CMT News

K. T. Oslin and Chris Cagle get fresh starts with new releases this week (June 19), and an Asleep at the Wheel collection from the '80s finds the western swing band paired with Willie Nelson, Bonnie Raitt and Junior Brown.

Former CMA female vocalist of the year Oslin returns to the record bins with her first studio release in five years, Live Close By, Visit Often. Raul Malo of The Mavericks is her co-producer on the project; the two first met at a TV taping for a Roger Miller tribute.

Tracks include a romantic ballad by Kris Kristofferson, "A Moment of Forever," and a cover of the Rosemary Clooney classic, "Come On-A My House." The latter is getting airplay in dance clubs. Oslin wrote or co-wrote seven of the 12 tracks, four with Malo. She gives the swing treatment to a medley of three standards including Cole Porter's "What Is This Thing Called Love."

Capitol Records is re-releasing Cagle's debut album, Play It Loud, with two new songs: "Are You Ever Gonna Love Me?" and "I Breathe In, I Breathe Out." The latter was first recorded by country singer David Kersh. The original edition of Cagle's album, on defunct Virgin Records Nashville, came out last October. Cagle co-produced the album and wrote eight of 10 songs. So far, the collection has yielded two hits: "My Love Goes On and On" and "Laredo." The repackaged CD also will include the video for "My Love Goes On and On," behind-the-scenes footage of Cagle on the road, fast facts and new photos.

The Best of Asleep at the Wheel: The Millennium Collection, gathers 12 tracks from two albums the Wheel cut for MCA in the 1980s. Guests include Nelson, on "Write Your Own Song" and Raitt on "Lonely Avenue Revisited." Brown, unknown outside Texas at the time, sits in on lap steel on a 1985 recording of the Bob Wills classic "Deep Water."