When it comes to Waylon Jennings, we're all just good-hearted women in love with a good-timin' man—aren't we? But there is one woman who claims that title ahead of the rest of us, which would be Jessi Colter, Waylon's widow. She and their son, Shooter Jennings, a rising star in his own right, sat down in Nashville this month to talk about a years-in-the-making tribute to the late country superstar.

The just-released album is called The Music Inside, Vol. 1: A Collaboration Dedicated to Waylon Jennings. If that's a cumbersome title, the "volume 1" part is necessitated by the fact that there are two more volumes already scheduled for release in 2011. This first set includes covers of familiar and obscure Jennings tracks by Alabama, Jamey Johnson, Trace Adkins, John Hiatt, Randy Houser, James Otto, Sunny Sweeney, and newcomer Chanel Campbell, along with a historic Kris Kristofferson/Patty Griffin duet... and, of course, appearances by Jessi and Shooter. Hank Williams Jr. and Dierks

Garth Brooks, who turned 49 on Monday, got a really big belated birthday gift on Wednesday--when he discovered that his charitable Nashville concert series raised a whopping $5 million.

The series, which was held in December and consisted of nine sold-out shows at Nashville's Bridgestone Arena, was earmarked to fund disaster relief for the city. Tennessee experienced record flooding in May of 2010, which resulted in billions of dollars worth of damage, as well the deaths of more than 20 people and displacement of hundreds more.

The total sum raised from the concerts was announced by the Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee, which says it already has most of the funds (about $4.35 million) in hand.

It's not too surprising that Brooks was able to raise such an impressive sum. The series netted a record 140,000 tickets sold, which is the highest amount ever in the state of Tennessee (and that's a state known for its music lovers, folks!). If you're curious, Michael Jackson held the

Jana Kramer played a sorority girl on "Entourage" and a fallen starlet turned model in "One Tree Hill." Now the 27-year-old will play a country singer in real life: The Detroit native debuted her single "I Won't Give Up" on the CW show.

The song spurred searches on the Web. Lookups hit a high note for "jana kramer," soaring over 1,400% on Yahoo! in just one day. Fans also sought "jana kramer i wont give up lyrics" and "jana kramer songs."

The Los Angles Times blog gushed about the song, "We loved it." And heck, what a way to start a music career: As the story points out, the show has a successful history of launching musical talents, including Wakey!Wakey! and Kate Voegele.

Until now, the TV star has done more acting than singing: Kramer's other roles have included spots on "Friday Night Lights" and "90210." But with a deal signed and sealed with Warner Music Nashville, that may all be about to change.

Once "One Tree Hill" wraps up in March, the Nashville-based Kramer says she

One of the most interesting parts of the annual Academy of Country Music Awards ceremonies is the new artist awards, which are fan-determined via popular online vote. The nominees in these categories (Top New Solo Vocalist and Top New Vocal Duo or Group) represent some of the most exciting names buzzing around Nashville and, therefore, provide each other with some seriously stiff competition.

Now, last year, I wrote about Top New Solo Vocalist contender Luke Bryan, who went to great lengths via a wildly funny viral video to get fans to vote for him (they did, and he won).

This year, Bryan's labelmate Eric Church is in the running for the same award--he's competing against Randy Houser and Easton Corbin--and he's put together his own similarly humorous viral campaign.

Bryan's video last year included footage of the singer gyrating in a ballet outfit that was so bad it spurred his buddy Blake Shelton to make vomiting noises. Church's video doesn't go quite that far--and to be honest,

Anyone who's a Faith Hill fan knows that the Mississippi gal is one big football aficionado. She's performed at the Super Bowl, and has been behind NBC's Sunday Night Football theme song for several years. So, it seems quite fitting that she'd "kick off" her newest partnership--with flower delivery service Teleflora--via a commercial during this year's Super Bowl telecast.

Hill's spot for the company was hyped for a few weeks prior to the big game, promising a Super Bowl-worthy dose of humor. What it turned out to be was a rather short skit titled "Help Me Faith," in which Hill plays straight (wo)man to a sound engineer who is searching for just the right words to honor his girlfriend's, uh, attributes.

In case you missed it, I've got it here for ya to watch. Personally, I wasn't that "bowled" over by it. (OK, no more football puns, I promise.) It's funny, sure, but really not as sharp as I expected. And pretty far from the most amusing commercial all evening.

Still and all, the

Ever wondered what Taylor Swift jams to when she's driving around town? Or taking a shower? Or hanging out with buddies?

This piece of information could have well remained a mystery to all of us--but, the good folks at Nashville radio station 107.5 The River managed to get it out of the superstar.

While visiting the station, Swift was invited to play "program director" and announce a song of her choice. Her selection? Not country! She chose "Super Bass" by Nicki Minaj.

"I really freak my friends out because I can recite every single lyric to the rap," Swift boasted to the DJ.

Of course, after having made that claim, she was taken to task to prove it!

Swift demurred, saying "No...that's for the car," but finally after some prodding busted out with a bit of Her Minajesty's lines.

The best part? She seemed actually a bit embarrassed after she did it. I have to say, it's totally adorable to see one of pop culture's most famous names, who's performed in front of gazillions of people a

It's been almost half a year since Brooks & Dunn played their final show together, in Nashville, to a crowd of raucous but sad fans. However, in that relatively short period of time, Ronnie Dunn has already planted his feet firmly as a solo artist.

In addition to his inclusion on the Country Strong soundtrack (which came out last October), Dunn just cut his first official solo single, "Bleed Red," which was released to radio on Monday. It's doing great--in fact, it's the most-added new song of the week, according to industry publications Country Aircheck and Billboard.

Dunn told the Associated Press on Tuesday that being on his own is "refreshing." He's targeting a summer release for his full-length solo debut (no title has been named yet), saying "This is the record I've waited all my life to do."

Dunn plans to try out some of his new material in Las Vegas for the Academy of Country Music Awards, which will be held April 3. He'll officially be performing "Bleed Red" at the

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