52nd Annual Grammy's are Sunday

Here are the country-related nominees!

Record Of The Year
Beyonce, "Halo"
Black Eyed Peas, "I Got A Feeling"
Kings of Leon, "Use Somebody"
Lady GaGa, "Poker Face"
Taylor Swift, "You Belong With Me"

Album Of The Year
"I Am...Sasha Fierce," Beyonce
"The E.N.D.," Black Eyed Peas
"The Fame," Lady GaGa
"Big Whiskey & The GrooGrux King," Dave Matthews Band
"Fearless," Taylor Swift

Song Of The Year
Lady GaGa, "Poker Face"
Maxwell, "Pretty Wings"
Beyonce, "Single Ladies"
Kings of Leon, "Use Somebody"
Taylor Swift, "You Belong With Me"

Best New Artist
Zac Brown Band
Keri Hilson
MGMT
Silversun Pickups
The Ting Tings

Best Female Country Vocal Performance
Miranda Lambert, "Dead Flowers"
Martina McBride, "I Just Call You Mine"
Taylor Swift, "White Horse"
Carrie Underwood, "Just A Dream"
Lee Ann Womack, "Solitary Thinkin'"

Best Male Country Vocal Performance
Trace Adkins, "All I Ask For Anymore"
Billy Currington, "People Are Crazy"
Jamey Johnson, "High Cost Of Living"
George Strait, "Living For The Night"
Keith Urban, "Sweet Thing"

Best Country Performance By A Duo Or Group With Vocal
Brooks & Dunn, "Cowgirls Don't Cry"
Zac Brown Band, "Chicken Fried"
Lady Antebellum, "I Run To You"
Rascal Flatts, "Here Comes Goodbye"
Sugarland, "It Happens"

Best Country Collaboration With Vocals
Dierks Bentley & Patty Griffin, "Beautiful World"
Kenny Chesney & Mac McAnally, "Down The Road"
Brad Paisley & Keith Urban, "Start A Band"
Carrie Underwood & Randy Travis, "I Told You So"
Lee Ann Womack & George Strait, "Everything But Quits"

Best Country Instrumental Performance
Alison Brown, "Under The (Five) Wire"
The Greencards, "The Crystal Merchant"
Sarah Jarosz, "Mansinneedof"
Steve Wariner, "Producer's Medley"
Track from: Steve Wariner c.g.p. My Tribute To Chet Atkins

Best Country Song
"All I Ask For Anymore," Casey Beathard & Tim James, songwriters (Trace Adkins)
"High Cost Of Living," Jamey Johnson & James Slater, songwriters (Jamey Johnson)
"I Run To You," Tom Douglas, Dave Haywood, Charles Kelley & Hillary Scott, songwriters (Lady Antebellum)
"People Are Crazy," Bobby Braddock & Troy Jones, songwriters (Billy Currington)
"White Horse," Liz Rose & Taylor Swift, songwriters (Taylor Swift)

Best Country Album
Zac Brown Band, "The Foundation"
George Strait, "Twang"
Taylor Swift, "Fearless"
Keith Urban, "Defying Gravity"
Lee Ann Womack, "Call Me Crazy"

Best Female Pop Vocal Performance
Adele, "Hometown Glory"
Beyoncé, "Halo"
Katy Perry, "Hot N Cold"
Pink, "Sober"
Taylor Swift, "You Belong With Me"

Best Pop Collaboration With Vocals
Rosanne Cash & Bruce Springsteen, "Sea Of Heartbreak"
Ciara & Justin Timberlake, "Love Sex Magic"
Jason Mraz & Colbie Caillat, "Lucky"
Willie Nelson & Norah Jones, "Baby, It's Cold Outside"
Taylor Swift & Colbie Caillat, "Breathe"

Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album
Tony Bennett, "A Swingin' Christmas"
Michael Bublé, "Michael Bublé Meets Madison Square Garden"
Harry Connick, Jr., "Your Songs"
Liza Minnelli, "Liza's At The Palace"
Willie Nelson, "American Classic"

Best Rock Instrumental Performance
Jeff Beck, "A Day In The Life"
Booker T. Jones, "Warped Sister"
Brad Paisley, "Playing With Fire"
Brian Setzer Orchestra, "Mr. Surfer Goes Jazzin'"
Steve Vai, "Now We Run"

Best Southern/Country/Bluegrass Gospel Album
Jason Crabb, "Jason Crabb"
Ernie Haase & Signature Sound, "Dream On"
Tracy Lawrence, "The Rock"
Barry Scott & Second Wind, "In God's Time"
Triumphant Quartet, "Everyday"

Best Americana Album
Bob Dylan, "Together Through Life"
Levon Helm, "Electric Dirt"
Willie Nelson & Asleep At The Wheel, "Willie And The Wheel"
Wilco, "Wilco (The Album)"
Lucinda Williams, "Little Honey"

Best Bluegrass Album
Jim Lauderdale, "Could We Get Any Closer?"
Steve Martin, "The Crow / New Songs For The Five-String Banjo"
Michael Martin Murphey, "Buckaroo Blue Grass"
Bryan Sutton And Friends, "Almost Live"
Rhonda Vincent, "Destination Life"

Best Musical Show Album
Ain't Misbehavin'," 30th Anniversary Cast Recording With Ruben Studdard, Frenchie Davis & Others
Robert Sher, producer; Various, composer; Various, lyricist
"Hair," New Broadway Cast With Sasha Allen, Gavin Creel & Others
Noah Cornman, Kurt Deutsch, Joel Moss & Steve Norman, producers; Galt MacDermot, composer; James Rado & Gerome Ragni, lyricists
"9 To 5 The Musical," Original Broadway Cast With Allison Janney, Stephanie J. Block, Megan Hilty & Others
Alex Lacamoire, Stephen Oremus & Dolly Parton, producers; Dolly Parton, composer; Dolly Parton, lyricist
"Shrek The Musical," Original Broadway Cast With Brian d'Arcy James, Sutton Foster & Others
Peter Hylenski & Jeanine Tesori, producers; Jeanine Tesori, composer; David Lindsay-Abaire, lyricist
"West Side Story," New Broadway Cast with Matt Cavenaugh, Josefina Scaglione & Others
David Caddick & David Lai, producers; Leonard Bernstein, composer; Stephen Sondheim, lyricist
Best Long Form Music Video
Chris Botti, "In Boston"
Johnny Cash, "Johnny Cash's America"
Anita O'Day, "Anita O'Day - The Life Of A Jazz Singer"
Keith Urban, "Love, Pain & The Whole Crazy World Tour Live"
Various Artists, "The Beatles Love - All Together Now"

ACM Voting

The Academy of Country Music has released their "Top New" Categories for us to vote on.

The winners of each "Top New" category then goes on to compete for Top New Artist.

Voting begins February 26th and runs thru March 12th. Then, the Top New Artist voting will start April 1st and the willer will be announced on the show April 18th.

You can vote (when the time comes) at VoteACM.com (I'll put this on the side when the time arrives.)

Nominees for the ACM Awards' "Top New" categories:

TOP NEW SOLO VOCALIST
Luke Bryan
Jamey Johnson
Chris Young

TOP NEW VOCAL DUO
Bomshel
Joey + Rory
Steel Magnolia

TOP NEW VOCAL GROUP
Eli Young Band
Gloriana
The Lost Trailers

Keith Urban & John Mayer do CMT Crossroads

Sometime in the Spring (no date yet - but keep watching the DVR Alert section) CMT's Crossroads will feature these great artists.

Of course they played each other's songs, and there were spontaneous jam sessions. I'm told the songs were all filled with lengthy guitar solos, and towards the end John said, "There's something fun about meeting your match. I'm flyin' high tonight, and it's been a blast. They closed the show with George's Michael's Faith (I guess it went on a while :)

Songs covered:

Tonight I Wanna Cry

Sweet Thing

'Til Summer Comes Around

Perfectly Lonely

Say

Gravity.

Toby Keith Helping Haiti

Toby has donated seven semitrailers to Can-Do and Livin' the Music, two nonprofits which are gathering goods to send to Port-Au-Prince next week. It's a nice thing for Toby to do, as these trailers will be filled with donations of nonperishable food, baby formula, water purification products, medical equipment, first aid kits, work gloves, tarps and personal hygiene products, then sealed and shipped.

Big Kenny's Friend Lost in Haiti

Big Kenny's friend Walt Ratterman was staying at the Hotel Montana in Port-Au-Prince when the earthquake hit, and he is still missing.

Big Kenny has been down in Haiti working with rescue and recovery teams searching for his friend, whom, on his blog, he describes as "a great humanitarian and mentor."


Big Kenny has been documenting the devastation as well as the strength and resilience of those he has met on his blog.

In a Monday blog post Big Kenny introduces Jean Jacques, another friend of Walt's, and says, "He is nothing short of amazing. It is very hard to meet anyone in Haiti who has not lost loved ones. I weep for them all. Then I breathe and repeat the cycle. I know with men like Jean there is great hope for Haiti to come out of this tragedy."

Halway To Hazard we barely Knew Yee

On the duo's website, David Tolliver says they'll be taking some time off. "It has been a wild ride so far and we have made so many great friends and memories but at this time in my life I have to take a step back and deal with some personal and family issues that I have neglected to address until now. I am gonna take a break from Halfway to Hazard and put my energy into making myself a better man, father and husband! I will miss you guys but it will only be for a short time, after that we'll see how this life is gonna go! God bless you all, I love each and everyone of you like family!!!"

This is effective immediatly so all of Halfway To Hazard's upcoming appearances have been "postponed indefinitely."

A little background for you.

Halfway To Hazard also features Chad Warrix, and gave us a great debut single with "Daisy" (which didn't do very well for them, but still a great song) in 2007. They were the opening act on Tim & Faith's "Sould2Soul" tour (and Tim was a co-producer on their self-titled debut album. Their sophomore CD, "Come On Time," in October 2009.


Hopefully everything will be OK with Dave and they can get back out there - I thought they had a great sound - they just need a good break.

Tim, Faith, & Taylor

Excellent job Tim McGraw and Faith Hill in your efforts in the fight against cancer. Tim and Faith will receive the Courage Award at the Women's Cancer Research Fund's "An Unforgettable Evening" gala tonight for their commitment to supporting cancer prevention as well as research.


Actress Christina Applegate, who recently went through a successful battle with breast cancer, will also be honored.

Taylor Swift will provide entertainment.

The Women's Cancer Research Fund is a program of the Entertainment Industry Foundation.