Minnie Pearl Cancer Foundation Launches New Campaign; Martina McBride Plans Theater Tour; New Music Videos

• Blake Shelton and Miranda Lambert performed “America the Beautiful” at last night’s Super Bowl.

• Billy Ray Cyrus has agreed to a deal with Amazon.com’s publishing division and will put out a book titled Hillbilly Heart sometime in 2013.

• USA Today has an exclusive video interview with Dierks Bentley where he talks about (and sings) a new song off of his upcoming album called “Diamonds Make Babies.”

• ABC has picked up the pilot for Reba McEntire’s new television show, Malibu Country.

• Casey James has unveiled the cover of his self-titled album, which is coming out March 20^th.

• CCMA winner and Canadian country star Dean Brody has released his first single, called “Canadian Girls,” off of his upcoming third album, Dirt called. You can hear the new single here.

• Some people really don’t like Kenny Chesney.

• What drives chart success? Pierce Greenberg of Nashville’s City Paper takes a look at “Cost of Livin’” and speaks with its songwriter, Phillip Coleman. An excerpt: As a songwriter, Coleman said he sometimes feels cheated by the easy success of no-brainers. “I get to turn on the radio and hear all these songs about drinking and shaking your ass that’s going to No. 1. It makes me sick,” Coleman said. “You set out to move people’s heart or move their feet when you write a song. I’ve always aimed for the heart, but I guess the feet is what everybody wants to be moving right now.”

• The Minnie Pearl Cancer Foundation is celebrating what would have been Minnie Pearl’s 100th birthday this year as well as their own 25^th anniversary. In honor of these milestones MPCF announced the launch of its “Minnie Moments” campaign. The campaign will feature stories from the clients, survivors and caregivers who have used MPCF’s services, as well as memories from celebrities and fans of Minnie Pearl. All are invited to share their “moment” on the campaign’s site. MPCF will be collecting “Minnie Moments” throughout 2012 and sharing them in newsletters, on Facebook and Twitter and at MinniePearl.org.

• Watch this preview of Miranda Lambert. She will be making her television series acting debut on Law and Order: Special Victims Unit this Wednesday. In other Miranda news, her beloved dog of nearly 20 years, Dixie, passed away on Friday.

• Martina McBride has made plans for an intimate theater tour in 2012.

• The next edition of the Country Music Hall of Fame’s quarterly series Poets and Prophets: Legendary Country Songwriters, which is scheduled for February 25, will feature Country Music Songwriter Hall of Fame member Sonny Curtis.  It will be streamed live like previous shows.

• Dave Woods recently interviewed Brad Mates of Emerson Drive. Check it out here.

• Lady Antebellum, Darius Rucker and Thompson Square covered the Doobie Brothers’ “Black Water” to conclude their concert last week. Here’s the video.

• Kentucky Governor Steve Beshear and Tom T. Hall kicked off the next wave of initiatives surrounding US Route 23, also known as “The Country Music Highway.” 

• Rhonda Vincent and the Gibson Brothers were just two acts who took home SPBGMA Awards last night.

• North Carolinian banjo player and luthier Snuffy Smith passed away.

• #ShitTexasCountryArtistsSay trended on Twitter, and Rita Ballou collected some of the best tweets.

• An attempt to make a bluegrass song the official state song of Virginia has fizzled out in committee.

• Former WAMU Bluegrass Country radio personality Jerry Gray passed away.

• The Grascals have filed a countersuit against Entertainment Evolution, which sued them last month for allegedly breaching an agreement.

• The longtime guitarist for Ralph Stanley, James Alan Shelton, suffered a stroke. He’s doing well, he tells Bluegrass Today.

• New music videos from the last week or so:

Shooter Jennings — “The Deed and the Dollar”

Jessie James – “When You Say My Name”

Thomas Rhett – “Something to Do with My Hands”

Mandy Gawley – “Let It Go”

Jason Eady and Jamie Wilson – “Go Down Moses/Whistling”

Sarah Darling – “Wildflower” (Tom Petty cover)

Miley Cyrus – “You’re Gonna Make Me Lonesome When You Go”

Harmony James – “Don’t Say It”

Kaleb McIntire – “Redneck In All Of Us”

Morgan Evans – “Live Each Day”

Carrie Underwood & Steven Tyler - CMT Crossroads preview