Dierks Bentley is readying his first bluegrass CD for release this summer. The project, called Up On The Ridge, features special guests the Del McCoury Band, Chris Thile and the Punch Brothers, Alison Krauss, Miranda Lambert, Tim O'Brien and Sam Bush.

Dierks said, "This album won't come as a surprise to my hard core fans. They've asked me, 'When are you going to make a bluegrass record?' and I was just waiting for the right time."

He adds, "I didn't want this to be 'Dierks Bentley and friends' or a 'Dierks does bluegrass' kind of album. I wanted each song to have something special about it, and in the end I think each song really does have its own thing going on."

Dierks wrote most of the songs on the CD, which also includes a Bob Dylan tune.

The singer's next Music & Miles For Kids fundraiser event will be held on April 25th in Fort Worth, Texas. Proceeds from the event will benefit both the Children's Medical Center of Dallas and the Cook Children's Medical Center in Fort Worth.

Dwight Yoakam is facing some tax trouble. The IRS filed a lien against the singer in January for falling behind on his payments. He owes the government more than $457,000 in delinquent federal taxes.

LeAnn Rimes and her new love, actor Eddie Cibrian, were spotted lunching together in Santa Monica recently. The two were reportedly laughing loudly while sharing salad, hamburgers and iced tea, according to People. A source told the magazine that they "looked very happy together," and that "LeAnn was beaming when she met up with Eddie -- and she was in a very flirty mood."

Dolly Parton will cut the pink ribbon on her brand new Nashville store, called Trinkets & Treasures, on Friday (March 12th) at noon CT. Fans on hand at the grand opening will have the opportunity to meet the superstar through random raffle drawings and contests, including a "Dress Like Dolly" look-alike competition and a challenge for fans who can show up decked out in the most Dolly gear.

Kid Rock appeared in a Los Angeles courtroom on Friday (March 5th) to answer charges that he assaulted three fans in 2006, according to Jam! Music and TMZ.com. A lawsuit alleges that Rock, along with six members of the hip-hop group Boo-Yaa Tribe, beat up Michael Medlin, Jose Perez and Carlos Bonilla four years ago outside the Roosevelt Hotel in Hollywood after they asked for autographs. The trio filed suit in 2008 and are seeking $15 million in damages.

Rock denied all the accusations, saying that the scene on the night in question was "chaotic."

Responding to the claim that he asked "Who wants a piece of me next?" during the alleged altercation, Rock said, "I wouldn't say something corny like that."

Rock emerged from the courthouse on Friday to tell reporters that being sued was like "waiting for deli meat . . . it's like take a number."

He also took issue with a claim by one of the three men that Rock's attack caused him to be "sexually deprived," with Rock saying, "How funny is that?"

Gary Allan releases his eighth studio album today (Tuesday, March 9th), and fans will have two different versions of the new Get Off On The Pain CD to choose from. The regular version includes 10 songs, while the Deluxe Edition has 14 songs -- one extra track called "Long Summer Days," and live versions of his hits "Right Where I Need To Be," "Best I Ever Had," and "Watching Airplanes."

Gary tells us that the project draws from the sounds of his past albums. "I think with this album, Get Off On The Pain, I think we managed to get a piece of the other ones, so it's got some history to it, so I feel like we've got pieces of the other albums, but at the same time I feel like we broke new ground to stuff that I haven't done before, so I think for me, always trying to pioneer into something that I haven't done just so that it keeps evolving for me, but I think we managed to lock down some of the past."

Gary's new single, the album's title track, will be heading to radio soon.

He will appear on Jimmy Kimmel Live tonight. The show airs on ABC at 12:35 a.m. ET.

Taylor Swift wrapped up the opening weekend of her 2010 Fearless tour in the U.S. with sold out shows in Tampa, Orlando, and Ft. Lauderdale, Florida. The superstar's talent was on full display as Taylor played seven different instruments over the course of the two-hour show, which features three acts and eight costume changes.

The 39-date tour will play arenas and stadiums in 31 cities in 25 states and provinces in the U.S. and Canada over the next three months.

Last month, Taylor took her Fearless tour overseas for the first time, playing eight sold-out shows in Australia and Japan.

Taylor and her special guests, Kellie Pickler and Gloriana, play in Austin, Dallas, and Corpus Christi, Texas this week on Wednesday (March 10th), Thursday (March 11th) and Friday (March 12th), respectively.

In other Taylor news, the singer's official iPhone application was recently launched. The free app features Facebook and Twitter connectivity, and alerts fans to Taylor's new music, videos, photos, and tour information. It's available at iTunes.com.

Carrie Underwood took two years between her Carnival Ride album and her latest CD, Play On, and she wouldn't have it any other way. Carrie tells us she works best when she has some down time to really put her nose to the grindstone, not to mention take a break from the spotlight. "I think it's nice to go away for a little bit, you know? Nobody can miss you if you're never gone, so I couldn't imagine . . . I see a lot of people making albums like every single year, and I'm like, 'How do you do it? Like, how do you write that much? How do you do it?' I don't understand. I can't. I guess I can't multi-task like that, but I love being able to like really just put aside everything else and focus on one thing, because then I can give it everything that I have."

Carrie's Play On tour begins on Thursday (March 11th) in Reading, Pennsylvania. The tour will also include special guests Craig Morgan and Sons of Sylvia.

Carrie is nominated for Top Female Vocalist, Album of the Year for Play On, Vocal Event of the Year for "I Told You So," featuring Randy Travis, and Entertainer of the Year at next month's ACM Awards. The show will air live from Las Vegas on CBS on April 18th.

Phil Vassar has partnered with St. Jude Children's Research Hospital for their annual St. Jude Dream Home Giveaway in a Nashville suburb. Phil will help kick off the Giveaway campaign with a free concert at The Factory in Franklin, Tennessee on March 24th at 7 p.m. CT. This year's giveaway is located in Franklin. The new home is valued at $550,000. Tickets are $100, and are now available at all Middle Tennessee Regions Bank locations, American Signature Furniture locations, online at stjude.org, or by phone at 800-746-6713. The name of the winning entrant will be drawn on June 27th.

The St. Jude Dream Home will be open to the public every Saturday and Sunday for the last six weeks of the promotion beginning May 15th.

In addition to the St. Jude Dream Home, 19 other prizes valued at $1000 or more will be given away.

The St. Jude Dream Home Giveaway is a community service project to benefit St. Jude Children's Research Hospital.

Phil will play another benefit concert on Thursday (March 11th) in his hometown of Lynchburg, Virginia for the Miller Home. The Home cares for young girls and gives them direction to help them become productive adults.

Billy Currington claims the top of the Billboard Country singles chart this week with "That's How Country Boys Roll." This is Billy's fifth chart-topping hit of his career, and his third in a row. This is the first Number One that Billy has co-written. He shares the song credit with Brett Jones and Dallas Davidson.

Billy said, "This song would've never been written if Brett, Dallas and I had kept our promise to not work on a guy's trip to Key West. But we got the groove with the title and it just started flowing. Thank you to radio, Universal, the songwriters and the fans! I'm very blessed to have another #1 single."

"That's How Country Boys Roll" is from Billy's current third album, Little Bit Of Everything.

Trisha Yearwood will head out on a book tour in conjunction with the release of her second cookbook, called Home Cooking. The book comes out on April 6th, and Trisha will hit the road the very next day with her first in-store at Barnes & Noble in Princeton, New Jersey. She will make 14 visits to various stores around the country, making her final stop in Los Angeles on April 25th at the Los Angeles Times' Book Festival.

Trisha again teamed with her mother, Gwen Yearwood, and sister, Beth Yearwood Bernard, on Home Cooking, which again features a forward by her husband, Garth Brooks.

Trisha will appear on an upcoming episode of Paula Deen's Home Cooking on the Food Network. That airdate has not yet been announced.

Home Cooking is the follow-up to Trisha's best-selling 2008 cookbook, Georgia Cooking In An Oklahoma Kitchen.

Here is the complete book tour schedule:
April 7 - Princeton, NJ - Barnes & Noble
April 8 - Charlotte, NC - Williams Sonoma
April 8 - Atlanta, GA - Borders
April 10 - Las Vegas, NV - Williams Sonoma
April 13 - Tulsa, OK - Barnes & Noble
April 14 - Pittsboro, NC - McIntyre's Fine Books
April 15 - Birmingham, AL - Williams Sonoma
April 15 - Fairhope, AL - Page & Palette
April 16 - Plano, TX - Sam's Club
April 17 - Oklahoma City, OK - Sam's Club
April 18 - Minneapolis, MN - Mall Of America
April 22 - Houston, TX - Williams Sonoma
April 22 - Austin, TX - Book People
April 25 - Los Angeles, CA - Los Angeles Times Book Festival