Artist Updates (6-5-13)

George Strait‘s father, John Byron Strait, passed away yesterday (June 4) at 91, just two days after the singer’s final 2013 tour stop in San Antonio. The elder Strait worked as a junior high school mathematics teacher and a rancher on his property outside of Big Wells, Texas. John Byron Strait is survived by his wife Anna; son, George Strait and his wife, Norma; daughter, Pency Edel and her husband, Lea; daughter-in-law, Denise Strait; grandchildren, George “Bubba” Harvey Strait Jr. and his wife Tamara, Kara Silva and her husband, John, John B. “Trey” Strait III, Walker Strait; great grandchildren, George Harvey Strait III, Kailey Garcia, Niessa Silva, Avery Silva and John Silva. He was preceded in death by son John “Buddy” Byron Strait Jr. and granddaughter Jenifer Strait. Funeral service will be private, reserved for friends and family only, with donations requested in lieu of gifts to The Jenifer Strait Memorial Foundation.

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Court Yard Hounds

The Court Yard Hounds, Martie Maguire and Emily Robison, plan to release a new album due out July 16 on Columbia Records, titled Amelita. The two-thirds of the Dixie Chicks sister-duo will release a new track “Sunshine” to iTunes next week. Take a listen to the new folk-country single here.

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Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment released The Last Ride, a film, based on the final days of Hank Williams’ life, on Blu-ray/DVD, yesterday (June 4). The cast features Henry Thomas, Jesse James, Kaley Cuoco, Fred Dalton Thompson and Stephen Tobolowsky. All-new versions of Williams’ greatest songs are included in addition to a making-of feature on the release.

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Carrie Underwood will honor Oklahoma’s recent loss with a special performance during tonight’s 2013 CMT Music Awards (June 5). Underwood will perform her new single “See You Again,” joined by two dozen members of Nashville’s Christ Church choir.

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Pictured (L-R): Keith Urban, Kree Harrison. Via Twitter.

American Idol season 12 runner-up Kree Harrison made her debut on the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville on Tuesday night (June 4), and Idol judge Keith Urban joined Harrison onstage for an emotional performance of “Help Me Make It Through The Night.” Harrison also performed her debut single “All Cried Out” and the hymn “In The Garden.”