• Darius Rucker tapped Capitol labelmates Lady Antebellum to duet on a cover of Old Crow Medicine Show’s famed hit “Wagon Wheel” for his next album.

• Dierks Bentley’s version of the Weeds theme song “Little Boxes” will open an episode of the Showtime series later this season. Bentley is a fan of the show, now in its final season, and over the years the theme has been recorded by Elvis Costello, Death Cab for Cutie, Ben Folds, Steve Martin, the Shins and the Decemberists. To preview Bentley’s version click here.

• Amy Grant and Vince Gill will perform their annual Christmas at the Ryman shows on Wed., Dec. 19 and Thurs., Dec. 20. Tickets start at $39.50.

• Two concerts performed by Hank Williams were recorded in the months before his death and will be released for the first time as Hank Williams: The Lost Concerts Limited Collector’s Edition on Oct. 2 by Time Life. Included are 19 tracks, Williams’ conversations with the audience, and a 1951 radio interview.

• Steel Magnolia will join the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra at Heinz Hall for the North American debut of Sir Paul McCartney’s “Nova,” written in honor of this late wife. The show will benefit children’s cardiac research.

Jason Aldean released the lead single “Take A Little Ride” from his upcoming fifth studio album today (7/16). The track is available for purchase at iTunes, and physical singles will hit Walmart shelves nationwide beginning Aug. 7.

The single about a carefree summer night spent driving down country roads with a summer love and a six-pack, was written by Dylan Altman, Rodney Clawson and Jim McCormick.

“I tried to find the best songs that I could and also ones that fit what I do in my live show,” said Aldean of the forthcoming album. “There’s a little bit of everything, including some more traditional country stuff and some songs that might raise a few eyebrows.”

Aldean’s new album, due out this fall, is the follow up to the double Platinum My Kinda Party, which spawned five consecutive No. 1s and won CMA and Billboard Album of the Year. His tour, which runs through October, has sold out every date so far this year, including its first stadium show in Columbus, OH.

Aldean celebrated over the weekend when tickets to his upcoming tour stops in Indianapolis, IN (9/15) sold over 24,000 tickets in two minutes and over 20,000 tickets in St. Louis (9/14) in just four minutes.

To preview the new single, click here.

Summer NAMM (National Association of Music Merchants) kicked off in the Nashville Convention center yesterday (7/12) to a crowd of interested participants. The three-day event, which runs through Saturday (7/14), consists of business seminars and a trade show offering the latest innovations in music technology.

One major product debut came from the Chairman and CEO of C.F. Martin & Co. Guitars, Chris Martin, who held a special press conference to reveal a four guitar Retro Series. “We took the voice from vintage instruments and transplanted them in the Retro Series with overwhelming success,” said Larry Fishman, who teamed with Martin and Nashville’s Grammy Award-winning Producer Bil VornDick to create the series.

At Nashville’s Mountainside Studios they recorded a series of museum instruments in rare microphones ranging from the 30s to today. The acoustic and plug-in tone of the Retro Series instruments are based on these recordings.

Martin’s “tone-donor” guitars included a 1942 D-45; 1941 D-28; 1937 D-18; and a 1934 OOO-28 long-scale. The golden-era acoustics travels from the new instruments through specially designed F1 Aura + pickups, which use mathematical algorithms to electronically translate resonating tone for plug-in systems.

Martin’s modern “High Performance Neck” taper and modified low oval profile make these new instruments modern in playability while maintaining the vintage tone from years’ past.

The Retro Series includes D-18E, HD-28E, D-45E and an Orchestra Model 28E. Prices range from $3,399-$11,999.

Hunter Hayes was also on the NAMM floor visiting with interested Martin customers. Hayes, who played every instrument on his Atlantic Records self-titled debut album, is the newest Brand Ambassador for the company.

Additional exhibitors included Future Sonics Ear Monitors, Larrivee Guitars and Casio America.

On Saturday (7/14) the showroom floor is open to the public for $15 from 10 AM- 6 PM.

 

 

Republic Nashville announced today (7/13) the signing of 18-year-old RaeLynn.

The artist appeared on Season Two of NBC’s The Voice. She was on Team Blake Shelton and performed Pistol Annie’s “Hell on Heels” during her blind audition. Since the show she has appeared at California’s Stagecoach Festival with Miranda Lambert, and been writing and recording songs for her first album.

Born and raised on a farm in Baytown, TX, she began performing early on with her family at church and local events.

On Sun., July 29, RaeLynn will perform with several BMLG artists at the Crown Royal Presents the “Your Hero’s Name Here” 400 at the Brickyard Powered byBigMachineRecords.com. This is the second year BMLG artists will entertain the audience at the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

Republic Nashville’s artist roster includes Martina McBride, The Band Perry, Eli Young Band, Sunny Sweeney and Greg Bates.