Rocker and spoken-word artist Henry Rollins [ tickets ] will soon embark on a USO/Armed Forces Entertainment tour to provide a morale boost to U.S. troops stationed at Soto Cano Air Base in Honduras.

Rollins, one of many former Black Flag frontmen, is scheduled to meet with service members, tour various job posts, sign autographs and give a spoken-word performance, according to a USO press release.

Rollins has been on two previous USO tours, visiting Kuwait, Iraq, Kyrgyzstan, Afghanistan and Qatar.

Scottish rockers The Beta Band [ tickets ] have announced that they will split after a fall tour of the U.K. in support of their May release, "Heroes to Zeroes."

"Sadly, eight years of hard work and critical acclaim but little return in terms of commercial success inevitably takes its toll, and a group decision was made to finally lay the band to rest," said a statement published on the group's website.

Nashville-based troubadour Will Hoge [ tickets ] has issued "The America EP," a five-song collection that tackles various hot-button issues. Among the tracks are "Bible vs. Gun," written from the perspective of a soldier writing home from the front lines, "Hey Mr. President (Anyone But You)," where Hoge plays the parts of three disenchanted voters, and a cover of Bob Dylan's "The Times They Are a-Changin."

The self-released collection is for sale at Hoge's website.

Almost three weeks after pleading guilty to a charge of assault with a dangerous weapon, former Meat Puppets [ tickets ] bassist Cris Kirkwood reportedly was sentenced on Monday (8/2) to 21 months in prison for hitting a security guard with a baton.

The guard shot Kirkwood in the back during the December 2003 incident in Tempe, AZ.