BILLBOARD.COM

Edited By Jonathan Cohen. April 01, 2005, 3:45 PM ET

Billboard Bits

Former Whiskeytown member Caitlin Cary and singer/songwriter Thad Cockrell have recorded a duets album, "Begonias," due June 14 via Yep Roc Records. "We'd actually planned to make this album a long time ago," Cockrell says. "It was merely a matter of fitting in with each other's schedules."

"Half the material is older and very familiar," Cary adds. "The other half was written in three weeks in the studio, so half the songs are old friends, and the other half are pure spontaneous combustion." The set also features guitar work by Pat Buchanan (Kenny Chesney) and pedal steel player Pete Finney (Patty Loveless, Allison Moorer).

Beyond a few appearances at the recent South By Southwest music festival in Austin, Texas, Cary and Cockrell are planning a U.S. summer tour. At deadline only a June 18 show in Raleigh, N.C., and a July 9 date in Norfolk, Va., were confirmed.

-- Barry A. Jeckell, N.Y.

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