Laura Bell Bundy photo courtesy of UMG Nashville.

When Laura Bell Bundy sings on the Grand Ole Opry for the first time on Saturday, the moment will blend a very odd series of events.

For starters, Laura Bell established herself first as a performer on Broadway. Shifting from the Great White Way to Music Row is a career path that’s only happened once or twice before.

Making the evening even more unique, the Tennessee floods have the Kentucky-born singer showing up on the Opry from a location she probably never heard of before moving to Nashville. Since 1974, the Opry’s been housed at the Grand Ole Opry House, but the Cumberland River covered that stage the first week of May, and it’s unclear when the venue will be able to reopen. The Ryman Auditorium was the Opry home for more than 30 years prior to the Opry House, and it still hosts a number of Opry performances over the course of the year.

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Steve Wariner at the Nashville Chapter of the Recording Academy® Grammy Nominee party. Photo courtesy of The Recording Academy® 2009 & Rubin Media. Photograph by Rick Diamond/WireImage.com.

Four country acts that launched a series of hits in the 1980s and ‘90s — Steve Wariner, Patty Loveless, John Michael Montgomery and the late Keith Whitley — are set to enter the Kentucky Music Hall of Fame when it holds its next induction ceremony in April 2011 in Lexington.

They’ll be joined as new members by bluegrass duo the Goins Brothers; gospel singer Larnelle Harris; and Molly O’Day, a country vocalist who left a critically acclaimed body of work in a short five-year recording period in the late 1940s.

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Miranda Lambert photo courtesy of Sony Music Nashville.

Christmas time’s a-comin’, to quote a song made famous by the late Bill Monroe. In fact, the big day is almost here. And just as country fans will be celebrating the holidays, so will the genre’s most familiar artists, including Miranda Lambert, Sugarland, Alan Jackson, Montgomery Gentry and Brad Paisley.

Whether it’s decorating trees, hiding presents, singing carols or watching ‘A Christmas Story,’ the stars’ plans for December — and their memories of holidays past — are probably a lot like yours.

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Willie Nelson photo courtesy of Lost Highway Records.

There are plenty of ways to meet the Christmas gift wishes of country music fans in 2010: new Christmas albums from Sugarland, Richie McDonald and John Cowan; concert tickets for one of the coming year’s summer festivals; or maybe a Keith Urban fundraising calendar.

But if you want to go the extra mile — and you’ve got bucks to spend — you might want to consider something that’s been signed, or previously owned, by a country star. Willie Nelson, Miranda Lambert, Taylor Swift and Johnny Cash are among numerous artists represented at auction this month, with the proceeds in most instances going to a worthy charity.

Some are online, some require you to show up in person, and the most expensive one is already completed. But here are some reasons to do a friend’s “bidding” for Christmas:

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Elvis Presley image used by permission, Elvis Presley Enterprises, Inc.

Songwriter Aaron Schroeder, bass player Jack Cooke and recording artist Big Bill Lister — musical figures who played a role in the careers of Elvis Presley, Ralph Stanley and Hank Williams — each died in the last week, leaving cultural contributions they accomplished while working in the shadows of some very significant artists.

Their biggest moments spanned from the early 1950s to the current decade, with pop hits, Grammy-winning recordings and a much-loved novelty hit on their resumes.

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Jason Aldean photo courtesy of Broken Bow Records.

If you got the bucks, you can load up the truck with lots of country music memorabilia. Jason Aldean, Carrie Underwood and Montgomery Gentry are among a slew of artists who’ve contributed autographed merchandise to Women Rock For The Cure, a Nashville-based agency that raises money for breast cancer research and awareness.

Jason, Carrie and Montgomery Gentry each put their names on instruments with starting bids that range from $200-$500 at http://myworld.ebay.com/womenrockforthecure. Another guitar bearing signatures from the Oct. 2 Opry Goes Pink night has a $500 minimum. Artists who inked the PRS model include Lorrie Morgan, Terri Clark, Jo Dee Messina, Bill Anderson, Mindy Smith, Connie Smith, Little Jimmy Dickens, The Whites and Caitlin Lynn.

But that’s just a start. Continue Reading

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