Label Roster Changes Involve Lee Ann Womack And Other Female Acts

• Lee Ann Womack (right) is parting ways with her longtime record label, MCA Nashville, according to CountryWeekly.com. At MCA, and sister label Decca before that, Womack notched seven top 10 hits between 1997 and 2005 the most successful of which, “I Hope You Dance,” spent five weeks at No. 1 in the summer of 2000.

“[I’m] so appreciative to the wonderful MCA staff for giving me their all from my first days at Decca, through ‘I Hope You Dance,’ [and] the awards for ‘I May Hate Myself In The Morning’ and ‘There’s More Where That Came From,’” Womack said in a statement obtained by CountryWeekly.com. “I am excited to see what comes next for so many people I think of as my friends, and am eager to see what life after ‘leaving home’ is like.”

• It also appears that Ashton Shepherd is off the artist roster of MCA Nashville after two albums, 2008’s “Sounds So Good” and last year’s “Where Country Grows.” She is looking for songs for a new album, to be produced by Mike McGuire, drummer for the country band Shenandoah. The label home for the project is listed in industry pitch sheet RowFax as “to be announced.”

Both Womack and Shepherd are still included on the artist roster at the Web site of MCA Nashville’s parent company, Universal Music Group Nashville.

• Following the apparent breakup of Warner Music Nashville duo the JaneDear Girls, one half of the group, Susie Brown, is working on a solo album, with industry veteran James Stroud producing. The JaneDear Girls, which also included Danelle Leverett, recorded one album for the label, which was released last year and spawned the top 15 hit “Wildflower.”

Another former Warner Music Nashville female duo, The Wreckers, also split up after one album and two hits.