Honorees for the 2010 Grammys on the Hill Awards were announced today (2/18) by The Recording Academy, and country superstar Garth Brooks is on the list. Joining Brooks on the list of recipients of the prestigious award are  U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin, and U.S. Representative Darrell Issa. The three will be honored for their work in improving the environment for music creators. Past honorees include then-Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton, Senator Orrin Hatch, Congressman Steny Hoyer, the late Senator Ted Kennedy, and musicians Kelly Clarkson and Quincy Jones.

Taking place in the U.S. capitol, this year’s Grammys on the Hill events include the awards ceremony on Wednesday, April 14 and an advocacy day on Capitol Hill on Thursday, April 15, at which hundreds of music professionals from across the country will visit with legislators to advance pro-music policies that improve the environment for music and its makers. For updates and breaking news, visit The Recording Academy’s social networks on Twitter and Facebook: www.twitter.com/thegrammys, www.facebook.com/thegrammys.

“This year’s honorees truly define leadership, and GRAMMYs on the Hill gives us the opportunity to thank our political and musical leaders for their work to advance the rights of music makers,” said NARAS President/CEO Neil Portnow. “As one of the most popular and philanthropic artists, Garth Brooks is an inspiration to musicians and fans alike.”

Nashville Real Estate blogger Grant Hammond is reporting that country star John Rich and business partner Phil Martin have purchased the Seanachie Irish Pub building on Lower Broadway in downtown Nashville. The building is currently pending renovations as the group completes the process of acquiring building permits. Hammond speculates that the selling price “was in the neighborhood of $5 million.”

According to Hammond’s sources, Martin is a developer who has had success in Alabama and Florida.

Hammond also reports that Jimmy Buffett is rumored to be planning on opening a Margaritaville in the old Planet Hollywood building which is now called the Global Café. A job posting for a Nashville area manager was briefly posted recently on the Margaritaville website.

The Abbey Road studios, recording home of The Beatles and many other British hitmakers over the years, from Cliff Richard to Pink Floyd to Radiohead, are to be sold by the EMI group. London’s Financial Times describes the sale as an attempt to reduce EMI’s highly publicized debt burden.

The studio gained worldwide fame via the hugely successful albums the Beatles recorded there in the 1960s, specifically the Abbey Road album of 1969 with its iconic cover shot of the band members walking across the pedestrian crossing in the road outside the studio. Although the crossing has since been moved, it still attracts fans from around the world.

The 1831 Georgian town house in the suburbs of north London became the world’s first custom-built recording studio in 1931.

The Financial Times quoted a media lawyer saying, “The brand is worth more than the building … what you have is a very expensive piece of heritage.”

Yesterday (2/17) BBC DJ Chris Evans and former Beatle Sir Paul McCartney both raised the prospect that the building might be purchased by Britain’s National Trust, a government agency that protects special places in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. Their proposition triggered an immediate outcry from listeners, with many emailing support for the idea. The public has also been voicing widespread support for the idea via Twitter.

‘It’s not often that the public spontaneously suggests that we should acquire a famous building”, said a National Trust spokesman, “However, Abbey Road recording studios appear to be very dear to the nation’s heart – to the extent that we will take soundings as to whether a campaign is desirable or even feasible.”