Pistol Annies Return to Studio; Unreleased Townes Van Zandt Recordings Due in February; Album Releases

• The Mavericks will release their next album, In Time, on January 29.

• Sunshine Boy: The Unheard Studio Sessions and Demos 1971-1972, a two-disc collection of unreleased Townes Van Zandt material, will be released on Omnivore Recordings 2/5. The 28-song release will also feature liner notes written by Colin Escott.

• Drew Kennedy launched a Kickstarter campaign to fund his next album.

• How much does crowd funding cost musicians?

• Pistol Annies are back in the studio working on their second album.

• Over the Rhine’s Snow Angels is available for free download on NoiseTrade.

• In this USA Today interview, Dolly Parton talks about her new book and her plans for a Broadway musical about her life.

• James Reams remembers the late Walter Hensley.

• Little Big Town postponed this week’s concerts in L.A. and Riverside due to a loss in the family. The L.A. date had been rescheduled and the Riverside show will be.

• Reader Arlene pointed us toward recently announced Buddy Miller/Jim Lauderdale tour dates.

• The Stray Birds played “Dream in Blue” for Folk Alley.

• Rolling Stone is offering a free download of Larry and His Flask’s “Big Ride.”

• Paste posted video of Robert Ellis performing “Comin’ Home.”

• Canadian country singer Brett Kissel wrote a song about the NHL lockout.

• Folk singer Tracy Grammer is featured on PhillyBurbs.com. An excerpt from the article, in which she talks about her work releasing material from her late partner, Dave Carter: “I believe when a songwriter sings his songs, no matter how strong the voice, he or she is seeing a movie none of us are privy to and that’s got to be conveyed in the performance somehow,” says Grammer. “If there’s a version of Dave singing one of his songs, I think people should hear it. To hear the first, truest word straight from the songwriter is the best.”

• December 12 is International Bluegrass Music Appreciation Day.

• CMT’s Chris Parton recommends a dozen new Christmas records by artists like Donna Ulisse, Charlie Daniels, and more.

• Baron Lane of Twang Nation picked out a few of his favorite country and Americana Christmas albums.

• On December 1, Chuck Mead will release “Will Santa Come to Shantytown?”

• Dailey & Vincent are kicking off their holiday tour this week.

• Toby Keith’s “Hope on the Rocks” video is scheduled to debut on November 30.

• Trace Adkins is in Japan for a USO tour.

• EntertainmentWeekly.com premiered Bill Carter’s new single, “Anything Made of Paper.”

• This afternoon, you can stream the making of Tim McGraw’s “One of Those Nights” video: Starting at 3:30 PM CST, McGraw will offer a live feed with the help of Ustream from the filming of the music video at its location in Nashville.   McGraw will be able to interact with fans and chat with them periodically throughout the shoot while giving them the chance to see how the video process works.

• Here’s video of Willie Nelson’s recent appearance on Piers Morgan Tonight.

• My Kind of Country’s J.R. Journey gives Terri Clark’s new album, Classic, a B-.

• Bucky Covington did a Q&A session with Country Music Tattletale.

• This week’s album releases:

The Sweetback Sisters – Country Christmas Singalong Spectacular

Judy Collins – Judy Collins Live at The Metropolitan Museum of Art at the Temple of Dendur

Wanda Jackson – Rockin’ with Wanda

Rich Mahan – Blame Bobby Bare

Peter Ostroushko – The Mando Chronicles (box set)

Ragged Mountain String Band – Almost Drive Me Crazy

Old Man Parker – Angels, Devils, Drunks and Liars

Various Artists – Bluegrass Murder Ballads

• And a book:

Dolly Parton – Dream More: Celebrate the Dreamer in You