Zac Brown Band will release their new album, Uncaged, July 10. The band will bring its Southern Ground Music and Food Festival to Riverfront Park Sept. 21-22. Tickets to the two-day festival are $89-$109 or fans can get a VIP upgrade for $99 for a one day pass, which includes a backstage hospitality area, dinner buffet, and private restroom. More… www.southerngroundfestival.com.

The 9th Annual Toby Keith & Friends Golf Classic raised $664,000  May 18-19, outperforming the 2011 total ($650,000) and bringing the OK Kids Korral one step closer to reality. The event kicked off in Oklahoma City with a groundbreaking for the facility, which will offer a place of respite to those seeking treatment at OU Medical Center Children’s Hospital and other nearby facilities. “In my job, you get to go to a lot of places and see a lot of things, but there’s not much in my world that’s more gratifying or important than helping these families,” Keith says. “Turning dirt on this project is a big moment for me and a lot of other people who’ve been a part of making it happen.”  More about the event and OK Kids Korral… www.tobykeithfoundation.org .

Dolly Parton’s self-penned song “Coat of Many Colors” has been added to The Library of Congress National Recording Registry.  Each year the Library of Congress selects 25 recordings that are “historically”, “culturally”,or “aesthetically significant” and are at least 10 years old to be added to the National Recording Registry.

News Briefs:  Kenny Chesney heads to Wildwood Beach June 20 for his American Express Unstaged concert, streaming live at youtube.com/KennyChesneyVEVO  at 8:30PM ET/ 5:30PM PT and directed by Academy Award-winner Jonathan Demme. Kenny will perform songs off of his new album, Welcome to the Fishbowl, coming to stores June 19. •••  Josh Turner’s fifth studio album, Punching Bag (MCA Nashville), was released this week. He co-wrote eight of the 11 tracks on the CD which features guest vocal appearances by Marty Stuart and Iris DeMent. Ricky Scaggs  and Turner’s wife and children–Jennifer, Hampton, Colby and Marion Turner. He will appear on PBS’ A Capitol Fourth July 4 and ABC’s Good Morning America  July 11.  ••• Average Joes Entertainment’s Colt Ford’s new single, “Back,” has been shipped to country radio. This single features Ford with RCA Records’ Jake Owen. The track is from Ford’s upcoming fourth studio album,Declaration of Independence, due out August 7.

Brad Paisley received the CMA International Artist Achievement Award during CMA Fest. This award recognizes outstanding achievement by a U.S.-based artist who contributes to the awareness and development of Country Music outside the U.S.  Previous recipients include the Bellamy Brothers, Dierks Bentley, BR5 49, Brooks & Dunn, Dixie Chicks, Lonestar, The Mavericks, Reba McEntire, Dolly Parton, Taylor Swift, Shania Twain, Keith Urban, Trisha Yearwood,and Dwight Yoakam.

Blaster Records, in association with Warner Music Nashville will release Hank  Williams, Jr.’s new album on July 10. The twelve-song package will include a duet with Brad Paisley on “I’m Gonna Get Drunk And Play Hank Williams” and a new duet with Merle Haggard on his classic “I Think I’ll Just Sit Here and Drink.” 

News Briefs:  Carrie Underwood’s “Good Girl” has been certified Platinum by the RIAA for more than 1 million digital downloads. “Good Girl,” the lead single from her atest album, Blown Away, marks Carrie’s tenth Platinum or Multi Platinumdigital single. •••  Alan Jackson’s Thirty Miles West debuted at the top of Billboard’s Top Country Albums sales chart, making it his 13th album to debut in the #1 spot on release week. The album also bowed at #2 on Billboard’s Top 200 Albums sales chart that includes all genres of music. This is the best first-week sales for Jackson since the release of his platinum-selling Good Time in 2008. Released on June 5, this is his first new release on ACR (Alan’s Country Records)/ EMI Records Nashville.  •••  Todd Fritsch will release the new CD Up Here In The Saddle (Saddle Up Records) on June 26. The first single features legendary songwriter Dean Dillon on the title-track duet with Fritsch.

The annual CMA Music Festival set a new attendance record in 2012 with daily attendance topping 71,000 fans, a 9.2 percent increase over the 65,000 in attendance in 2011 and a sell out for the third consecutive year at LP Field. Tickets for 2013 CMA Music Festival, which will be held Thursday June 6 through Sunday June 9 are on sale now. Attendance figures include four-day ticket packages, promotional and single night tickets, as well as attendance in non-ticketed free areas and events. In all, more than 450 artists performed more than 200 hours of concerts.

The Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame Dinner & Induction Ceremony  will be held October 7 at the Renaissance Nashville Hotel. The event honors Nashville-connected writers who create the songs that define country music and other genres as well. The 2012 inductees will be announced in the coming months. Last year’s honorees included Garth Brooks, Alan Jackson, John Bettis, Thom Schuyler and Allen Shamblin.

LifeNotes: George Lindsey, the veteran actor who portrayed “Goober Pyle” on the Andy Griffith Show, died May 6 in Nashville after an extended illness. He was 83. Born in Fairfield, Ala., he was the only child of Alice Smith Lindsey andGeorge Ross Lindsey. Married to Joyanne Herbert in 1955. Lindsey supported numerous causes and was a fixture at charity fundraisers. Closest to his heart was Special Olympics. His annual George Lindsey Celebrity Golf Weekend raised over $1,000,000 for Alabama Special Olympics from 1973 to 1988. One of the legacies of that effort was the George Lindsey Aquatic Center in Tuscaloosa. He was inducted into the Alabama Sports Hall of Fame in 1983, in recognition of his work as a “Youth Benefactor” for Special Olympics more so than for his own athletic accomplishments in high school and college. He received the Minnie Pearl Lifetime Achievement Award in 1997, primarily in recognition of his charitable works. For that reason and because comedienne Minnie Pearl had been such an important friend in his life, Lindsey often said that award was the one that meant the most to him. (That’s not to say that he didn’t also appreciate receiving the Tire Gauge to the City of Nashville  during Goober Pyle Day in 1990—presented on behalf of the city’s mayor by the Bellamy Brothers). After “Hee Haw” ended production in 1992, Lindsey, who was recently divorced, made his permanent home in Nashville. He maintained a busy schedule of stage and film work. Lindsey is survived by son George Lindsey, Jr., of Woodland Hills, Calif.; daughter Camden Jo Lindsey Gardner, her husband Russell and their sons, Carson Cole Gardner and Andrew Liam Gardner, all of Valencia, Calif.; a cousin, Rebecca Weber of Gadsden, Ala.; and his dear companion of many years, Anne Wilson of Nashville. Donations in Lindsey’s memory may be made to: Special Olympics Alabama, 880 South Court Street, Montgomery, AL 36104; UNA Foundation, with a designation to the George Lindsey Film and Digital Media Scholarship, UNA Box 5113, Florence, AL 35632-0001; or another charity of the donor’s choice. •••  Frances Williams Preston (83), died in Nashville June 13 from congestive heart failure. Preston was a transformational figure who led performance rights organization BMI and established BMI’s Nashville office in 1958. She was the first female executive on Music Row and the first female corporate executive in Tennessee. She was integral in building Nashville’s reputation as a music center, in raising millions of charity dollars (enabling the creation of the Frances Williams Preston Research Laboratories at the Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center) and in helping to establish the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum. She was inducted to that Hall in 1992. Preston was nationally prominent in business and political circles, and served on President Jimmy Carter’s Panama Canal Study Committee, the commission for the White House Record Library, and Vice President Albert Gore Jr.’s National Information Infrastructure Advisory Council. She also served as president of the T.J. Martell Foundation for Leukemia, Cancer, and AIDS Research. She married businessman E.J. Preston in 1962 and kept the name even though the two were later divorced. Preston is survived by three sons, William Kirk Preston, David J. (Emily) Preston and Donald L. Preston, all of Nashville; six grandchildren, Taylor Preston, Lindsey Preston, Jake Preston, Matthew Preston, Stuart Preston and Frannie (Brent) Daughrity; and a great-granddaughter,Preston Rose Daughrity. Memorial contributions may be made to the T. J. Martell Foundation, 15 Music Square West, Nashville, TN 37203, 615-256-2002 or the Frances Williams Preston Laboratories at the Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center, 2301 Vanderbilt Place, Nashville, TN 37240-7727 (c/o Gifts Processing PMB 407727), 615-936-0233.

EVENTS Calendar 2012: 

• Jul 13-15 – Craven Country Jamboree, Cravan, Sask., Canada

• Jul 20-29 – Cheyenne Frontier Days, Cheyenne, WY

• Sept. 12-15 – Americana Music Assn. Fest & Conference, Nashville, TN

• Sept. 21-22 – Country Night Gstaad Festival, Gstaad, Switzerland

• Oct. 7 – Nashville Songwriters Awards, Nashville, TN

• Nov. 1 – CMA Awards, Nashville, TN