Jury selection began Monday (May 14) in the Buffalo, New York, suburb of Orchard Park for the long-delayed trial of country stars Tim McGraw and Kenny Chesney. The trial stems from a fracas that occurred between the singers and the local sheriff's department following their performances last June in Buffalo as part of a George Strait show. Chesney was arrested after refusing to dismount from a police horse backstage. McGraw was charged with assaulting the officers who tried to pull Chesney from the horse. Although the initial charges against McGraw were reduced from felony to misdemeanor status, he could face up to a year in prison if convicted. Chesney faces only harassment charges. In a June 15 statement, McGraw predicted the charges would be dropped. However, he noted, "If it's necessary, then I welcome the opportunity to go before a jury who I know will agree that neither Kenny nor I did anything wrong." …

Martie Seidel of the Dixie Chicks says she and bandmates Emily Robison and Natalie Maines have been taking in a lot of live music in Texas during their work hiatus. "We've been listening to a lot of bluegrass and people like Joe Ely and Willie [Nelson]," Seidel said backstage Wednesday (May 9) at the ACM Awards in Los Angeles. Seidel said the downtime has been beneficial for new mom Maines, who delivered her first son in March. Although they're officially off duty, the Chicks will regroup in September to play a benefit for children with AIDS. Seidel said fans probably won't see a new Dixie Chicks album for at least a year. …

Pop singer Perry Como's final charting record was a country song. The crooner died Saturday (May 12) at his home in Florida at age 88. Como had his first pop hit in 1944 with "Long Ago and Far Away" and his last in 1974 with "Christmas Dreams," a selection from the soundtrack to the movie "The Odessa Files." In 1976 his version of "Just Out of Reach," Solomon Burke's 1961 pop favorite, entered the country chart at #100 and remained there a single week. Como's greater contribution to country music was his reception of country performers on his popular TV shows during the 1950s and '60s. Eddy Arnold broadened his audience considerably as Como's 1952 summer replacement on CBS-TV. …

Loretta Lynn will open a Coal Miner's Daughter Museum at her ranch in Hurricane Mills, Tennessee, with a ribbon-cutting ceremony on May 26. The 18,000-square-foot structure will house a theater, rooms depicting her childhood home and school, her tour bus and other vehicles, and personal memorabilia. ...

One of the world's great scuba diving locales will host a country festival this summer. Travis Tritt, the Wilkinsons, the Kinleys, Chris Cagle, Jamie O'Neal, SheDaisy and others will perform at Cayman Country from August 1-12 on Grand Cayman in the Caribbean Cayman Islands. ...

The Veterans of Foreign Wars will present Travis Tritt with this year's VFW Hall of Fame Award, which recognizes entertainers (and sports figures) who have served veterans through their work, at the group's August convention in Milwaukee. Tritt portrayed a disabled vet in his videos for "Anymore," "Tell Me I Was Dreaming" and "If I Lost You." His long-form video, "Travis Tritt — a Celebration," was filmed during a performance benefiting disabled vets. And in 1994-96 he served as spokesperson for Disabled American Veterans. …

Alabama donated $100,000 to the Fort Payne, Alabama, city school system on April 25. The funds, from past June Jam concerts, have been held since Alabama discontinued the local benefit concerts in 1997 after 16 years. Lead singer Randy Owen has hinted at a possible return of the June Jam, according to the band's record label. …

Lee Roy Parnell's first new studio album in four years is due on June 12 from Vanguard Records. Tell the Truth was recorded at Muscle Shoals Sound Studios and features guest appearances by Keb' Mo,' Bonnie Bramlett, Delbert McClinton and the Mississippi Mass Choir. ...

Lee Ann Womack has earned her first multiplatinum award for I Hope You Dance (RealAudio excerpt of title track), which has sold more than 2 million copies, according to the Recording Industry Association of America. … Jeannie C. Riley, best known for her 1968 #1 hit "Harper Valley PTA," has filed suit in Williamson Country Circuit Court, Tennessee, contending she suffered injuries in a store fall. Riley seeks $250,000 from the Big Lots parent company, Consolidated Stores Corp., charging that injuries from a May 2000 fall in a Big Lots store have kept her from performing as a singer and resulted in a lasting disability. …

"I'd about given up on getting one of these," Ralph Stanley said on receiving his first platinum record. The 74-year-old bluegrass legend was speaking at a platinum party for the soundtrack album O Brother, Where Art Thou?, on which he sang "O Death" (RealAudio excerpt). Other album participants at the party, held Thursday (May 3) at the Factory in Franklin, Tennessee, were the Peasall Sisters, the Whites, the Nashville Bluegrass Band, Dan Tyminski, the Fairfield Four, Gillian Welch and David Rawlings. ...

Bluegrass legend Earl Scruggs will release his Earl Scruggs and Friends duets album on August 1. He's joined on it by Elton John Melissa Etheridge, Sting, Dwight Yoakam, Billy Bob Thornton, John Fogerty, Don Henley, Johnny Cash, Rosanne Cash, comedian Steve Martin, Marty Stuart, Paul Shaffer, Leon Russell and Travis Tritt. ...

Ray Benson of Asleep at the Wheel will perform with Paul Shaffer and the World's Most Dangerous Band on "The Late Show With David Letterman" on May 23. ...

Fan Fair's Superstar Spectacular will feature new Grand Ole Opry member Brad Paisley and other Opry regulars and guests in two shows at Nashville's Grand Ole Opry House. Tickets are $26 and $36, and funds benefit the Grand Ole Opry Trust Fund. Performing on June 14 will be Bill Anderson, Joe Diffie, Tracy Lawrence, Collin Raye, Johnny Rodriguez, Chalee Tennison, Trick Pony and Keith Urban. Appearing on June 15 are T. Bubba Bechtol, Chris Cagle, Bill Carlisle, Jimmy Dickens, Jack Greene, James House and Paisley. ...

Lee Ann Womack and football great Terry Bradshaw will host the June 13 TNN & CMT Country Weekly Music Awards. CMT and TNN will simulcast the former TNN Country Weekly Music Awards. The three-hour program will be telecast live from Nashville's Gaylord Entertainment Center. Alan Jackson, Brad Paisley, Jo Dee Messina, Jessica Andrews, Toby Keith, John Michael Montgomery, Montgomery Gentry, Lonestar and Phil Vassar will perform on the fan-voted awards show. (CMT and TNN are owned by Sonicnet.com's parent company, Viacom). ...

Alan Jackson's house on Center Hill Lake in Middle Tennessee is up for grabs. The asking price is $3.9 million. He will continue to live at his main residence in Franklin, Tennessee. … Canadian singer-songwriter Ron Sexsmith's fourth album, Blue Boy, will be released June 5. Steve Earle and producer Ray Kennedy, collectively known as "Twangtrust," produced the project. ...

Mavericks lead singer Raul Malo is recording his first solo album in Los Angeles this month. Steve Berlin of Los Lobos is producing. ... Kyle Lehning (Waylon Jennings, Randy Travis) is producing a new Derailers album, due for summer release. ...

Sam Phillips, who founded Sun Records and signed Elvis Presley, Roy Orbison, Carl Perkins, Jerry Lee Lewis, Johnny Cash and many others to their early recording contracts, will speak at a celebrity luncheon on June 30 at Rockabilly Fest 2001 in Jackson, Tennessee. This rare public appearance by Phillips will begin at noon. ...

Evening talent lineups for the major Fan Fair shows at Nashville's Adelphia Coliseum have been released by the Country Music Association. Scheduled for June 14 (all starting times are 7 p.m.) are, Billy Ray Cyrus, Joe Diffie, Billy Gilman, the Kinleys, Patty Loveless, Montgomery Gentry, Collin Raye, and Travis Tritt. Performing on June 15 are Trace Adkins, Tracy Lawrence, Jo Dee Messina, John Michael Montgomery, Sawyer Brown and Trick Pony. Appearing June 16 are Gary Allan, Jessica Andrews, Terri Clark, Vince Gill, Jamie O'Neal, Rascal Flatts, SheDaisy and Trisha Yearwood. Performing June 17 (starting at 5 p.m.) are Tracy Byrd, Kenny Chesney, Bill Engvall, Sara Evans, Andy Griggs, Alan Jackson, Carolyn Dawn Johnson, Lonestar, Martina McBride, Lorrie Morgan & Sammy Kershaw, Brad Paisley and Phil Vassar. ...

The Oak Ridge Boys will receive the Boy Scouts of America's highest honor in a ceremony on June 1 in Boston where they'll be given the Silver Buffalo Award for distinguished service to youth. Members of the group serve on the Boy Scouts board and are active in the National Committee for the Prevention of Child Abuse, Feed the Children and other programs. ...

Singer/songwriter Deana Carter is working on a new album, but it won't be released on her longtime label, Capitol Records. Carter said she has been "writing her butt off" for the self-produced new project, but declined to say which label it will be on. "I can't say just yet," Carter said. She will debut some of her new material during a 20-city acoustic tour that kicks off May 6 in Chicago. In addition to writing new music, Carter has been splitting her time between homes in Nashville and Los Angeles, where she has written and pitched treatments for a TV game show and a food show. Carter also has landed the small role of a "bimbette Wal-Mart wife" in an upcoming independent film starring Billy Bob Thornton. ...

Auditions for "Stand by Your Man: The Tammy Wynette Story" will be held in New York on May 15 and 16. There are four female and five male roles open for the musical, which will play Nashville's Ryman Auditorium from September 13 through October 28. Aspiring candidates should send resumes and headshots to Stand by Your Man Auditions, Casting, 165 West 46th Street, Suite 1100, New York, NY 10036. The musical's title comes from Wynette's autobiography and signature song, "Stand by Your Man" (RealAudio excerpt). ...

"Mulholland Drive," a television project Billy Ray Cyrus filmed more than two years ago, will be shown at this year's Cannes Film Festival. The show, which features Cyrus as a hunky pool man, was directed by David Lynch ("Twin Peaks") as a pilot episode for an ABC TV series, but the network passed on the project. Cyrus is now starring in the series "Doc" on PAX. ...

Buck Owens will be honored with the Country Radio Broadcasters Career Achievement Award on June 28. Brad Paisley will present the award during CRB's annual Country Music DJ Hall of Fame Banquet at the Renaissance Hotel in Nashville. Loretta Lynn, Chet Atkins and Eddy Arnold have previously been recognized with the honor. ...

Some of the artists who created the "O Brother, Where Art Thou?" soundtrack will reconvene June 13 for a concert at Carnegie Hall in New York. Alison Krauss & Union Station, John Hartford, Gillian Welch, Ralph Stanley, the Whites and the Cox Family are among the artists who will participate. ...

Vince Gill and Nickel Creek will kick off this summer's Bluegrass Night at the Ryman series in Nashville with a June 21 concert at the Ryman Auditorium. An Evening With Ricky Skaggs will be presented June 28, Sam Bush and Friends will perform July 5, Ralph Stanley and the Clinch Mountain Boys and the Del McCoury Band play on July 12, and Rowan, Rice and Clements perform on July 19. The July 26 lineup has not yet been announced. ...

Patty Loveless and husband/producer Emory Gordy Jr. are putting finishing touches on Loveless' return-to-roots album, Mountain Soul, due June 26. Ricky Skaggs, Travis Tritt and Jon Randall guest on the album, which mixes traditional and contemporary songs. Kentucky-bred Loveless re-recorded "The Sounds of Loneliness," which she wrote at 15 for her debut album. Mountain Soul features covers of Reno & Smiley's "I Know You're Married," Dolly Parton and Porter Wagoner's "Someone That I Used to Know," Melba Montgomery's "Raging Fire," and Darrell Scott's "You'll Never Leave Harlan Alive." "I've been wanting to do this record since 1992, when Emory and I put a little group together to go play the Carter Stanley Memorial Festival," Loveless said in a statement. Loveless will tour this summer to support Mountain Soul and Strong Heart, her current mainstream country album. ...

Trace Adkins will host the BellSouth Senior Classic golf tournament at Opryland's annual Celebrity Kids Classic event at Nashville's Springhouse Golf Club on May 27. The event raises money for charities including Vanderbilt Children's Hospital, Tennessee Lions Charities, Middle Tennessee Council of the Boy Scouts of America, Girl Scout Council of Cumberland Valley and Boys & Girls Clubs of Middle Tennessee. Artists taking part include Chris Cagle, Mark Collie, Clay Davidson, Vince Gill, Rebecca Lynn Howard, Sonya Isaacs and the Wilkinsons. ...

Emmylou Harris, Willie Nelson, Nanci Griffith, Steve Earle, John Prine, Guy Clark and the Cowboy Junkies are among the artists on Poet: A Tribute to Townes Van Zandt, honoring the late singer/songwriter. The album is due in late July. ...

Slaid Cleaves and a number of other alt-country luminaries are scheduled to play Twang Fest 5, to be held June 6–9 at Blueberry Hill in University City, Missouri. Acts include Deke Dickerson, Roger Wallace, the Domino Kings, Ass Ponys, Charlie Chesterman, Elizabeth Cook, Fear and Whiskey, Rockhouse Ramblers, Star City and the Tarbox Ramblers.