Today's Country Tidbits

Jason Aldean decided to see if his concert is big enough to sell out a stadium yet, and the answer is a resounding “yes.” Tickets for the August 5th concert at Columbus Ohio’s Crew Stadium are already sold out, well in advance of the show. It’s the first concert to sell out this far in advance in Crew Stadium History. Says Jason, “Columbus, Ohio, hope you’re ready to throw down with us!”

Rumors are flying that Carrie Underwood and Steven Tyler are going to do a duet for the next Aerosmith album. When asked about the truth to those rumors, Carrie is pretty coy: “I worked with him quite a bit in the past. We obviously have a great working friendship – working relationship. We look for opportunities to hang out together whenever we can. I’d never count anything out with us.”

The CMA Music Festival in Nashville is being blessed (so far, anyway!) with the best weather in recent memory. Bright blue skies, highs in the mid 80’s and not too much humidity are making for good times for the record crowd. Last night, Brad Paisley and Lady Antebellum performed at LP Field, and Brad Paisley explained the fans this way: “That’s what this festival is all about. These are the hardest core, of the hard core. They’re the people that come out – they’re the first to buy tickets to your concerts. They’re the first to buy your album. They don’t take any convincing. They love you sort of no matter what.” Lady A’s Charles Kelly says of the experience, “You’ll sit there and talk to them by name, give them a hug...I just can’t think of any other genre that has that kind of connection and people that come back the same time every year. You know where they’re gonna be. It’s really kind of a funny thing, you know? It’s really cool.” One of today’s highlights is a singing competition at the Caesars Entertainment Total Rewards booth in Fan Alley. The winner gets a trip to Las Vegas to see “Shania: Still the One.” Can’t be in Nashville today but still want a shot at the prize? You can enter online from June 18th through July 15th. Good luck!

Just when you thought there couldn’t be any more awards comes the 2012 Big Daddy Awards. Given out by a national prostate cancer awareness group, nominees include Keith Urban, Trace Adkins, Toby Keith, Darius Rucker, Tim McGraw and Brad Paisley. The winners will be chosen by your vote.

If you’re in or around Mobile, Alabama, be on the lookout for a movie set with a tall country star in the midst of it. Tracy Lawrence is in Mobile, filming L.A. Dirt, a move about a young man’s dream to become a champion dirt track racer. Tracy plays the role of the lad’s uncle. Filming starts Saturday and should run through the end of this month.

Jennifer Nettles is on “Duets” tonight on ABC.

Today's Country Tidbits

Consider the touring artist - they spend their days and nights on the road, dragging around a lot of expensive equipment so they can put on shows all around the country. All usually goes well, barring the occasional flat tire, but all went very wrong this week for Tracy Lawrence. His tour entourage stopped in Bakersfield, California and while everone was asleep, someone broke into their vehicles and stole nearly all of their stage gear. Local music companies have come to their rescue, lending them everything from amps to digital mixing consoles so the show can go on tomorrow night in Bakersfield. Police are on the case.

Carrie Underwood graces the cover of Billboard Magazine this week, talking about her next album, "Blown Away," due out May first, and talking about her experiences in the music business: “I came into this music industry in a different way through American Idol, and I feel like I’m an elected official, often, because they voted me in. They voted for me. I still get people coming up to me all the time saying, ‘I voted for you! Oh, my gosh, it’s been so great to see everything that’s happened in the past seven years.’”

Blake Shelton loves his eleventh #1 song, "Drink on It." Why? It reminds him of old-school country tunes: “I always wished I had a song like ‘The Chair,’ like that George Strait song ‘The Chair’, ‘cause it’s basically just a guy trying to pick up a girl at a bar. That’s what ‘Drink On It,’ that’s why I fell in love with that song when I heard it, outside of the melody being kind of a throwback to you know, Conway Twitty or Ronnie Milsap sounding records, which I love, too.” "Drink on It" is his 6th #1 song in a row.

Rascal Flatts is getting ready to hit the road this summer, and according to the guys, planning a tour gets harder, not easier: “You know, we’ve been doing this for a while now. I guess this is probably our seventh real headlining tour and each one it becomes harder and harder, such a challenge to try to make each tour better than the last one, and maybe bigger than the last one. And so we really got together and talked about what we wanted to do with this summer tour and we came up with a great idea I think.” This time around, they're taking not one single solo act on the road with them - Little Big Town, Eden's Edge and Eli Young Band are their tour mates.

A "gone gold" party is in the works for Lee Brice and his song, "A Woman Like You." Why does he think the song is so successful? “It is very conversational and it’s the truth. It’s like, ‘Yeah I’d probably be doing this, I’d be doing that. But I’d be the same ole me. I’d be that dude that was looking for you the whole time.’ So it’s really just true. I think that’s why it’s coming across so well. It’s just really honest.” "Hard 2 Love" is Lee's next album, and it comes out next Tuesday.

June 4th is the day for the 3rd Annual Darius and Friends celebrity golf tournament at the Gaylord Springs Golf Links in Nashville. Darius Rucker will announce other country stars who'll be part of the golf tournament and concert that follows it soon, and tickets go on sale Saturday at Ticketmaster.

Kenny Rogers, Ronnie Milsap and Glen Campbell have been added to the nightly concert line-up at LP Field during CMA Music Festival week. Tickets are on sale for country music's ultimate summer vacation.

This Saturday is "Record Store Day," with artists all over the country showing up at local music stores to perform, sign autographs and raise awareness of brick & mortar stores that sell music. In celebration, Pistol Annies have released "Hell on Heels" in vinyl and are giving fans the chance to win an autographed copy and a turntable.

Catch Toby Keith on the Tonight Show.

The tweet of the day is from John Rich: "Wouldn't it be cool if they made "redneck sushi?" Fried catfish roll, spicy bass roll, smoked blue gill roll with crawfish on top? Ideas?"

Today's Country Tidbits

Last night was country night at the White House, with a bunch of country stars performing for the Obama family. Dierks Bentley, The Band Perry, Darius Rucker, Alison Krauss, Lyle Lovett, Kris Kristofferson, James Taylor and Lauren Alaina all turned the East Room into a country music hall. The show will air tomorrow night on PBS.

Dierks Bentley's new song, "Home," is touching a lot of hearts, but is about to be even more personal for people. On his website, Dierks is inviting people to upload their own videos and photos to make the video their own. Bet there'll be a lot of people sharing their videos to Dierks' beautiful homage to America.

Jake Owen knows how to round up a few friends on a random Sunday night - invite them to Waffle House. He tweeted, "Waffle House. I'm up late. On a Sunday. Anyone else hungry? I'm buying. Now. On my way." When he got to his neighborhood WH, he tweeted the address and before you know it the restaurant was filled with Jake Owen fans. Good to his word, he picked up everyone's tab. See - one of the perks of living in Nashville!

Speaking of rounding up a few friends in Nashville, Tracy Lawrence is set to host his 6th annual Mission Possible turkey fry. It was supposed to be today, but since it's outdoors and rain is expected, it's been re-scheduled until tomorrow. The fry will happen from 6am to 1pm in the parking lot of the Nashville Rescue Mission, and the 500 turkeys fried by Tracy and many Nashville music luminaries will provide several thousand meals at the mission. If you happen to be in Nashville tomorrow, you can stop by and pitch in if you'd like.

Congratulations to Justin Moore and his wife Kate on the birth of their second daughter. Kennedy Faye Moore was born early yesterday morning, weighing in at 7 pounds exactly. Big sister Ella Kole is 21 months old and delighted to have her very own little sister. Justin had just finished touring with Miranda Lambert, so was home for the birth of his second child.

Craig Campbell has a holiday song, just in time for Thanksgiving. Here's his video for "I'll Be Home For Christmas" and it comes complete with a tissue alert. The song is available on iTunes and part of the proceeds goes to the Wounded Warrior Project.

Eric Church is about to set out on the "Blood, Sweat and Beers" tour, and he's got Brantley Gilbert, Blackberry Smoke, Sonia Leigh and Jon Pardi supporting the show.

Speaking of Brantley Gilbert, congratulations on his first #1 song. "Country Must Be Country Wide" is #1 on both the Billboard and Country Aircheck charts this week.

Did you miss Rascal Flatts on the Today Show yesterday? The performances are online.

The CMT Crossroads with Vince Gill and Sting premiers on Thanksgiving Day. Here's a taste of the show - the two of them doing Sting's song "If I Ever Lose My Faith in You."

Tags: If I Ever Lose My Faith in You (From CMT Crossroads), Sting, Sting Videos

Lady Antebellum is on Dancing With the Stars tonight for the season finale.

The tweet of the day is from Brad Paisley: "So this one time, at bandcamp...ah nevermind. It's in the book."

Today's Country Tidbits

Happy Thanksgiving! As you spend the day in your traditional way - with family, friends, neighbors or maybe working - may you have a safe and wonderful day. And if you are working today, know that I am thankful for you. Because you are on duty, we're all safer. To the firefighters, police officers, EMTs, hospital workers and military who are on duty today instead of on the couch watching parades and football, you are one of the blessings I'll count today. Thank you.

Taylor Swift visited the Chelsea Lately! show and told Chelsea Handler her favorite part about living alone: "You can walk around and have conversations with yourself and like, sing your thoughts. … I think I'm the only one who does that." She also said that she won't be haunting the bars when she turns 21 next year: "I have the deeply engrained fear of getting into trouble and being sent the principal's office of life."

The Guiness Book of World Records people are still tabulating, but Tuesday's 5th annual Mission Possible Turkey Fry was a big success as far as host Tracy Lawrence is concerned. Over 800 turkeys were donated and fried, and clothing and cash donations poured in as well. Tracy and his family will deliver 125 cooked turkeys to a tent city near his home in Wilson County, TN today, and donations are still pourin in to the Nashville Rescue Mission, which hopes to receive a thousand turkeys before week's end.

Keith Urban and Rascal Flatts both had big weeks with their new cds, but Rascal Flatts won the race by 3,000 units. Their "Nothing Like This" is #1 on the country album chart with nearly 165,000 sold, followed by Keith Urban's "Get Closer" at #2 with sales of 162,000.

Keith Urban's halftime performance at the Cowboys/Saints game is the centerpiece of a tv special that airs this Saturday on the NFL Network. Since his arrival in Dallas yesterday, he's had a film crew following him around, documenting what goes into producing a successful halftime show. Knowing Keith, there'll be some up-close-and-personal info included in the show.

Country music is all over your television for Thanksgiving. Watch Carrie Underwood on CBS's "Thanksgiving Day Parade," Gloriana on NBC's "Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade," Keith Urban playing the halftime show for the Cowboys/Saints game on Fox, Josh Gracin singing the National Anthem before the Lions/Patriots game on CBS, Taylor Swift's album release special, "Taylor Swift: Speak Now" on NBC tonight, Dolly Parton on Live with Regis and Kelly, and finally James Otto and Ronnie Milsap perform on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon.

The tweet of the day is from Taylor Swift: "Why, at my family gatherings, do we always have to end up youtubing funny cat videos.."

Today's Country Tidbits

Taylor Swift has done something that hasn't been done in two years. Her "Speak Now" cd sold over a million copies last week, making it the first album since Lil Wayne's "The Carter III" accomplished that feat in 2008. In the country music world, it's been since Garth Brooks' "Double Live" came out in 1998 that an artist moved a million units in a week. One out of every 5 cds sold last week was Taylor Swift's "Speak Now."

Starting tonight with the ABC-TV special by Robin Roberts and going all through next week, country music will be everywhere on your tv as we close in on the 2010 CMA Awards. Dierks Bentley, Brad Paisley and NASCAR's Jeff Gordon will kick off the day next Wednesday on Good Morning America, with Dierks performing a free concert on the plaza outside Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, and Brad and Jeff presenting the 2011 Chevrolet Cruze to the winner of the Chevrolet Salutes America's Heroes service member contest. Tonight's special, "In the Spotlight with Robin Roberts: All Access Nashville" features peeks into Carrie Underwood's life and interviews with many of the top CMA Award nominees.

Josh Turner's #1 party for "All Over Me" was yesterday in Nashville. It featured shades, string bikinis and Coppertone 45. Sure hope it was indoors near a pool...no, wait...the "string bikinis" were long t-shirts that the song's three co-writers wore, airbrushed with bodacious womens' bodies wearing teeny bikinis. The shades and sunscreen were real. This is Josh's second #1 song this year - the first was "Why Don't We Just Dance."

Reba gets real about "All The Women I Am" which comes out next Tuesday...

Reba McEntire on iLike - Get updates inside iTunes

Only 20 more days til this year's Mission Possible turkey fry, hosted by Tracy Lawrence as a benefit for the Nashville Rescue Mission. In its fifth year, the event has become a huge pre-Thanksgiving draw for Nashville celebrities and a major fund-raiser for the Mission. The turkey fry is open to the public, and donations are encouraged.

Carrie Underwood's turn on the silver screen happens on April 15, 2011 when "Soul Surfer" comes out. She plays a youth counselor who works with a surfer who lost her arm in a shark attack.

Keith Urban has declared that he'll spend more time with his family in 2011. He's structuring his tour schedule so he's gone for a few days and then home for a few days. He doesn't want to be on the road for weeks at a time, missing out on watching daughter Sunday grow up.

The tweet of the day is from Martina McBride: "Can't believe nxt 2 wks! Fittings,Crossroads w/Train, Country Strong Premiere, Big Announcements, BMI Awards, CMA's, CMA Christmas taping...

Today's Country Tidbits

The Keith Urban and John Mayer episode of CMT Crossroads debuts tonight, and Keith says the connection he feels when playing with John is something he's rarely felt with other musicians. “It’s a guitar-player thing, I think, really, at the end of the day, ya know. I feel that same connection with Brad Paisley and Vince Gill. Whenever I play with anybody—it’s just speaking another language, ultimately, that’s communicated purely through playing.” Catch a tiny bit of them practicing together on this video.



Craig Morgan is about to become a tv star. He's getting his own show, called "All Access Outdoors," that will air Saturday mornings on the Outdoor Channel. The first episode airs on July 3rd, and each week will find Craig somewhere in America, hunting and riding motorcycles. There'll be special guests, including other country singers, celebrities and athletes. You know Blake and Miranda will pop up on an episode at some point.

Tim McGraw and Faith Hill have sold their Beverly Hills home. The original asking price was $14.8 million, but it sold for only $9.5 million. Before you feel too sorry for them, they bought the house for $6.2 million in 2003, so they did ok on it.

Kenny Chesney has been quietly visiting football coaches, working on a documentary about how football coaches influence their players. Yesterday, he visited with Georgia State football coach Bill Curry. The project began in January, and there's not a set release date yet.

Congratulations to Rascal Flatts - they're getting a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2011.

And congratulations to Ronnie Milsap, who's "Smoky Mountain Rain" is the new state song for Tennessee.

And even more congratulations to an actor we know as Dr. Albert Robbins on CSI who is about to make his Grand Ole Opry debut. Robert David Hall has wanted to be a guitar player and musician since he was 7 years old, and has finally made his hobby a reality. His first country album, "Things They Don't Teach You In School," is out and he'll perform on the Opry stage at tomorrow night's show.

Great news...Tracy Lawrence's Bulldog, Tank, is back home, safe and sound.

Randy Owen, lead singer for the legendary group Alabama, is being treated for prostate cancer. He was diagnosed earlier this year and in May, was treated with high intensity focused ultrasound, and his doctor has called the procedure a complete success.

Wanna see the video for Lady Antebellum's "Our Kind of Love?"

Did you see Jewel's cover shot for Shape magazine? (if not, scroll down to yesterday's post) Want to get her at-home ab workout and her rules for a rockin' body? Here you go.

Tweet of the day is from Blake Shelton: "Son of a b!#@^!!!!! It's so hot I opened the oven door to just cool off the house!!!"

Happy birthday to Blake Shelton, who turns 34 today.

Today's Country Tidbits

Reba McEntire and Darius Rucker have been invited to be part of the national 4th of July celebration. They'll perform at "A Capitol Fourth" in Washington DC, which airs live on PBS. Reba will be presented with the country's National Artistic Achievement Award during the show.

The third installment of "For Those Who Serve" is posted online. It's the documentary that the Zac Brown Band made while on their last USO tour this April, and features the guys taking part in a memorial service, singing the National Anthem a capella.

It's all the fun of a real cd, and then some, but all the convenience of an mp3 download. It's V-Albums, a partnership between Big Machine/Valory records and ScatterTunes. Download a V-Album and you get mp3s of the music, along with digital booklets, liner notes, photos, lyrics, videos, web links, merchandise, ticketing and social media connections. Fans who have already purchased the music from other retailers can purchase V-Wraps for $2.99. That attaches all of the extras to the purchaser's existing album. Wanna try it free? If you already have Taylor Swift's "Fearless" you can get a free V-Wrap, while supplies last.

At the beginning of her music career, Jewel was dubbed "the chubby Renee Zellwegger." Not so much anymore...check out the cover of Shape magazine's July issue. She's rockin' 36 years old!

A country music tribute to Lynyrd Skynyrd is about to be available at Wal-Mart. Starting July 20, you can pick up "Sweet Home Alabama," featuring Eric Church, Uncle Kracker, Jamey Johnson, Shooter Jennings, Randy Montana, Ashley Ray and the Eli Young Band.

iPhone user? Love Jamey Johnson? There's a free app for that.

Tracy Lawrence's Bulldog, Tank, was stolen day before yesterday, and Tracy wants him back. Tank was a Father's Day gift two years ago and is not just a member of the family, he's also part of Tracy's road crew. Mt. Juliet Police Department's Sgt. Michael Mullins is on the case and can be reached at 615-754-2552.


Kenny Chesney fans, mark your calendars for the Kenny Chesney/Steve Miller episode of CMT Crossroads. July 9th, 10pm.

Tweet of the day is from Toby Keith: "Hey this tweetin' thang ain't half bad, I might get into this! Never know what I might pull when out on tour this summer!!?!??"

Today's country tidbits...

Happy Thanksgiving! I hope you are surrounded by family and friends today, that you have plenty to eat, that you have shelter and that you have love.

If you are working today, thank you for providing the services that your town needs to be safe. Police officers, fire fighters, hospital and emergency workers, convenience store clerks, gas station attendants, radio and tv station employees and members of the military all provide vital services 24/7/365, and I am thankful for you and grateful to you.

Country music artists are very grateful to have the best fans in the world, and they show it in many ways. Most will sign autographs until the last person is served. Many host special events for their fans at each stop on their tour. And some are using the internet to bring their fans up close and personal. If you particularly like a singer or group, look them up on YouTube. Chances are, you'll find sneak peeks behind the scenes, like this one from Lady Antebellum. In it, they give their fans a sneak-peek of the music on their upcoming cd, "Need You Now."

Jamey Johnson and Randy Houser are taking today off after playing Huntsville, AL last night. They'll stuff their faces, then it's on to Tupelo, Mississippi tomorrow.

Kudos to Tracy Lawrence and friends, who fried up nearly 500 turkeys and raised ten grand for the Nashville Rescue Mission. Mission: Possible on Tuesday was a huge success.

Don't forget to catch Reba and Billy Currington during the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade today.

Today's country tidbits...

Today is the day for the annual Tracy Lawrence Turkey Fry in Nashville. Mission: Possible happens at the Nashville Rescue Mission, and he estimates that his team of volunteers, some of them celebrities, will deep fry between 400 and 500 turkeys today, to benefit Nashville's homeless and hungry. Lorrie Morgan, Jason Aldean and Darryl Worley are all expected to show up and help out.

Sprint Sound and Speed tickets go on sale December 2nd through Ticketmaster for the country-music-meets-NASCAR event on January 8th and 9th. Combo tickets will get you in to one of the two Friday night Grand Ole Opry performances which feature Kyle Petty and his band, and the autograph & special events on Saturday. Taking part in the Saturday festivities are singers Jason Michael Carroll, Josh Turner, Chris Young and members of Diamond Rio, along with drivers Dale Earnhardt Jr., Tony Stewart, Denny Hamlin, Kasey Kahne, Michael Waltrip, Clint Bowyer, Reed Sorenson and David Stremme.

As expected, the vampire movie, New Moon, beat the Tim McGraw movie, The Blind Side, but the true-life football story finished a strong #2, taking in 34.5 million dollars over the weekend.

Congrats to Lady Antebellum, who own the top spot on the Billboard Hot Country Chart again this week with "Need You Now." Not only is it #1 for the second week in a row, but it's number one with a bullet, meaning that it's still growing in audience.

The Nashville Tennessean has declared 2009 A Year of Swift Success. For photographic proof, check out Taylor Swift's photographic year in review.

Rascal Flatts played a free show in West Virginia last Saturday. If you missed it, here's a little of the show.

Billy Currington is doing a free show in Key West at Sloppy Joe's on December 5th. Road trip!!

Singer Andy Griggs, who had hits with "You Won't Ever Be Lonely" and "She's More" lost his home to a fire over the weekend. He and his family got out without injury, but the home is a total loss.

Yesterday we hooked you up with Dolly Parton's Shop.com store, and today we unveil her brick and mortar store, Trinket & Treasures, in downtown Nashville. It opens today, right next to the Wildhorse Saloon.

Wynonna's on the Oprah show today.