Okay, we all know Kenny Chesney is a huge football fan. He wrote a hit song about football, after all. And most of us know that he even played football in high school.

But, despite all this, it's not too often that we get to see Chesney in...well, some actual honest-to-Gawd football gear.

How about if we change that right now? Here you go, have a good long look. You're welcome.

All right then, what's actually going on here? I'll clear things up--Chesney was playing a sold-out show in Philadelphia on Saturday night when he was joined on stage by none other than the Philly Eagles' head coach, Andy Reid (that's him in the photo with Chesney, for all youse non-sportsfans out there). Reid announced Chesney's hit "The Boys Of Fall," then handed the singer an Eagles helmet. Chesney jumped right into the spirit of things, gave his cowboy hat to Reid, and donned the headgear.

Reid's appearance wasn't the only fun moment of the evening. Singer-songwriter Grace Potter, who added guest vocals

After a couple of grueling months in which he and his fellow contestants were put through just about every challenge a budding musical artist could anticipate--Matt Mason has been crowned CMT's Next Superstar. The 25-year-old Indiana native, who's been playing and singing since he was in grade school, managed to beat out stiff competition (most markedly soulful crooner and first runner-up Steven Clawson) to win the prize of a recording contract with Warner Music Nashville, as well as a primo opening spot on Luke Bryan's tour starting this September.

Mason seemed to have carried the show on the strength of just a consistent traditional-country vibe, from his low-key demeanor to the outlaw-flavored music he produced each episode. Fans' comments on CMT's Superstar site ranged from "the most natural of all of the others," to "the next big thing in country music," to "I'm not into country but this guy caught my interest!"

Sounds like the right guy won; do you agree? If you do, you'll be

Consider this a glowing testament to the producers of NBC's hit The Voice--fans of this show sure take it very seriously. As do the cast and characters!

Case in point: Last week, I reported a little bit about how it's not smart to throw taunts toward Voice coach Blake Shelton, because his wife Miranda Lambert might just get mouthy on Twitter. This week, well, I'm suggesting not taking on Blake himself. Unless you've got a pretty thick hide and a good sense of humor!

Shelton, who's well-known for being outspoken and occasionally crude on his Twitter account, took a Voice viewer's critical tweet on Saturday to task. The comment, addressed to him, read "you're so weird. go sing with your 'shy girls'" (referring to Shelton's "team" on the show) "and lose the voice. i thought it was a competition you wanted to win?"

To this, Shelton replied with two scathing tweets, one calling the hapless viewer a profanity, and the second asking, "How many songs have you had in the itunes top 10?

It's that time of year again for music fans to realize just how well-off their favorite artists can be--Forbes has released its annual list of the world's 25 highest-paid musicians. While some of the artists named were surprising and some were totally expected, I'll make the point of this easy and quick: Country music represented more than one-fifth of the entire list.

In a group that encompassed pop, modern rock, classic rock, hip-hop, and adult alternative as well as country, a full six of the (extremely well-compensated) artists named were none other than Nashville's finest.

Not bad, right? While country didn't manage to crack the top 5--or even the top 10 (unless you count the occasionally country Bon Jovi at No. 2, or the Eagles, who landed at No. 8)--it's still an impressive showing.

Wondering which country artist ranked highest? Well, that would be Toby Keith, who ranked just outside the top 10 at No. 11 with a net of $50 million, according to Forbes.

Taylor Swift followed

If you aren't familiar yet with the evocative vocal work of Mandy Barnett--just ask any true-blue Patsy Cline fan, and they'll be sure to fill you in.

Barnett, a Tennessee native, has been portraying Patsy Cline since she was a teenager in the critically acclaimed biographical musical Always...Patsy Cline and has garnered shining reviews for her spot-on command of the role. How shining? Well, to the point where the Tennessean actually noted "If you closed your eyes, Patsy Cline was there in the room with you." Her extraordinary talent in the production led to a record deal under her own name, several albums, regular tours, and a host of soundtrack work.

Barnett reprised her role as Cline when the musical returned to Nashville's historic Ryman Auditorium--the same stage where Cline made a name for herself so many years ago--in 2009. The production skipped a year due to the devastating floods that ravaged Nashville in May of 2010.

However--much to Barnett's (and Cline's) fans' delight,

By now, everyone knows about the terrible fire that claimed Trace Adkins's Nashville-area home earlier this month--and also that his family was remarkably versed in safety procedures, resulting in everyone getting out unharmed.

However, it turns out that Adkins's children (two of his three daughters were in the house when it went up in flames) are not only level-headed when it comes to their own safety--they're concerned for others as well.

According to People Pets, Adkins's 9-year-old daughter Brianna was the one who realized during the family's evacuation that her dogs were left behind. So, she went back to save them.

"A neighbor tried to stop her," Adkins told People Pets. "But she wouldn't be stopped." The neighbor then assisted Brianna in locating the dogs and carrying them to safety.

Now, that is one brave little girl! Adkins agrees, and said he told his daughter how proud he was of her.

It seems that Brianna comes by her love of animals naturally. Her dad has just joined

Here's what you didn't know about Blake Shelton and Miranda Lambert's wedding: It was fraught with feedback and public peeing.

Here's what you didn't know about Trace Adkins after his devastating house fire this month: It has turned him into Rain Man.

These and other tidbits came out backstage at the 40th annual CMA Music Festival, which wrapped up Sunday with a late-night Taylor Swift performance. Swift, Brad Paisley, and other performers came backstage at LP Field to talk to the media about the festival as well as anything and everything else going on in their lives. If you want to hear some of the stars' previously untold secrets, read (and watch) on...

Shelton talked about prospects for having everyone on board for a second season of his hit series The Voice. "I'd love to do it again," he said. "Whether or not they get all four of us back, I think that's still up in the air a little bit. But I think everybody involved wants that to happen. The reality of it is, you've got four

Back in April, country quartet Little Big Town showed reigning pop-culture queen Lady Gaga--who'd just released a "country" version of her hit "Born This Way"--how to authentically twang up a song with their own down-home take on her tune.

As far as we know, British sensation Adele--despite being a fan of country music--hasn't attempted to follow in Gaga's footsteps in this exact manner. However, Little Big Town gamely decided to cover her No. 1 single "Rolling In The Deep" anyway.

And guess what? It's doggoned great. I cannot say anything bad about this, seriously. Adele's bluesy smash manages to sound even more urgent and raw when LBT pare it down and lay some harmonies on it. Listen for yourself!

LBT has put their unique spin on several non-country songs as part of their popular "Scattered, Smothered, and Covered" series featured on their official site--besides Gaga and Adele, they've tackled hits by the Script and Bruno Mars. The quartet seems to have a real knack for choosing