Brothers of the Sun Tour & Country's "Cool People"

BIG NEWS: Kenny Chesney and Tim McGraw have teamed for the 2012 Brothers Of The Sun Tour, which will play 19 stadiums on weekend dates beginning June 2nd in Tampa, FL. Grace Potter & The Nocturnals and Jake Owen are special guests. Click here for more info.

Fans of country newcomer (and American Idol runner up) Lauren Alaina already know this but for those that don't, Laurne will participate in Graceland's annual holiday lighting this Friday, November 18th in Memphis. Elvis.com will webcast the event at 6pm.

Don't miss the 60 Minutes profile of Taylor Swif this Sunday, November 20th on CBS.

The Band Perry is the only country act on the 2011 American Music Awards performers list. The AMAs air live this Sunday, November 20th at 8pm ET on ABC. Taylor Swift and The Band Perry are the country artists with the most nominations. The complete list of country nominees is provided below:

POP OR ROCK
Artist of the Year
Adele
Lady Gaga
Lil' Wayne
Katy Perry
Taylor Swift

New Artist of the Year (fan votes to determine final nominees)
Foster the People
Hot Chelle Rae
The Band Perry
Thompson Square
Marsha Ambrosius
Miquel
LMFAO
Wiz Khalifa

COUNTRY

Favorite Band, Duo or Group
The Band Perry
Zac Brown Band
Lady Antebellum

Favorite Album
Jason Aldean - My Kinda Party
The Band Perry - The Band Perry
Taylor Swift - Speak Now 

Favorite Male Artist
Jason Aldean
Brad Paisley
Blake Shelton

Favorite Female Artist
Sara Evans
Miranda Lambert
Taylor Swift

The Marshall Tucker Band will release their legendary Greatest Hits package on vinyl for a second time. The new package will include previously unreleased material, making it a 17-track double album. The Marshall Tucker Band Greatest Hits comes out November 22nd.

The Hip-Pop website GlobalGrind.com has announced its list of the 10 Coolest People in Country Music. Taylor Swift makes the list due to her live crossover collaborations. Tim McGraw also gets cool points for being a triple threat -- singer, actor and husband to Faith Hill, who's on the list, too. Other country cool people are Kenny Chesney, Lady Antebellum, Sugarland and Carrie Underwood.

Since I mentioned Faith Hill above, I must share more about Faith here. She is the only country artist on the bill of NBC’s Christmas In Rockefeller Center. The November 30th special will feature the 79th annual lighting of a Norway spruce; this year's tree is 74 feet tall and weighs 10 tons.

And finally,

If you are a fan of Cross Canadian Ragweed, then get to the store now to pick up their five-CD/live DVD set Box Of Weed. The collection includes their self-titled album, Soul Gravy, Garage, Mission California and Happiness And All The Other Things, as well as the live DVD Back To Tulsa: Live And Loud At Cain’s Ballroom.

And that is the Nashville Minute.

Keep it Real and Keep it Country!

George McFly
comments: george@wqmx.com