The next few months will see a flurry of activity from the veteran country star, including a live CD/DVD project and his 12th studio album, ‘XII,’ which was co-produced by his famous friends Blake Shelton and Miranda Lambert. 

The set, titled ‘Mark Twain: Words & Music,’ features contributions from Vince Gill, Emmylou Harris, Brad Paisley, Sheryl Crow, Ricky Skaggs, Joe Diffie, Clint Eastwood, and Jimmy Buffett, among many others.

Now, Nail is one of country’s hottest freshman acts, and he’s looking to build on that success with the release of his second album ‘The Sound of a Million Dreams,’ in November.

The idea, as Rimes explained during a recent Taste of Country interview, was to put a feminine spin on songs written and/or made famous by men, including George Jones, John Anderson, John Conlee and Merle Haggard.

Martina McBride is one artist who seems to have learned this lesson well — instead of booking just another tour as part of the promotion for her descriptively titled eleventh album, ‘Eleven,’ she’ll be embarking on an 11-stop, cross-country train ride.

Womack, whose last release was 2008′s Grammy-nominated ‘There’s More Where That Came From,’ announced her return during her appearance at George Jones‘ recent 80th birthday party.

In the meantime, however, Toby’s decided to make the wait a little easier by giving you a peek at the artwork for the deluxe edition — which, if you’re a true hardcore fan, is probably the version you’re going to own, anyway.

One person who’s aware of those gifts? Alice Cooper, who asked Gill to add a little spice to a track from Cooper’s upcoming album, ‘Welcome 2 My Nightmare’ — and Gill responded with a hard-rockin’ solo that might take some of his longtime fans by surprise.

Herndon’s comeback, which continued with 2010′s ‘Journey On,’ should only gain momentum in the coming months because his plans include the completion of his seventh studio album, as well as another collection of Christmas favorites.

And now he’s got the shaved head to prove it.

But all that work has paid off — his year-old debut, ‘Judge Jerrod and the Hung Jury,’ went to number one, and with his latest single, ‘One More Drinkin’ Song,’ he has three top 40 hits to his credit, including the number one ‘Lover, Lover.’ What’s next for Niemann?

To celebrate Church’s first chart-topper, Billboard devoted a recent feature to analyzing his sales spike — and interviewing industry insiders who shared their theories about how it happened.

The country legend has set September 6 as the date for his next release, titled ‘Here for a Good Time,’ announced the 11-song track listing, and opened up pre-orders for fans.

The band has released the artwork and track listing for its upcoming third album, ‘Own the Night,’ which will contain a dozen songs, including the lead single (and Top 10 hit), ‘Just a Kiss.’