George Strait, Kathy Mattea, Aaron Watson, Willie Nelson release new CDs

George Strait is like clockwork in releasing new music every year, and he also stays true to being traditional in his sound on "Troubadour" (MCA Nashville). Strait offers 12 new songs here with Tony Brown once again producing. The first single is "I Saw God Today." Strait duets with Patty Loveless on "House of Cash. Ace songwriters like Leslie Satcher, Al Anderson and Dean Dillon contribute several songs. Dillon duets with the Texan on "West Texas Town."

Aaron Watson is another one of those Texas artists, who is unknown outside his home state, but appears to have a healthy career going. He's out with his seventh CD, "Angels & Outlaws" (Thirty Tigers). Watson, who sounds a lot like Gary Allan, releases his seventh disc. He helped produce along with Asleep at the Wheel's Ray Benson and Sam Seifer. Watson recalls Gary Allan vocally.

Gracin first gained fame as being on American Idol. He parlayed that into a record deal with Lyric Street and several hits from his debut. But his sophomore effort was a long time in coming thanks mainly to singles that were released but did not do well on the charts. "We Weren't Crazy" marks Gracin's return with the title track the current single.

Kathy Mattea releases her 17th album, "Coal," a collection of songs paying tribute to her West Virginian family heritage in the region's coal mining culture. Mattea's grandfathers were miners, and her mother worked for the union. The album features traditional and contemporary songs, many by songwriters with Appalachian roots. Songs by Jean Ritchie, Billy Edd Wheeler, Hazel Dickens, Si Kahn, Utah Phillips, Merle Travis and Darrell Scott are on the CD produced by Marty Stuart. Mattea released the music on her own Captain Potato imprint.

Willie Nelson's "One Hell of a Ride" (Sony Legacy) traces the long career of Willie. The set includes 100 songs stretch from 1954 to the present day. Nelson was first known as a songwriter, especially coming to prominence when Patsy Cline recorded "Crazy." Nelson's own version of "Crazy" is included on disc one, as is "Funny How Time Slips Away" and a slew of his other hits. The only new song is the final one, "When I've Sang My Last Hillbilly Song," which also opens the four-CD set in a different version.