In the midst of the inescapable media coverage last week marking the 30th anniversary of the death of Elvis Presley, here’s a story you might not have seen.

Bluegrass singer/songwriter Shawn Camp and rockabilly singer Billy Burnette have joined forces to release The Bluegrass Elvises, a new CD out August 14 with bluegrass versions of some of The King’s most cherished hits. Songs covered bluegrass style on this CD include Don’t Be Cruel, All Shook Up, Jailhouse Rock, Burnin’ Love, Hound Dog, That’s Alright Mama and several others.

In addition to Camp and Burnette, musicians on this project include Scott Vestal and David Talbot on Banjo, Aubrey Haynie on fiddle, Chris Henry on mandolin, and Mike Bub and Terry Eldridge on bass.

Audio samples for all 13 tracks can be heard in iTunes, and you can find out more about the CD on The Bluegrass Elvises site.

Paul Craft has long been known as one of the premier songwriters in bluegrass music, and he has enjoyed tremendous success in pop and country music as well. His song, Midnight Flyer, was a hit for The Osborne Brothers in 1974, but became a mega-hit for The Eagles a few years later. His song, Teardrops Will Kiss The Morning Dew, was included in Alison Krauss’ platinum compilation, Now That I’ve Found You.

Paul has written a number of country hits like Dropkick Me, Jesus, It’s Me Again Margaret, Keep Me From Blowing Away, Brother Jukebox and Come As You Were.

Now, from Strictly Country Records comes a new CD from Paul Craft, Too Bad You’re No Good, featuring a number of his new and older compositions, performed by some of Nashville’s hottest pickers. Ronnie McCoury, Robbie McCoury, Jason Carter, Mike Bub, Bobby Bare, Thom Bresh, Shawn Camp, Jack Clement and Kenny Malone all lend their talents on this new release.

Strictly Country is based in The Netherlands, and there will surely be distribution of Paul’s new CD in the US. Two previous CDs, Raised By The Railroad Line and Brother Jukebox are both available through CDBaby, so perhaps this one will appear there as well.

Radio hosts and potential distributors can reach Strictly Country by email, or find contact information on their web site.

The Gospel Music Association announced yesterday their nominees for this year’s Dove Awards. The awards do include two bluegrass categories for Song of the Year and Album of Year. Here are this year’s bluegrass nominees.

BLUEGRASS RECORDED SONG OF THE YEAR
(Song, Album, Artist, Writer, Label)

• “Did You Forget God Today”; Long List of Heartaches; Grascals; Aubrey Holt; Rounder Records
• “Bedside Prayer”; Traveling Through; The Churchmen; Steve Martin; Pinecastle Records
• “He Lives In Me”; He Lives In Me; Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver; Frances P. Simpson; Horizon Records
• “If I Could Hear My Mother Pray Again”; Bluegrass Gospel Time; Dave Moody; Arr by Dave Moody, Mallie B. Music; Lamon Records
• “My Cross”; Flyin’ High; Lewis Family; Wayne Haun; Vine Records
• “We Know Where He Is”; The Promised Land; Del McCoury Band; Shawn Camp; McCoury Music

BLUEGRASS ALBUM OF THE YEAR
(Album, Artist, Producer(s), Label)

• Acoustic Hymns Volume 1; Cumberland Quartet; Wayne Haun, Depp Britt, Kevin Ward; Vine Records
• Ancient Of Days; Harvest Wind; Dave Moody; Lamon Records
• Flyin’ High; Lewis Family; Wayne Haun; Kevin Ward; Mountain Home
• He Lives In Me; Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver; Doyle Lawson; Horizon Records
• The Promised Land; Del McCoury Band; Del McCoury, Ronnie McCoury; McCoury Music

The 38th Annual Dove Awards will be presented on Wednesday, April 25, 2007. The show will be held at the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville, TN at 8PM CST. It won’t be broadcast in national syndication until the month of May.

You can find the complete listing of nominees, more info, and show tickets at www.doveawards.com