A group of top songwriters and musicians are set for tonight’s (11/3) benefit for Sylvan Park Elementary. Radney Foster, Jeff Black, Matthew Ryan and Jonathan Yudkin will play at 3rd & Lindsley starting at 7 PM. Fans can expect a 90 minute set. All proceeds go to improve the school’s auditorium. Tickets are $12 at the door. Visit SPsongwriters.blogspot.com for more info.

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The MusicRow staff sends its best to Lisa Smoot of Jerry Duncan Promotions, who was in an automobile accident earlier this week. She went to the hospital, was treated and released. Smoot is recuperating at home and will be out of the office for a few days. Word is, she’s requesting song adds in lieu of get well cards.

Faith Hill, Taylor Swift, Vince Gill and Hillary Scott. Photo: Larry Busacca/Getty Images

9 star acts. 14,000 screaming fans. $500,000 raised and counting. By all accounts Keith Urban’s first We’re All For The Hall concert was a dazzling success. The event benefiting the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum was held last week (10/13) at the Sommet Center, and featured Urban, Vince Gill, Taylor Swift, Faith Hill, Brad Paisley, Dierks Bentley, Jason Aldean, Lady Antebellum and Little Big Town. Thanks to the superb line-up and tickets priced around the $30 mark, the show sold out quickly.

Proceeds have crossed the half-million dollar mark and are expected to grow with the addition of corporate donations from 70 companies, and the auction of a Taylor Swift guitar.

Among those donors are Verizon and Samsung who provided an online broadcast of the concert that was seen by nearly a million fans. In addition to watching from home, “Fans came from all over the United States and as far away as Canada,” said Museum Director Kyle Young. “Many took the opportunity to visit the Museum. We credit this unprecedented exposure for bringing twice as many tourists into the Museum than is usual on an October Tuesday. Museum attendance during the days following the concert put the week in the ranks of the top ten since we opened in May 2001.”

“To those on the stage and behind the stage, to all of the corporate partners who gave so generously, and to all of the fans who made the night what it became,” said Urban, “thank you from the bottom of my heart. I’ve never been so moved by the power that music has to bring people together, not only to share an experience, but to do such good in the process.”

The Urban and friends show is becoming an annual fundraiser and a date has already been set for next year’s We’re All For The Hall—Oct. 5, 2010.

Gill, who serves as president of the Museum’s Board of Officers and Trustees, created the All for the Hall fundraising initiative which encourages artists of all levels to donate one night’s take to the institution.

Charlie Daniels has released a holiday CD/DVD package and is planning his annual Christmas 4 Kids fundraiser. Joy to the World: A Bluegrass Christmas features a mix of Christmas standards, and a number of originals written by Daniels and his band. The two-disc CD set boasts guests Kathy Mattea, Dan Tyminski, Jewel, Suzanne and Evelyn Cox of the Cox Family, Aaron Tippin and The Grascals. The Twin Pines Christmas DVD contains live performances, commentary and interview footage with Daniels and the rest of the artists.

Meanwhile, Chris Young, Gretchen Wilson and Phil Vassar are set for The 2009 Charlie Daniels Band and Friends Concert to benefit Christmas 4 Kids. Other annual fundraising events include the Annual Tour Bus Show on Mon., Dec. 14 at the Hendersonville, TN Wal-Mart. Tickets and details at www.Christmas4kids.org.

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Tracy Lawrence’s 4th annual Mission Possible Turkey Fry will take place Tues., Nov. 24 from 8 AM-5 PM at the Nashville Mission parking lot (639 Lafayette St.) Since the food drive’s inception, Lawrence and celebrity pals have raised almost $200,000 worth of meals and cash donations.

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Lee Greenwood’s new Christmas offering, Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas, features holiday classics and will be released on Country Crossing Records.

Jeff Cook has released his first solo holiday album, Christmas Joy. The ten track album will have new and classic  material. On Tues., Nov. 3, it will be available for digital download via iTunes, Amazon.com, and Cook’s website, www.jeffcook-agb.com.

Aldean, Swift, Hill and Lady Antebellum onstage. Photo by Larry Busacca/Getty Images

Even the ushers were dancing in the aisle last night (10/13) as Keith Urban blazed through “Sweet Thing,” “Better Life,” and a slew of other hits during his We’re All For The Hall concert at the Sommet Center. He spearheaded the benefit for the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum and recruited the stellar talent of Vince Gill, Taylor Swift, Faith Hill, Brad Paisley, Dierks Bentley, Jason Aldean, Lady Antebellum and Little Big Town to join him. That line-up combined with tickets priced around $25 assured a sold-out event.

Gill, a longtime Hall of Fame advocate started the All For The Hall fundraising initiative a few years ago, suggesting that all artists donate just one night’s proceeds to the cause.

Gill and Urban remained onstage as band members for the evening, playing alongside A-list musicians including keyboardist John Hobbs, steel guitarist Paul Franklin and bassist Michael Rhodes.

Toward the end of the night, Urban told the audience to mark their calendars for Oct. 5, 2010, for the second annual concert.

A full report on the event was sent out this morning in @MusicRow, for paid subscribers.

Photo by Larry Busacca/Getty Images