Jessica Simpson reveals her first country album cover!

You’ve been wondering.

Will she be wearing Daisy Dukes? A gingham bikini?

Gold lamme unitard? Two hay bales and a smile?

What will Jessica Simpson wear on her first ever country album cover?

Well, my fine feathered friends, mystery revealed.

Jessica is wearing a white dress, cowboy boots and a sulky pout.

Delicious!

The album’s out in September.

Taylor Swift and Jonas Brothers dude are just friends

That’s according to Taylor’s publicist, anyway.

The Web has been burning up for a couple of weeks or so about the rumored romance between Joe Jonas of the Jonas Brothers and Taylor Swift of, uh, Taylor Swift.

Seems Taylor has been spotted at several Jonas Brothers shows. So let the rumors begin!

Taylor’s publicist says the rumors have no merit. (Side note: This will be a great relief to my teen nephew Ethan, who seems to have a crush on Ms. Swift. On the other hand, Ethan’s idiot uncle just announced on the Web that Ethan has a crush on her. So this whole post is kind of a wash for Ethan.)

Taylor’s publicist says of Taylor and Joe:

“They are friends. She’s friends with all three of the Jonas Brothers. She has been out to see a few shows as she was invited to appear in their live concert movie.”

So there.

Taylor’s publicist had no comment on Taylor and my nephew Ethan.

Black Crowes say Gretchen Wilson ripped them off

Check it out: The Black Crowes say Gretchen Wilson’s new song, Work Hard, Play Harder – being used to plug TNT’s Saving Grace – sounds a little too much like their 1991 hit, Jealous Again.

Click on the links above and tell me what you think.

So the Black Crowes have filed a copyright-infringement suit. And not just against Gretchen.

The suit names Gretchen’s label, Sony BMG, publishing company J Money Music and TNT.

Those Crowes are MAD, yo!

No response from Gretchen.

John Rich to debut 'Raisin' McCain' at GOP rally Friday

So you remember that John Rich of Big & Rich jumped on the Fred Thompson bandwagon at the beginning of the presidential race.

But John has had no problems sliding over to the eventual GOP nominee, Sen. John McCain.

In fact, John has written a song, Raisin’ McCain, and he’ll debut it Friday evening at a Country First concert in Panama City, Fla., with McCain on hand.

The chorus:

“Well we’re all just raisin’ McCain
“Everywhere across the USA
“You can get on the train or get out of the way
“We’re all just raisin’ McCain.”

John tells the AP:

“I wanted to offer him something that he didn’t have, a rally song, one that really captures that maverick spirit.”

You can download it and/or read all the lyrics at John Rich’s Web site.

Designer Monique Lhuillier to do Schermerhorn show

No, she won’t be performing a concerto.

But Monique Lhuillier – a household name among fashionistas — will do a fashion show at the Schermerhorn Symphony Center next year.

This runway-in-the-Schermerhorn thang is nothing new. Oscar de la Renta has put on two such shows so far.

Monique will be showing off her 2009 Fall Collection, which apparently is so impressive that they used capital letters for “Fall Collection.” Local connection: Monique designed the wedding gown for the youngest Gore daughter, Sarah Gore Lee.

The event is a fund-raiser for the Nashville Symphony at the Thor Johnson Scholarship Fund.

For more info, find Amy Jacky, director of the Nashville Symphony Orchestra League, at 687-6541 or ajacky@nashvillesymphony.org.

Darryl Worley's Uncle Ed, part-time video star, passes

I’m happy to be back after a few days off, y’all, but sad to say that Darryl Worley’s Uncle Ed died.

Uncle Ed, 95, showed up in several of Darryl’s videos, and that started when director Trey Fanjoy spotted Uncle Ed on the set of Good Day to Run.

He also was a regular at Darryl’s fan club parties and annual Tennessee River Run Event.

Uncle Ed died in his hometown of Savannah, Tenn., over the weekend.

“He taught me my first four chords,” Darryl said in a statement.

“While it’s upsetting, it’s hard to be real distraught – he had such a great life. He was a fixture in my life, and all the fans just loved him. He lived a really full life right up to the end.”

Seen in the City: Just call Tootsies' "the Wiggles room"

The Wiggles, an Aussie band for kids, has a strict no-drinking, no-swearing, no-smoking police for the entire organization.

But that didn’t stop one of the Wiggles, Murray Cook – in town for a couple of shows today at Municipal Auditorium — from hitting the Lower Broadway honky-tonks last night.

Murray likes to hear all sorts of different music, and he says he wanted to check out the country bands in those bars.

Then a funny thing happened — some parents of Wiggles-aged kids recognized him.

“I was actually surprised a few people recognized me in those places,” he told me today.

“It was kind of nice. It made me feel very welcome.”

Hmmmmm. Not very, uh, “uncomfortable”?

Oh well. That’s almost as much fun as when Barney hit Bobby’s Idle Hour.

Fans and celebs all wish Hank Cochran well after surgery

Merle Haggard, Billy Ray Cyrus and Willie Nelson are among those who have called country veteran Hank Cochran to with him well after surgery to get rid of cancer in his pancreas and lymph nodes.

His friend and publicist, Martha Moore, says she visited Hank yesterday and he looks great.

Cochran, whose songwriting credits include I Fall To Pieces and Make The World Go Away, might be in the hospital for another week, and then he has about six months of chemo treatments.

Hank has had hundreds and hundreds of e-mail from around the world.

In a statement, Hank says, “I feel so blessed. The diagnosis was made very early, and the doctors expect me to make a full recovery.”

You can go to Hank’s MySpace if you want to pass along greetings.

How classic: Opry to add fourth day of shows next year

So the Opry skews kind of old school as it is, right?

Now the Opry is adding a fourth night of show, on Thursdays, to kick it super old school. It’s gonna be called Opry Country Classics and it starts next year.

Not only will the veteran Opry members sing their signature songs, but they’ll be singing classic songs from other artists, living and not.

Yes, it’ll air live on 650 WSM-AM.

Says Opry chief Steve Buchanan (who is a very snazzy dresser):

“We are pleased to introduce this new show that celebrates country music’s incredible legacy by showcasing its most familiar and beloved songs performed by the legends that made them famous as well as rising stars.”

She's No. 1 (and No. 2)! Taylor Swift can do no wrong

This only happens about once a decade or so.

But Taylor Swift actually holds down the No. 1 and No. 2 positions on country album sales charts this week.

Taylor’s new CD/DVD Wal-Mart-only combo, Beautiful Eyes, debuted at No. 1 with 44,652 copies sold.

And of course, her debut self-titled CD, released TWO YEARS AGO, finished No. 2 with another 34,622 copies sold.

Amazing.

This woman’s on fire, yo! Next up, Taylor will cure a rare disease and juggle two chains saws and a bowling ball.

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