Country Music Hall of Fame & Museum to Offer Free Admission 2/23; Stream New Drew Holcomb, Caitlin Rose Records; New Album Releases

• Holly Gleason wrote about Mindy McCready for NPR’s music blog.

• Ashley Monroe’s duet with Blake Shelton, “You Ain’t Dolly (And You Ain’t Porter)” premiered on USA Today‘s website.

• Barry Mazor wrote a feature on Kelly Willis and Bruce Robison for The Wall Street Journal.

• This week’s episode of A Prairie Home Companion celebrates “all things banjo” with Bill Evans, Joe Newberry, and Noam Pikelny. Other guests will include Suzy Bogguss and country music historian and author Bill C. Malone.

• The Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum has teamed up with Ford to offer free admission to the museum on February 23. Performances by Josh Turner and Lauren Alaina are two of the special events being held that day.

• Lady Antebellum’s next studio album, Golden, will be released May 7.

• Taylor Swift is being sued over what TMZ calls an “epic Canadian hoedown disaster.” Swift was paid $2.5 million up front to headline the Capital Hoedown in August 2012, but when the event was canceled, Swift allegedly kept the money. The ticket company, “which had to refund $1.8 million in tickets, thinks she should foot the bill.”

• Jewly Hight interviewed Claire Lynch on CMT Edge.

• Stream Caitlin Rose’s new album, The Stand-In, before its March 5 release date.

• Drew Holcomb & The Neighbors’ new album, Good Light, is streaming now at Paste.

• Watch the Love for Levon DVD trailer and check out the track listing here.

• Night Beds played an NPR Tiny Desk Concert.

• Brad Wheeler of The Globe and Mail profiled singer-songwriter Daniel Romano.

• A trial date has been set for mid-August in the legal battle between the Grascals and their former management company, Webster PR.

• Speaking of bluegrass legal disputes, the fight over Bill Monroe’s name continues: “The Owensboro Messenger-Inquirer reports the Ohio County Industrial Foundation has filed a petition with the Kentucky Court of Appeals seeking a rehearing on whether a non-profit organization can use Monroe’s name to promote the Jerusalem Ridge Bluegrass Music Festival and for tours of the musicians home in Rosine.”

• Chris Mateer conducted a fine interview with Aborigine country singer Roger Knox.

• Album releases:

Bobby Rush – Down in Louisiana

Drew Holcomb & The Neighbors – Good Light (iTunes only this week)

Susan James – Driving Toward the Sun

Todd May – Rickenbacker Girls

The Slide Brothers – Robert Randolph Presents The Slide Brothers

Sallie Ford & The Sound Outside – Untamed Beast

Black Twig Pickers – Rough Carpenters

Dawn McCarthy & Bonnie “Prince” Billy – What the Brothers Sang

The Beaumonts – Where Do You Want It?

Various Artists – Son of Rogues Gallery: Pirate Ballads, Sea Songs & Chanteys

• And a DVD:

Turn Turn Turn: A Musical Documentary (live Byrds performances from 1965)