It's almost time for this year's Grammy Awards--and, I'm pleased to note, the show has gotten yet a little more country with the announcement of new presenters and performers this week.

As previously reported, Nashville's currently most sensational sensation, Miranda Lambert, will be performing at the awards. To make things extra fun, her fiance, Blake Shelton, will be presenting.

Wonder if he'll get to hand his gal a Grammy? (She's up for three--he's up for one.) Can you imagine what an adorable photo op that would be?

Joining Shelton on the presenter's list is Dierks Bentley, who himself is nominated for three awards, including country album of the year for Up On The Ridge.

To round things out, it was also revealed that Country Strong chanteuse Gwyneth Paltrow will be performing live at the Grammys. However, it doesn't sound as if she'll be doing anything country-related. She'll be dueting with hip-hop hitmaker Cee Lo Green (as she did last month on Saturday Night Live)--along

Taylor Swift fanatics, although varied and wide, can universally agree on one thing--it's been a little while since we've seen any new live video from her.

Well, it's time to remedy that! We've got some fresh footage of Swift playing live that's ready to watch right now.

And, if just plain having some new stuff from Swift weren't enough, the performance videos we're spotlighting here are from a really cool and unique event that many fans will recognize. Back in October--during release week for her smash-success third album, Speak Now--Swift delighted fans at New York's JFK airport with a surprise "Live From T5" set at the JetBlue terminal. JetBlue posted the videos from the mini-concert this week, and now everyone can enjoy what it was like to be treated to an actually fun and customer-oriented traveling experience! (No full body scans involved, either.)

Here's Ms. Swift performing "Speak Now," "Back To December," and "Mine." Now boarding!

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Well, country music fans, Miranda Lambert has done it yet again.

Lambert established herself as the new "queen of country" last year with an extraordinary list of recognition from the music industry (country and otherwise), eclipsing all the female artists in a genre that has no shortage of powerful women. And, apparently, she's in no danger of losing her crown this year, either. The nominees for the first major country awards show of 2011 have been announced--the Academy of Country Music Awards--and Lambert yet again has pulled way ahead of the pack, notably fellow blond country megastars Taylor Swift and Carrie Underwood.

Lambert is, as a matter of fact, leading the entire nominees list with seven nods. This tally puts her way beyond Swift (who received four) and Underwood (who notched only one). Most impressively, Lambert received her first ACM nomination for the top prize--entertainer of the year--a category in which she will compete against Swift. She will also be pitted against

Probably the best description of the JaneDear Girls--the rockin', stylin', groovin' duo that's been making considerable buzz in Nashville of late--comes from their producer: "They are the girls next door that kick country a--."

That producer would be none other than John Rich, who knows a bit about artistic rear-kicking. Rich discovered the girls at one of his infamous MuzikMafia events, was promptly bowled over by their ability to "bring it," and helped Susie Brown and Danelle Leverett on their way to a record deal--resulting in the release of their self-titled debut record on February 1.

But these two women are far more than flashy looks and attitude. Brown comes from a musical family and was winning state competitions for her violin skills at a tender age. Leverett, originally set on pursuing gymnastics, turned to songwriting after an injury and also began winning contests. The two met in Nashville post-college, where they instantly clicked as musical partners.

We at Our Country

Football fans all across the country are no doubt counting down the minutes until Super Bowl XLV hits this weekend. Now, country music fans have an extra reason to be excited, too.

What's that you say? Well, just a double dose of Lady Antebellum to make game-day that much more fun!

First of all, a special remix of the trio's "Stars Tonight" will be kicking off pre-game radio coverage on Super Bowl Sunday (that's February 6, in case you're hiding under a rock somewhere). The new mix will be mashed with highlights from the Packers' and Steelers' winning seasons, and will reach more than 640 radio stations. Don't know what station will be airing the game in your area? Click here to find it.
 
Then, directly after the game, Lady A's smash hit "Need You Now" will be performed on the highly anticipated post-Super Bowl episode of tv's award-winning musical Glee.

Super Bowl XLV will air live on Fox from the Cowboys Stadium in North Texas--the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Green Bay Packers will

So--the Super Bowl is way over and done. And opinion on the Who's halftime show is...mixed, to say the least. I'm sure many of you have checked out this blogger's list of performers that, in his opinion, could play the Bowl successfully (utilitzing a solid mix of factors such as commercial success, mass appeal, and plain old family-friendly oomph).

I have to say, as usual--Rob's on the money. He's good. But just one thing, here. Rob's list didn't include any country artists. And, much to my delight, the first reader's comment to the blog entry said just that: "Country artists?" (As in, where are they on this list, dude?!)

Now, I can easily see why Rob didn't put any country acts down. (The Eagles maybe kind of count, but not really.) The country format is an odd animal. It has a tremendous and rapidly diversifying audience; more so than probably most other formats out there (yeah, yeah, I've talked about this a billion times already). However, it has a built-in insularity that is

Charlie Louvin, who as a member of the Louvin Brothers influenced innumerable country artists and Americana-leaning rockers with songs of despair and redemption, passed away today at his home in Nashville after a long battle with pancreatic cancer, Reuters reports. Louvin, born Charlie Loudermilk, was 83. A member of the Country Hall of Fame and a Grand Ole Opry mainstay, Louvin is perhaps best known for the Louvin Brothers' gospel-tinged "Satan Is Real," which along with its collection of songs dedicated to Christian hymns and spirituality boasts one of the most memorable album covers of all time.

Artists like Johnny Cash, who wrote in his biography about his inspiring encounter with Charlie Louvin, Wilco's Jeff Tweedy, Emmylou Harris, Merle Haggard and James Taylor have all admitted being indebted to the Louvin Brothers' work, which also includes 1956's stellar "Tragic Songs of Love" and a dozen or so more LPs prior to his older brother Ira Louvin's death in 1965. Gram Parsons, as a

In his most recent No. 1 country smash, Keith Urban sings about his love for the ideal woman and how he wants to "Put You in a Song." It's easy to idealize Urban, too, between his masterful rock guitar-god chops, pop songwriting skills, amiable personality, and the fact that he cleans up real good. But the best we can do to capture all that is put him in an interview. And put him on the Our Country soundstage, where he and his band recorded live versions of several tracks from his latest album, Get Closer.

While Keith was taking a break from performing "Put You in a Song," "Without You," and "You're Gonna Fly" for our cameras, we had him stick around on that stool to answer some queries about the personal motivations behind the new material, how the Nashville floods affected him, and his Mark Knopfler obsession.

OUR COUNTRY: "Put You in a Song" is a great radio song about... writing a great radio song. [Urban laughs.] Of course it's more than that: It's about a girl. But it's in the