It's been an exciting week in Nashville News--what with Brad Paisley falling off a stage while playing "Alcohol" (he was treated for bruises; nothing serious), the triumph of Crazy Heart at the Oscars, and Carrie Underwood's birthday (today!--have a happy one, Ms. Bride-to-be!). Thought we'd clue you in to yet another big piece of news.

Like the rest of the items mentioned, it's positive (hey, Brad wasn't hurt bad--so that's good, right?). Rascal Flatts' Joe Don Rooney and his wife, Tiffany Fallon, announced to People this week that they are expecting their second child this September.

"There's such fulfillment in being a father," Joe Don proudly told People. "And it's going to be two-fold now, which is so cool." He added that the couple will definitely be finding out the baby's gender ahead of time--"Tiff's all about decorating rooms, so she's got to know."

The new addition will join son Jagger, who was born in May of 2008. All I have to say is, both of the Rooney kids will most

A big portion of the buzz surrounding last year's film Crazy Heart consisted not only of the vivid performances from actors Jeff Bridges and Maggie Gyllenhaal (both nominated for Oscars at this Sunday's Academy Awards)--but also the movie's score. In particular, the movie's theme, "The Weary Kind," performed by alt-country rising sensation Ryan Bingham, who co-wrote the tune with the legendary T Bone Burnett.

Regular old fans of the film weren't the only ones taking notice of Bingham's composition. The yearning, loping tune has already won a Golden Globe, and is currently up for an Oscar (for Best Original Song) this weekend.

Unfortunately, Ryan's being cheated out of a huge part of what should be one of the biggest nights of his career to date. In a surprising decision made last month, the executive producers of the Awards show announced that they were doing away with the longstanding tradition of having Best Original Song nominees perform live on the telecast (instead, the

It seems as if every other day I'm writing about how country music is taking over the world (or, at the very least, expanding its fanbase at a rapid clip). I thought this year's country-heavy Grammy awards was the ultimate proof that the genre is finally sitting pretty on top of the heap.

Heck. I was wrong! Today, I got super-ultimate proof!

Oprah Winfrey--you may have heard of her--is a really popular talk-show host. Some people refer to her as the most influential woman in the world. I believe she is a billionaire, too. Whatever you personally think of her, she's pretty successful at recommending interesting things for people to check out--some of these things being Wally Lamb (and, yeah, James Frey too, even if he was a big fat liar), The Color Purple, The Secret, Dr. Phil McGraw, and Barack Obama, among many others.

What's this have to do with country music? Well, today, Oprah decided for the first time in her media history to premiere a music video on her site, Oprah.com. And

The 2010 Brit Awards--which, loosely, are the U.K. equivalent of the Grammys--are taking place today. If you are an overall music fan, you probably are interested in this ceremony, which will include performances from a wide range of current artists (Lily Allen, Lady Gaga, and Jay-Z among them).

Speaking solely as a country fan, however--it's probably not your glass of sweet tea. The distinctly American genre is, not surprisingly, not well-represented, save for a nomination of--who else?--the unstoppable Taylor Swift in the International Breakthrough category.

All fine and well. This isn't a show by which I had any country-leaning expectations. In fact, I wasn't thinking about it very much at all, until I came across this article on BlackBook.

Brace yourself, because it's going to be yet another tirade about Taylor Swift; except this one takes some new turns.

Starting off auspiciously with the headline: "Less Taylor Swift, More Lady Gaga: Why the Brit Awards Are Better Than the

That Taylor Swift girl! Not only is she, well, the winner of the primo award (Album of the Year) at yesterday's Grammys, she's also a bona fide hip chick.

I know what you're thinking: Taylor's much-talked-about duet with Stevie Nicks last night, right? Well, yes. That pairing was a particularly inspired moment of the evening. But, Taylor's hipness goes deeper than that. Check out this fun little story behind her performance.

Some of you may be familiar with Butch Walker, who is a singer-songwriter and producer who has worked with a staggering range of artists including Avril Lavigne, Pink, Lindsay Lohan, Katy Perry, Sevendust, Weezer, Pete Yorn, and many others. Additionally, he's a prolific solo artist with a very active fanbase. In short, he's a pretty cool dude. 

This past November, after announcing a series of shows at Los Angeles's Hotel Cafe, Butch asked fans via his Twitter page to suggest cover songs for his shows. The fans responded--and the number-one request was Taylor's

It appears Carrie Underwood really is serious about branching out into acting. The American Idol first made news this year with her upcoming cameo on the sitcom How I Met Your Mother (you can see a pic of her with HIMYM regular Neil Patrick Harris here; the episode will air next month). Now it's just been announced she will appear in a full-length movie.

Carrie's film debut, Soul Surfer, chronicles the story of Bethany Hamilton, the Kauai-based champion surfer who lost her left arm at age 13 to a shark attack. Underwood will play the part of Hamilton's friend and church youth leader, Sarah Hill. Other stars set to appear in the film are Helen Hunt, Dennis Quaid, Kevin Sorbo, and Lorraine Nicholson (daughter of the legendary Jack Nicholson).

Filming begins this month, so Carrie's set to fly to Hawaii right after she delivers the National Anthem at this Sunday's Super Bowl XLIV.

This role sounds like it will be a good fit for Carrie, who is certainly no stranger to conveying tales of

If you're a country fan--and probably even if you aren't--you most likely have not been able to escape getting hooked on what's one of the hottest new bands on the Nashville scene in quite a while.

That would be Atlanta's Zac Brown Band, who have flew to the upper reaches of the charts with multiple singles, nailed down the Top New Group honor at 2009's Academy of Country Music Awards, stole the show at the 2009 Country Music Awards with a smoking cover of "The Devil Went Down To Georgia," and now are up for three more awards at Sunday night's 2010 Grammys.

What's really striking about the ZBB's Grammy appearance is that the band is not only up for two country-category awards, they're also up for Best New Artist--which comprises all musical genres. The guys will be going head-to-head with quite a diverse list in this category: Keri Hilson, MGMT, Silversun Pickups, and the Ting Tings. (Guess who I'm rooting for?)

Anyway, I asked the band a few questions about the upcoming awards show,

It's Grammy Day, 2010, and I'm feeling more excited about this particular one than I've felt in years and years.

The reason being? Well, as you can probably guess--I'm thrilled on behalf of country music's extraordinary presence in the overall picture of the awards ceremony.

After a couple of years in which country has made ever-increasing strides breaking down audience and genre barriers, we're now at the pinnacle of all this momentum.

This time I think it's truly official: Country isn't just for country fans anymore. Or red states. Or any place that isn't bordering an ocean.

Yeah, I know I've been saying this for a while--and so have many of you. For tons of music fans, this isn't news at all. Today, however, it just feels set in stone.

Let's start with the obvious. It's pretty fantastic to see a country artist--Taylor Swift--carrying nominations for top song, record and album. Whether she wins zero awards or sweeps them all (and I'm pretty darned sure she's going to win at least