MusicRow.com reports the Ryman Auditorium will be replacing its stage for the first time since 1951. Plans for the new stage include an 18-inch section cut from the existing stage running across the front to honor the historical significance of past performances, similar to the famous circle of the same Ryman stage wood that resides center-stage at the Grand Ole Opry House.

Around-the-clock security will be present as the current stage is dismantled and the oak planks are moved to an off-site location. An announcement on future plans for the historic planks will be made at a later date.

The last performance on the current stage will take place on Friday, Feb. 3 when the Grand Ole Opry closes its annual winter run at the Ryman. That night, Keith Urban will perform for the first time since his vocal surgery.

The project will close the stage for two weeks beginning Saturday, Feb. 4, but self-guided daytime tours will remain open throughout the project at a $10.00 special rate.

The Band Perry will be the first public performance exhibiting the new stage for their sold-out headlining Ryman debut on Feb. 20.

“To play the Ryman is to step into country music’s rich history and we are honored to perform there,” said The Band Perry. “Now, as the venue makes plans for its future, we promise to inaugurate the new stage with all the respect and reverence it deserves.”

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Alan Jackson at the Country Music Hall of Fame & Museum on Thursday, July 28, 2011.

Bob Dylan’s label imprint, Egyptian Records, in partnership with the Country Music Hall of Fame  and Museum’s CMF Records and Columbia Records, will release The Lost Notebooks of Hank Williams on October 4, 2011. The album is collection of previously unrecorded Hank Williams lyrics now put to music and performed by artists with ties to Hank Sr.

The album serves as an audio companion to the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museums Family Tradition: The Williams Family Legacy. The exhibition presents a behind the scenes look of one of America’s most famous musical families and is the largest and most popular temporary exhibit in the museum’s history. Family photographs and memorabilia from the Williams’ home such as a television and a liquor cabinet are on display. Opened in March of 2008, the exhibit will close on December 31, 2011.

The Lost Notebooks of Hank Williams began with the idea of finding a well-known artist who was inspired and influenced by Hank. Bob Dylan was approached initially and from there, the album evolved to include several artists. Alan Jackson is featured on the album and he was on hand at the Country Music Hall of Fame last week to help announce the Museum’s expansion plans. He performed the song “You’ve Been Lonesome, Too” which was partially written by Hank Sr. and finished by Alan.

“One of the coolest things in my career was to get to write a song with Hank Williams, Sr.,” said Alan. “I never thought that would happen! We cut the track like Hank – we didn’t do drums and piano, just the basic stuff. We did it just like Hank [would’ve] done it back in 1949 – sparse, but cool.”

Other artists included on the album include Hank Sr.’s granddaughter, Holly Williams, Sheryl Crow, Merle Haggard, Patty Loveless and Vince Gill.

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Rascal Flatts photo courtesy of Big Machine Records.

The members of Rascal Flatts got the biggest cheers from the thousand or so people on hand, but they did not get the only applause during a Music City Walk of Fame installation event Sunday in downtown Nashville that knitted together several generations of performers.

Gary LeVox, Jay DeMarcus and Joe Don Rooney were joined by Kris Kristofferson, Mel Tillis, Little Jimmy Dickens and late singers Bobby Hebb and Eddy Arnold in receiving their sidewalk plaques, extending a row of markers that included Michael McDonald, Elvis Presley and Trace Adkins.

Emceed by GAC’s Bill Cody, the class of performers represented a swatch of Nashville music history. Beyond the contemporary Flatts crew, Kris and Mel hit their strides in the 1970s as artists, songwriters and actors. Bobby accrued a landmark 1960s pop hit with the effervescent “Sunny,” and Eddy and Little Jimmy were among the first artists to have hits with songs recorded in Nashville during the 1940s, when the town hadn’t yet earned its Music City moniker.

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Jamey Johnson photo courtesy of UMG Nashville.

Jamey Johnson is headed to the home of the Milwaukee Brewers Saturday, though he won’t be singing the national anthem or “Take Me Out To The Ballgame” during the final weekend of baseball’s regular season.

Instead, he’s been announced at the last minute as an addition to the lineup for Willie Nelson’s Farm Aid 25: Growing Home For America at Miller Park. Board members John Mellencamp, Dave Matthews and Neil Young were already set for the concert, of course. And so were Norah Jones, Jeff Tweedy, Jason Mraz and the Randy Rogers Band, among others.

And the event has an interesting connection to the top of the country album charts. Jamey’s new double-disc CD, The Guitar Song, came out Sept. 14 and went to No. 1 on the Billboard Country Albums chart. Kenny Chesney’s new project, Hemingway’s Whiskey, came out on Tuesday, and it’s already being forecast as the top-selling album in any genre for the week. Since Kenny’s scheduled to be at Miller Park, too, it means artists with No. 1 country albums two of the last three weeks will both appear on the same stage the same day.

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Ryan Bingham photo courtesy of UMG Nashville.

Film makers want very much for the general public to buy in to the magic of movies. You can count Ryan Bingham among those who believe in celluloid’s power.

After sharing a Golden Globe and an Oscar Award for Best Song with T Bone Burnett for writing the “The Weary Kind (Theme From Crazy Heart),” Ryan took home two trophies — Song and Artist of the Year — Thursday during the ninth annual Americana Music Association Honors & Awards in Nashville.

The Americana nods only add to the lists in which Ryan finds himself. The Song of the Year Oscar put him in the company of such songwriters as Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen, Henry Mancini and Irving Berlin — all of whom have won the Film Academy’s Best Song prize at least once. Ryan’s new album, Junky Star, made its chart debut this week, landing at No. 2 on the Billboard Country Albums list. And the Americana Artist of the Year trophy put him on yet another list among such previous winners as Johnny Cash, Loretta Lynn, Neil Young and Jim Lauderdale, who hosted Thursday’s show.

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Willie Nelson photo by David McClister, courtesy of Lost Highway.

In September 1985, Willie Nelson established a charity he hoped would be short-lived. Instead, the work goes on, and on Oct. 2, he’ll present Farm Aid 25: Growing Hope For America.

Willie wore a Milwaukee Brewers jersey for the online announcement on Monday in recognition of the venue, Miller Park. The concert marks the first time that Farm Aid will be held at a major-league baseball stadium. John Mellencamp, Neil Young and Dave Matthews — all of whom serve as board members for the organization — are on tap for the concert. Other acts will be named at a later date.

Willie lamented that Farm Aid is still necessary, noting that the event has “called attention to the problem, but we have not solved the problem.”

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Guitarist Fred Carter (circa early 1970s) and daughter Deana Carter.

Our sincere condolences go out to the family of Fred Carter, Jr., legendary Nashville guitarist, who passed away on July 17 from stroke-related causes at Vanderbilt University Medical Center.  Carter was the third of seven children born to Fred and Hattie “Tillie” Carter of Winnsboro, Louisiana.  A loving husband and father, Carter is survived by his wife of 49 years, Anna; his sons, Ronnie and Jeff; his daughter, recording artist Deana Carter (singer of ”Strawberry Wine”); and his five grandchildren. Funeral services will be held on Tuesday, July 20 at Woodlawn Roesch-Patton Funeral Home in Nashville.

Born in the Louisiana delta, Fred Carter, Jr. cut his teeth on country, blues, gospel, and jazz, combining them all into the art form that would later become Rock and Roll. Carter began his career as staff guitarist on the legendary Louisiana Hayride, working alongside Horace Logan and a revolving cast of country hitmakers. After leaving the Hayride, Carter played a significant role in the development of Rockabilly and Rock and Roll through his guitar work with Conway Twitty, Roy Orbison, Dale Hawkins, and Ronnie Hawkins & the Hawks.

Settling in Nashville in the late 1950s, Carter quickly moved into the “A-Team,” first-call session work that defines the Nashville recording industry. There, Carter worked with a steady stream of legendary recording artists, including country greats such as Willie Nelson, Dolly Parton, Waylon Jennings, and Kris Kristofferson, as well as contributions to the classics of Simon & Garfunkel, Bob Dylan, and Muddy Waters. Throughout his career, Carter maintained a lifelong association with Levon Helm, including Helm’s RCO All-Stars, which included Steve Cropper, Donald “Duck” Dunn, Booker T. and the MG’s, Dr. John, Paul Butterfield, and the Saturday Night Live Horns. 

Carter was also a prolific songwriter, writing alongside the likes of Harlan Howard, Willie Nelson, and Hank Cochran.  Carter’s songs have been recorded by artists as diverse as Dean Martin, Chet Atkins, and Burl Ives.

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Taylor Swift photo courtesy of Big Machine Records.

Taylor Swift is walking through yet another door, becoming the first country songwriter to win the Hal David Starlight Award at the Songwriters Hall of Fame ceremony in June.

Introduced in 2004 to recognize young composers already working at a substantial creative peak, the award’s previous honorees include pop, rock and R&B singer-songwriters Rob Thomas, Alicia Keys, John Mayer, John Legend, John Rzeznik and Jason Mraz. The Starlight Award is named for Songwriters Hall of Fame chief Hal David, who’s a substantial writer himself, known for such titles as Julio Iglesias & Willie Nelson’s “To All The Girls I’ve Loved Before,” Ronnie Milsap’s “It Was Almost Like A Song,” B.J. Thomas’ “Raindrops Keep Falling On My Head” and Dusty Springfield’s “The Look Of Love.”

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Sugarland photo courtesy of UMG Nashville.

Twenty-five years after Kenny Rogers’ then-manager Ken Kragen helped coordinate the landmark USA For Africa single “We Are The World,” the song was re-recorded Monday in Los Angeles with a cast of characters that apparently dwarfed the original, which featured nearly 50 artists of the time.

With Quincy Jones back to produce and Lionel Richie, who co-wrote the song with Michael Jackson, at the center of the event, more than 100 artists were expected to take part, according to CNN, though none of the artists who played on the first version were asked back this time. That means no Bob Dylan, no Bruce Springsteen, no Tina Turner and no Paul Simon. Country music’s Willie Nelson was on that first version, too.

Even without Willie, and without Kenny, country has a role again in the 2010 version.  Zac Brown, Sugarland, Julianne Hough and Miley Cyrus are among the artists who joined the crew in Los Angeles, according to an official release. They sang alongside Tony Bennett, Barbra Streisand, the Jonas Brothers, Celine Dion, Wyclef Jean, Jason Mraz, Jeff Bridges, Josh Groban, Pink, Usher and Carlos Santana.

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Keith Urban photo courtesy of Capitol Nashville.

Nearly three weeks after a Jan. 12 earthquake destroyed large swatches of Haiti, the response from country music’s community is heartening. Keith Urban, Taylor Swift, Pam Tillis, Big Kenny, Restless Heart and Toby Keith are just some of the artists who found ways to get involved.

They’ve donated their time, their voices and their money, and in one particular instance, one unintended result was a confirmation that the recording industry has crossed a barrier as it continues to evolve in the digital age. Taylor and Keith were both featured on the multi-network special Help For Haiti Now, which was immediately released as a digital-only album. It quickly sold more than 170,000 copies and came in at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 all-genre albums chart. It marks the first time in history that the top album in the country could not be purchased in a physical format.

Here’s a summary of the ways country stars have reached out to help:

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