Playlist

Oklahoma native Keith Anderson, whose sophomore CD, C'mon!, arrived in stores today, will make an in-store appearance Wednesday (tomorrow) at 7 p.m. at Best Buy, 2701 N. Mesquite Dr. in Mesquite. Read my interview with the country singer-songwriter Thursday in GuideLive.

Photo: Keith Anderson (Jack Guy).

John Tesh is performing on Sept. 11 at McKinney Fellowship Bible Church. According to the press release, there'll be a limited number of $99 VIP tickets available that include dinner, being at the sound check with Tesh and the band, a meet and greet, and photos.

Tickets: 1-877-801-4995 or here.

Melissa Lawson, fresh from her crowning victory as the new Nashville Star, performs Aug. 12 live from the Summer Olympics in Beijing. Her stage stint before an international audience will be televised live on NBC-TV's Today. Ms. Lawson, the 32-year-old wife and mother of five boys, sang her debut single, "What If it All Goes Right," Monday night soon after winning the sixth season of Nashville Star, the televised country music talent competition.

Photo: Melissa Lawson (John Russell/NBC).

Intern Mallary Tenore reports:

Ice Cube was on fire last night at Myst, where he showed up shortly before midnight to promote his upcoming album, "Raw Footage," set to be released Aug. 19.

Instead of arriving fashionably late, Ice Cube showed up at the club around the same time as the majority of the club-goers, making a quick walk upstairs to the VIP floor and then walking right back down again to be closer to the crowd.

(Los Angeles Times photo by Kirk McKoy)

It's a virtual explosion of photos on Playlist today, apparently ... check out these shots from rock fest Lollapalooza over the weekend in Chicago's Grant Park. Thor was there and wrote a review, along with a story comparing it with Austin City Limits (which takes place Sept. 26-28).

Are you planning on attending ACL this year?

(AP photo: Sharon and the Dap Kings at Lolla '08)

Got a charming, charming story and photos for you from the far East Texas town of Linden, just north of Jefferson.

Staff writer Michael "Renaissance reporter" Granberry covers the folk and Texas coffeehouse music scene (in addition to visual arts, the Jenna Bush wedding and everything else in between). Over the weekend, he and DMN photographer Guy Reynolds caught the Merle Haggard concert at the tiny Music City Texas Theater.

Who was the fan who likely traveled the farthest to see Merle in this lil' hamlet? Linden native Don Henley. Yes, that Don Henley. Best quote from a town resident about scoring Merle Haggard? "t's like Stonehenge has come to Linden."

Great story, great photos. Check them out.

(Photo by Guy Reynolds / DMN)

Read the our reviews of this week's new releases and tell us what you think.