Lady Antebellum photo courtesy of Capitol Nashville.

When Miranda Lambert set a record for female acts by picking up nine awards nominations this week from the Country Music Association, no one was more surprised than her.

But that wasn’t the only shock-a-roonie of the two-day nominations announcement. Lady Antebellum achieved something that’s never been done before, Steel Magnolia and The Band Perry each accomplished something that’s probably been done only once. And Miranda did something that’s only happened twice.

Here’s a bevy of CMA trivia that you may not have seen anywhere else:

• Just a year after winning Entertainer of the Year, Taylor Swift has no chance to repeat. It’s been eight years since the last time the Entertainer did not get nominated the following year, though it happened four times in a five-year period during the 1970s. Previous Entertainer winners denied a nomination a year later include: Charlie Rich, the 1974 winner; John Denver, 1975; Mel Tillis, 1976; Dolly Parton, 1978; Shania Twain, 1999; and Tim McGraw, 2001.

• The CMA is officially crediting Lady A with five nominations, though you could argue that the band got six. Charles Kelley, Hillary Scott and Dave Haywood wrote Song of the Year nominee “Need You Now” as a team, so the whole group was indeed involved. In the 44-year history of the awards, an entire group has never co-written a Song of the Year candidate. The closest the CMA came to this issue in the past was when Kix Brooks and Ronnie Dunn were co-writers on “Red Dirt Road” in 2003. Because the songwriters’ names and the act’s name matched up, the duo got credited with a Song of the Year nomination.

• George Strait’s two appearances on the 2010 list make him the all-time CMA leader with 81 nominations. The rest of the Top 5 includes Alan Jackson, 79; Brad Paisley, 52; Vince Gill, 51; and Brooks & Dunn, 50.

• Brooks & Dunn have had at least one nomination every year since 1992, giving them the longest active streak. They’re followed by Martina McBride, who’s been on the ballot every year since 1996; Montgomery Gentry, 1999; Brad Paisley, 2000; and Kenny Chesney and Rascal Flatts, each since 2002.

• The longest active nominations streak without ever winning a CMA award belongs to Little Big Town, which first appeared among the finalists in 2006.

• Several artists who are primarily based outside of country received nominations this year, including “Toes” co-writer Shawn Mullins and Musical Event of the Year collaborators Dave Matthews and Kid Rock. It’s likely some hard-core traditionalists will protest, but it’s hardly unprecedented. Numerous not-quite-country acts have appeared on the CMA list in the past, including Ringo Starr, the Raconteurs and Robert Plant.

• The Band Perry and Steel Magnolia were both nominated for awards, though neither has yet released a full-fledged album. It appears as if the only other artist who’s done that is Jeannie C. Riley, who charted her first album in October 1968. The nominations were probably announced in August that year, and the album appears to have been released in September, though dates in that era are hard to pin down. TBP and Steel Magnolia do both have EPs in release. The Band Perry’s first album is due Oct. 12. Steel Magnolia’s won’t come out until Jan. 11.

• As a co-writer of “A Little More Country Than That,” Rory Feek got a Song of the Year nomination for a hit he created for Easton Corbin, while simultaneously receiving a nomination as a member of Joey + Rory. The only other artist who’s appeared the same year as a Song of the Year finalist for another artist’s hit is Big & Rich’s John Rich. He actually did that three times — in 2004, 2005 and 2007.

• A number of artists have had two different entries in the same category over the years, but Miranda Lambert competes against herself this year in not one, but two categories: Single and Video. Only twice has that happened previously. Merle Haggard did it in 1970 when “Okie From Muskogee” and “The Fightin’ Side Of Me” were both nominated for Single and Song of the Year. And Alan Jackson did it in three categories in 2002: “Where Were You (When The World Stopped Turning)” and “Drive (For Daddy Gene)” got him tabbed twice each in Single, Song and Music Video of the Year.

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Zac Brown band photo by www.jeffography.com; courtesy of Shore Fire Media.

The Zac Brown Band’s DVD/2-CD release Pass the Jar – Zac Brown Band and Friends Live from the Fabulous Fox Theatre In Atlanta is now available! Filmed at Atlanta’s Fox Theatre, ‘Pass the Jar…‘ is a live concert package with performances from the October 2009 show benefiting the fund to rebuild Athens historic Georgia Theatre.

The ‘Pass the Jar…‘ DVD features eighteen of the evening’s performances with guests including: Kid Rock, Little Big Town, Joey + Rory, Shawn Mullins, Angie Aparo and Aslyn, who joined Zac Brown Band onstage for songs from their platinum album ‘The Foundation,’ their favorite covers, and new unreleased material.  Shot in HD and directed by Darren Doane (who also shot the band’s “Toes” and “Highway 20 Ride” video), the DVD is essential viewing for Zac Brown Band fans.

Watch the video for “Free” from the live DVD now »

The 2 disc companion includes audio from the DVD as well as performances of:  “Let It Go”, “Where The Boat Leaves From”, “Blackbird”, “Whiskey’s Gone”, “I Shall Be Released”, and “Bar” (feat. Sonia Leigh and guests).

Pass The Jar – Zac Brown Band and Friends Live from the Fabulous Fox Theatre In Atlanta DVD/2 CD Tracklist:

Zac Brown Band's new DVD/2-CD release is in stores now!

DVD

1. Intro

2. Whatever It Is

3. It’s Not OK

4. Jolene

5. Who Knows

6. The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down

7. Sic ‘Em On A Chicken

8. Junkyard (feat. Angie Aparo)

9. The Devil Went Down To Georgia

10. Trying to Drive (feat. Aslyn)

11. Alabama Jubilee (feat. Barry Waldrep)

12. Can’t You See (feat. Kid Rock)

13. Highway 20 Ride

14. Colder Weather (feat. Little Big Town)

15. Free / Into the Mystic (feat. Joey + Rory)

16. Toes

17. America The Beautiful

18. Chicken Fried

19. We’re Gonna Make This Day

CD 1

1. Whatever It Is

2. Let It Go

3. It’s Not OK

4. Jolene

5. Who Knows

6. The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down

7. Sic ‘Em On A Chicken

8. Where The Boat Leaves From

9. Trying to Drive (feat. Aslyn)

10. Alabama Jubilee (feat. Barry Waldrep)

11. Blackbird (feat. Matt Mangano)

12. The Devil Went Down to Georgia

CD 2

1. Can’t You See (feat. Kid Rock)

2. Highway 20 Ride

3. Whiskey’s Gone

4. Colder Weather (feat. Little Big Town)

5. Free / Into the Mystic (feat. Joey + Rory)

6. America The Beautiful

7. Chicken Fried

8. I Shall Be Released

9. Bar (feat. Sonia Leigh and guests)

10. Toes (feat. Shawn Mullins)

11. We’re Gonna Make This Day

Recorded at the Fox Theatre in Atlanta, GA on October 30, 2009.

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Tim McGraw photo courtesy of Curb Nashville.

When Gregg Allman showed up Tuesday with Tim McGraw on “The Jay Leno Show,” it was a bit of an event, though maybe not quite as unusual an event as it would have been in years gone by.

Gregg was an appropriate musical partner — after all, Tim’s current single “Southern Voice,” which he performed on “Leno,” namechecks the Allman Brothers along with Tom Petty and Chuck Berry.

But Gregg’s hardly the only pop star or rocker with an attachment to country these days. The Zac Brown Band’s “Toes” is co-written with singer-songwriter Shawn Mullins, who referred to Los Angeles as “Nashville with a tan” in his 1998 pop hit “Lullaby.” Carrie Underwood’s “Cowboy Casanova” counts Mike Elizondo, who’s worked with Maroon 5 and Snoop Dogg, among its writers. Brooks & Dunn’s “Honky Tonk Stomp” gets a signature vocal stamp from ZZ Top’s Billy Gibbons. Jimmy Wayne enlisted Daryl Hall & John Oates to back him on his remake of “Sara Smile.” And Darius Rucker came to country music after first establishing himself in Hootie + The Blowfish.

Then there’s Kenny Chesney, who brought Dave Matthews in to sing on his current Top 10 hit “I’m Alive.”

“It was a good message for me, to me, about priorities,” Kenny says of the song. “You know, remembering what matters, keeping perspective, trying not to get so lost in running after whatever, that you forget what it is you’re chasing. And that’s really reinforced for me by having my friend Dave Matthews on this record. He’s someone I respect and I never get enough time to visit with, and that’s not the way we all oughta live. Every time I hear his voice, I smile and remember.”

That’s not where the pop influences end. Canadian rock band Nickelback got covered in Bucky Covington’s latest single, a remake of “Gotta Be Somebody.”

“When my producer came to me with this I said, ‘I’m not really sure about that idea.’” Bucky told BlogCritics.com. “Trying to put a banjo and a fiddle on a Nickelback song to a lot of people sounds unheard of. But we did do it, and it’s an amazing song. I’m very fortunate to have done the song, and I just love it to death.”

And Nickelback brings it all back to Tim McGraw, whose previous single, “It’s A Business Doing Pleasure With You,” was written by Nickelback vocalist Chad Kroeger and producer Joey Moi.

For the record, Tim was not the first to jump on the Allman bandwagon. Willie Nelson recorded Gregg’s “Midnight Rider” for the soundtrack to The Electric Horseman way back in 1980. And the Allmans’ “Ramblin’ Man” was mentioned in the lyrics of a couple of recent hits: the Eli Young Band’s “Always The Love Songs” and Brad Paisley’s duet with Keith Urban, “Start A Band.”

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