The soundtrack from the movie "Coyote Ugly" leaps to #1 on the Billboard Top Country Albums chart this week, supplanting Jo Dee Messina's Burn, which debuted at #1 on the chart last week and drops to #5. "Coyote Ugly" features songs by country songstress LeAnn Rimes. ...

Chris LeDoux was briefly hospitalized this week for treatment of a liver problem. A spokeswoman said he is resting at home. He has canceled all professional commitments scheduled for this week and next, including a party planned for Aug. 23 to celebrate the 5 million albums he has sold since signing with Capitol Nashville. ...

Twelve-year-old Billy Gilman's "One Voice" (RealAudio excerpt) has been featured over the PA at the close of each evening's session of the Democratic National Convention. ...

The Grand Ole Opry will add a two-hour 3 p.m. matinee to its set of shows for its "75th Anniversary Birthday Bash Weekend" on Saturday, Oct. 14. Garth Brooks, Dolly Parton, Vince Gill, Porter Wagoner and Steve Wariner are among performers who will perform on that day. ...

Ricochet will host their fifth annual homecoming benefit, the Green Country Jam, on Aug. 27 in Vian, Okla., at the Vian Football Stadium, to benefit St. Jude Children's Research Hospital. The 5 p.m. show will include Ricochet, fellow Oklahoman Bryan White and new duo James/Dean and Katrina Elam. ...

Historical reissue albums Hank Williams: Rare Demos, Webb Pierce: King of the Honky Tonk, Faron Young: Live Fast, Love Hard and Johnny Paycheck: The Real Mr. Heartache are planned as the result of an agreement between the Country Music Hall of Fame and Nashville's Audium Entertainment. ...

The Dixie Chicks have reportedly turned down a multimillion-dollar advertisement deal with Coca-Cola because the company would not cooperate with the Screen Actors Guild, whose members are on strike. ...

Marty Stuart is scheduled to travel to Los Angeles this weekend to talk with Billy Bob Thornton about possible future collaborations. Stuart worked on the soundtrack to Thornton's upcoming film Daddy and Them due in 2001. He also will perform Aug. 26 at the Grand Ole Opry and induct the Opry's newest member, Pam Tillis, that evening...

The TV series "Live From the Bluebird Café," which features singer/songwriter performances at the legendary Nashville venue, will return for a second season on Turner South cable network. Kevin Welch, pop-rock singer Shawn Mullins, Collin Raye, Delbert McClinton and Kieran Kane are among artists slated for the new season, which kicks off Sept. 26 and airs Tuesdays at 8 p.m. and 11 p.m. EDT. ...

Hank Williams Jr.'s three-CD Bocephus Box Set (Curb) will be reissued Aug. 29 with bonus tracks including "A Country Boy Can Survive (Y2K version)," which features George Jones and Chad Brock. ...

Garth Brooks wants to convert his Nashville home, the "Blue Rose Estate," into a public attraction. A private neighborhood meeting is scheduled for Wednesday (Aug. 16) to discuss plans for the potential museum. The singer and his wife recently bought a ranch in Claremore, Okla. Such country artists as Dolly Parton, Loretta Lynn, Conway Twitty, Johnny Cash and, of course, Elvis Presley have opened their homes to the public or opened museums or theme parks. ...

The children of the late country-rocker Rick Nelson have agreed to let Elvis Presley Enterprises take over licensing and marketing of their father's name and image. EPE, which runs Graceland as well as controlling all things Elvis, took control of Presley's estate in 1982, when it faced financial calamity, and made it hugely profitable. ...

The Wilkinsons, who have climbed the country charts with such hits as "26 Cents" and "Jimmy's Got a Girlfriend" (RealAudio excerpt), are auctioning off an Oct. 5–10 trip to the Cayman Islands. Winners will scuba dive with the group and oceanographer Jean-Michel Cousteau, as well as attend an acoustic performance. Yahoo! will host the auction through Thursday (Aug. 17). ...

Willie Nelson says he's going to finish his long-awaited reggae project. He and producer Don Was plan to include Ziggy Marley and members of the Wailers on the album, which Nelson hopes to finish this fall in Jamaica. ...

With this year's Farm Aid concert set for Sept. 17 in Bristow, Va., a new CD compilation, Farm Aid Live: Keep America Growing Vol. 1 (Redline), is due Sept. 12. It will highlight Farm Aid performances from 1986 to 1999. The songs to be included are: "Peach Pickin' Time Down in Georgia" by Beck & Willie Nelson, "Folsom Prison Blues" by Johnny Cash, "Crash" by the Dave Matthews Band, "Copperhead Road" by Steve Earle, "City of New Orleans" by the Highwaymen, "One Time One Night" by Los Lobos, "Safe in My Arms" by Martina McBride, "Paper in Fire" by John Mellencamp, "Just Like You" by Keb' Mo', "Yellow Moon" by the Neville Brothers, "Love Letter" by Bonnie Raitt, "Now That's Country" by Marty Stuart, "It Hurt So Bad" by Susan Tedeschi, "Wrong Side of Memphis" by Trisha Yearwood, "Guitars, Cadillacs" by Dwight Yoakam, and "Homegrown" by Neil Young. ...

Pop-country singer and actress Olivia Newton-John, who climbed the country charts in the mid-1970s with hits such as "Let Me Be There" and "I Honestly Love You," will sing the theme song "Dare To Dream" with John Farnham during the opening ceremonies Sept. 15 for the Summer Olympics in Sydney, Australia. Newton-John also will carry the Olympic torch in Sydney. ...

Mercury will release an album of rare demos and radio appearances by Hank Williams titled Alone With His Guitar on Sept. 19. Included are 18 songs broadcast in 1949 on radio station KWKH in Shreveport, La., when Williams was on the "Louisiana Hayride" barn dance show there. Colin Escott, co-producer of the Grammy-winning The Complete Hank Williams Box, compiled the collection. ...

Movie news: Lyle Lovett is slated to star in the upcoming film "The New Guy." The comedy marks the directorial debut of Ed Decter, who co-wrote "There's Something About Mary." ... The new movie "Space Cowboys" features two songs by Willie Nelson — "Still Crazy After All These Years" and "Young at Heart" — as well as the Chad Brock cut "Take It to the Limit." ... "Still I Long for Your Kiss," from Lucinda Williams, was included in "X-Men," and Junior Brown, whose song "Highway Patrol" is featured in "Me, Myself & Irene" (released in June), has a soundtrack cut in the upcoming movie "Ring of Fire." ...

Jimmie Dale Gilmore will be featured on a House of Blues 24-hour video cybercast at 6 p.m. PDT on Aug. 20. ... Artist and renowned guitarist Brent Rowan, who is nominated for CMA Musician of the Year, has scheduled a rare performance Aug. 17 at the Gibson Café at Opry Mills in Nashville. Rowan has recorded with such major country and pop artists as George Strait, Shania Twain, Sting and Brian Wilson. ...

— sonicnet.com staff report