More ACM Presenters Revealed; ‘Nashville’ Stars Play Music City + More: Country News Roundup

The Boot rounds up today's country music news from around the web.

The Academy of Country Music has announced more presenters for Sunday night's (April 7) ACM Awards telecast. "2 Broke Girls" star Beth Behrs, Michael Chiklis of "Vegas," "Duck Dynasty" stars Willie and Korie Robertson and "The Big Bang Theory"'s Kaley Cuoco join Sheryl Crow, John Fogerty and country hitmakers Miranda Lambert, Scotty McCreery, Kacey Musgraves, Jake Owen, Keith Urban have been added to the list of presenters for the ceremony, co-hosted by Luke Bryan and Blake Shelton. The ACM Awards air live from the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Sunday at 8:00 PM ET (delayed PT) on CBS. More details about the upcoming show's performances can be found here.

Blake Shelton debuts at No. 1 on the Billboard Top Country Albums chart with Based on a True Story ..., the country superstar's third to top the chart. The disc also comes in at No. 3 on the Billboard 200. The album sold 199,000 copies in its very first week. The No. 2 country album this week is also a debut, Alan Jackson's Precious Memories, Vol. II. Also bowing in the Top 5, Thompson Square's Just Feels Good, at No. 4.

Tune-in Alert for Wednesday, April 3: Darius Rucker visits "Conan" on TBS; Gloriana performs on "The Tonight Show With Jay Leno" (NBC); Gary Allan stops by "Jimmy Kimmel Live! (ABC)" and Blake Shelton returns to spar with Chelsea Handler on E!'s "Chelsea Lately."

They can be seen every week on ABC, and have been spotted frequently around Music City, but the cast of "Nashville" gathered for a special appearance at 3rd & Lindsley Tuesday night (April 2). The shows musical directors/contributors Colin Linden and Buddy Miller, were joined by cast members Connie Britton (Rayna) and Hayden Panettiere (Juliette), Charles "Chip" Esten (Deacon), who performed a song from a future episode called "At the End of the Day," with Connie. Clare Bowen (Scarlett), Sam Palladio (Gunnar), Jonathan Jackson (Avery) Lennon and Maisy Stella (the Jaymes sisters) and more also took the stage. [Tennessean]

The Band Perry gave a special performance in their hometown of Greeneville, Tenn., Saturday (April 30) to debut music from their just-released second album, Pioneer. An estimated crowd of 25,000 lined the streets of the town (pop. 17,000) to see the sibling trio. Fans from all over the country -- and even Canada -- were in attendance at the event, which was presented by the Greene County Partnership and sponsored by General Mills and Outnumber Hunger and was believed to be the largest in recorded history in Greeneville. The group was recognized with a aptly recognized with a proclamation from Tennessee Governor Bill Haslam.

Kenny Chesney's private "Early Kick Off to Summer" concert will be broadcast on SiriusXM on Saturday, May 4 at 8:00 PM ET on The Highway, channel 59. The country superstar will perform several of his biggest hits, along with tunes from his much-anticipated Life on a Rock album, due in stores April 30. Subscribers will have the opportunity to win tickets to the event through an online sweepstakes across SiriusXM's diverse music, talk and sports channels open to listeners who have been an active subscriber continuously since March 18 and meet certain other conditions of eligibility. See the official rules here starting April 3.

Darius Rucker's fourth annual "Darius and Friends" benefit concert is set for Nashville on Monday, June 3 at the Wildhorse Saloon with proceeds from the night going directly to St. Jude Children's Research Hospital. A special offer code is currently being shared with St. Jude and Darius' Facebook and Twitter followers for ticket pre-sale, with general on-sale beginning at 10:00 AM CT on Friday, April 5. A fourth consecutive sell-out is anticipated, so fans are encouraged to purchase tickets early, either through the Wildhorse Saloon box office (615-902-8200 x1) or online here or at www.dariusrucker.com. Details on special guests at this year's event will be announced soon.