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American Idol season-eight winner Kris Allen took to Instagram earlier today to reveal the title and release date of his third studio album. The new record, Horizons, will be released Aug. 12, the singer announced on his page. List Hollywood's 100 Favorite Films "Stay tuned for more details," he teased of the record, the follow-up to 2012's Thank You Camellia. Allen recorded the record in Nashville with producer Charlie Peacock, who previously worked with The Civil Wars. Photos Queen and Adam Lambert Rock the iHeartRadio Theater Earlier this year, Allen wrote about the process behind the record, which includes

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Nashville, Tenn. — There are still helium balloons clinging to the ceiling and new toys scattered across a table in the living room when Joy Williams answers the door. The Civil Wars singer recently found cream cheese icing in her hair, she notes with laughter, more remnants of her son Miles' first birthday party the night before.

It is one of the happiest times for Williams, but as is often the case with life, it's also one of the most difficult. Over the next hour, Williams will laugh and cry and express a range of emotions from pride to fear and hope as she talks about the status of her Grammy Award-winning duo with John Paul White and their new self-titled second album. The group is officially on hiatus even as a single hits the airwaves and the album nears its Aug. 6 release date.

She is fiercely proud of the new...

Nashville, Tenn. -- While there still remain questions about the future of The Civil Wars, there's new music on the way.

Joy Williams, one half of the Grammy Award-winning duo with John Paul White, said Thursday during a Twitter chat that she was in the studio listening to new Civil Wars songs.

It's a tantalizing clue to the future of the group, which appeared in doubt when a European tour unraveled last month due to "irreconcilable differences."

At the time, the duo said it hoped to release an album in 2013. It's not clear if Williams was referring Thursday to music for a new album or for a documentary score they have composed with T Bone Burnett. They're also set to release an "Unplugged" session on iTunes on Jan. 15.

Nate Yetton, the group's manager and Williams' husband, had no comment – though he has supplied a few hints of his own by...

Manchester, Tenn. — What's up next for The Civil Wars after a tour de force at the Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival? Maternity leave.

The acoustic duo of Joy Williams and John Paul White played in front of a few thousand respectful but enthusiastic fans Sunday night, helping close down the four-day festival with a goosebump-raising performance that had Williams' unborn baby dancing around. Her due date is 10 days away.

"There's just no sweeter way to sort of bow-tie (the last 18 months) than with Bonnaroo," Williams said in her trailer after the show. "It was so fun. And the baby was just kicking like crazy. I think all that noise from the crowd in between the songs, there was no time for napping in the tummy. And the adrenaline, as well. I'm sure kept the baby up. It's bittersweet, as well. I'm kind of emotional about it. I blame the hormones."

Williams...

At first glance, you would expect Joy Williams and John Paul White to be a source of stone cold severity. There doesn't seem to be room for play in a duo that names themselves The Civil Wars -- she, dressed in all black, lace up to her collarbone; he, in a staid gray suit, cinched with a gentleman's bow tie. But the playfulness beneath the surface is what makes The Civil Wars' often melancholy songs of love so resonant, and their live show, performed last night at the IFC Crossroads House, ultimately mesmerizing.

In the tradition of duos like June Carter and Johnny Cash, Williams and White have an on-stage rapport there that belies a certain degree of intimacy and comfort; though like another dark-haired, country-leaning duo of red and white sartorial splendor, no they are not married, and yes, they know you're wondering. Williams and White use this intrigue to their dramatic advantage,...