new releases

Country music has often served as a refuge for artists looking to jump-start their flagging commercial fortunes in other genres, and over the last few years, it’s become an even more popular ploy with Jessica Simpson, Jewel and others seeking to find favor with country audiences. So Kristin Chenoweth knows that her background in musical theater might give some listeners pause, but she says she’s r

Joshua Scott Jones and Meghan Linsey have come a long way since their fateful meeting at a Nashville karaoke bar. They’re now engaged to be married, while also making up the rising country duo Steel Magnolia, with three top 40 singles and a pair of CMA Awards nominations on their growing list of achievements. As their self-titled debut CD launches its fourth single, ‘Bulletproof,’ Jones and Linsey

With millions of albums sold and a growing list of hits to their name, Lady Antebellum are one of the fastest-rising young acts in the music business. As they gear up to promote their just-released third album, ‘Own the Night,’ they’re on the verge of delivering one of the biggest sales successes of 2011. And according to singer Hillary Scott, none of it might have happened if it wasn’t for Whoopi

Sony Music Nashville Miranda Lambert unveiled the cover of her new album, ‘Four the Record,’ last week, but she wasn’t finished teasing details of the hotly-anticipated project. One good turn deserves another, after all — so Lambert followed her cover reveal by releasing the ‘Four the Record’ track listing.

After letting personal problems derail his career for most of the aughts, Ty Herndon made a triumphant return with 2007′s ‘Right About Now,’ and he’s kept going strong since. Herndon’s comeback, which continued with 2010′s ‘Journey On,’ should only gain momentum in the coming months because his plans include the completion of his seventh studio album, as well as another collection of Christmas fav

Cancer survivor Merle Haggard says he’s “swinging back in full throttle right now,” and his engine is revving thanks in part to his new album, ‘Working in Tennessee,’ which is due Oct. 4 on Vanguard Records. “Music keeps me alive. It makes me breathe better,” says Haggard, who had a cancerous tumor removed from his right lung in November 2008.