CMT Music Awards Nominees Announced; Reba Hits 30 Million Album Sales Mark; Music Videos

• Little Big Town announced the CMT Music Award nominations on NBC’s Today this morning. Carrie Underwood leads the pack with five nominations. Check out all the nominees here.

• Bobby Osborne and the Rocky Top X-Press have released a brand new single called “I’m Going Back to the Mountain.”

• On Saturday night, Keith Urban was formally inducted into the Grand Ole Opry.

• Jason Aldean, the Zac Brown Band, Lady Antebellum, Blake Shelton, Scotty McCreery and Taylor Swift are among the nominations for the 2012 Billboard Music Awards.

• Bryan White, Larry Stewart, John Berry, Blackhawk, Marty Raybon, Jeannie Seely, Jan Howard, Dallas Frazier and over 20 more are scheduled to appear at a Nashville fundraiser this Wednesday to help offset escalating medical costs for Kevin Sharp. Sharp is best known for his 1996 album Measure of a Man and the chart-topper “Nobody Knows.”

• The Chicago Tribune found Sara Watkins “charming” in her Windy City performance.

• Reba McEntire became the second female behind Shania Twain to pass the 30 million album sales mark.

• There is only a week left to raise the balance of the funds needed for The Porchlight Sessions bluegrass documentary.

• Joe Bonsall of The Oak Ridge Boys wrote a book for Cracker Barrel.

• George Harrison’s widow and the son of Beatles producer George Martin are going through Harrison’s huge unreleased music archive and will be releasing it to the public starting May 1 with an album of “mostly acoustic demos documenting the early days of Harrison’s solo career.”

• Chuck Wicks’ song “Stealing Cinderella” was the inspiration for a book by a English professor at Washington & Jefferson College.

• Steve Azar has a new release called “American Farmer” that you can hear here.

• Canadian Country Music Hall of Famer and accordion player Marc Wald passed away at the age of 90. He was a member of The Rhythm Pals.

• Blake Shelton is rumored to be considering a country duet with his The Voice costar, Christina Aguilera.

• Olivia Perez-Breland has penned a beautiful song called “There You Go Again.” A portion of the proceeds will go to support the Fisher House Foundation, a group that supports military families separated because of war.

• Warner Nashville artist Jana Kramer unveiled the cover art and track listing for her self-titled album, due out in early June. She’ll be one of the artists in the Engine 145-sponsored Golf & Guitars Children’s Charity Concert May 21-22 in Sacramento.

• New music videos from the last week or so:

Carter’s Chord – “Love a Little Bigger” 

Eric Church – “Springsteen” 

Kenny Chesney and Tim McGraw – “Feel Like a Rock Star”

Billy Gilman and friends – “The Choice” 

Honeyhoney – “Angel of Death” 

Blind Boys of Alabama – “Free at Last” (Music Fog)

McAlister Kemp – “Cold Beer, Hot Women” 

Trampled by Turtles – “Alone” 

Alabama Shakes – “Boys and Girls”

Sarah Kirkland –“Bachelorette” 

Kathryn Hartnett – “The Dualist”