2013 Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Dates Unveiled; Natalie Maines to Release Solo Record; New Music Videos

• Natalie Maines of the Dixie Chicks will release a new album called Mother on May 7. The album is produced by Ben Harper.

• Andy Griggs and Bobby Pinson have written a song, called “20 Little Angels,” about the victims of the Newtown shooting tragedy. 100% of the proceeds from the sales of the song, including iTunes fees that will be waived, will go to the victims’ families.

• The Academy of Country Music will reveal who will host the 2013 awards with Blake Shelton once their “Tweet to Unlock” campaign hits 25,000 tweets.

• David Nail’s “Sound of a Million Dreams” took the No. 1 slot on Roughstock’s Top 60 singles of 2012 list.

• C.M. Wilcox looks ahead at a list of highly anticipated albums coming out the first quarter of 2013.

• Jewly Hight, Chris Parton and Ann Powers discussed how Americana music left a mark in 2012.

• The Farm was interviewed by Lorie Hollabaugh for The Boot.

• The Texas Music Chart unveiled its most-played songs of 2012.

• The 2013 dates of San Francisco’s Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival were announced: block off October 4-6 on your calendar.

• Spin‘s David Bevan interviewed Caitlin Rose. An excerpt: “I used to be fast and loose with the term ‘country’ because I didn’t know what else to call my music,” she explains. “I still don’t. Especially now. It was just me with a guitar, so when anybody asked I’d just shout, ‘I write country songs!’ like a little asshole. But now, I don’t really know what it is. I can’t really fit anywhere else, so I just take the corner booth.”

• Grand Ole Opry historian Byron Fay listed his wishes for country music’s most famous radio show–and for many of its members.

• The site for Australia’s Country Music Channel posted an interview with Emerson Drive’s Danick Dupelle about the band’s new release, Roll.

• “Sources” say that all those LeAnn Rimes bikini photos are staged by her camp, who tip off her location to the paparazzi.

• The Eli Young Band’s Jon Jones welcomed a baby boy into the world.

• GAC-TV unveiled their list of the top 50 music videos of 2012.

• Chuck Dauphin of Billboard interviewed former American Idol competitor Jason Castro–he was the one with the long dreadlocks–about his album, Only a Mountain, that’s coming out next week.

• The Lone Bellow’s self-titled album is streaming on NPR.

• New music videos:

LeAnn Rimes – “Borrowed”

Josh Abbott Band – “Touch” and three other live performances for CMT 

Shaun Anton – “See You Again”

Lindsay Bruce – “Stupid and Seventeen”

Doug Briney – “Déjà vu All Over Again”

The Bone Collector featuring Rhett Akins and Dallas Davidson – “My Baby Looks Good in Camouflage”

Miley Cyrus – “Jolene”

Josh Doyle – “Everyone’s Alone”