Music industry people call it the “post-Grammy bump” or “post-Grammy spike.” What that means is that an artist cleaned up at the Grammy Awards and now they’re hoping to clean up at the cash register (or via PayPal), banking on fans to flood brick-and-mortar and online music stores searching for so-and-so’s huge hit. In order to prime the pump, the Grammys itself annually serves up a musical appetizer, this year, cleverly calling it 2010 Grammy Nominees (No. 5 debut on Billboard 200 albums sales chart, selling 50,000 copies its first week out).

Music’s Biggest Night: The twenty tracks on this year’s Grammy Nominees album run the gamut across the musical spectrum. Sure you’ll find great rock acts like Kings of Leon (“Use Somebody”), Green Day (“21 Guns”), and U2 (“I’ll Go Crazy If I Don’t Go Crazy Tonight”), plus pop superstars such as Beyonce (“Halo”), Kelly Clarkson (“My Life Would Suck Without You”), Pink (“Sober”), and Lady Gaga (“Poker Face”), just to name a few. But country music fans will relish in the fact that Taylor Swift (“You Belong With Me”), Sugarland (“It Happens”), Lady Antebellum (“I Run To You”), Rascal Flatts (“Here Comes Goodbye”), and The Zac Brown Band (“Chicken Fried”), are also found on this collection. The following is a capsule look at these 5 acts.

Taylor Swift (4x Grammy winner: Album of the Year and Best Country Album for Fearless; Best Female Country Vocal Performance and Best Country Song for “White Horse”) continues to confound her critics and conquer every chart. Her smash "You Belong With Me" topped not just the Country chart, but the CHR/Top 40 and Hot AC charts as well. In 2006, at just 16 years old, she released her self-titled debut, and to date has sold over 10 million albums worldwide, with her Grammy-winning Fearless topping the 4 million mark. Sugarland (Grammy nominated for Best Country Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals for “It Happens”) first formed in 2002 as a trio of Atlanta-based songwriters (Jennifer Nettles, Kristen Hall, Kristian Bush) and issued its self-titled EP, followed by the 2004 major label debut, Twice the Speed of Life. Their big break came with 2006’s aptly named Enjoy the Ride, though Hall climbed off, leaving Sugarland a duo.

Lady Antebellum (Grammy winner for Best Country Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals for “I Run To You”) got its start in 2006 when longtime friends based in Augusta, GA, Charles Kelley and Dave Haywood met Nashville native Hillary Scott in a Music City bar. The trio signed with Capitol Nashville in 2007 and issued their self-titled debut the following year. Their second CD, Need You Now, just arrived last month (debuted at No. 1 on Billboard), with the title track spending 5 straight weeks at No. 1 on the country charts.

Rascal Flatts (Grammy nominated for Best Country Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals for “Here Comes Goodbye”) are bonafide country music royalty. After playing in various other bands, Gary LeVox, Jay DeMarcus and Joe Don Rooney combined their talents and in 2000 put out their self-titled debut, which produced the single “Prayin’ For Daylight,” their first in a string of chart-topping hits. The 2002 follow-up Melt sold one million copies in just eight weeks, and featured another No. 1 single, “These Days.” The group’s current album, the oh-so appropriately named Unstoppable, arrived last year, and features “Here Comes Goodbye.” The Zac Brown Band (Best New Artist Grammy winners) was formed in 2004 following band namesake Zac Brown’s solo career. Raised in Dahlonega, GA, Brown first recruited John Hopkins (bass) and Jimmy De Martini (fiddle), then later added Coy Bowles (guitar, organ), Clay Cook (guitar, organ, mandolin), and Chris Fryar (drums). Having logged miles and miles on the road, opening for acts such as Sugarland, Travis Tritt, Willie Nelson, ZZ Top, and Lynyrd Skynyrd, just to name a few, the group released its current album, The Foundation, in November 2008.

Southern Fried: Kick back and meet this year’s Best New Artist Grammy winners the Zac Brown Band via the video for “Chicken Fried”:

As A Matter of Fact…

* To date, Taylor Swift’s total digital downloads tally tops 20 million, and her MySpace page totals in excess of 250 million music streams.

* Prior to teaming in Sugarland, Jennifer Nettles fronted a band called Soul Miner’s Daughter and Kristian Bush was half of the duo Billy Pilgrim.

* In just 3 short years, Lady Antebellum went from playing in tiny bars to the Grand Ole Opry, opening for Phil Vassar, Rodney Jerkins, and Carrie Underwood.

* Zac Brown was a restaurant owner before launching his solo career.