Jackson, Krauss to collaborate on album

5/19/2006

Country music superstar Alan Jackson has turned to bluegrass superstar Alison Krauss to produce his next album.

This past November, the pair talked backstage at an appearance in New York City about making a bluegrass album. When they got back to Nashville, the pair recorded a few songs, and those recording sessions led to plans to release a full-blown album that should be out in late September.

In 1993, Alison recorded "The Angels Cried," a duet for Alan's first holiday collection, "Honky Tonk Christmas."

Krauss is a longtime member of the Grand Ole Opry and has sold millions of bluegrass albums, but she has been doing more and more work producing other artists. Most notably, she has produced Nickel Creek's album, and she has also produced for Reba McEntire and the Cox Family.

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Miranda Lambert is making waves as a hot new artist. She's touring with George Strait and is writing and recording for her followup to her successful debut album. Now, her hometown in Lindale, Texas, has opened up the Miranda Lambert's Store and Fan Club Headquarters directly under the town's water tower.

The store will sell Miranda Lambert T-shirts, CDs, DVDs, ball caps, posters, and fan club memberships, along with jewelry, belts, hats, boots, and other types of clothing that Miranda wears.

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Congratulations to Carrie Underwood. She's always in the news for musical accomplishments, but she's now in the news for an academic accomplishment. Earlier this month, Underwood graduated magna cum laude with a degree in mass communications from Northeastern State University in Tahlequah, Okla. She had one semester remaining when she left school to participate in last season's "American Idol." She was able to fulfill the remainder of her degree requirements while launching her successful career, and she took part in the graduation ceremony with her class on May 6.

Underwood then resumed her busy touring schedule, and she will be appearing on the final episode of this year's "American Idol" on May 24 to perform her current single, "Don't Forget to Remember Me."

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I think it's time that Craig Morgan gives up his motorcycle career.

For the second time this year, Morgan has broken a bone participating in the Mid-South Hare Scramble Series race for cross-country motorcyclists.

Initially, he broke his left wrist during a tumble after hitting a tree root. During the last race of the season this month, Craig hit another tree root, tumbled from his bike, breaking his right tibia.

To his credit, after both injuries, Morgan climbed back aboard his bike and finished the race. After breaking his leg, he finished fifth in the race.

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Congratulations to buddy Phil Vassar, who sold more than 64,000 copies of his Greatest Hits Volume 1 album during its first week in stores. That total is more than triple the total from Phil's "American Child." The 15-track collection contains many of Vassar's hits, but it also includes eight newly recorded tracks. Five of those songs were songs that he wrote that became hits for other artists, including "Bye, Bye," "My Next 30 Years," and "I'm All Right." It also includes his current hit, "Last Day of My Life," which climbs to No. 8 this week on the Radio and Records chart.

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Sounds like all the rumors were true. Nicole Kidman has confirmed to People magazine that she is now engaged to Keith Urban. Kidman and Urban were in New York last weekend for a gala that Kidman was hosting for the United Nations Development Fund for Women. During an interview with the magazine on Monday, Kidman said of Urban, "Actually, he's my fianc ."

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And finally, it was a mere formality, but Rascal Flatts' "Me and My Gang" album has been certified double platinum for sales of more than 2 million copies. The certification came nearly one month after the album was released on April 4th.