TODAY IN COUNTRY MUSIC HISTORY
(Tuesday, July 23)
Alison Krauss born in Champaign, Ill., in 1971.
George Strait's "Livin' It Up" album certified gold in 1990.
Alabama debuted on the charts with "I Wanna Be With You Tonight" in 1977.
MUSIC AND MORE
EARLE ADMITS TALIBAN SONG CONTROVERSIAL
Steve Earle knows one of the songs on his new album, "Jerusalem," might ruffle a few feathers -- to say the least.
Earle wrote and recorded a song sympathetic to John Walker Lindh, the 21-year-old Californian who pleaded guilty last week to fighting alongside the Taliban militia in Afghanistan.
The song, "John Walker's Blues," is written from Lindh's perspective with lines like "If I should die, I'll rise up to the sky like Jesus."
Earle performed the song at a folk festival in Ontario, Canada, this month and told the audience, "This song just may get me ... deported."
DIXIE CHICKS TO JAM WITH JAMES TAYLOR
The Dixie Chicks are back on the schedule for a Country Music Television Crossroads special, but will be tune-swapping with James Taylor instead of the Dave Mathews Band.
Taping will take place in Nashville on July 31 before an invitation-only audience and the cable network plans to air the show in October.
The Dave Mathews Band cited a scheduling conflict when it pulled out of the previous CMT Crossroads date with the Chicks, whose "Long Time Gone" currently is rated No. 7 on Billboard's country singles chart.
Their latest album, "Home," is slated for release Aug. 27, and Taylor's "October Road," is due out Aug. 13.
SHEDAISY DENIES 'MAN-BASHING' IN SINGLE
SHeDAISY says "Get Over Yourself," the single yanked from radio playlists last spring, is not a man-bashing song.
Radio stations complained the song sounded that way, though, and quit playing it, and the record label stopped pushing it.
The three Osborn sisters insist "Get Over Yourself" does not take potshots at men. In fact, Kelsi Osborn tells LAUNCH, the song was inspired by a female and "never mentions a he."
The label released "Mine All Mine," which currently is ranked No. 37 on Billboard's Country Singles and Tracks chart.
