Jason Aldean certainly has plenty to be thankful for this holiday season. His fourth album, My Kinda Party, debuted at No. 2 on the Billboard 200 chart earlier this month, marking a new record in his five-year career. He delivered one of the most talked-about performances--a emotive duet with pop queen Kelly Clarkson, whose voice blends beautifully with Aldean's--at the Country Music Association Awards shortly after. And he's up for two awards at the American Music Awards on November 21.

It's always a pleasure to observe an innovative country artist maintain a steady upward climb, which Aldean easily has done--and them some. We at Yahoo! Music have been devout fans ever since he blew our minds with the rollicking "Hicktown" and performed a smoking set at our corporate headquarters back in 2005.

We took the opportunity to chat with him about his recent career highlights, as well as take a look at some of his personal interests--as a musician, hobbyist, and family man (at the time of

LeAnn Rimes cannot stay out of the media these days. This week, she's embroiled in yet another discussion pitting her against a story she says is unfair and exaggerated.

As usual, the story in question relates to her and boyfriend Eddie Cibrian. As we all know by now, Cibrian and soon-to-be ex Brandi Glanville have joint custody of two young sons, who live in Rimes's house when they are with their father.

Glanville reported to E! News that Rimes and Cibrian failed to call and tell her that her son was taken to the emergency room for a minor accident last weekend. "Bad parenting," she told the news outlet.

Rimes, who is prolific on Twitter, had tweeted about the incident--one of many tweets detailing her activities and involvement with Cibrian's sons--which apparently infuriated Glanville further.

The singer reacted to the E! story with a storm of furious tweets, accusing Glanville of lying, and defending her own right to discuss Cibrian's children as they are part of her life.  

So, what's Taylor Swift been up to this week? Well, aside from working on the follow-up to Fearless, she's making a splash as the latest celeb in the famous "Got Milk?" ad campaign.

Swift appears in the ad sporting tight blue jeans, cowboy boots, a guitar...and that trademark white mustache, of course. Her statement reads: "Drinking three glasses a day gives you protein that encourages lean muscles and calcium which makes strong bones. So, milk is definitely something that is a priority for me."

This isn't the first time Swift's been caught wearing the milk 'stache: She shot her first ad for Body By Milk back in 2008. In that ad, she wore a beige dress and noted the health benefits of milk for teens (she was only 18 at the time).

Swift's also not the only pop star currently on board for the campaign--she joins Miley Cyrus, Demi Lovato, Usher, and Jordin Sparks (along with a variety of currently hot sports figures) on the Body By Milk "Celeb Zone."

In other Swift news--and there's

Here's one thing I bet you never knew about Kix Brooks: He was a theater major in college! Given that, it probably will come as no surprise that the former one-half of now-retired duo Brooks & Dunn is planning on dabbling in the acting world.

Brooks confirmed in a webchat Monday that he'll have a part in the upcoming independent film Thriftstore Cowboy, noting that he will be shooting in Phoenix up until the day before Thanksgiving.

"It's a pretty cool movie," he said. "Kinda like a darker version of Urban Cowboy. I'm [playing] a bad guy--he's not all bad in the end, but he's hooked up with some really bad guys and he's trying to hang with them."

Given his college major, it seems as if the acting world should have beckoned to Brooks long ago--but, as he explained, he's only managed so far to make a few cameos on film as part of Brooks & Dunn. "I never really had the time," he noted, citing B&D's touring schedule as the main reason. "It'll be interesting to take a shot at it...I've

Leave it to Dolly Parton--even when being recognized for her business acumen, the legendary entertainer always manages to insert a bit of her trademark humor-loving personality.

Upon accepting the 2010 Liseberg Applause Award--the most prestigious honor granted by the amusement park industry--for her Tennessee-based entertainment park Dollywood on Tuesday, Parton quipped, "Walt Disney became successful because he had Mickey Mouse who has two big ears. So I figured I could be successful with Dollywood with my two big partners."

The 64-year-old Parton, who co-owns Dollywood along with Herschend Family Entertainment, was given the award during a special ceremony at the International Association of Amusement Parks & Attractions convention in Orlando, Florida. The award, which is given out every other year, is chosen by industry professionals around the world in recognition of overall excellence.

Dollywood, which is celebrating its 25th anniversary this year and welcomes around 2.5

I'm going to officially call it: Things are getting just plain ridiculous for LeAnn Rimes. The singer is seemingly unable to keep out of controversy in regards to her relationship with actor Eddie Cibrian.

The latest incident (in a string of many, most of them detailed here in this blog): Her appearance on the cover of Shape magazine's October issue, which was accompanied by a confessional interview discussing her affair with Cibrian and eventual breakup of her marriage to Dean Sheremet.

Some readers apparently were not thrilled with the publication's choice of covergirl, and enough of them contacted the magazine to invoke a groveling apology from Shape editor-in-chief Valerie Latona.

"Shape has made a terrible mistake in putting LeAnn Rimes on the cover," Latona said, in an email that was obtained by celeb gossip site TooFab.

"Please know that our putting her on the cover was not meant to put a husband-stealer on a pedestal--but to show how we all are human."

Latona added that she

'Twas the night after CMAs, and all through the house, lots of hungover stars were creeping, even though it was hotter than Taos...

"Nothing like a Christmas special and it's 85 outside," said Brad Paisley, addressing the crowd at Nashville's Bridgestone Arena Thursday night. That was a slight exaggeration of the current Tennessee heat wave, but temperatures have been reaching the balmy high 70s in Music City this week, which, as Paisley indicated, didn't exactly put everyone in a Perry Como mood. Nonetheless, ABC and the Country Music Association were shooting a special called CMA Country Christmas, scheduled to air on Nov. 29.

Sugarland's Jennifer Nettles hosted the occasion, which also featured performances from Reba McIntire, Leann Rimes, Sheryl Crow, Rascal Flatts, Martina McBride, Darius Rucker, Kellie Pickler, and Little Big Town.

It made sense for the parties involved to shoot the special the night after the CMAs. After all, they already had the arena rented out and full of

Looks like 2010 is definitely yet another "year of the blond, explosively popular female country singer." However, this time, it's not Carrie Underwood or Taylor Swift--it's Miranda Lambert's turn. The Texas-bred sensation made country music history Wednesday morning by being nominated for a record nine Country Music Association awards, the most ever for any female artist.

When the first-round nominees for this year's CMA awards were announced in seven initial categories Tuesday morning, Lambert scooped up five nods, establishing her as the leader of the pack. On Wednesday morning, when the final round was revealed, she grabbed four more nods, putting her just below Alan Jackson's all-time record of 10 nominations. 

Last year's CMA awards sweeper, Taylor Swift, was nominated in just one category this year, female vocalist. Carrie Underwood, who received the entertainer of the year award at the Academy of Country Music Awards earlier this year, received two nods: Female vocalist and