New Alan Jackson Album Slated for 2012 Release; View Trailer for Hank Williams Movie The Last Ride; New Music Videos

• “Due to a recurring illness,” American Idol alum Bo Bice has cancelled all future concert dates until further notice.

• Fiddle player Sonny Mead passed away at the age of 81. Mead played with many bands over the years, including George Winn and The Bluegrass Partners, the Cripple Creek Boys, and Heights of Grass.  He even made it on the Grand Ole Opry stage. Listen to a little of his work here.

• The Last Ride, a movie about Hank Williams’ last days, now has a trailer. It stars Henry Thomas, the kid from E.T.

• Trisha Yearwood’s mother, Gwen, passed away after a lengthy cancer battle. Mother Yearwood was a co-writer on Trisha’s cookbooks.

• Julie Roberts has a brand new Christmas EP that she’s releasing independently this holiday season.

• How’s your bluegrass knowledge?

• Rita Ballou has the scoop on another stage collapse down in Texas.

• Check out a fun interview with Megan Mullins and the rest of her new band, The Tennessee Hot Damns.

• Actor Russell Crowe joined Keith Urban on stage up in Canada last week and covered Johnny Cash’s“Folsom Prison Blues.”

• According to Cybergrass, Marty Godbey’s book, Crowe on the Banjo: The Music Life of J.D. Crowe, is a good one.

• Check out the quirky new album Bright Lights from Gwendolyn, especially the tender track “Sing This Song.” The album is getting some critical love, too.

• We previously mentioned George Jones‘ Squidbillies soundtrack appearance—here he is performing it.

• Kansas State University is hosting the Great Plains Radio History Symposium on October 14^th and will explore the lost art of live music across the Midwestern airwaves.

• David Nail has his sophomore album release scheduled for November 15. It’ll be called The Sound of a Million Dreams.

• New Grand Ole Opry inductees Rascal Flatts are planning ahead. They will have a new album coming out April 3, 2012.

• Avett Brothers’ bassist Bob Crawford will be taking an indefinite hiatus from the band to tend to his three-year old daughter. She is battling a brain tumor.

• Alan Jackson thinks his new album will be out early next year.

• Three Tall Pines, the bluegrass quartet out of Boston, will have a new album called All That’s Left out on October 15^th.

• In her review posted on No Depression, Julie Watson says the new Kentucky Headhunters record, out the end of October, is Southern rock at its best.

• Former Skid Row lead singer Johnny Solinger has a second country album out.

• Taylor Swift’s new commercial for Wonderstruck.

• New music videos with some can’t-miss live performances:

Randy Travis — “Everything and All”

Kellie Pickler -- “Tough”

Ashton Shepherd — “Where Country Grows”

Jonathan Byrd — “Father’s Day”

Brett Eldredge — “Poison and Wine” (a Civil Wars cover)

Steel Magnolia — “Rainbow”

Eric Church — “Drink in my Hand”

Reba McEntire –“Somebody’s Chelsea”

Benn Gunn — “Laughter and Beers”

Mustered Courage — “Kiss From a Rose”

McKinley & Beggs – “Things I Like To Do”

The Sheepdogs — “I Don’t Know”

Christy Angeletti — “If You Had a Heart”

JoCaine — “Summer Nights”

Jimmie James — “Take A Little Trip”

Patrick Carrico — “Bottle of Beer”

Sean Patrick McGraw — “What I’d Do”

The Boxcars –“What I Did and What I Said” (IBMA Awards Performance)

JD Crowe, Doyle Lawson & Paul Williams — “Prayer Bells in Heaven” (IBMA Awards Performance)

Steve Martin & The Steep Canyon Rangers — “Me and Paul Revere” (IBMA Awards Performance)

Sierra Hull & Highway 111 — “Best Buy” (IBMA Awards Performance)