Strait, Earle, Owen top new releases

Steve Earle pays tribute to the late Texas singer/songwriter extraordinaire Steve Earle on "GUY." Earle previously highlighted another of his musical mentors, Townes Van Zandt on "Townes."

Jake Owen returns with "Greetings from...Jake Owen," his debut for Big Loud Records. The release contains the songs "Down To The Honkytonk," and the number one Platinum-Selling track "I Was Jack (You Were Diane)"

Son Volt, the band led by Jay Farrar, returns with the highly politically-charged "Union." Farrar takes aim at what he perceives are the economic and political ills in the U .S. A portion of the songs was recorded at places associated with two important labor figures in American history - Mary Harris "Mother Jones" and Woody Guthrie. Three songs were tracked at the Mother Jones Museum in Mount Olive, Ill, and four others were recorded at the Woody Guthrie Center in Tulsa, Okla.

Eli Young Band has a greatest hits collection, "This is Eli Young Band: Greatest Hits." The disc contains 14 songs including two new songs , the single "Love Ain't" and "Where Were You."

Uncle Walt's Band - Walter Hyatt, David Ball and Champ Hood - were originally from Spartanburg, S.C., but pursued a career in Nashville at the urging of singer/songwriter Willis Alan Ramsey in the early '70s. An attempt at an album with Ramsey at the helm was unsuccessful, so the band headed back to Spartanburg in 1974 to produce their own debut LP, "Blame It on the Bossa Nova." The original self-released vinyl edition -1,000 copies sold through performances and self-promotion - disappeared quickly. The band headed back down to Austin with a reissue of the album, "Uncle Walt's Band." A remastered version of "Uncle Walt's Band" is being issued on Omnivore Recordings. Ball is the lone surviving band member.

Bluegrass band Chris Jones and the Night Drivers are out with "The Changing Road." The band consists of Jones, Jon Weisberger on bass and vocals, Mark Stoffel on mandolin and vocals and Gina Furtado on banjo and vocals,

Tim Bluhm, lead singer of The Mother Hips, is out with a solo country disc, "Sorta Surviving."