~~Scotty McCreery, Lauren Alaina and Florida Georgia Line are among the acts who will be playing softball for charity. They will play in the City of Hope Celebrity Softball Challenge on June 8 in Nashville, along with Craig Campbell, Greg Bates, Chuck Wicks and Olympic figure skating champion Scott Hamilton. Proceeds go to City of Hope, a cancer research and treatment center.

~~ Luke Bryan will release his fourth studio album on Aug. 13.  The title of the disc was not disclosed. 

~~The Lumineers, JD McPherson and Shovels & Rope, as well as icons Emmylou Harris and Buddy Miller have been nominated for the Americana Music Honors. 

Harris and Miller are joined by Richard Thompson and Dwight Yoakam in the artist of the year category.

Meanwhile, Thompson's "Good Things Happen to Bad People" is nominated for song of the year. It will compete with the Lumineers' "Ho Hey," McPherson's "North Side Gal" and Shovels & Rope's "Birmingham."

Rodney Crowell, Bruce Robison and Kelly Willis also received multiple nominations.

Performers at the nominations announcement included Buddy Miller and Jim Lauderdale, T Bone Burnett with Lisa Marie Presley, Elizabeth Cook and the Milk Carton Kids.

The winners will be revealed on Sept. 18 during the Americana Awards & Honors ceremony at the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville.
Noms

Carrie Underwood covers Marie Claire's June 2013 issue.

Interview Highlights:

On her upbringing:
"We were never a huggy family. Or a ‘let's talk it out' family. Technically I have siblings, but they are quite a bit older than me — I was the accident — so I have the only-child syndrome going on. I'm a little more selfish, a little more independent, a little closed. I do wish I were softer. I wish I were able to form relationships better. But hey, I mean... I'm not a sociopath."

On keeping her parents away from the spotlight :
"My parents are really great people who want nothing to do with any of this. I'm the black sheep of the family. The black-crystal sheep. Swarovski."

On her hard-to-reach persona:
"When people say, 'She's hard to talk to.' This guy I know said, 'You know what I love about you? I can sit next to you and I don't have to talk.' And I'm like, 'Thank you?'"

On her hidden talent:
"I can eat any man under the table."

On having kids:
"I don't feel old enough to have kids. I know I am mature. But being responsible for another human?"

Source

~~ Lady Antebellum could have the top selling disc in the U.S. with "Golden," when Billboard releases preliminary chart results on Wednesday.

Pistol Annies is slated to debut in the top 10 with its second disc "Annie Up," selling about 80,000 units, which could be good for third.

Kenny Chesney is looking to be seventh at this point with "Life on a Rock" and Blake Shelton ninth with "Based on a True Story..."

The results are based on Billboard's Building Chart, which represents the first four days (Monday through Thursday) of SoundScan's tracking end, which ends on Sunday at six major retailers, including iTunes and Target.

~~ Taylor Swift, Miranda Lambert's Pistol Annies, Luke Bryan, Hunter Hayes and Little Big Town are the first performers announced for the CMT Music Awards, June 5th.

Jason Aldean and Kristen Bell are set to host the fan-voted awards show when it is broadcast live from Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tenn.

More performers and presenters will be announced later.

~~ Keith Urban will perform his brand-new single "Little Bit of Everything," during this Thursday's season finale of "American Idol".

~~Ray Price was hospitalized for a case of severe dehydration.   According to a post on his official Facebook page on Monday, Ray writes: "Doctors are pouring the fluids to me and I am feeling much better. I wanted you to hear from me before you hear it from the media. I have asked my wife, Janie, to keep you all posted. Thanks for your prayers and support".

The Country Music Hall of Fame member revealed a six-month fight against pancreatic cancer in November.