Hot Tuna’s Jorma Kaukonen and Barry Mitterhoff will celebrate the music of Loretta Lynn at New York’s Merkin Concert Hall tomorrow.  As part of the New York Guitar Festival, the longtime collaborators will interpret a selection of Lynn tunes. The bill also includes Larry Campbell, GE Smith and Taylor Barton, and Laura Cantrell, while WNYC’s John Schaefer will host the event.

Looking ahead, Kaukonen and Mitterhoff will return to the venue on February 6 for a show that is being billed as Blue Country Heart: A Tribute to the Music of Lefty Frizzell. The event will salute Frizzell, who helped inspire a number of country and rockabilly legends and will also feature appearances by Schaefer, Campbell, Ollabelle, The Yearlings and Teddy Thompson. Tickets to both shows are currently available online .

Legendary singer/songwriter Van Morrison will release  Keep It Simple, his second album on Lost Highway, on March 11. The self-produced collection is Van Morrison’s first studio release since 2006 and latest collection of personal reflections.

“It’s just a song about how everything’s gotten now so complex and how things have become so complicated and nothing’s easy to do anymore,” Morrison says of the disc’s title track. “So the song’s a kind of prayer – or what have you – let’s hope we can get back to something simple, otherwise, we’re screwed.”

The album is said to be one of Van Morrison’s most direct statements in recent memory, driven by guitar, harmonica and the singer/songwriter’s touching lyrics.

“It’s not going to be the same every time – you have to go through the ups and downs,” he continues. “It’s ups and downs, death and rebirth. It’s not going to be easy -- unless you want to be doing the same thing at the same level all the time. I’m not relying on what I did years ago. I’m not a greatest hits act. That’s the difference between me and most of what’s going on in pop music.”

The album is also said to touch upon gospel, Celtic soul, jazz and country, with a unified message of “soul and healing.”

“People don’t remember what you did, or what happened, or how you got here,” he says. “I didn’t get here the easy way. It’s people who don’t know me. They don’t actually look at what this guy’s actually been through. They see the big versions of what’s supposed to be me – but they don’t know my biography really. That’s what this whole record’s about.”

Van Morrison will preview his new material on the road throughout the winter and spring. After wrapping up his current European tour, Van Morrison will celebrate Keep it Simple’s release with a SXSW performance at The Austin Music Hall on March 11. A few days later, he will perform at Nashville, TN’s Ryman Auditorium on March 13, before heading across the pond for another round of dates.

Jimmy Page has quelled rumors that Led Zeppelin will tour this summer. In a recent interview with the Associated Press, Page mentioned that if the group does tour, it won’t be until at least September, due to singer Robert Plant’s previous summer commitments. The former Led Zeppelin singer recently released the hit bluegrass album Raising Sand with Alison Krauss and the pair are in the process of lining up a world tour. As previously reported, Plant and Krauss will play a limited number of U.S. shows this April, fronting an all-star band that includes veteran producer T-Bone Burnett. After hitting Europe in May, Plant and Krauss are expected to tour North America extensively throughout the summer.

"Robert Plant has a parallel project” Page told the Associated Press, “and he is busy with that until September." By all accounts, Led Zeppelin’s core members seemed happy with their recent reunion at London's 02 Arena. Neither Page nor Plant has ruled out the possibility of a fall tour after the singer finishes his commitments behind Raising Sand. Plant will open his upcoming tour with Krauss at Louisville, KY’s Louisville Palace Theatre on April 20.

After quickly moving tickets through a series of internet pre-sales, My Morning Jacket sold out New York’s legendary Radio City Music Hall in 22 minutes this morning. The group is slated to make their debut at the legendary venue on June 20.  

In other news, My Morning Jacket has confirmed that their fifth studio album, which will hit stores on June 10 via ATO, will be titled Evil Urges.  The album is being co-produced by MMJ frontman Jim James and multi-Grammy winner Joe Chiccarelli, who has produced an array of artists including The Shins, Brian Wilson and The White Stripes.

 My Morning Jacket, who are one of the few bands to appear at every major U.S. music festival, will continue to hit the festival circuit in 2008, including an appearance at Coachella, which will be held April 25– 27. The group will also appear at South by Southwest on March 13, while James will play a special SXSW solo show at Austin’s St. David’s Church on March 15.  Footage from the group’s recent Lollapalooza performance with the Chicago Youth Symphony Orchestra will air on Current TV on January 29 at 10 PM.