On paper, it was Carrie Underwood's night at the American Country Awards, as she led the pack by earning six awards at the brand new music kudocast. But if you were watching the show on Fox, or even live at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, you might have blinked and missed her. She didn't sing, and there were so few awards given out during the performance-heavy telecast that Underwood wasn't even a presence on the show until the closing moments, when she picked up her sole on-air trophy.

What viewers did see: a parade of country stars and up-and-comers that was mostly youngish and mostly male. The poster boy for the event might have been freshman Easton Corbin, who performed his breakthrough hit "A Little More Country Than That" on top of coming away with three awards.

If three trophies sounds like a lot for a guy with only one album out, consider that the ACAs determined to up the freshness quotient by having three categories expressly for new artists instead of the one traditionally doled

Keith Urban received high praise from Oprah Winfrey when he appeared on her talk show Monday afternoon. When discussing his latest album, Get Closer, the media queen declared, "I can feel your heart in every song."

It's a compliment Urban should be proud of. His path to joyful musician, husband (to actress Nicole Kidman) and father (to 2 1/2-year-old Sunday Rose) hasn't been entirely smooth. Although his career has enjoyed stellar success over the past years, a self-declared "lack of love" in his life contributed to issues with addiction (he's been to rehab three times in 8 years) and dissatisfaction in his personal life.

However, Urban is quick to give credit where credit is due when it comes to having turned his life around. His wife, he says, is the one person who saved him.

"I look back now and realize Nic has taught me so much and brought so much into my life, and opened my eyes in so many ways," he told Winfrey.

Urban noted that he would have understood if Kidman chose to

The Band Perry have one of the unlikeliest No. 1 singles in the recent history of country music with "If I Die Young." It's a feel-good song about mortality, which, in the trio's hands, is not quite as oxymoronic as it sounds. Far from being a bummer, it's the song that's taken them to the top of the charts and very possibly established them as the genre's next real stars. Here's an act you can truly hope you get to see grow old in the country music limelight.

Currently they're out on tour opening for Alan Jackson, but if you don't have tickets for those dates, you can see them this Monday on the American Country Awards on Fox, following their appearance on the American Music Awards and the CMAs just before that.

We caught up with the family act—Kimberly Perry, 26; Reid Perry, 21; and Neil Perry, 19—before a show in L.A. Here's our interview with the threesome: 

Q: If I were going to guess the song that would put you over the biggest, I would have guessed "Hip to My Heart," your

Just call them the little rascals. On second thought, don't. But if they're not quite kids again, there's no mistaking that superstar country trio Rascal Flatts are feeling a renewed vigor in this, their 10th anniversary year. They've moved over to a new record label (Big Machine, the home of Taylor Swift and Reba McEntire) and feel like they have a new attitude to go with it on Nothing Like This, their just-released seventh studio album. 

The band came by Yahoo! Music's west coast studio to offer exclusive live performances of three brand new songs and a pair of popular oldies for Ram Country. After their set, the threesome also sat down to talk about what the last decade has brought about for them. Check out their video interview, here:

The first song they performed for the Yahoo! cameras was, inevitably, their current single, "Why Wait." In one sense, the song represents a slightly new wrinkle for Rascal Flatts, if the difference may be subtle to most listeners. "We've never cut a

They say imitation is the sincerest form of flattery--or indicator of fame, if you will--but in the case of Taylor Swift, imitation goods simply aren't going to cut it. The singer has been, since last year, secretly fighting a handful of folks selling counterfeit merchandise bearing her image.

According to the Nashville Post, Swift brought a suit against 16 individuals she attested were profiting off of her name without her authorization; specifically selling unlicensed goods (including a shirt with her picture on it) during her powerhouse Fearless tour.

The case, which was filed in May '09, was put under seal--that is, kept under wraps--until now in order to investigate the accused's activities. Therefore nobody's heard anything about it until now, way more than a year later. 

However, the good news is that Swift seems to have finally won her battle. A federal judge in Nashville granted a default judgment last week in her favor, permanently barring the people in question from making

Admit it--you all were just waiting to see Taylor Swift's performance at the 2010 VMAs Sunday night. Or Kanye West's. Or, probably, both. But because this is a country music-related blog, let's limit our analysis to Taylor.

You know what, I'm a big Taylor fan. I admire what a poised and genuinely dedicated artist she is--she is one of the few famous folks out there whose kindness does not seem saccharine.

However, I'll just come out and say it: I'm tired of Good Taylor.

To hell with all this forgiveness and sweetness and light. I'm done with hugs, kisses, flowing frocks...I want Bad Taylor to come out.

I want Nasty Taylor, the one wearing the brown wig and slinky dress in the "You Belong With Me" video, to come out. I want her to channel Miranda Lambert--you know, crazy Miranda; the "To a hammer everything looked like a nail" Miranda. I want some good ol' fashioned, country-girl-done-wrong, butt-whuppin'. Is that too much to ask? 

I wanted Bad Taylor back when she hosted Saturday

Taylor Swift has announced the opening act for the North American leg of her 2011 world tour--and, while we're willing to bet it's not a name you'd come up with off the top of your head, you're sure going to know more about them in a few months.

The lucky band to score the slot is South Carolina-based Needtobreathe, an outfit that actually established itself in the Christian music world before crossing over to pop success. They've won several Dove awards (which are the Christian equivalent of Grammy awards), including one for 2010's group of the year. You may have heard their music on TV or at the movies--their songs have been featured on a variety of shows including the film P.S. I Love You and MTV's hit The Hills.

[Photos: See Taylor Swift's red carpet style]

If you've never heard of Needtobreathe, the band has a warm, guitar-oriented, southern-rock feel to its tunes; and cites U2, Wilco, Tom Petty, and Pearl Jam as influences. Frontman Bear Rinehart's vocal style reminds me a

Kanye West, we get it: You are sorry for what you did to Taylor Swift.

He even said it plain as day on Twitter this weekend: I'm sorry Taylor.

That is fine and well. However, over the past 24 hours, West has been tweeting a long, self-dubbed "stream-of-consciousness" diatribe about how he has been suffering over the past year--ever since he jumped on the 2009 VMAs stage, grabbed Taylor Swift's mic, and announced that Beyonce should have won in her place.

"I've hurt, I've bled, I've learned. I only want to do good. I am passionate I am human I am real," he pleaded on Twitter. "I wish I could talk to every hater face to face and change there a opinion of me one conversation at a time."

Again, fine and well. But. He didn't stop at explaining his personal development over the past year. West went on to point fingers at the media ("Who benefitted off of the moment? MTV? JAY LENO? BEYONCE? ALL FORMS OF MEDIA? TAYLOR? KANYE WEST? Who gained? Who lost?"), ponder why the incident was