Singer Patty Loveless leads Tuesday's releases with Strong Heart (Epic), the follow-up to her 1997 album, Long Stretch of Lonesome.

Also this week, an all-star cast featuring Ricky Skaggs, Bruce Hornsby, Joan Osborne, Dolly Parton and others pays tribute to Bill Monroe, the "Father of Bluegrass," on Big Mon — Songs of Bill Monroe (Skaggs Family).

Noted bluegrass musician Ralph Stanley is back with While the Ages Roll On (Rebel), while folk singer/songwriter John Wesley Harding offers The Confessions of Saint Ace (Mammoth), his first entire album of his own material since 1998's Awake. Jason Ringenberg, frontman for pioneering alt-country outfit Jason & the Scorchers releases his first solo effort, A Pocketful of Soul (Courageous Chicken). In addition, the Austin Lounge Lizards' latest, Never an Adult Moment, drops on Sugar Hill.

Loveless, who has shed her traditional shell on rockin' cuts such as "I'm That Kind of Girl" and "I Try To Think About Elvis," stretches out even further on Strong Heart, with several guests complementing her blues-rock edge. Trisha Yearwood guests on "My Heart Will Never Break This Way Again," Travis Tritt appears on "Thirsty" and Steve Earle plays harmonica on "You're So Cool."

Produced by Skaggs, Big Mon — Songs of Bill Monroe features a host of material Monroe either wrote or recorded during his career. Tracks include "Darlin' Corey" (Hornsby), "Cry, Cry Darlin' " (Parton), "Heavy Traffic Ahead" (Steve Wariner), "Close By" (Loveless), "Blue Moon of Kentucky" (John Fogerty), "Used To Be" (the Whites), "Walk Softly" (Dixie Chicks and Skaggs), "My Little Georgia Rose" (Tritt), "On the Old Kentucky Shore" (Skaggs and Osborne), "Blue Night" (Mary Chapin Carpenter), "Rocky Road Blues" (Dwight Yoakam) and the instrumental "Big Mon" by a group of musicians including Béla Fleck, Jason Carter, Sam Bush and Del McCoury.

Also this week, Stanley releases gospel set While the Ages Roll On, including cuts "Man From Galilee," "One Drop of Water," "Because He Loved Me," "Are You Ready" and bonus track "A Robin Built a Nest on Daddy's Grave."

Several friends join Harding on his new project, including Jimmie Dale Gilmore on "Bad Dream Baby"; Earle, singing and playing mandolin, on "Our Lady of the Highways"; John Rich on "She's a Piece of Work"; Duane Jarvis on "You in Spite of Yourself"; and singer/songwriter Georgia Middleman on "Humble Bee."

Ringenberg serves up a 12-song rootsy, acoustic effort with A Pocketful of Soul, self-released on his new label, Courageous Chicken. In addition, country humorists Austin Lounge Lizards release Never an Adult Moment, with tracks such as "Hillbillies in a Haunted House," "Rasputin's HMO," "The Me I Used To Be" and "Asheville/Crashville." HighTone artist Joel Guzman guests on the album.