Wynonna Judd photo courtesy of Curb Records.

They belong to families with big country heritage. But Hank Williams III and Wynonna Judd have one more thing in common: They each debuted in the Top 10 this week on the Billboard Country Albums chart.

Hank checked in at No. 4 with his album Rebel Within, which he vows will be the last in a cantankerous relationship with his record company. Wynonna, meanwhile, opened at No. 7 with Love Heals, a project she released through Cracker Barrel.

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Clay Walker photo courtesy of Curb Records.

Clay Walker is positioned nicely on the chart with the video for “She Won’t Be Lonely Long,” and he’ll drop in to talk with host Nan Kelley this weekend during GAC’s Top 20 Country Countdown.

Currently at No. 6 on the countdown, the song is the title track for Clay’s next album, due out June 8. On the day of release, he’ll be spending time with GAC, joining network personality Suzanne Alexander to handle the host/emcee duties during the fourth annual Country Weekly Fashion Show and Concert at Nashville’s Wildhorse Saloon. The event, which raises money for a hospital-visitation agency called Musicians On Call, will also feature Aaron Tippin, Joe Nichols, Bucky Covington, Love And Theft, Pam Tillis and Bo Bice, among others.

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Wynonna and Naomi Judd arrive on the Red Carpet for "The 43rd Annual CMA Awards," on Wednesday, Nov. 11, 2009, live from the Sommet Center in Nashville on the ABC Television Network. Photographer: Jim Hagans / CMA.

When the Judds reunite for a tour this year, they’ll take a huge number of fans down a nostalgic road. You can bet Wynonna and Naomi have already been taking that trip as they’ve been in the studio again — and as they contemplate the eight-year ride to stardom they took during the 1980s.

Naomi had many of those moments in mind Saturday when she and Joe Galante, the record executive who signed her to RCA Records, chatted with the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum’s Michael McCall in a public Q&A. She was particularly mindful of the day in March 1983 when she and Wynonna secured their recording deal by auditioning for Joe and several other decision-makers at the RCA offices.

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Dierks Bentley photo courtesy of artist.

Dierks Bentley announced on Sunday that he was cancelling shows from his Up On The Ridge Tour in Knoxville and Charlottesville, Va., as Nashville grapples with devastating floods.

Travelling around — or out of — Music City became a hazardous Rubik’s cube over the weekend as many major roads became impassable and sections of at least two water-covered interstates were shut down. Dierks’ band members and some of their relatives faced potentially severe property damage, leading Dierks to skip his concerts Sunday and Monday.

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Wynonna photo courtesy of Curb Records. Photo credit: Kristin Barlowe.

Most country artists are obsessed with having hits. Every album needs to have multiple potential singles, and some acts literally want every song on their project to be something that would get radio stations excited.

Not so with Wynonna Judd. She still cares about the music — and wouldn’t mind hearing more of her current recordings on the air — but that’s no longer the driving force it was in an earlier era.

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Toby Keith photo courtesy of Show Dog Nashville.

If you’re dedicated to keeping tabs on all of country’s biggest stars, you might need some rest today, because there’s enough news in the pipeline to keep you dizzy for a week.

Toby Keith is extending a non-music business franchise, Taylor Swift is getting kudos from People magazine, Alan Jackson is raising money for the families of some West Virginia coal-mine victims and Colt Ford and Willie Nelson both landed in the Top 10 of the country albums chart their first week out.

Take a look at this hodge-podge of headlines:

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Brooks & Dunn in the press room at the 45th Academy of Country Music Awards MGM Grand Garden Arena, Las Vegas, NV USA April 18, 2010 © Mia Wallace / Retna, Ltd

One night after the Academy of Country Music Awards, Las Vegas’ MGM Grand Garden Arena filled up again for another big country event. Monday’s show was a tribute concert that was shot for a CBS special, “ACM Presents: Brooks & Dunn — The Last Rodeo.”

The duo was celebrated by some of country’s biggest stars, who churned out their own versions of B&D’s trademark hits. George Strait covered “Boot Scootin’ Boogie,” according to the Associated Press. Lady Antebellum and Reba McEntire reprised “If You See Him/If You See Her,” Faith Hill did “The Long Goodbye” and Brad Paisley offered “My Next Broken Heart.” R&B singer Jennifer Hudson also showed up for a version of the gospel-flavored ballad “Believe.”

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Nashville’s Music Row took a hit on Wednesday when the Disney Music Group announced it’s shutting down Lyric Street Records, the home of Rascal Flatts.

The guys in the group — Gary LeVox, Jay DeMarcus and Joe Don Rooney — should be OK. They’re working on one last album for Disney, and an official release indicates that project will still come out in the fall on a different Disney-affiliated label. In addition, the guys are in talks about a new recording deal with the Mouse. If, for some reason, they can’t come to an agreement with Disney, it’s a sure bet that the band could find another partner willing to invest in its massive career.

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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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Wynonna and Naomi Judd arrive on the Red Carpet for "The 43rd Annual CMA Awards," on Wednesday, Nov. 11, 2009, live from the Sommet Center in Nashville on the ABC Television Network. Photographer: Jim Hagans / CMA.

When the Judds performed together for tens of thousands of fans at last summer’s CMA Music Festival in Nashville, Naomi Judd seemed emotionally overcome by the moment.

It’s been more than 18 years since she retired from touring to battle potentially fatal hepatitis C, and the near-tears expression she displayed as she exchanged glances with people in the crowd suggested she misses the connection. That’s likely a big reason why the Judds are teaming up for a tour this year, though important details such as dates and cities have yet to be unveiled.

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