone, Billboard Magazine put out their Year End Country Songs chart, and at #1 is Eli Young Band's "Crazy Girl." That's a love song, but according to the band, some people have a different idea of what the title means: “The funny thing about being on the road right now—we’ve got these ‘Crazy Girl’ bracelets—and we saw on Facebook not too long ago, there were these girls that had taken a picture of their bracelets and they called them ‘Warning Labels’ and we thought that was extremely appropriate."

National Public Radio has come out with their 50 Favorite Albums of 2011, and three country artists landed on the list: Ashton Shepherd's "Where Country Grows," The Civil Wars' "Barton Hollow" and Eric Church's "Chief."

Rascal Flatts' song, "Easy," has been certified gold.

Condolences to family, friends and fans of Bee Spears, Willie Nelson's bassist for over 40 years, who passed away last week. He fell outside of his Nashville-area home and died of exposure in the sub-freezing temperatures. Bee Spears was 62.

Congratulations to Zac Brown Band, who have yet another #1 song with "Keep Me In Mind." Is that nine #1 songs in a row for them? Why yes, yes it is! Let's run 'em down - "Chicken Fried,", "Whatever It Is," "Toes," "Highway 20 Ride," "Free," "As She's Walking Away," "Colder Weather," "Knee Deep" and now "Keep Me in Mind."

The tweet of the day is from Colt Ford, who must be feeling better: "I hope no one gets a photo of me eating these Nachos it is kinda messy I think I got Sour Cream in my ear how does that happen!"

Today's Country Tidbits

Taylor Swift has been working on her 4th studio album, and apparently she's always writing. Her plan is to write for two years, and then “At the end of the two years, I collect the best songs that say exactly what I wanted to say, how I wanted to say it, and then, that’s the album. It’s sort of a natural process and you hope for evolution along the way.” The new project should be released some time in 2012.

There's still room on the "Blake Shelton & Friends Cruise" happening October 14-21, 2012. Who are the friends, you might ask? Trace Adkins, Randy Houser, Justin Moore, Lee Brice, Jerrod Niemann, Easton Corbin and Neal McCoy. Jerrod got added to the line-up, probably for the fun factor. According to Blake, “Man, there is nothing more exciting than when I meet another artist that is just willing to go there with me. And, Jerrod is that other guy that I’ve met. I mean, he is not afraid to make an a** of himself, and neither am I. I love him, I really do. I think a lot of that guy, and I think he knows it.” You'll cruise the Caribbean aboard the Norwegian Cruise Lines "Pearl." Sure would make a great Christmas gift for the Blake fan on your list!

Update on Blake Shelton's dad - Blake tweeted his thanks for everyone's prayers and said that maybe he'll get out of the hospital tomorrow. Richard Shelton was hospitalized for pneumonia earlier this week.

The all-girl Pistol Annies, comprised of Miranda Lambert, Angaleena Presley and Ashley Monroe, have been on a west-coast tour and having a blast. According to Ashley, there's a special chemistry that comes from the three of them writing and playing together. “We all three have our own style of writing and our own experiences, but somehow or another they all, when they blend together, it really does create Pistol Annies music.” Pistol Annies and Miranda Lambert are the only country acts to make Rolling Stone's Top 50 Albums of 2011 list. Pistol Annies' are at #29 and Miranda's "Four the Record" is #31.

There's a party in Norfolk, VA on December 15th. Craig Morgan and about 150 volunteers will stuff care packages for troops as part of the 15th Annual Jack Daniel's USO Toast to the Troops. The day of work will be followed by a concert by Craig. This is his 6th time to participate, and he says it's one of his favorite events every year.

This weekend, Sugarland is performing in Oslo, Norway at the Nobel Peace Prize Concert.

Blake Shelton is on the Tonight Show tonight.

Happy birthday to Marty Raybon, lead singer of Shenandoah. Marty is 52 today.

The tweet of the day is a quote tweeted by Big Kenny of Big & Rich: "'America is a tune. It must be sung together.' - Gerald Stanley Lee"

Today's Country Tidbits

The ACA's were handed out on FOX last night, and Jason Aldean was the big winner, taking home six guitars. Toby Keith was named Artist of the Decade, and closed the show with "Red Solo Cup." Brad Paisley won Male Artist of the Year despite being the only winner not in attendance, and Carrie Underwood won three guitars. Here's the winner list from last night's show:

Artist of the Year: Jason Aldean

Male Artist of the Year: Brad Paisley

Female Artist of the Year: Carrie Underwood

Group of the Year: Lady Antebellum

New Artist of the Year: Scotty McCreery

Breakthrough Artist of the Year: Chris Young

Album of the Year: My Kinda Party, Jason Aldean

Single of the Year: "Voices," Chris Young

Single of the Year, Male Artist: My Kinda Party, Jason Aldean

Single of the Year, Female Artist: "Mama's Song," Carrie Underwood

Single of the Year by a Group: "Are You Gonna Kiss Me or Not," Thompson Square

Single of the Year, New Artist: "Are You Gonna Kiss Me or Not," Thompson Square

Single of the Year, Vocal Collaboration: "Don't You Wanna Stay," Jason Aldean and Kelly Clarkson

Touring Artist of the Year: Jason Aldean

Music Video of the Year: "Who Are You When I'm Not Looking," Blake Shelton

Music Video, Male Artist: "Who Are You When I'm Not Looking," Blake Shelton

Music Video, Female Artist: Carrie Underwood, "Mama's Song"

Music Video, Duo, Group or Collaboration: "Don't You Wanna Say," Jason Aldean and Kelly Clarkson

Music Video, New Artist: "Are You Gonna Kiss Me or Not," Thompson Square

Greatest Hits Award: Alabama

Artist of the Decade: Toby Keith

Blake Shelton was responsible for the most moving moment of the night when he spoke directly to his dad during his acceptance speech for Music Video of the Year by a Male Artist. “I want to say hi to my dad back home. He’s been having a pretty rough couple of weeks, and I know he’s watching tonight,” Blake remarked, straight into the camera. “I love you, Dad, and I dedicate this to you, man. Thank you.” No word on what kind of troubles Richard Shelton is having.

Lady Antebellum has the #1 song of the week with "We Owned the Night." Is it a love song? Not necessarily, says Hillary Scott: “It’s not so much about a romantic night to me, so much as just those nights that I remember growing up that were just like, you feel like you could just float off the ground, it was so much fun, and there was so much joy in it.”

Garth Brooks is in his third year of concerts in Las Vegas and is looking forward to being able to tour after 2014, when his youngest daughter graduates. About going out on the road then, he says, “I would love to tour again for the first time ever without guilt from being away from either your spouse or your children.”

Taylor Swift was given the Billboard Woman of the Year award last week in New York, and is the featured artist in this week's Billboard Magazine. She tells the reporter that her female musical heroes are Faith Hill and Shawn Colvin. Male musical heroes? Oh, yeah - Kris Kristofferson and Kenny Chesney. When you look at what she's accomplished, it's easy to see that she's learned a lot from her personal role models.

The readers of Country Weekly have voted Carrie Underwood "Country's Most Beautiful Woman." Also on the list are Reba, Taylor Swift and Shania Twain.

Wanna own a banner signed by Jennifer Nettles of Sugarland? This is a lamp-post banner promoting the CMA Christmas show, autographed by Jennifer. Sign up to win now. The drawing is on December 9th at noon Eastern.

Congrats to Scotty McCreery, whose debut album, "Clear as Day," has been certified gold by the RIAA.

Kellie Pickler is on "A Michael Buble Christmas" tonight on NBC, and Toby Keith's "Red Solo Cup" gets the Glee treatment. What does Toby think about the song? “It’s the stupidest song I’ve ever heard in my life. And the knuckleheads who wrote it I’ve known for years. I don’t have to go on board and say they are knuckleheads, they will tell you they are knuckleheads—the Warren Brothers. It is so good. It is so stupid and good.”

The tweet of the day is from Colt Ford: "I had to Cancel a show tonight for being Sick. This is a 1st for Me. I'm so Sorry Ya'll. I have the Flu and My Voice is Gone. I Love Ya'll!!"

Today's Country Tidbits

The American Country Awards are Monday Night, live from Las Vegas with Trace Akdins hosting. Krstin Chenoweth is the co-host, and it'll be a pretty extreme "Mutt & Jeff" look when both are on stage together, as she is tiny and he is not. Toby Keith will perform "Red Solo Cup" during the show, which happens at 8pm ET on FOX. The top 10 country artists based on airplay will be counted down during the show. Voting for Artist of the Year continues til the end of the day today, so hurry!

Now that Tim McGraw is free to record new music, he's gearing up to release something by the time he and Faith Hill tour Australia in March of 2012. Meanwhile, Tim's also working up a tour with Kenny Chesney. According to Kenny, “This started out, I think Tim and I were just gonna do one show together, and then, you know, we talked about it and decided, why not? You know? Let’s go and give the fans the best possible show that we can give them.”

The Band Perry is the only country act to receive an all-genre nomination for a Grammy Award this year. How do they feel about it? “You know, the first thing that we said actually when the nominations were read, ‘It’s just such a diverse group of artists!’ I’m so excited! And, The Band Perry of course, we’re representing country music in the category, but I’m just so amazed at the variety. We’re so excited to be a part of it!” They celebrated their success by going out for Indian food.

If you have a favorite country artist, chances are they have a Christmas giveaway going on. Here are the ones I've run across so far... Lady Antebellum ... Keith Urban ... Jo Dee Messina

Hugh Jackman, Russell Crowe, Anne Hathaway...Taylor Swift? Maybe - she's in the running for the part of Eponine in the musical Les Miserables. She's auditioned for the part, as have actresses Lea Michele, Scarlett Johansson and Evan Rachel Wood. No word on when the casting decision will be made or when the film version of the classic musical will be in theatres. Oh, and Taylor Swift has a new, more mature hairdo for the holidays...what do you think?

Miranda Lambert dished some secrets to Shape Magazine about how she keeps her weight in check. She says she doesn't have a planned diet, but focuses on healthy, nutritious choices in restaurants and fast food places. About her body, she told the magazine, “I don’t mind having a big butt – they’re back in style. But, I do a lot of squats to make sure my booty’s not dragging on the ground.”

What do Dierks Bentley and his band do in their time off on the road? Play with the local attractions and a video camera - classic western movie, anyone?

If you missed Sugarland and Lady GaGa on the Grammy Nominations Revealed special this week, here you go...

Kellie Pickler is readying a new cd, "100 Proof," for release January 24th. She says it harkens back to the country music she grew up loving, with influences like Dolly Parton, Loretta Lynn and Tammy Wynette.

Reba and Ella Mae Bowen are on the 2011 NASCAR Sprint Cut Series special on the Speed channel tonight. Reba's honored to be hosting the show, saying, “We’ve been in Racing 101 all year long. Shelby’s totally enjoying it. We’re lovin’ it. All the folks have been so sweet, kind and helping. They’ve just taken us under their wings and helped us to learn about the race and what we should do next. So many folks have been so sweet to help us. So it is an honor for me to get to be at the NASCAR awards.”

The tweet of the day is from Miranda Lambert: "Got a pig in the smoker, the beer on ice, all my Pistol Annies are coming over tonight!"

Today's Country Tidbits

There's activity at the site of Trace Adkins' former home, which burned down about 6 months ago. Trace and his wife Rhonda have begun the rebuilding process, and Trace says they've designed a relatively modest home, not a garish mansion. One indulgence being added - a swimming pool. Trace jokes, "I guess I'm finally going to be one of those snooty home owners that has a pool."

Looking for a unique gift for the country music lover in your life? Miranda Lambert, Taylor Swift, Keith Urban, Jason Aldean, Rascal Flatts, Sara Evans, Toby Keith, Lady Antebellum, Kenny Chesney and Garth Brooks have all teamed up with Charitybuzz to give fans VIP packages and memorabilia. The online auction ends today on some items, so better hurry!

Darius Rucker will be part of the 4th annual Grammy Artists Revealed showcase. The event will be held in New York City, and features artists who have shown musical excellence telling their stories and performing. Sort of like a guitar pull, but it includes musicians from all genres of music. You can win your way into the show, if you'd like to go.

Jake Owen had a party in Nashville yesterday, celebrating hitting #1 with "Barefoot Blue Jean Night."

If you were looking forward to seeing Faith Hill on the Rockefeller Center show tonight, sorry...she's cancelled the appearance, with no reason given at this point.

Jason Aldean, The Band Perry and Sugarland are on The Grammy Nominations Concert Live! tonight on CBS and The Civil Wars are on the Late Show with David Letterman.

The tweet of the day is from Jake Owen: "Cracked a beer. Popped some popcorn. Got a blanket. Victoria Secret fashion show is on. :)"

Today's Country Tidbits

Just once, wouldn't you love to see where Taylor Swift keeps all of her awards and trophies? She'll be honored tonight in Nashville at the CMT Artist of the Year event, taping tonight to air December 13th. Then later this week, she'll be honored at Billboard's annual Women In Music event, taking home the Woman of the Year award. Taylor decided to release a new single this week, too - the song she performed on the CMA Awards, "Ours," was released yesterday. What does the songwriter say about the song? “It’s about being in love with someone that, you know, people don’t necessarily think is a good idea, and everybody’s giving you a hard time about it, but you don’t really care. It says, ‘The stakes are high, the water’s rough, but this love is ours.’”

Darius Rucker will headline the Grammy Artist Revealed concert on December 13th in New York City.

It's a best-wishes, mazel-tov, happily ever after to Jennifer Nettles, who married her long-time boyfriend, Justin Miller, this past Saturday in the Smoky Mountains of Tennessee. The two have been an item for over two years. If you want to see him, check out the "Want To" video - that sleeping man in the bed? Yep, that's Justin!

More congratulations are in order - George Strait and his wife Norma will celebrate their 40th wedding anniversary on December 4th.

Dierks Bentley hopes that his new single, "Home," will become a uniting force in our nation. “The song is written in a way that’s open ended as far as how people want to—what they want to walk away with. I mean, I think it’s obvious it’s a song about our country and about the ups and downs and about the scars we have in our past, but at the end of the day, no matter what side of the fence you’re on, we all live here. I mean, you have to walk through the front door of your house every day. This is our house. This is our one country.”

Little Big Town has a version of "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" available on iTunes, and they're thinking about recording a Christmas album. About choosing holiday classics to cover, LBT says, “[Karen] It was hard. [Kimberly] We went through a ton of Christmas songs ‘cause we’re thinkin’ about makin’ a Christmas record, so this is like another start of a Christmas record. It’s so much harder...you think, ‘Oh, I’ll just pull together all my favorites,’ but when you start looking at the great classics and how you want to cover them and you don’t want to mess them up.” They won't, not with those voices!

December 15th is National Bill of Rights Day, and stars and students across America will be celebrating with a Free to Tweet contest put on by the First Amendment Center. Blake Shelton, a very free spirit on Twitter, will be taking part, as will Joe Nichols, Mary Chapin Carpenter and a bunch of other artists who use Twitter to express themselves. Students will vie for $5,000 scholarships by tweeting their thoughts and using the #freetotweet hashtag. The contest lasts all day long.

And now it can be revealed - Darius Rucker and Kris Kristofferson behind the scenes at the White House last week...

Vince Gill donated $12,000 to the Oklahoma Music Hall of Fame, to help fund the construction of a children's exhibit. The state's musical heritage will be the focus of the exhibit.

Congratulations to Lady Antebellum, who have the #1 song on the Billboard chart this week with "We Owned the Night." Jason Aldean tops the Country Aircheck Weekly chart this week with "Tattoos on this Town."

The tweet of the day is from Kellie Pickler: "That awkward moment when you bump into someone at a department store & say excuse me before realizing its actually a mannequin."

Today's Country Tidbits

Today is Veterans Day, and it's a day when we should take a minute to thank our military heroes who are willing to walk through fire for us. Country music artists know what we owe our veterans:

Dierks Bentley: “I think Veteran’s Day is something that happens once a year, but I think in the country community it really is something we are and need to be thinking about 365 days a year because those folks need us.”

Eric Church: “What I respect and admire is the sacrifice that those guys and girls go through for us to live the way they want to live too. And, again, I’m very thankful for the sacrifice that those guys endure. It’s something that’s always been very important to me and always will be.”

Craig Morgan: “There’s two things that are important in my life and that’s the security of my nation and the security of my family. The security of my nation comes first. Most people would not appreciate or understand that. But, without the security of this nation, I don’t have the security of my family...I can’t take care of my family. If it weren’t for those men and women there...stationed there and standing ready there, then we would be fighting terrorism at home on a much greater front.”

Kellie Pickler: “I get asked all the time, ‘Well, I don’t know how to...I can’t go to Afghanistan. What can I do?’ And it’s small things like saying thank you that make the biggest difference because it shows appreciation and it shows that you respect what they’re doing, regardless if you agree or disagree with what’s going on.”

It was Christmas in Nashville last night, as country's biggest stars lined up for the taping of the "CMA Country Christmas" special that will air December 1st on ABC. Some of the highlights of the show Jennifer Nettles hosts again this year include:

Sugarland performing a bi-lingual version of “Silent Night.”

Darius Rucker crooning “Winter Wonderland.”

Lauren Alaina sings “Grown Up Christmas List."

Vince Gill and Miss Piggy duet on “Baby, It’s Cold Outside.”

Scotty McCreery takes on “The First Noel”

Little Big Town belts out a bluesy version of “Santa Claus is Back in Town” with Keith Urban on guitar.

Rascal Flatts performed “White Christmas”

The show will close with all the stars back on stage, singing a medly of Christmas songs.

Jennifer Nettles of Sugarland was very frank with reporters backstage at the CMA Awards when asked about their next album. She replied, "We're in the writing – actually, we're in the resting process, let me be real frank. We just got off tour two weeks ago after two years of being on the Incredible Machine tour and after obviously quite a tumultuous year. We're taking a few months off just to chill, relax and sleep in our own beds and contemplate on how we want to approach what's next."

The ratings for this year's CMA Award show were bigger than last year's - the 35 million viewers topped last year's telecast by nearly 3 million viewers.

Did you miss Thompson Square on Jimmy Kimmel Live after the CMA Awards? Here you go...

Lady Antebellum kicks off their "Own the Night" tour tonight in Knoxville.

Steve Martin and the Lonesome River Band wll be on the Late Show with David Letterman and Billy Currington is part of the UNC vs. Michigan State game tonight on ESPN.

The tweet of the day is from Eddie Montgomery of Montgomery Gentry: "Well we didn't win and that sucks. me and t will just work harder for next year"

Today's Country Tidbits

If you have tickets for "All for the Hall" January 18th in Nashville, make other plans. Keith Urban has a polyp on his vocal folds that will require surgery later this month, and the show is postponed to an undetermined date in 2012, as are the rest of his concerts. Keith will be on complete vocal rest for weeks after his outpatient procedure at the end of this month. While he could still talk, he dished about the reason guitar stars Vince Gill, Brad Paisley and Keith will be performing a tribute to Glen Campbell on the CMA's next week. “I’ve always been a fan of what I like to call guitartists, you know, those guitar-artists like Glen Campbell -- who’s probably one of my biggest influences – those guys who knew a good song, had a great voice and played great, and just the all-around guys with a guitar, you know?”

Sugarland will perform "Run" with Matt Nathanson on the CMA show Wednesday night, and Jennifer says that tv makes them step up their game. “We definitely try to serve the, the song in its visual performance as well, and especially on television, because you, obviously, because people depend on that aspect of the performance a lot, in how it translates emotion.” Faith Hill will debut her new single on the show. "Come Home" will mark her first appearance on the show in five years.

New luminaries are being added to Wednesday night's CMA Award show. Presenters include Reba, Dierks Bentley, Billy Currington, Jake Owen, Kellie Pickler, Lauren Alaina and LeAnn Rimes. The show airs live at 8pm Eastern on ABC.

ABC always goes all-out to give country artists and country music it's due before the award show. Tuesday night, check out "In the Spotlight with Robin Roberts: All Access Nashville." Kenny Chesney, Keith Urban, Faith Hill, Scotty McCreery and Lauren Alaina will all be part of that show. Wednesday morning, Good Morning America goes star-studded with Brad Paisley performing live in front of Bridgestone Arena in Nashville.

The Billboard Touring Awards will be handed out next Thursday, and Kenny Chesney vies for Top Package with Taylor Swift and Usher. Jason Aldean is nominated in the Breakthrough category and Zac Brown Band's Eat & Greets are up against Taylor Swift's Speak Now for the Concert Marketing and Promotion award.

If you're ever invited to Darius Rucker's house on the weekend, what can you expect? If you get into the man cave, expect a media room like no other: “For me, my man cave is all about sports. I got six TVs in there. I’ve got a 65, and on top of that, I have two 48s and then under that, I’ve got two 36s, I think, and then I’ve got another 65 [inch] on another wall. Football Sunday and Saturday is pretty huge for me. I watch every game.”

Reba was joined by her opening acts for an encore - she, The Band Perry, James Otto, Edens Edge and Steel Magnolia all collaborated on Adele's song "Rolling in the Deep." Magical!

Garth Brooks was on the Tonight show, and Jay Leno's staff dug up Garth's first-ever television appearance...

Catch Lady Antebellum's Hillary Scott on the cover of the December issue of Redbook. In it, she talks about her life on the road with two guys and her upcoming marriage to another guy. Chris Tyrell and Hillary will be married some time in early 2012, but they're keeping the actual date to themselves.

Happy birthday to Delbert McClinton, who turns 61 today.

The tweet of the day is actually two tweets from Blake Shelton: "Just saw that "Over You" by Miranda is one of the top 5 most downloaded country songs right now... So proud. So unbelievably proud....Its odd.. Being this proud but at the same time wishing it never had to be written... I still miss my brother everyday. Every single day..."

Today's Country Tidbits

Rascal Flatts had a great night on Saturday - they were inducted into the Grand Ole Opry during the 86th birthday bash, aired live on GAC. Little Jimmy Dickens did the honors, and the band was surprised by a video message from President George W. Bush. He recognized their charity work and shared that he and Laura are big fans of the trio. Joe Gary LeVox waxed philosophical about the induction, saying “You have witnessed the greatest night of our lives!” Here's how it looked, in case you missed it:

Dierks Bentley had a great day yesterday, invading Chicago with another "Miles and Music For Kids" motorcycle ride and concert.

The remake of "Footloose" is opening this week, and the official video for the title song performed by Blake Shelton is out...wanna see?

At the "Footloose" premier in Nashville, Blake was asked about the baby rumors that are swirling around he and Miranda. Blake's response? “It’s not that—she’s not pregnant. You would actually have to touch each other once in a while for that to happen.”

Martina McBride is on a train trip across America, celebrating the release of "Elevens" tomorrow. Why a train? According to Martina, “I’ve always wanted to take a train trip. John and I have talked about it for years, taking a train trip, because I just think it’s…I don’t know, it’s just a cool kind of, um, old fashioned, romantic, you know, way to travel. And, so, it’s something I’ve always wanted to do.” The trip started in Los Angeles yesterday and arrives in New York Thursday, where Martina will turn the Empire State Building pink for the rest of October.

The lawsuits flying between Tim McGraw and his label, Curb Records, will have a hearing on November 29th. Tim wants to be able to record for another label while the details of his split with Curb are ironed out, and Curb doesn't want Tim to record anywhere but with them. A trial date of July 9, 2012 has been set for the breach of contract suit by Curb and countersuit by Tim seeking release from the label. Sounds like a really nasty divorce, doesn't it?

Sugarland is venturing back to Indiana, site of the deadly stage collapse this summer. Anyone holding a ticket from that show will get into the October 28th show at Indianapolis' Conseco Fieldhouse for free, and any seats remaining will be sold. This will be the final stop on the 2011 Incredible Machine tour.

Craig Morgan will host a gala in Washington DC tomorrow night. Field & Stream hosts an annual Heroes of Conservation recognition event, and the 2011 heroes will each receive a $5,000 conservation grant. One of those honorees will be named the Conservation Hero of the Year and be awarded a new Toyota Tundra.

We know Steve Azar can have a hit every now and then, but he's apparently even better at golf. While playing the Beacon School for Children Charity Celebrity Golf Tournament in St. Thomas, the Virgin Islands, he aced the 305-yard par 4 seventh hole. It was his 7th career hole in one.

Congrats to Brad Paisley and Carrie Underwood, who have earned platinum status with "Remind Me."

Happy birthday to Tanya Tucker, who turns 53 today.

The tweet of the day is from Brad Paisley: "Cashier:I'm a big fan. Me:thanks! Cashier:I love your music. Me: Thank ya. Cashier:Credit or Debit? Me: Credit card. Cashier: ID Please."

Today's Country Tidbits

Monday night in Nashville, stars will gather for the ACM Honors awards. Ronnie Dunn will be there, performing, and Reba will receive the ACM Career Achievement Award. It's to recognize an artist who has consistently help promote country music through their work, though Reba admits that she was a little fuzzy about it at first. “They said, ‘Well you…’ As a matter of fact somebody congratulated me on it…oh, Melissa Peterman. She texted me and she said, ‘Congratulations!’ I said, ‘What for?’ And she said, ‘Well you got the Career Achievement Award.’ I said, ‘What’s that for?’ and she said, ‘Well I don’t know, but they’re all tweeting about it. And so I really didn’t understand what it was, except, I guess an achievement for my career, so that was great!” Also getting hardware are Garth Brooks, who will be given the Cliffie Stone Pioneer Award, and Taylor Swift, who earned the Jim Reeves International Award.

If you get an email or see an online ad inviting you to visit a website to see photos of Carrie Underwood or learn shocking information about her, don't click that link! Carrie Underwood is #51 on the list of the most dangerous celebrities on the internet. No, she's not doing anythng wrong - cyber-criminals use her name and image to lure people into infecting their own computers with malware, viruses and trojan software. Practice safe surfing - if you don't recognize the source, don't click the link.

Brad Paisley, author. His book, "Diary of a Player," hits the streets November first. He and Rolling Stones writer David Wild co-authored the book, which describes how guitar masters from all genres of music shaped Brad's love of guitar playing. In Brad's words, “Nothing has changed my life like the fact that my grandfather gave me a guitar when I was a kid. For me, it’s my release. It’s this thing that has become such an integral part of my life and who I am. I don’t know who I’d be without it.” Brad got that guitar at age 8, by 12 was writing songs and at the tender age of 13, he was opening for stars like George Jones and the Judds.

Taylor Swift played an appreciation concert at the Target sales meeting in Minneapolis Wednesday. She re-wrote the song "Smelly Cat," a tune made famous by "Phoebe" on the tv show "Friends." Some of the lyrics include “You sell lots of things from food to Spanx. You also sell albums, and I wanna say, ‘thanks.’ Red shirts, khaki pants. Red shirts, khaki pants.” Oprah Winfrey, Tony Bennett and Beyonce were all there for the event.

Eric Church is happy to have a lighter-themed song out, after "Homeboy." "Drink in My Hand" was written on his tour bus. The inspiration? The fans. Eric says, “We were out on tour – I think we were on tour with Miranda at the time – and I was on the bus with a couple of co-writers of mine, and we had just walked offstage and saw the crowd, saw our fans and saw ‘em put their beers in the air. You could just tell that they had worked all week, and this was their moment to let all that wash away. And, that was where the title was born from really. ‘Everything’s OK now, I’ve got a drink in my hand, and I’m relaxing and I’m chilling.’” Eric's out with Toby Keith on the "Locked and Loaded" tour.

There's a Facebook page aimed at getting Sugarland as the Superbowl 2012 entertainment. Put up by a group of fans, they hope to influence the NFL's decision for halftime entertainment. They started "a flood of phone calls" yesterday. No word so far on whether the NFL will pay attention, but if you're a Sugarland fan and want to help, go like the page.

This week, Mark Wills was given the Patriot Award while performing at Nashville's Hard Rock Cafe. Operation Troop Aid gave him the honor to recognize him as an "artist/entertainer who goes above and beyond to demonstrate his/her support of our troops via visits abroad or at U.S. bases and facilities, performing before them, being actively involved in fundraising initiatives to support charities, organizations and causes that directly benefit the military men and women and their families." Hope they didn't have to engrave all that on the award...that's a mouth-ful!

Lady Antebellum is on the Ellen DeGeneres show today and on the Tonight show later on.

Happy birthday to Sonny Lemaire of Exile, who turns 64 today. David Bellamy is 61 and Terry McBride is 51.

The tweet of the day is from Big Kenny Alphin: "'The world is my country, all mankind are my brethren, and to do good is my religion.' -- Thomas Paine"

Today's Country Tidbits

The lawsuits and notices of impending lawsuits are starting to fly fast and furious after the stage collapse at the Indiana State Fair, and so far, they're all including Sugarland as defendants. Very sad, on so many levels... Meanwhile in Syracuse, NY, Sugarland fans brought signs to the show to make Jennifer and Kristian feel better. Thousands of them held up signs saying "Little Miss, Little Mister - it's alright, and it'll be alright again." Two schoolteachers organized the project, handing out 6,000 signs for the audience to raise when the song "Little Miss" came on.

Told you last week that Blake Shelton had to do a little cajoling to get what he wanted for the "God Gave Me You" video - wedding footage. Miranda took a week to say "yes" to its' use, and Blake is proud of the way the video turned out...

This might be the next single from Miranda's "Four the Record." Live in concert, here's "Mama's Broken Heart."

Friday night, Brad Paisley conjured up Carrie Underwood on stage to duet with him on "Remind Me." She wasn't really there, though - she's projected on a screen so she's about the same size as Brad, fooling a few people in the arena. By the way, Carrie says she wants to "tour her face off" next year, so maybe she and Brad will do this song live then. Meanwhile, enjoy the fan video of the virtual duet.

Saturday night in Washington DC, Toby Keith shared his pre-show ritual with a video camera.

Sunday night, Lady Antebellum performed the National Anthem before the Cowboys/Jets game. The entire tribute was wonderful, but Lady A capped it off perfectly.

Taylor Swift was in Vancouver Sunday night, and during her concert, she stopped to remember the 10th anniversary of 9/11. She performed Alan Jackson's beautiful "Where Were You When the World Stopped Turning," and those were the lyrics she wrote on her arm that night, too. This is an amateur video, but you get a feeling for how powerful the moment was.

Trace Adkins will be featured on "Invitation Only" on September 25th on CMT. Here's a sneak-peek of the session - "Just Fishin'"

Tags: Just Fishin' - From Invitation Only, Trace Adkins, Trace Adkins Videos

And while we're playing with videos, go "like" NRA Country's Facebook page to see Justin Moore doing their theme song.

A little behind-the-scenes info on Miranda Lambert's "Baggage Claim" - it features a couple of guests, Josh Kelley singing back-up vocals and rocker Steve Winwood on the Hammond B-3.

Last night at the Grand Ole Opry, stars turned out to celebrate George Jones' 80th birthday. Alan Jackson took the stage, singing "He Stopped Loving Her Today" and "Golden Ring" as a duet with Lee Ann Womack. Jamey Johnson, Montgomery Gentry, the Oak Ridge Boys and Pam Tillis were part of the fun, that included a possum-shaped birthday cake. The show was sold out, and George was grinning ear to ear when he took the stage for the happy birthday song.

The ACC has taken note of how much Dierks Bentley likes to party, and have invited him to perform at the ACC FanFest before their championship game on December 3rd in Charlotte.

John Rich and Big Kenny are touring, and post-tour, they'll be headed for a studio to record another Big & Rich album. Says John, “Kenny and I are swapping songs, swapping ideas, so I would say it's inevitable, it's coming. And it's not like people can pitch you songs for a Big & Rich record; our music is not like anybody else's stuff. It really is a meeting of the minds between me and Kenny, so it's just a process. But we're pumped about it, I can tell you that.” The tour runs through next month, and they're planning to be in the studio by December.

Pick up the latest issue of People Country to see how your favorite country stars live. Opening their homes for the photo feature are all three members of Lady Antebellum, Kenny Chesney, Reba, Brad Paisley, Sara Evans and more.

Tomorrow morning, catch Clay Walker on Fox & Friends.

Happy 52nd birthday to John Berry, and to Mrs. Brad Paisley. Kimberly Williams Paisley is 40 today.

The tweet of the day is from Martina McBride: "1 more thing before bed. My 6 year old lost her first tooth today! Sigh."

Today's Country Tidbits

The Country Music Association has a new award, and Kenny Chesney's keyboard player won it. The CMA Touring Musician Award goes to Wyatt Beard, who's been tickling the black & whites for Kenny for 14 years. The award was given on stage Saturday night at the closing show of the "Goin' Coastal" tour at Gillette Stadium in Massachussetts. According to Wyatt, "This is a once in a lifetime ride that I will never even comprehend for another 20 years or so. I try to enjoy the moment."

This year, the big NFL season kick-off concert secret seems to have leaked. Lady Antebellum and Maroon 5 are said to be the performers at the New Orleans/Green Bay game on September 8th. Also in the very detailed rumor, Kid Rock will be part of the show and Jill Scott singing the National Anthem. The NFL addressed the rumors this way: “When we have something to announce, we will announce it. Until then, this is all speculation with some great acts thrown in the mix.” If you check their tour schedules, not a single one of those acts is booked for anything else on 9/8. Hmmmmmm.....

Country music is generally family-friendly, but some artists take that a step further. Rodney Atkins brings his son Elijah with him on tour, and brings along the Super Mario game to keep him happy. Justin Moore takess his wife Kate and daughter Ella Kole along on tour, and loves the fact that tourmate Rascal Flatts' Gary LeVox likes to play with Ella. According to Justin, “It’s a lot of fun. I mean, those guys are great. Obviously they have kids, and I know Gary was playing with my daughter quite a bit. I think he’s got a soft spot in his heart for little girls. I know he’s got one or two, but yeah, it’s a kid-friendly tour so it’s a lot of fun.” Next summer's tour will be even more kid-friendly, since Ella Kole is about to get a little brother or sister in November.

Some people go all-out for their favorite country stars, but this could be a first - the owner of a corn field in Shelby, NC has sculped his acreage into a Jason Aldean corn maze. The maze will be open Septemer 17th through October 30th, and starting October 7th, it'll be a haunted corn maze. No word on whether Jason himself will be stopping by when he does a show in NC in two weeks.

Oh, yay for Brad Paisley and Carrie Underwood, and yay for me, too. Their duet, "Remind Me," hit the top of both of the major country music charts - Billboard and Country Aircheck - and that's great for them. As for me, if you'll remember last week I predicted it would be #1 this week, and if not, I'd eat crow. Phew...chicken for dinner tonight, please! It's Brad's 20th #1 song and Carrie's 14th.

Sugarland was on the Ellen DeGeneres show yesterday, performing "Stuck Like Glue."

Did you watch the Brad and Miranda video posted in yesterday's blog? If not, you missed their latest collaboration, so scroll down and check it out. Here's the rest of the story. Brad and Miranda are making an album together - Neal McCoy's album. They're producing it for him, "XII." It won't be out until January of 2012, but the first single, "A-OK," will be out in October.

In case you missed it, Miranda Lambert was on Dateline NBC last night, and in her conversation with Hoda Kotb, said about guns, "If it's legal in your state, I probably have one in my purse."

It was a hit last year, so it's happening again this year. The CMA Country Christmas tv special will tape November 10th at Bridgestone Arena, the day after the CMA Awards. Jennifer Nettles of Sugarland will host the show again this year, and it'll air on ABC during the holidays.

The show Punk'd is coming back this fall, with Justin Bieber as part of the first episode. He punk'd Taylor Swift in LA last week, so she's the season's first victim. No word on what the prank was, and a firm air date for that episode hasn't been announced yet.

Happy birthday to Kitty Wells, who turns 92 today.

Scotty McCreery is on Live with Regis and Kelly today.

The tweet of the day is from Sara Evans: "Sooo excited about football season! All the boys have started! Favorite time of year!"

today's country tidbits

People have called Tim McGraw and Faith Hill the Barbie and Ken of country music, and soon they'll be the country version of Barbie and Ken. Barbie Collector Editions is releasing a Tim and Faith collector edition of dolls to celebrate their 15th wedding anniversary. The dolls are on back-order until September first, but you can place your order now if you've got about $70 to spare.

Garth Brooks will be inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame on October 16th, along with Alan Jackson, in the Songwriter/Artist category. Songwriter honorees are John Bettis, Thom Schuyler and Allen Shamblin.

Alan Jackson will be part of the Washington National Cathedral three-day commemoration of the 10th anniversary of 9/11. "A Call to Compassion" will feature Alan as part of "A Concert for Hope" on Sunday night, September 11th. The Washington National Cathedral was the national gathering place for mourning, reflection and prayer in the wake of the tragedy, so it's only fitting that it serve as the place to honor the dead, address the need for more healing and raise awareness for the need to create a more hopeful world. "A Concert for Hope" will be broadcast live on ABC from 8-9pm Eastern time.

More details on why Alan Jackson will be inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame this October. He's either written or co-written 24 of his 35 #1 songs, plus other artists have taken songs he wrote or co-wrote to #1, too. Randy Travis owes "A Better Class of Losers" to Alan, and Clay Walker's "If I Could Make a Living" came from his fertile mind, too. His music is honest, straightforward and back-to-basics, which resonates with country music fans. It also resonates with those who give out awards - he's won Song of the Year honors from the CMA, ACM and Grammys, plus he was ASCAP's Country Songwriter of the Year in 1993, 1994 and 1998. ASCAP recognized Alan as the Country Songwriter/Artist of the Year in 2002, 2003, 2008 and 2009, and in 2010 that organization gave him the prestigous ASCAP Founders Award. The Nashville Songwriters Association recognized Alan as their Songwriter/Artist of the year in 1991, 1992, 2002, 2007 and 2008. From the award shows, he's garnered a total of two Grammys, 16 CMA awards and 17 ACM awards. But going into the Hall of Fame doesn't mean he's ready to retire - his new single, "Long Way to Go," is climbing the charts, and he says he feels energized now that he's working with EMI Records and releasing his albums on his own label, ACR, or Alan's Country Records.

Little Big Town lend their soaring harmonies to an oldie but a goodie - the Jackson 5's "I Want You Back" - in this week's Scattered, Smothered and Covered.

Have you seen the video to Sara Evans' new song, "My Heart Can't Tell You No?" It's a remake of the Rod Stewart hit, and Sara knew as she recorded it that it would be a single, as it's a song she believes is deserving of being widely heard.

Condolences to the family of Meagan Toothman, who was scheduled to be removed from life support yesterday afternoon after her organs were harvested. Meagan is the seventh victim of the stage collapse at the Indiana State Fair during Sugarland's tour stop there. Sugarland posted this video of the tribute they did last Thursday night...

Congratulations to Dierks Bentley, who lands the #1 spot on the country charts with "Am I The Only One." It's his 8th #1 song.

New music in stores today is by Pistol Annies. "Hell on Heels" is the debut cd of the trio, featuring Miranda Lambert, Ashley Monroe and Angaleena Presley.

Happy birthday to Ira Dean and to Becky Robertson of Carter's Chord.

Martina McBride is on the Today Show this morning.

The tweet of the day is from Jaron and the Long Road to Love: "when life gives me lemons I put em in my cervezas."