In a parody of his usual appearances introducing "Monday Night Football" with the show's theme song, "All My Rowdy Friends Are Coming Over Tonight," Hank Williams Jr. made an unannounced appearance at the Republican National Convention on Monday night (July 31). Wearing a western suit and a black-and-white cowboy hat (designed to look black in one profile and white in the other), Williams greeted "all my rowdy Republican friends." His manager, Merle Kilgore, said the GOP called him out of the blue and asked if Williams would deliver greetings. Williams has not been involved with politics or the convention before, Kilgore said, adding that "Hank played [former President Richard] Nixon's re-election party." Williams has recently been on hiatus, Kilgore said. ...

Marty Stuart and his uncle were slightly injured in a car accident Friday (July 28) near his hometown of Philadelphia, Miss. Neither was hospitalized. The car that struck their vehicle from behind was consumed by flames. ... Travis Tritt, folk hero Arlo Guthrie, Shannon Curfman, the North Mississippi Allstars and Jimmy Sturr have been added to the lineup for the 15th annual Farm Aid benefit concert scheduled for Bristow, Va., on Sept. 17. Tickets go on sale Friday (Aug. 4). ...

Shania Twain is featured on this week's VH-1's "100 Greatest Rock & Roll Moments on TV." Twain comes in at #98 for her participation in the 1998 show "Divas Live" with Aretha Franklin, Carole King, Celine Dion, Gloria Estefan and Mariah Carey. The weeklong special runs five hours each night, counting down to the top moments on Friday (Aug. 3). In other VH-1 news, Faith Hill is among the nominees for Most Fashionable Female Artist on the VH-1/Vogue Fashion Awards. (Sonicnet.com's parent company, Viacom, also owns VH1.) ...

President and CEO Terry London has resigned after 22 years with Gaylord Entertainment Co. Chairman E.K. Gaylord II will serve as the interim head of the company, which owns the Grand Ole Opry and Nashville's Ryman Auditorium, among other interests. ... Lorrie Morgan is scheduled to sing the national anthem Thursday (Aug. 3) at the Republican National Convention. Lee Greenwood also is due to perform at the event on Wednesday at 10 p.m. EDT. Brooks & Dunn are scheduled to sing "Hard Workin' Man" on Thursday at about 10 p.m. EDT, just before George W. Bush's acceptance speech for the presidential nomination. ... Soulful singer Shelby Lynne and country-rockers the Jayhawks have nabbed the opening slots for Matchbox Twenty's tour. The Jayhawks will kick off the outing with the noted rock-pop group Sept. 12 in New Orleans and continue through the Oct. 2 show in South Bend, Ind. With more Matchbox Twenty dates to be confirmed, Lynne is slated to open dates from Oct. 5 in Champaign, Ill., through Oct. 21 in Las Vegas. ...

Kenny Rogers' She Rides Wild Horses, with such hits as "The Greatest" and "Buy Me a Rose" (RealAudio excerpt), has been certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America — the first time for any country independent-label album. Rogers' single "He Will, She Knows" is at #46 on the Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks chart. ... Mexican-American roots ensemble Los Super Seven, which includes notable artists and musicians as Joe Ely, Freddy Fender, Flaco Jimenez, David Hidalgo and Cesar Rosas from Los Lobos, Rick Trevino and Ruben Ramos, are in the studio. Their first collaborative album Los Super Seven, which featured Doug Sahm on guest vocals, won a 1998 Grammy Award for Best Mexican-American Music Performance. ...

LeAnn Rimes has four songs on the upcoming "Coyote Ugly" soundtrack, due Tuesday (Aug. 1): "Can't Fight the Moonlight" (written by hit-making tunesmith Diane Warren), "Please Remember Me," "Right Kind of Wrong" and "But I Do." Charlie Daniels' "Devil Went Down to Georgia" is also included on the 12-song compilation. Rimes' current hit, "I Need You" (RealAudio excerpt), nabs the #1 spot this week on Billboard's Top Country Singles chart, reflecting sales. ...

Vince Gill and Amy Grant reportedly will attend one of Barbra Streisand's last shows, which are slated for Sept. 20–21 in Los Angeles and Sept. 27–28 in New York. Gill performed the duet "If You Ever Leave Me" with Streisand on A Love Like Ours (1999), which also includes a cover of George Strait's "We Must Be Loving Right." ... Canadian country singer Anne Murray has finished a book titled "The Anne Murray Centre Scrapbook," which features memorabilia dating from her childhood to her career in country and pop. ...

Billy Ray Cyrus recently sent a truckload full of bottled water to help alleviate a severe water shortage in Throckmorton, Texas. ... Apart from his new album and an upcoming book (due in the spring), Steve Earle is at work on a play about Karla Faye Tucker, the first woman executed in Texas in 100 years, and has begun researching a novel. An overlap between the play, titled "Karla," and the album is the song "Over Yonder (Jonathan's Song)," written about a friend of Earle's whose execution Earle witnessed. ... Danni Leigh and Montgomery Gentry have signed to play Harley Davidson's Thunder Over Dixie 2000 fest in Daytona, Fla., on Oct. 21. The event caps the weeklong Biketoberfest, which starts in Nashville on Oct. 15. Thousands of bikers will be leaving from there and picking up other riders throughout the South en route to Daytona. Organizers expect a crowd of 150,000. ...

Troy Cassar-Daley, who appeared on the international show this year at Fan Fair, won his third trophy as Entertainer of the Year at the Country Music Association of Australia's 2000 Achiever Awards, held Monday (July 24) in Sydney. ... Brooks & Dunn, Alan Jackson and Pam Tillis join Asleep at the Wheel, Andy Griggs, Junior Brown, Kenny Rogers, Tracy Lawrence, Tracy Byrd and Lynyrd Skynyrd on the soundtrack for "Ring of Fire." The film is about the professional bull-riding circuit and stars Kiefer Sutherland, Daryl Hannah and Molly Ringwald. The soundtrack and film are scheduled for release in October. ...

The International Bluegrass Music Association will host World of Bluegrass Week, which includes the industry's trade show, the International Bluegrass Music Awards and the Bluegrass Fan Fest from Oct. 16–22 in Louisville, Ky. More than 20,000 people from the United States and a dozen foreign countries are expected. Those slated to play include the Del McCoury Band, the Johnny Staats Project, IIIrd Tyme Out, Lonesome River Band, Jerry and Tammy Sullivan, Doyle Lawson and Quicksilver, Rhonda Vincent and the Rage and Blue Highway. ...

A documentary on the making of Asleep at the Wheel's multiple-Grammy-winning album Ride With Bob airs on Friday (July 28) on PBS. Additionally, in September BBC Radio 2 will broadcast a Nashville recording session featuring the Wheel with Lee Ann Womack, who was a guest vocalist on the album. ...

Willard Cox and his wife, Marie Cox, the leaders of the Grammy-winning group the Cox Family, remain hospitalized in Louisiana after a severe wreck, in which their car was struck by a logging truck. Willard Cox suffered a crushed spine and Marie Cox sustained a broken arm, broken collarbone, fractured vertebra and other injuries. She has been able to walk since the accident; the prognosis for Willard remains guarded. They remain in fair condition in LSU Hospital in Shreveport. The couple's country-bluegrass-gospel group also includes their two daughters and son. They recently recorded songs in Nashville for the movie "O Brother, Where Art Thou," due for release this year. The group had recently cut back on touring after Marie Cox won a bout with cancer, and they have been operating a sawmill in their native Cotton Valley, La. They earned a Grammy for the 1996 work Amazing Grace — A Country Salute to Gospel. ...

Singer/songwriter Kinky Friedman has teamed up with Little Jewford to release a live album taped on their 1999 European tour. Classic Snatches From Europe (on Sphincter Records) includes such Kinky classics as "They Ain't Makin' Jews Like Jesus Anymore" and "Asshole From El Paso" (RealAudio excerpt), as well as new gems such as "Willie Nelson's Latent Homosexual Silver Concho Belt," "Bob Dylan's Dream" and "First Jewish Justice of the Peace." ...

Speaking of Willie Nelson, the country music veteran will appear on A&E's "Live by Request" on Aug. 14. The two-hour episode will be divided into two segments — one in which he's backed by his Family band and the other with the Blues Band behind him. Nelson will play material from his upcoming blues album, Milk Cow Blues (Island), with several members of the Blues Band who appeared on the album, including Dr. John, Francine Reed, Kenny Wayne Shepherd and possibly B.B. King. Additionally, if you're ever in Austin, Texas, you can check out Nelson's new restaurant — Willie Nelson's Lighthouse — right off of Lake Travis.

— sonicnet.com staff report