Today's Country Tidbits

After the ACM Awards, several artists sat down backstage to talk about the night and their lives.

Miranda Lambert debuted a new girl-group during the "Girls' Night Out: Superstar Women of Country" taping Monday night. She, Ashley Monroe and Angeleena Presley teamed up as Pistol Annies to perform. Miranda doesn't give up many details, but did offer this: “They’re great friends of mine and we’ve just been writing songs like crazy. And I’ve always kinda wanted to do a girl project. But it’s not your typical girl trio. We definitely have an edge. And we sing a lot about like, housewife sort of… I won’t tell you. You know what, just watch. You’ll see it.” When asked what her favorite performance of the night was, Miranda said, without hesitation, “My favorite part of the night was Carrie Underwood. She brought the house down.” Carrie and Vince Gill duetted on "How Great Thou Art." The show airs April 22 on CBS.

Miranda Lambert is also serving as executive producer on another tv show, this one based on her childhood. The ABC Family network show features a family where the parents are private investigators and the kids help solve the crimes. Very much like Miranda's upbringing, where her parents were PI's and dinner table talk often featured discussion about the current case. No word on when the show will debut.

Big & Rich have reunited to tour, plus they've cut a song that'll be on the soundtrack of the upcoming Footloose movie. The song is called "Fake ID" and Big Kenny says about the experience, “And just when you think that that’s pretty cool and really good, you find out that Julianne Hough is dancing to your song. And she looks so good and does such a fantastic job. It’s hot, hot, hot, and on fire. It’s Big and Rich. It’s edgy and sexy.” Gretchen Wilson lends her vocals to "Fake ID," which should be out before the movie opens on October 14th.

John Rich has strong feelings about Taylor Swift's ACM EOY win, and doesn't care who knows it: “She deserved that. And I know she’s caught a lot of criticism over the years, ‘well she’s you know she’s not the greatest singer, she’s too young or what does she know about it she’s only this old,’ or whatever. She writes about what her life is at that particular second. And that’s what country music is supposed to be about and it’s why so many fans around the world connect with her.” He and Taylor have written songs together and he says he's proud to see her win.

What was Taylor Swift up to on Monday, after winning Entertainer of the Year? Shopping. She was spied power-shopping at Anthropologie and pushing a shopping cart in the West Hollywood Target store.

People.com has a photo spread of Taylor Swift's adventures as she toured Europe and Asia.

In the latest issue of People Country, Keith Urban takes top honors as country's hottest guy. He also spills the beans about his first kiss at age 5...what he can remember about it, anyway! He doesn't remember if she kissed him or he kissed her, but does recall it happened on the monkey bars at the playground. Keith also notes that Sunday Rose is a really great big sister to Faith Margaret, saying “She’s taking that older sister role very seriously. I mean, she puts the paci back in, and she like puts the blanket back on if it comes off. She’s good, she’s really good with her.”

Ashley Judd has written a book about growing up in the Judd household, and according to some excerpts leaked from the book, all was most definitely not peaches and cream. According to one excerpt, "I loved my mother," Ashley writes about Naomi Judd, “But at the same time I dreaded the mayhem and uncertainty that followed her everywhere.” Ashley's search into her family history will be part of "Who Do You Think You Are?" this Friday night on NBC.

Congratulations to the Zac Brown Band, who have another #1 song with "Colder Weather."

Happy birthday to Merle Haggard, who turns 74 today.

Carrie Underwood is on the Tonight Show.

The tweet of the day is from Big Kenny Alphin of Big & Rich: "LOVE EVERYBODY, there is only one command. Please spread it far and wide!! Please."

Today's Country Tidbits

Sunday night, most country fans were watching the ACM Awards, but one country star was going big for St. Jude. John Rich raised nearly $700,000 for St. Jude Children's Research Hospital Sunday night as he led Team Backbone to a big...defeat at the hands of the women's team on Celebrity Apprentice. Donald Trump challenged the two teams to create their own works of art using baseball caps and paintings to be sold at an art gallery. John was project manager, and guaranteed that country music fans would come through for him. “The only reason I am on this show is to raise more money than anyone in the history of this show. I want to show Mr. Trump what country boys are capable of and how big our hearts can open up.” The women's team raked in nearly a million dollars, but St. Jude still won, because John and Marlee Matlin, who was project manager for the women's team, agreed to let both charities get the cash no matter which team won. The combined $1.6 million was more than any other non-finale episode ever raised.

Last night, some of country's biggest stars turned out to salute the Superstar Women of Country. "Girls Night Out" taped in Las Vegas last night, with Rascal Flatts, Little Big Town, Sara Evans and The Band Perry performing in honor of Reba, Martina McBride, Loretta Lynn, Miranda Lambert, Carrie Underwood, Jennifer Nettles and The Judds. The Band Perry performed a Patsy Cline classic, and Kimberly Perry gushed about the experience of being part of the show, “I feel like these ladies who we’re honoring just make up everything we love about country music everything from their sense of fashion to their spit-fire attitudes and everything in between.” It will air on April 22nd on CBS.

A surprised Taylor Swift is learning that words mean something different to different people. She wrote the song, "Mean," after reading a bad review. Now that it's been released as her 3rd single from "Speak Now," she's finding out that the song has more than one meaning: “Getting letters, and getting e-mails, and getting messages on Twitter and Facebook from the fans saying what that song means to them. I never would’ve imagined it would have that many different meanings to different people when I wrote the song.” Taylor will be on The Tonight Show tonight, talking about her ACM for Entertainer of the Year.

If you wanto to revisit Taylor's performance of "Mean" at the ACM's, here you go...

Lady Antebellum is on the road with Keith Urban, and the tour heads to Australia this week. It's Hillary Scott's first time there, and she has play-plans: “To meet the people, to see the fans, to hopefully, you know, make some new fans, we’re really looking forward to it. And the obvious, of like I’m going to go see the kangaroos and pet a koala bear, you know.”

Want to relive some of the best looks at Sunday night's ACM Awards? People.com has a best-dressed spread.

Backstage at the ACM Awards, a reporter asked Miranda Lambert where she and Blake were honeymooning after their May 14th wedding. She said they still don't have a plan, but hope something will come together soon. I'm betting there'll be hunting involved!

Josh Turner is enjoying life as the father of three boys, ages 4 years, almost 2 and a three-month-old. He says, in the latest issue of People Country, that if you keep them fed, “they’ll be happy for the most part.” Good advice!

Craig Campbell's self-titled debut cd is out today, featuring his first solo hit song, "Family Man."

Happy birthday to Troy Gentry of Montgomery Gentry, who turns 44 today and to Pat Green, who is 39.

The tweet of the day is from John Rich: "Back in Nashville....its a monsoon! Just ran over a catfish in the highway!"

Today's Country Tidbits

Well, it was no surprise that Taylor Swift's army of fans turned out for her, and she won the fan-voted Entertainer of the Year award last night at the ACM awards. That makes it three years in a row that the ACM award for Entertainer of the Year went to a female artist. She's now taken top honors in both the ACM Awards and the CMA Awards, where she won Entertainer of the Year in 2009.

Miranda Lambert went into the night with seven nominations and ended up with four awards, including Female Vocalist, Single, Song and Video of the Year awards. That's more awards than anyone else won last night. Brad Paisley chalked up the Male Vocalist win. Album of the Year and Top Vocal Group of the Year went to Lady Antebellum. Sugarland hosted the show at Mandalay Bay and were rewarded with a win in the Vocal Duo of the Year category. The Band Perry beat out Eric Church in the fan-voted Top New Artist category. From the "who's surprised here" desk, Alan Jackson and Zac Brown Band won the ACM Vocal Event of the Year award for "As She's Walking Away." And Sara Evans got a standing ovation at the show last night. Country fans love her, and country music artists are glad she's back, too.

In the performance category, let's just say that the ACM Award show last night broke new territory for award shows. They didn't even mention an award, much less give one out, for the first 53 minutes of the show. Between Reba and Blake's opening skit and banter, the first 11 minutes of the show was all talk except for the little bit of "Who Are You When I'm Not Lookin" that Blake serenaded Reba with. The performances last night were stellar. Brad Paisley and Alabama brought the house down with his new song, "Old Alabama," Keith Urban re-created the video experience in his performance of "Without You." Toby Keith performed his new song, "Somewhere Else" to a rousing round of applause and Eric Church knocked "Smoke a Little Smoke" out of the park, performing at the Mandalay Bay party. The Band Perry also performed from the stage at Mandalay Bay, singing "If I Die Young" just before being awarded the fan-voted ACM award for Top New Artist. Dierks Bentley showcased his fun new song, "Am I the Only One" and Taylor Swift looked like she was having wicked fun singing "Mean," which is a song that sprang from her award show experience singing with Stevie Nicks and the very bad reviews she got afterwards. Jason Aldean did his country song/rap, "Dirt Road Anthem." In a closely-held surprise pairing, Carrie Underwood was joined by duet partner Steven Tyler, and they teamed up on her song "Undo It" and his song "Walk This Way." Very fun - their voices worked really well together and Carrie looked like she was having a blast.

Blake Shelton debuted his new song, "Honey Bee," last night on the ACM awards. Jennifer Nettles and Rhianna teamed up on Rhianna's song, "California King Bed." Jennifer was the top trending topic on Twitter for quite a while after that rather risqué-lyriced duet...people loved it! And Zac Brown Band teamed up with James Taylor for a magical musical pairing. "Colder Weather" into "Sweet Baby James"...lovely! Darius Rucker had the heart-string-tugging performance of the night. He sang "Music From the Heart" with a group of young adults who have developmental disabilities. The Academy of Country Music sponsors a program through Lifting Lives that includes music training, and it was people from that academy who joined Darius on the song. At the end, the audience gave them a standing ovation and cameras caught Carrie Underwood and Taylor Swift with tears in their eyes. The song is available on iTunes, with all proceeds going to Lifting Lives.

Tennesseean.com has a vast photo gallery from last night's awards show.

And People.com has a gallery of the best lines of the night, complete with appropriate photos.

Tonight in Las Vegas, the "Girls Night Out: Superstar Women of Country" show takes place and will be taped for airing on April 22nd on CBS. And just who are those superstar women? Miranda Lambert, Martina McBride, Carrie Underwood, Jennifer Nettles, Reba, Loretta Lynn and the Judds will be honored, and Sara Evans and The Band Perry will take part in doing the honoring. This one includes not just women, as Ronnie Dunn, Jason Aldean, Rascal Flatts and John Fogerty are also scheduled to perform.

When Kid Rock hits the road this summer, Sheryl Crow will be going with him. Starting July 2nd and going through September 3rd, the two will wow the crowds. Their duet, "Picture," was the first country music success story for both of them.

Big & Rich are putting the band back together, taking the "Xtreme Muzik: The Tour" on the road starting June 18th. They'll take along Gretchen Wilson, Cowboy Troy and Two Foot Fred to be part of the fun, and promise the shows will be like the Muzik Mafia shows from the '90's, with a twist. According to John Rich, “We’re gonna have a bar on the stage and as one of us finishes a song we go sit down at the bar and have a beer, have a shot whatever we’re gonna do and watch the other one sing. And then we may jump in, sing with them and have fans up on the stage hangin’ out with us at the bar and it’s really gonna be a really interesting, different kind of a concert.”

Craig Morgan has signed a new recording contract with Black River Entertainment Group. Gordon Kerr of Black River said of getting Craig, "You could take a poll of country fans, and be pretty sure at least one or two of Craig's hits would be among their all-time favorites. We're immensely proud to have Craig join the Black River family." They plan to release a new Craig Morgan cd later this year.

Kenny Chesney's many fans in the NFL can breathe a sigh of relief - in spite of the rule saying that players can't go to any stadiums during a lock-out, NFL players will be allowed to attend Kenny Chesney stadium shows because the event if not NFL related. The NFL bigwigs cleared that problem up on Friday and promise that it's not an April Fools joke. Kenny has nine more stadium shows this summer.

Josh Thompson is on Better TV today.

Happy birthday to Hal Ketchum and Steve Gatlin today.

The tweet of the day is from Reba, who was between rehearsals for the ACMs and the airing of the ACMs when she tweeted: "Sitting back stage playing Angry Birds...."

Today's Country Tidbits

Today is April first, April Fool's Day, and one of the all-time great pranks in country music was pulled on this day in 1997. Planning to sing at his own wedding, Trace Adkins had his management company send a contract and a bill for 75-hundred dollars to the family of his bride-to-be, Rhonda Forlaw. They're still married, so hopefully the in-laws forgave him!

New presenters have been added to Sunday night's ACM Awards show. Miranda Lambert, Luke Bryan, The Judds, Celine Dion and Chace Crawford will all hand over the hardware. Then on Monday night, new performers have been added to "Girls Night Out: Superstar Women of Country - The Concert of the Year." (honestly, can the titles of these tv shows get ANY longer???) Already scheduled to perform at the taping are Miranda Lambert, Martina McBride, Jennifer Nettles, Carrie Underwood, Reba, The Judds and Loretta Lynn. Added to the show are The Band Perry, Sara Evans, Little Big Town, the JaneDear Girls, Ashley Monroe, John Fogerty and Angaleena Presley. The show will be taped and will air soon on CBS.

Sunday night at the show, Kimberly Perry of The Band Perry, nominated for 4 awards, will probably have something special in her handbag. According to Kimberly, they got a very touching letter from a fan earlier this year. "When we opened the envelope there was a necklace with a ring attached to it. And in her letter she proceeded to tell us that the necklace and the ring were given to her from her best friend who had just passed away from cancer. She said, ‘you know ‘If I Die Young’ was the anthem of that season in my life. And so I want to pass this on to you because you guys literally saved my life.’ So I keep that in my purse.”

Last night in Las Vegas, the casinos were filled with country stars having fun before the weekend of work. Chris Young won $800 playing blackjack early this morning and tweeted that he was headed for bed before he lost it all.

John Rich is still surviving on Celebrity Apprentice, and is working hard to raise money for his chosen charity, St. Jude's Childrens Research Hospital. This Sunday, he's the project manager for his team, Team Backbone. They have three consecutive wins and John wants to raise a record amount of money - $1,000,000 - for St. Jude. He's written a song called "For the Kids" and you can download it from iTunes now. All of the profits from the song goes to the hospital.

Dierks Bentley has weighed in on American Idol, saying he thinks Jacob Lusk has “the touch of God in him.” Would Dierks have ever auditioned for American Idol before he became a star? He admires the show, but “it’s something I personally would never do.”

Toby Keith is releasing his tour plans for this year. He's still working on the spring USO tour schedule, but his summer "Locked & Loaded" tour will kick off June 30 with Eric Church as the opening act. There are 30 confirmed dates with more, including a European leg, to be added.

If you've been waiting for Kenny Chesney's "Summer in 3D" to be released on DVD, you're in luck - it's out. Up until now you could only get it on Blu-Ray, but now regular DVD is available. Before you buy it and are disappointed, though, only the in-theatre movie experience was 3D - the home version is regular old 2D. Still a great ride!

Condolences to the family and friends of Mel McDaniel. He's passed away last night after a long fight with cancer. Best known for his hits "Louisiana Saturday Night" and "Baby's Got Her Blue Jeans On," he and Carrie Underwood shared the same hometown - Checotah, Oklahoma - and he was 68.

Billy Ray Cyrus is on The View today, Keith Urban is on the Oprah Winfrey Show and Blake Shelton starts the day on the CBS Early Show.

The tweet of the day is from Blake Shelton, upon hearing that Mel McDaniel died: "Awe damn... I loved that guy... Really."

Today's Country Tidbits

Last night, Brad Paisley thought he was innocently going to congratulate his friend Richard Blais. Brad and Richard have done some fund-raisers together, and so when Richard won America's Top Chef, Brad tweeted, "congrats @RichardBlais on being Top Chef! Glad I got to eat your grub when it was still affordable. You deserve all the best." Apparently much of Twitterland got upset because they had DVR'ed the show and he just ruined the ending. Brad, being Brad, let fly with a torrent of replies to the offended parties:

"So,I didn't post to @RichardBlais for like an HOUR after the show was over.Jeez,How long do U people think spoiler alert is necessary?A week?"

"And, um, just to give you the suspense back if you are waiting to watch it on DVR, Congrats Mike Isabella on being Top Chef!"

"& not to ruin more of the show for you,but how'bout that cameo from Chef Boyardee tonight on top chef?Boy was he drunk. And droppin F bombs"

"I gotta say the cage match between Boyardee & Uncle Ben was about as unexpected as the mud wrestling between Sara Lee and Mrs. Butterworth."

"Oh sorry, forgot, Spoiler alert."

If you're on Twitter and not following @BradPaisley, look at what you're missing!

Taylor Swift wrapped up her European tour in London with a surprise - she was handed a plaque celebrating 20 million albums sold worldwide. She was already wondering how she would get all of her souvenirs from this trip home, as she's been a shopping machine while overseas. Looking at the size of the plaque, she's got another big problem on her hands!

Leading up to Sunday's ACM Award Show, there's lots of online and interactive events planned. The red carpet event will be carried live on Livestream, GACTV.com and AOL.com, with the hosts asking questions fans submit via Twitter at twitter.com/ACMAwards. You can check out the ACM's Facebook page, where everything that's going on will be announced and/or carried there.

And pity poor Miranda Lambert - because Blake is co-hosting the show, that leaves her without a date for the night. She was very supportive about him taking the co-host job, but later said, “I didn’t think about I’m not going to have a date. It’s kind of sad. Um, I’ll probably just sit next to a random person. You know, whatever, a seat filler.” I bet Miranda could find a date if she really wanted to. Wonder what her Mom is doing Sunday night?

In more Miranda news, she covets Carrie Underwood's legs. She's asked by USmagazine.com to spill 25 things we may not know about her, and one is that she wishes she had Carrie's shapely legs.

If you plan to be in Nashville for the CMA Music Fest, you need to get some Opry tickets for the Tuesday show right away. Lady Antebellum, Carrie Underwood, Martina McBride, Jerrod Niemann and the Oak Ridge Boys will all be part of the Tuesday night show, with Jerrod also doing the free Opry Plaza Party that afternoon. There's also a chance to win an all-expense-paid trip to the CMA Music Fest on the website.

Trace Adkins is weighing in on the disaster in Japan, asking people to text REDCROSS to 90999 to make a $10 donation to the relief efforts. Said Trace, “That was unbelievable to see that wall of water goin’ across there and just wiping out everything in its path it was just unbelievable. But, we’re gonna help them out of course.”

More details on Zac's Outdoor Channel show are out today. The show premiers this Sunday, highlights the art of hunting and cooking in a hunt camp, and is entitled "Fear No Evil." Zac Brown hosts, with an assist from Chris Brackett.

Did you miss Dierks Bentley on the Tonight Show? Here he is with his new song, "Am I the Only One."

That story yesterday about Willie Nelson being offered a plea bargain in his pot case - pay $100 and sing "Blue Eyes Cryin' In the Rain" - is not exactly the way things will play out. The judge in the case, Judge Becky Dean-Walker, says the prosecutor was joking and that the joke got out of hand. That is not an acceptable plea in her eyes, and Willie can plead guilty by mail, not by showing up and singing. No word as to whether the $100 fine is what he'll actually receive.

Country Weekly is on the hunt for country music's hottest performers. Vote early, vote often but vote now - the poll ends on April 10th.

Lee Brice is on The Price is Right today and Thompson Square is on Conan tonight.

The tweet of the day is from Taylor Swift: "Liz: "Life is hard when you leave your stuff behind..." I reply with "and by 'stuff', you mean your half eaten bag of candy?" "Yeah.."

Today's Country Tidbits

Some of the ACM award winners have already been announced. Reba wins the 2011 Career Achievement Award, Taylor Swift wins the Jim Reeves International Award for her "outstanding contributions to the worldwide popularization of country music," and the Cliffie Stone Pioneer Awards go to Garth Brooks and Larry Gatlin & the Gatlin Brothers. The Poet's Award goes to Tom T. Hall and the late Hank Cochran, the Tex Ritter Award for a movie featuring country music goes to "Country Strong," The Ryman Auditorium is Venue of the Year and the general manager there, Sally Williams, is the Promoter of the year. The Mae Boren Axton Award goes to John Dorris, ACM Treasurer and Hallmark Direction Company founder for his years of dedication and service to the ACM. The Producer of the Year is Paul Worley. All winners will be celebrated during the ACM Honors event at the Ryman this coming fall.

Zac Brown is looking forward to Sunday's ACM Award show, but not mainly for the awards part of it. He's nominated for top vocal group, album, single and song of the year and has a good shot at bringing home a lot of bling, but it's the performance that Zac is focused on. Says Zac, “I asked James Taylor to come play with me and he said, ‘yes.’ So I’m get to play with my single biggest influence musically. We’ve gotten together, he and I, and spent a day and got to visit with each other. And work on the tune and how we’re going to be doing it. And, you know, it’s pretty magic stuff.” The awards air at 8 Eastern Sunday night on CBS.

Oh, to be Willie Nelson. He just caught a break in his pot posession case. The prosecuter has agreed to let Willie off with a $100 fine and community service. The community service? Performing "Blue Eyes Cryin' in the Rain" in a courtroom. A judge still has to approve the plea deal and Willie still has to agree to do it, but it's a great deal for him - he could face 180 days in jail and a $2,000 fine if he doesn't cut a deal.

To celebrate a quarter-century of country hits, Randy Travis has put together a 16-track duets collection. "Anniversary Celebration" will be out June 7, and features Zac Brown Band, Kenny Chesney, Alan Jackson, Tim McGraw, Carrie Underwood, Brad Paisley, Willie Nelson, Don Henley, Kris Kristofferson and Kristen Chenoweth.

An unofficial video is out for Jake Owen's "Barefoot Blue Jean Night." Looks like a party...!

Josh Thompson was on Fox & Friends yesterday, and had fun doing an after-show show for the web only. One of the topics covered was what it feels like to drive Roy Orbison's Cadillac...

The Price is Right goes all ACM on us tomorrow, and features Lee Brice as a special guest. He'll perform and present two prize packages. One contestant will have the chance to win tickets to Sunday night's ACM Awards. Here's a sneak-peek...

Thompson Square celebrated their first #1 song in Nashville Monday night. "Are You Gonna Kiss Me or Not" tops the country charts, the ringtone chart and the digital download chart - nice hit! The song's co-writers, David Lee Murphy and Jim Collins, were on hand to celebrate their success, too.

Do you know your country couples? People.com has a quiz for you. Warning - it's kida tough!

Speaking of People, they're giving away free country music from six artists - The Band Perry, Eric Church, Randy Houser, Easton Corbin, Steel Magnolia and the JaneDear Girls.

Zac Brown is getting his own show on the Outdoor Channel.

Willie Nelson, Norah Jones and Wynton Marsalis team up on the Late Show with David Letterman tonight.

Happy birthday to Justin Moore, who turns 27 today.

The tweet of the day is from Jay DeMarcus of Rascal Flatts: "Love watching satellite in a thunderstorm... Nothin like tryin to make out the dialog in between the freezes!!"

Today's Country Tidbits

Blake Shelton is co-hosting the Academy of Country Music Awards this Sunday night with Reba, and apparently CBS is a little bit nervous. A network executive even called Blake to let him know that they're preparing for him. According to Blake, “He called and I answered and I said, ‘I take this serious it’s a big deal to me and, and I definitely wouldn’t bring Reba down with me you know, but…makin’ fun of…you know, Craig Morgan’s toupee or whatever.’ He goes, ‘Well the reason I was calling you was to tell you that they’re goin’ to implement a 5-second delay for the ACM’s.’ This is a true story!” In addition to his hosting duties, Blake's up for Top Male Vocalist and Video of the Year for "Hillbilly Bone." Blake's on Chelsea Lately tonight, The Talk on Thursday and The Early Show on Friday, talking up the award show.

Voting for the ACM Entertainer of the Year is going on and will continue through the second hour of the show on Sunday night. Brad Paisley and Miranda Lambert are both offering up gifts in exchange for votes. Miranda is giving away a free live version of "Dead Flowers" along with a shot at a commemorative plaque, and Brad is giving up "Letter to Me" and a chance to win an iPod Touch loaded with his music library.

Darius Rucker will perform on the ACM Awards this Sunday night, and it will be for charity. He'll sing "Music From the Heart," co-written by Chris Young and Brett James, and will be joined by 25 member of the ACM Lifting Lives Music Camp. The performance will benefit the Vanderbilt Kennedy Center, with viewers being asked to donate $5 by texting DREAM to 27722, or to donate by phone at 888-9-LIFTING.

Alan Jackson will play an intimate concert at the Rogersville Middle School in Rogersville, TN on April 14th. It's a fund-raiser for the American Cancer Society's Relay for Life of Hawkins County, and tickets sold out immediately. Charlie Chase, veteran country music tv personality, is the host of the event and an alum of the middle school, and all he had to do was ask Alan to get the country superstar to appear.

Pretty soon, you can even smell like Taylor Swift. Out this fall is Taylor's own line of perfume. She's partnered with Elizabeth Arden to make the scent, and she's had her hands in nearly every aspect of the process, from the aromas to the packaging.

Taylor Swift has made Time magazine's list of the 140 Best Twitter Feeds, saying, "If her success story has played out in a string of Grammys and magazine covers, consider the songbird's 140-character updates as the CliffsNotes." Follow Taylor on Twitter @taylorswift13 to see if you agree.

Lady Antebellum is collecting fan pictures for a project. If you have a copy of their cd, tweet a photo of you holding it and standing next to something that represents "your country." Follow Lady A on Twitter @LadyAntebellum.

Talk about your unintended consequences...wonder if the pro football players thought this through before they voted to strike? NFL players can't go to see Kenny Chesney's stadium shows, because they're on strike. According to the terms of the strike, they can't talk to their coaches or go to any stadiums, even their own home stadium. According to Kenny, the lockout is "interesting."

Opry Country Classics returns to the Ryman, featuring the Charlie Daniels Band, Pam and Mel Tillis, the Oak Ridge Boys and the Time Jumpers all headlining different nights between March 31 and May 26. There's a buy-one-get-one-free deal going on now through tomorrow night at midnight if you use coupon code OCC48 and get your tickets at opry.com or by calling 800-SEE-OPRY (800-733-6779.)

Martina McBride officially has two teenage daughters. As of today, middle daughter Emma turns 13. Martina's new song is "Teenage Daughters," and she says of the experience, “I’ve got a sixteen year-old who just is starting to drive. And then I have a pre-teen. She’s been a pre-teen up until now. And then a five year-old which is just starting Kindergarten. It’s like there’s always something going on. And it really doesn’t allow you to stayed focused on yourself and your problems for very long.”

If you missed Keith Urban performing "Without You" on the Ellen DeGeneres show yesterday, here he is.

Congratulations to Thompson Square who have their first career #1 song with "Are You Gonna Kiss Me or Not." Not only are they topping that chart, the song is also the #1 digital download this week, and the #1 ringtone.

Little Big Town is on Conan and The Talk today, Dierks Bentley is on the Tonight Show with Jay Leno, debuting his new song, "Am I the Only One," and Blake Shelton guests on Chelsea Lately again tonight.

The tweet of the day is from Trent Tomlinson: "Just had an amazing country fried steak with sawmill gravy, green beans, and mashed taters!! #whoneedssushi"