Today's Country Tidbits

It's the week country fans descend on Nashville, and country artists, too. Last night at the Grand Ole Opry, Carrie Underwood, Josh Turner, Trisha Yearwood and The Band Perry all performed. At Darius Rucker's inaugural guitar pull for St. Jude's, Jake Owen, Radney Foster and Jamey Johnson joined Darius for a show, and then Kid Rock surprised them all when he decided to join the fun for the encore song, "Family Tradition." At the Wildhorse, there was a celebrity-filled fashion show and concert, with Pam Tillis singing "Don't Tell Me What to Wear," and Luke Bryan doing a serious version of "Do I." Clay Walker was part of the Musicians On Call fashion show, and displayed (but didn't model) women's undergarments emblazoned with the name of his new cd, "She Won't Be Lonely Long." Bet that got a huge laugh! The fund-raising continues online for Musicians on Call, with some of country's biggest stars donating concert tickets & backstage passes or autographed guitars.

Tennesseean.com has a photo gallery from the City of Hope celebrity softball game, held Monday.

Even though it's been an action-packed week already, the CMA Music Festival officially kicks off today with the parade. Brenda Lee is the Grand Marshall, and Gloriana, Rodney Atkins, Chuck Wicks and many more artists will be part of it. At the end of the parade there's a free concert outside Bridgestone Arena, featuring Joe Nichols and Randy Houser.

Like a good yard sale? Head for Nashville's Bridgestone Arena this Saturday, as MusiCares and SOLID team up to throw a big one. Artist memorabilia is expected among all of the regular flea market finds, and all the proceeds benefit Nashville flood relief.

Tomorrow, Lady Antebellum's sold-out fan club party will be a flood relief benefit, too. Not only that, but Office Max will match donations up to $50,000. Can't be at the party but love Lady A? For a minimum donation of $5, you can watch the performance live online.

If you want to pretend you're at the CMA Music Festival, check out their social hub, where there are live video streams, photo boards, Twitter streams and much more.

The CMT awards haven't been handed out yet, but once they are, much of Nashville will head over to the Limelight for Dierks Bentley's album release party, expected to start at about 10:30 central time tonight and go until the wee hours of tomorrow morning.

Don't miss the CMT Music Awards red carpet show and award show tonight. Here's a complete list of nominees - come back tomorrow for a complete list of the winners.

VIDEO OF THE YEAR
Best video of the year; awarded to the artist (male, female, group/duo or collaboration) and the video director.　 Final 5 nominees announced during live telecast, with final voting held online at CMT.com during the show.
• Jason Aldean – “The Truth”
• Kenny Chesney – “Out Last Night”
• Toby Keith – “American Ride”
• Lady Antebellum – “Need You Now”
• Miranda Lambert – “White Liar”
• Brad Paisley – “Welcome to the Future”
• Taylor Swift – “You Belong With Me”
• Carrie Underwood – “Cowboy Casanova”
• Keith Urban – “‘Til Summer Comes Around”
• Zac Brown Band – “Toes”

MALE VIDEO OF THE YEAR
Best video by a male artist; awarded to the artist
• Jason Aldean – “The Truth”
• Billy Currington – “People Are Crazy”
• Toby Keith – “American Ride”
• Tim McGraw – “Southern Voice”
• Keith Urban – “‘Til Summer Comes Around”

FEMALE VIDEO OF THE YEAR
Best video by a female artist; awarded to the artist
• Miranda Lambert – “White Liar”
• Reba McEntire – “Consider Me Gone”
• Taylor Swift – “You Belong With Me”
• Carrie Underwood – “Cowboy Casanova”

GROUP VIDEO OF THE YEAR
Best video by a group; awarded to the artists
• Gloriana – “How Far Do You Wanna Go?”
• Lady Antebellum – “Need You Now”
• Rascal Flatts – “Here Comes Goodbye”
• Zac Brown Band – “Toes”

DUO VIDEO OF THE YEAR
Best video by a duo; awarded to the artists
• Brooks & Dunn – “Indian Summer”
• Steel Magnolia – “Keep On Lovin’ You”
• Sugarland – “Keep You”
• Sugarland – “Nightswimming/Joey”

USA WEEKEND BREAKTHROUGH VIDEO OF THE YEAR
Best video from an artist's major breakthrough album; awarded to the artist (male, female, or group/duo)
• Luke Bryan – “Do I”
• Laura Bell Bundy – “Giddy On Up”
• Easton Corbin – “A Little More Country Than That”
• Steel Magnolia – “Keep On Lovin’ You”

COLLABORATIVE VIDEO OF THE YEAR
Best video that featured a special collaborative appearance by artists; awarded to the artists (individual, group or duo)
• Jason Aldean and Bryan Adams – “Heaven” from CMT CROSSROADS: BRYAN ADAMS AND JASON ALDEAN
• Kenny Chesney with Dave Matthews – “I’m Alive”
• Kellie Pickler featuring Taylor Swift – “Best Days of Your Life”
• Blake Shelton featuring Trace Adkins – “Hillbilly Bone”

CMT PERFORMANCE OF THE YEAR
Musical performance on a television show, series or variety special on CMT; awarded to the artist (individual, group or duo)
• Lady Antebellum – “Lookin’ For A Good Time” from the 2009 CMT MUSIC AWARDS
• Reba McEntire – “Consider Me Gone” from INVITATION ONLY: REBA
• Tim McGraw – “Southern Voice” from INVITATION ONLY: TIM McGRAW
• Brad Paisley – “Then” from the 2009 CMT MUSIC AWARDS
• Carrie Underwood – “Temporary Home” from INVITATION ONLY: CARRIE UNDERWOOD

VIDEO DIRECTOR OF THE YEAR
Best video director of the year; awarded to the director for his or her body of work from the past year
• Deaton Flanigen (award eligible videos include: Jason Aldean’s “The Truth” and Carrie Underwood’s “Temporary Home”)
• Chris Hicky (award eligible videos include: Miranda Lambert’s “White Liar” and Justin Moore’s “Small Town USA”)
• Shaun Silva (award eligible videos include: Kenny Chesney’s “Out Last Night” and Rascal Flatts’ “Summer Nights”)
• Roman White (award eligible videos include: Taylor Swift’s “You Belong With Me” and Kellie Pickler’s “Best Days of Your Life”)

THE NATIONWIDE INSURANCE ON YOUR SIDE AWARD

• Ryan Bingham
• Randy Houser
• Justin Moore
• Chris Young

Today's Country Tidbits

Billboard Magazine has crunched the numbers and come up with the top ten country artists of the last 25 years, based on charted songs and albums. Here's their list:

1. George Strait
2. Garth Brooks
3. Reba McEntire
4. Alan Jackson
5. Tim McGraw
6. Randy Travis
7. Toby Keith
8. Kenny Chesney
9. Alabama
10. Brooks & Dunn

Awards shows are known for their bling-filled celebrity gift bags, but this year, the CMT Music Awards stars won't be getting any goodie bags. Instead, the money will be donated to Second Harvest Food Bank of Middle Tennessee, allowing them to provide more than 160,000 meals. Trisha Yearwood is the spokesperson for this initiative, and she'll be talking it up on the red carpet tomorrow night, as well as being part of the check presentation on Thursday.

Tim McGraw has teamed up with Fritos to donate half a million dollars to local charities all along the "Southern Voice" tour route.

Zac Brown Band's "For Those Who Serve" documentary is being debuted online, and part two is available for viewing. And congratulations to Zac Brown and his wife. They're expecting their 4th daughter.

The surprise performer for Friday night's CMA Music Festival concert has been announced, and it's CMT Music Awards host Kid Rock.

Got an iPhone? Fan of Toby Keith? There's an app for that.

Ever wonder what stars would wish for, if they had three wishes? Here are three country stars' answers:

Darius Rucker: “World peace, world peace, and world peace.”
Jake Owen: “For everybody in my family to live happy and healthy lives, for myself—to continue to live a happy and healthy life. My third wish would be to have three wishes again!”
Luke Bryan: “Perfect health forever, happiness, and that my family could all live in the same town—all on one street.”

At the City of Hope celebrity softball game yesterday, the rivalry between the Grand Ole Opry Team and the After Midnight team fired up, with a bit of trash talk and an extra inning needed to settle the score. In the end, After Midnight beat Grand Ole Opry 15 to 10. Fans were treated to a surprise, as were Carrie Underwood and her fiance, Mike Fisher. A bridal shower broke out on the field, with the couple getting gifts from members of both teams.

People.com has a country music quiz online. See how you do!

And what's Trace Adkins doing this coming Monday? He's going back to high school. He's been asked to be the commencement speaker for the Piedmont High School's 50th graduating class, so he'll head to North Carolina and do the honors. Graduating senior Ashley Price wrote to him, telling him how much it would mean to her graduating class if he were their speaker. He was so moved by the request that he's doing this for free and even paying all of his own travel expenses.

New music out today includes Dierks Bentley's "Up On The Ridge" which features guest artists Miranda Lambert, Jamey Johnson, Vince Gill, Alison Krauss and Kris Kristofferson. Jewel's "Sweet and Wild," Ty Herndon's "Journey On," Clay Walker's "She Won't Be Lonely Long" and Lee Brice's "Love Like Crazy" are all in stores today, too.

Rascal Flatts is on the Elen DeGeneres show today.

Today's Country Tidbits

TV specials boost album sales. That's always how it works, but it doesn't usually work this well. After the Brooks & Dunn-The Last Rodeo special on CBS, their double-set, #1's...and them some saw a 211% jump in sales, landing it at the #2 spot on the Billboard Country Albums chart. Their Greatest Hits Collection had a 174% rise, putting it at the top of the Billboard Top Catalog Country Albums chart.

Something even better came out of that special - a $1,000,000 donation to the ACM Lifting Lives Foundation, given by the artists who were part of the show. The money is helping with flood relief in Nashville.

All sorts of other fund-raisers have cropped up in the wake of Nashville's flood, so why not an NRA charity event? It'll happen on Thursday, with Blake Shelton hosting the sporting clay shoot and Trace Adkins, Rodney Atkins, Gretchen Wilson, Justin Moore, Josh Thompson, John Rich and more country stars shouldering their shotguns for a few clay pigeons. Proceeds go to the Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee for flood relief.

The CMT Music Awards are Wednesday night, and tomorrow is the last day to vote for your favorite artist. Taylor Swift's first award ever was a CMT Music Award, which she took with her to every meet & greet. Why? Taylor says, “The reason why I took the CMT Award from autograph line to autograph line and let people take pictures with it is because it was strictly fan voted. They got me that award and they deserve to get a picture with it.”

Miranda Lambert and Laura Bell Bundy have put together a video asking fans to vote for their videos. It's got a little twist to it - they're not playing themselves in the video. Not even close!



Dierks Bentley has a crazy, crazy day today. It started with a 3am lobby call to get him to the Don Imus show on time, then at 10am he was scheduled to tape a segment of the Today show, then fly to Boston to play a few songs at a small event, then on another plane to fly to Washington DC. Crazy, crazy day!

Keith Urban is hosting a live chat tonight starting at 6 eastern. You can submit questions in advance via his Facebook page or Twitter account.

Rascal Flatts will perform on the Today show this Friday morning.

Today's Country Tidbits

The buzz in Nashville is who will be the surprise concert closer a week from tonight at the CMA Music Festival. Already confirmed for that show are Keith Urban, Josh Turner, Reba, Miranda Lambert and Julianne Hough. Performing Thursday night are Carrie Underwood, Jason Aldean, Tim McGraw, Alan Jackson and Danny Gokey, Saturday night it's Rascal Flatts, Martina McBride, Zac Brown Band, Billy Currington, Randy Houser and Easton Corbin, and Sunday night's line-up includes Brad Paisley, Darius Rucker, Trace Adkins, Blake Shelton, Kellie Pickler and Justin Moore. So, if it's not any of them, who (Kenny) could (Chesney) it (maybe) be? Digging up the details as fast as I can, but the surprise guest is supposed to be a surprise.

If you're wishing you could go to the CMA Music Festival, you still can. Four-day tickets are still on sale, plus there are individual day tickets available for next Saturday and Sunday. Text SCHEDULE to 66937 for a complete list of artist appearance and times.

With most of Nashville's top artists in Nashville next week, there are a lot of other great events going on, too. Monday night, Darius Rucker, Jake Owen, Jamey Johnson and Randy Houser will do a benefit concert for St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, and Monday is also the day for the City of Hope Celebrity Softball Challenge, with Carrie Underwood, Jason Aldean, Luke Bryan and loads more country stars taking the field. Tuesday night, it's the 4th annual Country Weekly Fashion Show and Concert, with Clay Walker, Joe Nichols, Bucky Covingon and other country stars on hand. Wednesday night at the Ryman, it's Marty Stuart's 9th Annual Late Night Jam, featuring Keith Urban.

BamaJam is underway this weekend, and last night, Zac Brown Band played from midnight to 2am. You know that was rockin'!

Miranda Lambert may someday own the house that built her. Her parents still live in the house where they moved when she was 16, and it's less than a mile down the road from the place she lived her life before that. She's in touch with the man who owns that house now, and told him she'd better be the first person he calls when he's ready to sell it.

Keith Urban and John Mayer's episode of CMT Crossroads will air on June 18th, but you can see them doing "Sweet Thing" now.



Get a peek at one of the weddings that Little Big Town has been part of on the Country Throwdown tour. And watch this video all the way to the end, not just to the end of the song, for something sure to make you smile.



Just for fun, here's a wreck that happened at BamaJam, featuring Dierks Bentley and Miranda Lambert. Luckily, no one was injured.
And more fun - Kid Rock, joking about Blake Shelton and Miranda Lambert's upcoming marriage: “He says he’ll wear the pants; she tells him which pair.’”

Kellie Pickler is on Fox & Friends today, tomorrow night on CMT, catch the 2010 CMT Music Awards Video of the Year special, and Sunday night, GAC re-airs the ACM Awards.

Today's Country Tidbits

Serious guitar fans and fans of Brad Paisley need to get out their checkbooks. Gibson Guitars is making only 300 Brad Paisley Gibson Acoustic J-45's, based on the 1942 J-45 Legend, set up according to Brad's preferences and sporting his autograph. The guitar will set you back just a bit over five grand, but you do get a hardshell case, owner's manual, Gibson's Gold Warranty and a certificate of authenticity.

During the 2010 CMT Music Awards next Wednesday, there will be performances of previously unreleased music. Jamey Johnson will debut "Macon" from his next cd, due out in the fall. Keith Urban and John Mayer will duet on "Hit the Ground Running," a cut from "Defying Gravity" which hasn't been released, and LeAnn Rimes will do her version of the John Anderson chestnut, "Swingin,'" from her upcoming cd, "Lady and Gentlemen." The award winners are chosen by fans, and voting is still going on.

What's Keith Urban's favorite part about award shows? “I think every award show that Nic and I’ve been to—I sit there and say, ‘Look at these seats we’re in. This is incredible.’ I mean, because it’s not always going to be like that. You know, bit by bit, your seat gets moved and moved and moved over the years and before you know it…you’re sitting miles away. This is just sort of a magical time. Neither of us want to take it for granted. [We] really want to appreciate it while it’s here.”

As a salute to her lucky number 13, Taylor Swift will host a 13-hour-long autograph session at the CMA Music Festival next week, on June 13th. Kellie Pickler decided to host her autograph signing inside Opry Originals: The Shop. She'll sign for a couple of hours, then will perform for everyone in the store.

If you can't make it to the CMA Music Festival in Nashville next week, never fear. ABC will be there, filming every bit of it, and winnowing it down to the best stuff, which will air on September first. Yes, all the big stars will be part of it.

Jake Owen had a surprise proposal during his concert in Baton Rouge, Louisiana over the weekend. Bayou Country Superfest attendee Jason proposed to Britney on stage. The newly engaged couple danced as Jake performed his next song.

A couple of weeks ago, Dolly Parton pledged that a weekend's gate receipts from her Sevierville, TN theme parks would go to flood relief. Yesterday she presented a quarter-million dollar check to Nashville's mayor and United Way.

Even though he's walking through New Mexico right now, Jimmy Wayne is helping Nashville recover, too. He's partnered with Bryan Foods to donate 2,500 pounds of food to the Second Harvest Food Bank of Middle Tennessee to go to those most affected by the disaster.

Luke Bryan is in USA Weekend in a newspaper near you this weekend, but you don't have to wait to read the interview.

If you're a fan of old-school George Strait, this'll make your hat twirl: George Strait is re-issuing the classic George Strait Live on DVD exclusively at WalMart on June 15th. The footage has been digitally remastered and optimized for surround-sound. The show was taped at the Dallas Reunion Arena on New Year's night. The show rang in 1987, and features sons like The Fireman, Amarillo By Morning, All My Ex's Live in Texas and more vintage George. And fall tour dates have been announced as the George Strait, Reba McEntire and Lee Ann Womack machine continues it's trek across America. The tour will stop in Kentucky, Tennessee, South Carolina, Alabama, Louisiana, Pennsylvania, New York and Minnesota before concluding Oct. 22 in Fargo, N.D.

Lady Antebellum has made chart history with their song, "Need You Now." It's now the longest-running number one song by a country group on the Billboard Adult Contemporary chart. The song has been atop the AC chart for 10 weeks, beating the previous record holders, Rascal Flatts, who were #1 on the AC chart in 2006 with "What Hurts the Most."

Today's Country Tidbits

Just four weeks ago, large portions of Nashville were so flooded that even the 50-foot-high flood marker in Riverfront Park was completely submerged. It was the largest non-hurricane natural disaster in US history, and next week, just 5 weeks later, Nashville welcomes visitors from all over the world to the 2010 CMA Music Festival. Stages are being erected, parade routes are being re-drawn and the Nashville Convention & Visitors Bureau has launched a "Thanks for Visiting, We're Glad You're Here" campaign. Bureau President Butch Spyridon said, "Attendees could have gone anywhere, but we're glad they're spending their vacation here in Music City. The traffic is usually an inconvenience, but this year it's going to be a blessing for Nashvillians."

The 20th Annual City of Hope Celebrity Softball Challenge is Monday night at Nashville's Greer Stadium. Among those playing on the Grand Ole Opry team are Carrie Underwood, Jason Aldean and Craig Morgan. On Blair Garner's After Midnight team are Luke Bryan, Vince Gill, Joe Nichols and more of Nashville's finest.

Congratulations to Miranda Lambert, who has her second #1 song with "The House That Built Me," a song that made her cry when she first heard it, and still makes her cry sometimes when she performs it, especially when family is in the audience. “Grandma was on the front row—and it’s general admission, mind you—she’s up there, like, head-banging and stuff—“The House That Built Me” came up and she was standing there, and she’s kind of like me— she doesn’t cry, she’s kind of a tough woman—and she just had big tears in her eyes and of course, I just couldn’t even finish.”

There's good money in wrecked cars. The owners of a California company that auctions off wrecked cars for insurance companies has purchased Alan Jackson's 135-acre estate outside of Nashville. It went on the market last year, listed at $38 million, and sold for $28 million to Willis and Reba Johnson. Don't feel too bad for Alan, though - that sale price is more than twice as much as any single-family home has ever sold for in Middle Tennessee.

Jimmy Wayne is still walking across America to shine a light on the plight of homeless teens. People Magazine has mentioned his trek a time or two, but yesterday a crew flew to New Mexico and drove out into the dessert to cover Project Meet Me Halfway.

Luke Bryan is celebrating June by putting the mp3 version of the cd, "Doin My Thing" on sale for only $5.

Live Nation, a major concert promoter and venue owner, has a goal of filling every seat this summer. In order to do that in a soft economy, they decided to declare June the month of no service charges on their tickets. Check out the venues near you and the concerts coming to them, plus buy tickets service-fee-free, on their website.

That Kid Rock cd I told you about last week? It's due out September 7th and will feature some really special guests - Martina McBride, Zac Brown, Sheryl Crow and Bob Seger will show up on Kid's country project.

Catch Dierks Bentley on the Tonight Show with Jay Leno.

Today's Country Tidbits

Sunday night on PBS, the National Memorial Day Concert aired, and Brad Paisley was part of it. He sang "Welcome to the Future" and "Then," and if you were watching, bet you got tears in your eyes, too. He tweeted, "Our new 3 trillion dollar stage backdrop for tonight."

The Country Throwdown tour, featuring twenty one artists with an average ticket price of $31, was forced to trim some dates. Houston, Dallas, San Diego and Phoenix won't get the show this year because of low ticket sales. The same people who have staged the Vans Warped tour for 16 years say that they expected a few key lessons for the first year of the Throwdown, and they promise there will be a "next year." Meanwhile, the tour, which features Montgomery Gentry, Jamey Johnson, Little Big Town, Eric Church, Jack Ingram, Eli Young Band, Heidi Newfield, Emily West, Tyler Reeve, Sarah Buxton and Jedd Hughes, is playing to sold-out venues and rave reviews on most of their tour stops.

Gloriana wants your help naming their summer tour. If your suggestion is chosen, you get bragging rights, plus tickets and backstage access to the show of your choice.

And Shania Twain is hinting that an acoustic tour could be in her (near) future.

Jewel sang the National Anthem at the Indy 500 on Sunday for about 400,000 people at the raceway, and got to hang with a couple of famous guys - Mario Andretti and Jack Nicholson.


Martina McBride and hubby John celebrated Memorial Day weekend by having their first "alone" trip in 13 years. Not a lot of tweets from the usually prolific Martina over the weekend. Hmmmmmm...

Tennesseean.com has shots of country stars hanging with military types in honor of Memorial Day.

The Lost Trailers are calling it quits at the end of this year. Lead singer Ryder Lee and a couple of bandmates will re-group and have new music in early 2011. The guys have been together as a band since they were in high school, and the group best known for "Holler Back" feels like it's time to take a break from each other.

Happy birthday to Ronnie Dunn, who turns 57 today.