Hall of Fame Attendance Jumps 15%; Curb Partners with Cracker Barrel; New Music Videos

• In the ongoing saga of Curb Records versus Tim McGraw, McGraw won a battle that keeps Big Machine from releasing sensitive negotiation documents with McGraw.

• In an unrelated Curb Records story, they’ve partnered with Cracker Barrel to release compilation albums from McGraw, LeAnn Rimes, The Bellamy Brothers, Rodney Atkins, The Judds and Wynonna Judd.

• Peter Cooper wrote an outstanding piece on Waylon Jennings’ new posthumous album for the Tennessean: “Record producers have plenty of challenges. There’s meeting budget, coordinating musicians’ schedules, envisioning a final product, balancing invention and commercial familiarity and plenty of other things. But making a legendary and dead curmudgeon smile has to be the tallest producers’ challenge anyone has ever ordered up.” 

• Cooper also profiled one of the last remaining Blue Grass Boys: Mac Wiseman (with video).

• Craig Shelburne interviewed Chris Knight for CMT Edge. An excerpt where Knight talks about songwriting: I can’t write little simple songs for the sake of writing a song. I got to write it up from my gut — something that’ll give me energy when I’m writing it or singing it, like “In the Mean Time.” I feel like I can really deliver that song, so that’s how I try to write. I have to really be interested and motivated to write a song. Sometimes it’s anger where I come from. Other times, it’s telling a story. But it’s always coming from the gut. Perseverance — it’s having a backbone. We never know what kind of backbone we got until we get challenged. 

• Brad Paisley unveiled his next single called “Southern Comfort Zone” that will be officially released to radio on 10/2. You’re special, though. You can hear it now here.

• Talented guitarist Dan Crary wrote a guest feature at Bluegrass Today saying goodbye to Doc Watson, Earl Scruggs, and Doug Dillard. An excerpt: “So it’s shocking to think of our world without them; for me Earl was the blazing banjo sound that hooked me as a little kid in 1951; in my world, Doc was the fifth face on the Mt. Rushmore of music; and Doug was sassy, smart old time music walking unapologetically up and down Santa Monica Blvd. Now, without them, the world feels very strange, and we wonder what more to say about their absence. Books will be written, memorials created, and most of all, we will tell stories of Doc and Earl and Doug for a long time.” 

• Brantley Gilbert and Jana Kramer are officially an item.

• In addition to his new American Idol gig, Keith Urban will be the voice of the Grand Ole Opry in their radio marketing campaign this year.

• Carrie Underwood gave an almost-teen his first smooch.

• Johnny Cash’s “Dirty Old Egg Sucking Dog” is the soundtrack for a new Volkswagen Jetta commercial.

• Gary Allan threw a party to celebrate the one-year anniversary of his Nashville apparel store, The Label.

• Outdoor Life Magazine interviewed Chuck Wicks.

• Meet new Nashville duo, Striking Matches.

• Producer Scott Hendricks celebrated his 50^th #1 hit.

• The Taylor Swift and Patsy Cline exhibits are reasons behind a record 15% increase in attendance at the Country Music Hall of Fame this summer.

• Little Big Town’s Tornado was the top-selling country music album this past week.

• From PopMatters’ Taylor Coe: “Forgetting the Roots: Does it Matter Who Makes Folk Music?”

• A batch of recently hatched music videos:

Alan Doyle – “Testify”

Kacey Musgraves – “Merry Go ‘Round” 

Kevin Fowler – “Here’s to Me and You”

Joe Bonamassa – “Dislocated Boy”

Joe Bachman – “Small Town Rock Stars”

Mike Ure – “The Fight” 

The Sundogs – “Get It Right”

Whitney Rose – “Chivalry is Dead”

Blackbyrd – “All for Me”

Amber Lawrence – “Try”

Dierks Bentley – “Tip It on Back”

Sick String Outlaws – “Johnny Drank Jack”

Luke Austen – “Drive”

Kristy Cox – “Miles and Timezones”

Billy Ray Cyrus – “Change My Mind”

Tim McGraw – “Truck Yeah”

Randy Rogers Band – “One More Sad Song”

Kaylens Rain – “Outta Here”

The Turnpike Troubadours – “Gin, Smoke, Lies”

Yarn – “Annie”

The Black Lillies – “The Same Mistakes”

Kip Moore –“Beer Money”