new music releases

It’s a busy month for new country music releases in September 2012, with no less than 10 albums from major country music stars hitting the shelves. While few are using the day after Labor Day to release new music, Sept. 11 is literally packed with new music. Little Big Town, Kix Brooks and Aaron Lewis are just three of the artists with new albums out that day.

‘Red.’ That’s the title of Taylor Swift‘s upcoming, 16-song 2012 new album, which will be released on October 22. She revealed the big news during her live YouTube web chat on Monday (Aug. 13). If you’re keeping track, that’s almost two years to the day since the release of ‘Speak Now,’ which dropped on Oct. 25 back in 2010.

In just a few weeks, Dierks Bentley will raise a glass to his fans when he debuts his four-track ‘Country & Cold Cans’ EP. The disc — which was inspired by the popular title track and the wild and crazy concertgoers who supported Bentley’s 2012 tour of the same name — is slated to hit shelves in late August.

For months now, Brad Paisley has been hard at work on his new album, the follow-up to 2011′s ‘This Is Country Music.’ After plenty of hours logged in the studio, the award-winning country star already has seven songs confirmed for the album — but this one will be different. Paisley is adamant that this record will hit the shelves with an organic, edit-free sound.

This week is shaping up to be a pretty decent one in the lives and careers of Alan Jackson and newcomer Jana Kramer. Both of their brand new albums hit stores last Tuesday, and now the charts are in. Jackson’s ‘Thirty Miles West’ knocked Carrie Underwood‘s ‘Blown Away’ out of the No. 1 slot, while Kramer’s self-titled project comes in at No. 5, according to Nielsen SoundScan.