Kenny teamed up with the rapper Wyclef Jean on a track entitled "The Kenny Rogers Scene" . He sings part of his hit tune "The Gambler". On another project, he joins Coolio who raps the verses of the same tune, while Kenny sings the chorus.

Garth joined Steve Wariner and several other celebrities in autographing their favorite children's  books and donating them to a Republican Party sponsored literacy project. The books were collected by The National Federation Of Republican Women and donated to the literacy project during their national convention.

The 8th. Annual King Eagle Awards Show & Festival will be held in Nashville September 28th. , 29th. , and 30th. Two years ago the Tennessee State House of Representatives, the State Senate, and Governor Don Sunquist issued an official proclamation calling the King Eagle event, "the largest most important independent music event in the history of Nashville".  Each year the event draws together country and gospel music people from around the world. Among the folks attending this year's event will be famed Swedish country music radio host, Hank Svenson,  Dick Allen owner of WHIM, and numerous other radio personalities.  For complete details call; 615-329-2618, during normal business hours.

Bob Everhart, President of the National Traditional CMA has announced the formal induction will occur during their 25th. Annual Country Music Festival at the Pottawattamie Country Fairgrounds, in Avoka, Iowa. This event has been on more international television shows than any similar event in America. It was the subject of a one hour special "The World About Us" broadcast by the BBC to 22 countries. Tom Browkaw hosted a NBC  segment for "Cross Country". The ABC program "Real People"  was shot there. CBS shot two programs "American Trails" and "Country Living". PBS filmed at the festival several times.  This fantastic festival was voted Number 1 in Iowa, by "National Geographic" , Number 3 in Mid-America, by the National Council For Traditional Arts, and Number 22 in the nation, by the United States Conference of Mayors. They have over 250 shows on 10 stages over 7 big days. It begins August 28th. and wraps up September 3rd. More than 40, 000 tickets are expected to be sold.  For complete details about the NTCMA and this fantastic festival write: NTCMA-POB 438-Walnut, Iowa-51577 or call; 712-763-4363.

Two short years after its creation, The LSSCMA has outgrown its original location. The 2nd. Annual Best Of Texas Awards drew a standing room only crowd. This year's event will draw even larger crowds as the word of this great event continues to spread throughout the world of country music. Last year's event was filmed for Danish television and their filming crew is returning this year. A larger and nicer venue has been obtained, in Beaumont. This event is scheduled for the last week of October. For complete details call Colonel Wild Bill Foster at; 409-892-5118.

The 20th. Annual Nebraska Country Music Festival will be held at the Adams Country Fairgrounds, in Hastings, NE. The dates are October 15th through the 21st. Founded by Barbara and Doc Dantes, the organization is now led by Colonel Wanda Hecht. For complete details call; Admiral Dorothy Shaw 402-224-3301.

Executive Director, Suzi Cantu has formally announced the date of their American Eagle Awards Show. It will be at the Showboat Casino October 22nd. Several days of competition and activities lead into the awards show. For complete details call; Suzi Cantu at 707-553-9140.

If you write songs or lyrics, you are invited to enter one of either into the Jessica Culpepper Music Publishing contest. The First Place Winner in each category will be given a free demo recording, a web page containing their photo, biography, and song, and a publishing contract. There is no entry fee. Entries must be postmarked no later than October 1, 2000. Winners will be announced in the November issue of this newsletter. Mail your entry to: Jessica Culpepper Music, BMI-POB 271656-Nashville, TN 37227. Please limit your entries to country, gospel, or bluegrass.

Which explains why the big boys are willing to spend serious money trying to get in on the bucks. Internet music seller CDNow is being bought by Bertelsmann AG. The reported selling price is a cool $117,000,000. They will have to sell millions of CDs to regain their investment, but the research shows they are getting a bargain. The new way to sell music is to get your CDs posted at a heavy traffic internet location. The customer can listen to two or three songs from your album and decide if they like it well enough to pay for the entire album. This service is now available for independent country and gospel recording artists and record labels at the best known independent country and gospel music sites on the internet. For details email: intlcma@aol.com or write ICMA-POB 271238-Nashville, TN 37227

This month's newsletter circulation will approach  30,000 readers world wide. Because it is the largest and fastest growing independent country music newsletter on the internet everybody wants their albums reviewed here. We never expected the amazing response and frankly were not totally prepared for it two months ago, when we began our review section. We have received an absolute flood of albums seeking review. Many of those albums have been in non country related music fields such as pop, rock, jazz, hip hop, rap, and even electronica. Some of these are very good and various staff members have enjoyed them. However; this is an independent country music newsletter. As worthy as some of those albums are, time and space do not allow us to give them written reviews. Please send only the following types of music; country including all forms from mountain folk to hot young country, rockabilly, western swing, country blues, bluegrass, country gospel, bluegrass gospel, and southern gospel. It is our view that these all have certain connecting threads that tie them all together; which can loosely be called country music. As entertaining, interesting and deserving as many other forms of music might be we must stick to our primary mission. Other forms of music will not be reviewed at this time.

Luck Records, Texas, Willie Nelson, "Me And The Drummer" Country Willie's Way,  THE GURU has done it again, nuff said!!!!  4 Stars
Kardina Records, Nashville, B. J. Thomas, "You Call That A Mountain" He was great in the 60's & he's improved over time! He 's sold over 70, 000, 000 records. This album continues the legend!  4 Stars
Von Productions, Texas, Stop The Truck, "The 2 Step Program" Texas Honky Tonk, just plain fun, one of the most listened albums to around our office  4 Stars
Stokley Entertainment, Missouri, W. B. Stokley, "Tradition" Traditional  strong vocals and steel guitar carry the album 3 Stars
None Listed, Kentucky, Brandi Ward, "Window To My Soul" Young Country,  production fails to live up to her vocal potential  1 Star
None Listed, California, H. D. Flagle, "Country Wheelin"  Country,  intended as a songwriter's demo it serves very well 2 Stars
Sirius Records, Missouri, Wade Richardson, "Hang On For The Ride" Young Country overall a superior album  3 1/2 Stars
Rettop Records, Texas, Clay Potter, "A New Man Now" Young Country good vocals,  heavy  guitars  weak on other instruments 2 1/2 Stars
Pachyderm Records, New York, Patch Rose, "The Brotherhood Of The Rose" Urban Country good vocals & songs poor production  1 Star
KMA Records, Nashville, Shani Hedden, "Threatenin' Dark Clouds" Mainstream Country  powerful vocals,  songs, and production  4 Stars
American Made, California, Forrest Rew Mathis, "American Man" Country Novelty He had fun recording it & we had fun listening. 2 1/2 Stars
Knight Shadows, California, Bobby Mountain, "Genuine Leather" Country (Biker Style) The emotion and experience are real. 4 Stars
ABC Records, Australia, Graeme Connors, "A Delicate Balance" Country This album proves again  the best Australians are among the best in the world 4 Stars
ABC Records, Australia, Tania Kernaghan, "Dancing On The Water" Young Country She's one of the Crown Princesses of Australian country music, but this song isn't equal to her best work, "Leave Like A Man" 3 1/2 Stars
ABC Records, Australia, Gina Jeffries, "Somebody's Daughter"  Young Country The other Crown Princess of Australian country music needs to select better songs, also . Great singers deserve great songs. Is there a shortage of great female songs, in Australia?  3 1/2 Stars
Flin Flon Records, Nashville, Various, "Nashville Off The Record" some good, some average & some questionable  2  Stars
None Listed, California, Kevin Buchanan, "Silvertown" Cowboy Country entertaining and enjoyable with a larger budget he could be a contender 2 1/2 Stars
BriarHill Records, Illinois , Ron VanDenboom, "How I Love Them Old Songs" Bluegrass    good honest music no tricks or gimmicks  3  Stars
None Listed, Nashville, Jackson Slade, "River Of Gold"  Modern Country good vocals and even better sax very pleasant album 3 Stars
Brass Knuckles, Virginia, Pamelody, "Music Box" pretty songs, pretty music, pretty lady,  & sweet voice what's not to like? 3 1/2 Stars
Deep In The Hart Records, Tennessee, Charles Alan, "Country Rock-N-Roll" Young Country better songs needed 2 1/2 Stars
SDK Music, Arkansas, Troy Cook, Jr. ,"Introducing Troy Cook, Jr." Modern Country   a great start  3 Stars
Stoned Crabber Music, Indiana, Chris Vincent, "The Traveler" Jimmy Buffitt Country light hearted and fun, but production  weak  2 Stars
None Listed, Mississippi, Di Anne, "Di Anne" Buckle Polishing Country  overall darn good first effort  2 1/2 Stars
Reckless Records, Australia, Andrey, "The Fallen" Traditional,  good  music & song selection highlight Andrey's haunting vocals 3 Stars
Imas Group, Virginia, Melissa Jackson, "Take Me As I Am" Traditional, average music, good songs, strong vocals  2 Stars
H. C. Karma Ranch, Florida, Hindu Cowboys, "Hindu Cowboys" Young Country,  great dance club album  3 Stars
Tangible Music, New York, Andy Scheinmann, "Make Amends" Country Folk, the way Jim Croce would have done country  3 Stars
Down Home, Pennsylvania, George Day, "Country Feelin's" Traditional, good fiddle work & crisp vocals  3 Stars
Five Star, Nashville, Mike Bella, "Big In Vegas" Beer Drinking Country,  lots of play around the office 3 1/2 Stars
TMM Sound, Nashville, Crystal Day, "Anything Can Happen" Young Country, great song selection, solid production, sassy vocals 3 Stars
Kitchen Entertainment, Illinois, Anita Lin, "This Book Knows",  Country, simple clean production & high lonesome vocals 3 1/2 Stars
None Listed, United Kingdom, Derry Jones, "The Happy Horses", ? country with a touch of ragtime  interesting concept  2 Stars
Five Star, Canada, Sherry Buffitt, "My First Love"   good vocals especially on "Lost Little Girl" She makes you believe it. 3 Stars
Kid Cody Records, Canada, Jack Bolduc, "My Old Guitar",  Beer Drinking Country interesting songs and vocal producer in a hurry  2 Stars
Millennium Records, Nashville, Rubin Everidge, "Feeling More Haggard Than Merle" Modern Country,  This album debuts both a record company and a singer. The production and vocals are strong. The song selection is a superb match, for this vocalist. The mix is near perfect. You can heard the time and attention that went into every detail. Overall; this is the best of the batch.  4 1/2 Stars

Robin Thomas, Alabama, "Don't Waste My Love" , Country, Honey, don't waste my time sending me 3rd rate demos. 0 Star
Vishnu Joshi, New Jersey, "It's Spring" , Country,  good lyrical content,  clean instrumentation, clear vocals 3 1/2 Stars
June Rogers,  Missouri,  "Pick Up The Pieces" , Country,  good song, if you just had a good demo you really have something  1 Star
Edward Green, Iowa, "Hard Headed Hannah" , Country Novelty, fun song that brings a smile to your face  4 1/2  Stars
Thomas Puckett, Texas, "My Heart Just Said Goodbye" , Country, too many throw words, poor arrangement  1/2  Star
Red Beans and Rice, Indiana,  "Prison Time"  Country, good idea poorly executed at 4:45 it is more than 1 minute too long 1 Star
Roger Waynick, North Carolina, "The Winding Road" Bluegrass, very well written strong clear vocals and arrangement  4 Stars
L. Flowers and T. Spencer, United Kingdom, "Give Me Your Answer" , Country, weak arrangement needs rewrite  2 Stars
Martha Files, Oklahoma, "Angel and The Lady" , Country, strong lyrics and arrangement solid country song  4   Stars
Lillie Gramlin, Indiana, "I Read Between The Lines" , Country, strong arrangement and lyrical content  3 1/2 Stars
Glen Rightmire, Rhode Island, "Don't Call It Country", Country,  arrangement and vocal much stronger than lyrics  2  Stars
U. Robert Stucke, Minnesota, "The Far Away Land" Country, poor arrangement, excessive length, unclear vocals, 1/2  Star
R. T. Katz, New York, "The Way Back To You" ,  Gospel,   terrible demo must have been a $49 mail order special 0 Star
Karen Rechtzigel, Minnesota, "At The Ryman",  Country, well written, well arranged, great tune  3 1/2  Stars