For the first time since joining the Grand Ole Opry in 1962, Loretta Lynn will host a segment of the long-running radio show. The Country Music Hall of Fame member will host and perform at 9:30 p.m. on the Friday Night Opry (August 17) and again at 10:30 p.m. on Saturday's Grand Ole Opry. Lynn will also appear on the Opry's early show Saturday night, as part of Grand Ole Opry Live, telecast at 8 p.m. ET by CMT. Lynn will join Vince Gillfor a duet on "Table for Two," her next single. Gill co-wrote the song with Max T. Barnes. ...

Chicago roots rock band Wilco, favorites with alternative country fans, have split with Reprise Records after three studio albums, founding member Jeff Tweedy said in an interview with the Chicago Tribune. Reprise asked Wilco to make changes to their recently completed album, Yankee Hotel Foxtrot, and the band refused. Wilco retain rights to the album and are looking for another label to release it. Tweedy was a member of the influential early '90s alt-country group Uncle Tupelo. Wilco will begin a fall tour September 21 at the Gypsy Tea Room in Dallas. ...

Following in the footsteps of his hero, Johnny Cash, Mark Collie will record a live album in a maximum-security prison. With producer Tony Brown at the helm, Collie will record at the Brushy Mountain Correctional Complex in East Tennessee in October. Collie is writing new songs for the project, tentatively set for release next spring by MCA. Collie recorded for MCA in the early '90s before moving to Giant. His last album of original material appeared in 1995. Cash, whom Collie has portrayed in an independent film, recorded landmark albums at Folsom and San Quentin prisons in California in the late '60s. Collie wraps up his national tour with Tim McGraw and Kenny Chesney on Aug. 25 in Nashville. "Private Radio," a song Collie co-wrote with actor/director Billy Bob Thornton, is the title track for Thornton's upcoming debut album, in stores September 25. ...

Lonestar will undertake a fall tour of more than 30 cities, with help from new country stars Jamie O'Neal and Blake Shelton. No dates or cities have been announced, but a publicist for the group says the tour will run from October through December. O'Neal will appear on all dates, and Shelton will join the tour in November. Lonestar's latest album, I'm Already There, debuted at #1 on Billboard's Top Country Albums chart. The group's new single is "With Me."…

The Dixie Chicks and Emmylou Harris have agreed to perform at an all-star concert to benefit a breast cancer awareness campaign. The Women Rock! Girls & Guitars concert will be taped at Los Angeles' Wiltern Theatre on October 18 for airing on the Lifetime channel on October 26. Also performing will be India.Arie, Pat Benatar, Mary J. Blige, Nashville songwriter Beth Nielsen Chapman, Nelly Furtado and Shea Seger. Allison Janney of "The West Wing" will host. Although the Dixie Chicks are taking a year off from performing and recording, they have also agreed to play a pediatric AIDS benefit in Austin, Texas, in September. …

The new album from Hank Williams Jr., The Almeira Club & Other Selected Venues, has been delayed. Originally scheduled for release September 11, the album has been pushed back to January 8, according to Williams' publicist. The roots-oriented project was recorded in locales of personal and historic significance for Hank Jr. and his late father and mother, Hank and Audrey Williams. Meanwhile, Hank Jr. is at work in the studio, recording his "Monday Night Football" drop-ins for the upcoming season. …

Alison Krauss & Union Station hit the road Wednesday with two days' worth of shows in Durham, North Carolina, and will then tour through mid-October. Their new album, New Favorite, comes out Tuesday. Krauss and three members of Union Station — Dan Tyminski, Jerry Douglas and Barry Bales — have been nominated individually for the upcoming International Bluegrass Music Association Awards. Krauss is also producing the second album by the young bluegrass group Nickel Creek. …

After two albums on the Sony-owned Lucky Dog label, Bruce Robison will release his next CD himself. Titled Country Sunshine, the set is due September 4 on the singer's Boar's Nest Records. Lee Ann Womack recorded Robison's "Lonely Too" on I Hope You Dance. Tim McGraw's current single, "Angry All the Time," comes from Robison. Songs on Robison's new album include compositions co-written by Robison with Allison Moorer, Martie Seidel of the Dixie Chicks and Robison's wife, Kelly Willis. Tracks include "What Would Willie Do?" and "Friendless Marriage" (a Willis collaboration). Robison recorded the album at Jack Clement's Nashville studio. …

Steve Earle reads stories from his new book, "Doghouse Roses," on Monday (August 13) at New York's Central Park SummerStage. Cowboy poet Waddie Mitchell will also appear. … Steve Runkle, 49, writer of the Oak Ridge Boys' 1983 hit "Love Song," died Thursday in Nashville. The cause of death was a stroke he suffered July 30, the Tennessean reports. Runkle, a North Carolina native, moved to Nashville in 1971. His career included stints as a vocalist, songwriter and bassist with a number of acts including David Olney and the X-Rays, David Ball and the Contenders. During the 1970s, Runkle was a regular at the renowned Bishop's Pub, a venue that nurtured the careers of Olney, Rodney Crowell and Townes Van Zandt, among others. …

The Dixie Chicks will interrupt their yearlong vacation from performing, playing a concert in Austin, Texas, on September 15. The invitation-only Texas Twilight Gala at the Austin Music Hall is a benefit for the Pediatric AIDS League of Texas and other pediatric AIDS programs in the state. The Chicks will perform with the Austin Symphony — their first performance with a full orchestra. Shawn Colvin and Terri Hendrix will also perform. The benefit came about after Chick Natalie Maines gave birth to her first child, and requested that donations be made to pediatric AIDS groups in lieu of baby gifts. ...

Delbert McClinton will be inducted into the Buddy Holly Walk of Fame on August 29 in Lubbock, Texas. McClinton is a Lubbock native, as was Holly. The Buddy Holly Walk of Fame honors influential West Texas natives with a plaque at the base of the city's Buddy Holly statue. At 8 p.m. that day, McClinton will perform at the induction concert at Lubbock's Civic Center Theater. McClinton also will join fellow songwriters Terry Allen, Marshall Crenshaw, Jo Carol Pierce and the Flatlanders' Joe Ely, Jimmy Dale Gilmore and Butch Hancock on a panel at the Buddy Holly Symposium in Lubbock on September 6. ...

Terri Clark appeared in court in Nashville on Thursday (August 9) and pleaded guilty to a charge of reckless driving stemming from an arrest May 1. She was fined $350 plus court costs, placed on six months' supervised probation and ordered to take an alcohol education course. She was originally charged with DUI, but the charge was reduced to reckless driving. Clark is nominated for six awards at the Canadian Country Music Awards, set for September 10 in Calgary. ...

Neko Case undoubtedly won some Nashville fans and lost others during a concert at the Opry Plaza on Saturday evening, August 4. She was the headliner at the free outdoor show, but apparently did not play as long a set as Opry management expected or wanted. After an argument, Case removed her shirt onstage, revealing her bra. The stage crew immediately killed the sound and lights, and that was that. Case returns to Nashville on October 10 for a club date. ...

Tracy Byrd will perform a lunchtime concert in New York at the World Trade Center on August 16 for radio station Y100's concert series. ...

Emmylou Harris has lined up a busy fall season of activist concerts. She'll perform at a series of dates to benefit the anti-landmine movement, beginning with the September 20 Acoustic Concert for a Landmine Free World at the Warner Theater in Washington, D.C. It will also feature Steve Earle, John Prine, Nanci Griffith and Bruce Cockburn. Other concerts will be announced this fall for Chicago, Detroit, Cleveland, Pittsburgh, Philadelphia and New York. Harris will also join such artists as Dave Matthews and Pearl Jam for Groundwork 2001, a series of concerts in Seattle. The shows, taking place October 14-22, will benefit the U.N.'s Food and Agricultural Organization ...

Clay Davidson and his band, who were involved in a bus crash in Illinois on July 20, were more shook up than they initially thought. They were treated for cuts and bruises at a hospital and released. After canceling two dates, Davidson and band planned to return to the road but were forced to cancel additional dates on doctor's orders. They have now missed nine dates and still have not scheduled a tour resumption.

The 1980 movie that sparked a chapter in country music's history will be reborn on Broadway next year. "Urban Cowboy" will be staged in a workshop in New York City from October 23 to November 11 and is then set to open on

Broadway sometime next spring. All parts for the musical have been cast except for the starring role of "Bud," which made John Travolta a household name. Open auditions for the Bud role will be held in Nashville on

Thursday, August 16, at the Nashville Songwriters Association International building on West End Avenue from 7-10 p.m. Bud is described as being an 18-to 26-year-old "good looking, tough but innocent country boy." Candidates must be able to sing. ....

Vince Gill, Kenny Chesney, Tammy Cochran and SheDaisy will be part of the first annual All Star Music Bash on October 1 at Opryland Hotel in Nashville. Like the Sizzlin' Country event in Los Angeles every May, the All Star Music Bash will benefit the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation. Also in the early lineup are Kenny Loggins, Michael W. Smith and Richard Marx. Cochran's current single, "Angels in Waiting," was inspired by her late brothers, whose lives were claimed by cystic fibrosis. ...

In mid-September, Trisha Yearwood will launch Proctor & Gamble's "Bring Out the Beautiful You" campaign, which benefits the Society for Women's Health Research, for which Yearwood is spokesperson. ...

Faith Hill, Brooks & Dunn and Alan Jackson are among the country artists finding good news in the latest round of gold and platinum certifications by the Recording Industry Association of America. The RIAA has certified Hill's Breathe with shipments of 7 million copies. Two Brooks & Dunn CDs are now multiplatinum — Greatest Hits at 3 million and If You See Her at 2 million. Jackson's Everything I Love is now at the 3 million mark. Trisha Yearwood's Songbook — A Collection has reached the 4 million plateau. Tracy Byrd's Keepers — Greatest Hits is now certified gold, as is Lonestar's recent release, I'm Already There. Pam Tillis' Greatest Hits is now platinum. And George Jones' High Tech Redneck, which was released in 1993, finally reached the gold landmark ...

Bill Monroe's childhood home in Rosine, Kentucky, has been restored and will be formally opened to the public on August 23. A day-long ceremony will include concert appearances by Ralph Stanley, Mike Seeger, the Sullivan Family, Karl Shiflett and the Big Country Show and other artists. A number of Monroe's former Blue Grass Boys are expected to appear. The home is on the National Registry of Historic Places and a Monroe museum is planned by the Bill Monroe Foundation to be adjacent to the home ...

Kenny Rogers' landmark album The Gambler will be reissued on August 21. Originally released on November 15, 1978, The Gambler earned the CMA's Album of the Year award and gained a CMA Male Vocalist of the Year award for Rogers. The song "The Gambler," a #1 hit on both Billboard's top country and pop charts, yielded a Grammy for Best Country Vocal Performance, and spawned five made-for-television movies starring Rogers ...

Members of the Nashville bluegrass AC/DC tribute band Hayseed Dixie finally met a member of their favorite group. AC/DC bassist Cliff Williams invited the band to play a party at his place and he joined them onstage for a rendition of "Have a Drink on Me"…

Newcomer Carolyn Dawn Johnson is up for 10 Canadian Country Music Awards, including Album of the Year, Female Artist of the Year and the Rising Star Award. Her songs "Complicated" and "Georgia" are each nominated for top single, song and video. Johnson contends in the Fans' Choice Award against Paul Brandt, Terri Clark, Jason McCoy and the Wilkinsons. Clark has six nominations and McCoy and Lisa Brokop each have five. The awards show on September 10 will be broadcast live from Calgary's Pengrowth Saddledome on the CBC in Canada and CMT in the U.S. (MTVi's parent company, Viacom, also owns CMT.) ...

Carlene Carter and her boyfriend, Howie Epstein, are in trouble again. Carter, the daughter of June Carter Cash and Carl Smith, and Epstein, the bass player for Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, were arrested in Albuquerque, New Mexico, in June and charged with drug possession and car theft. Now they're being sued. The owners of Kiki's All Breed Grooming outside Santa Fe, New Mexico, allege that Epstein and Carter owe more than $22,000 in kennel fees for dogs they left to be boarded in 1999 and 2000. ...

Country Music Hall of Fame members Charley Pride and Jimmy Dickens will headline the Fifth Annual Grand Ole Opry Caribbean Cruise from December 2-9 on the cruise liner Carnival Victory. Bill Anderson, who will be inducted into the Hall of Fame in October, and Grand Ole Opry member Jean Shepherd will also perform on the cruise ...

Former Boy Howdy lead singer Jeffrey Steele is launching his solo career with the new single "Somethin' in the Water." Also well known as a songwriter (his cuts include "Couldn't Last a Moment" by Collin Raye, "Unbelievable" by Diamond Rio, "Big Deal" by LeAnn Rimes and "I'm Trying" by Trace Adkins), Steele will release his debut album, Tip Your Hat on October 30 ...

Hank Williams Jr.'s 3rd Annual Rolling Titan Thunder Rally is scheduled for September 8 at Nashville's Riverfront Park. Confederate Railroad and Lee Roy Parnell will also perform at the show, which marks the opening of the Tennessee Titans' football season. ...

Robert Earl Keen's Lost Highway debut album Gravitational Forces has been set for a September 11 release. He is said to be re-recording "The Road Goes On Forever" for the album. Gurf Morlix is co-producing with Keen. ...

Gordon Lightfoot and Gary Buck have been elected to the Canadian Country Music Hall of Fame, the Canadian Country Music Association announced Thursday (July 26). The entertainers will be inducted into the hall during the September 7-10 Canadian Country Music Week celebrations in Calgary, Alberta. ...

Willie Nelson's next album, The Great Divide, is scheduled for release October 2. Guest artists are said to include Rob Thomas from Matchbox Twenty, Bonnie Raitt, Sheryl Crow, Brian McKnight, Lee Ann Womack, Alison Krauss and Kid Rock. Thomas also wrote songs for the album, as did Bernie Taupin. ...

Billy Ray Cyrus, on hiatus from his television series "Doc," is in Nashville working on a new album with Dixie Chicks co-producer Blake Chancey. Cyrus has also recorded "Let's Go to the P-B-R," the title track to a Professional Bull Riders Association album to be released in September. Cyrus' disc is due next year. ...

Wayne "The Train" Hancock's new Bloodshot album, A-Town Blues, was produced by Lloyd Maines and is due September 4. ...

Trace Adkins' court appearance for his July 5 arrest on drunk-driving charges has been delayed until September 26. He had been due in Williamson County (Tennessee) General Sessions court on Monday (July 23). Adkins is now wrapping up the loose ends on Chrome, his fourth album for Capitol, due October 9. "I'm Tryin'," the album's first single, has just been released. ...

— sonicnet.com staff report