new album

Neal McCoy is busier than ever as he nears the quarter-century mark of his recording career. 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.

It’s arriving a year too late to commemorate the true anniversary of the occasion, but a new double-disc collection has brought together some of country and rock’s biggest names to honor Mark Twain 100 years after his death. The set, titled ‘Mark Twain: Words & Music,’ features contributions from Vince Gill, Emmylou Harris, Brad Paisley, Sheryl Crow, Ricky Skaggs, Joe Diffie, Clint Eastwood, a

David Nail’s career took plenty of twists and turns before he finally found his audience — including a busted deal at Mercury Nashville and a stint as a baseball coach. But when he finally released his debut album in 2009, its title ‘I’m About to Come Alive,’ proved prophetic. Now, Nail is one of country’s hottest freshman acts, and he’s looking to build on that success with the release of his sec

LeAnn Rimes ends a four-year hiatus this week and returns to record store shelves with her 13th studio album, ‘Lady & Gentlemen.’ As with her platinum-selling self-titled release from 1999, ‘Gentlemen’ is a collection of covers — but this time around, she decided to give things a new twist. The idea, as Rimes explained during a recent Taste of Country interview, was to put a feminine spin on s

In today’s crowded musical landscape, it’s more important than ever for an artist plugging a new release to find new and interesting ways to attract the attention of potential listeners — even if that artist is a multi-platinum fixture on the radio dial. 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

It’s been a few years since Lee Ann Womack had an album to promote, but she’s finally ready to get back in the studio and record some new music for her fans. 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.

We know the wait is killing you, Toby Keith fans, but it’ll be another couple of months before you’re allowed to unwrap/download/stream your copy of his latest album, ‘Clancy’s Tavern.’ 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 o

Vince Gill is one of country’s most distinctive singers, but he’s more than just a pretty voice — he’s also one of the industry’s most gifted guitarists. 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

After letting personal problems derail his career for most of the aughts, Ty Herndon made a triumphant return with 2007′s ‘Right About Now,’ and he’s kept going strong since. 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 fav

It’s been a few years since Craig Morgan fans were treated to a new album, but that doesn’t mean he hasn’t been busy — in fact, in between working on his next record, he’s been hard at work raising money for charity. And now he’s got the shaved head to prove it.

It’s been a long road for budding country superstar Jerrod Niemann, from his years as a songwriter for artists like Garth Brooks and Neal McCoy, to his stint as an independent recording artist. 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, inclu

With his first two albums, 2006′s ‘Sinners Like Me’ and 2009′s ‘Carolina,’ Eric Church enjoyed steadily, albeit modestly, increasing success — so you can imagine that a few industry eyebrows were raised when his latest release, ‘Chief,’ debuted at number one. To celebrate Church’s first chart-topper, Billboard devoted a recent feature to analyzing his sales spike — and interviewing industry inside