Transcript

8.7.26 · Country Weekly

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Speaker 1: Outy folks, time once again to catch up with Country Weekly,
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Speaker 1: where we check out news and gossip from the world
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Speaker 1: of country music. I'm your host, Ken Dawkins, and I
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Speaker 1: will be reading from various sources found online. As a reminder,
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Speaker 1: Radio I is a reading service intended for people who
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Speaker 1: are blind or have other disabilities that make it difficult
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Speaker 1: to read printed material. We'll begin with the first article
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Speaker 1: dated August third, and this is from USA Today. Zach
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Speaker 1: Brown Band gives Fenway crowd free cruises worth forty million dollars.
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Speaker 1: Zach Brown Band fans have a big reason to be
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Speaker 1: knee deep in happiness. During the group's August second performance
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Speaker 1: at Fenway Park in Boston, their record breaking fifteenth consecutive
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Speaker 1: sold out show at the iconic Baseball stadium, Brown dropped
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Speaker 1: news of a major gift for the thirty five thousand attendees.
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Speaker 1: Just before performing Same Boat, his twenty twenty two collaboration
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Speaker 1: with the late Jimmy Buffett, Brown told the crowd that
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Speaker 1: the band was presenting each of them with a cruise
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Speaker 1: aboard Margheritaville at sea tonight. We're going to do something
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Speaker 1: that even Jimmy would say is crazy, Brown said, from
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Speaker 1: the stage. I'm buying every single person here a cruise
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Speaker 1: for two people on the boat. This is the biggest
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Speaker 1: giveaway in history, Ladies and gentlemen, right here tonight at
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Speaker 1: Fenway Park. The surprise is valued at more than forty
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Speaker 1: million dollars and, according to Brown's REPS, the largest audience
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Speaker 1: gifting in live entertainment history. Fans can redeem the cruise
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Speaker 1: on select Margharitaville at Sea sailings over the next twelve months.
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Speaker 1: Margheritaville at Sea is presenting sponsor of zbb's twenty seven
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Speaker 1: date Love and Fear Tour, which kicked off in July
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Speaker 1: and runs through November. The run follows the band's residency
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Speaker 1: at Spear Las Vegas in December of last year. In
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Speaker 1: a recent interview with USA Today, Brown said this tour
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Speaker 1: is a way to applaud the band's fans. I wanted
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Speaker 1: to show our dedication to them and give them something unique,
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Speaker 1: he said. Throughout the tour, ZBB will continue to give
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Speaker 1: away four cruises per show. Those fans will receive a
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Speaker 1: cruise aboard the new Beachcomber, which will debut in January
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Speaker 1: of twenty twenty seven and is also home to a
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Speaker 1: live music venue at c dubbed the Same Boat and
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Speaker 1: curated by Brown, The August second ZBB show is live
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Speaker 1: streamed on nugs dot net and broadcast live on Sirius
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Speaker 1: XM's Radio Margaritaville. The performance is available to watch on
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Speaker 1: demand on nuggets dot net next from Parade dot Com.
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Speaker 1: Also dated August third, Ella Langley makes history as country
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Speaker 1: music sweeps Billboard Hot one hundred top five for the
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Speaker 1: very first time. Ella Langley continues one of the most
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Speaker 1: remarkable chart runs of twenty twenty six. According to Billboard,
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Speaker 1: her smash hit Choos in Texas spends a sixteenth consecutive
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Speaker 1: week at number one on the Billboard Hot one hundred,
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Speaker 1: eyeing for the fourth longest reign in the chart's nearly
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Speaker 1: sixty eight year history. Only Mariah Carries All I Want
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Speaker 1: for Christmas Is You, Shaboozi's a bar song, Tipsy Lil
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Speaker 1: Nazek's Old Town Road featuring Billy Billy Ray Cyrus have
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Speaker 1: spent more time atop the all genre chart. But even
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Speaker 1: bigger than Langley's latest milestone is the record it helped
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Speaker 1: create for the first time in Billboard Hot one hundred history.
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Speaker 1: Country songs occupy the entire top five slots. Langley's Choosing
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Speaker 1: Texas holds at number one, followed by Morgan Wallen's new
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Speaker 1: single bin By Now at number two. Taylor Swift's I
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Speaker 1: Knew It I Knew You sits at number three, Langley
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Speaker 1: and Wallin's duet I Can't Love You Anymore remains at
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Speaker 1: number four, and Stella Lefti's breakthrough hit Boston rounds out
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Speaker 1: the top five at number five. Until now, country had
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Speaker 1: never swept all five positions on the Hot one hundred.
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Speaker 1: Billboard notes the genre had reached four of the top
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Speaker 1: five during two weeks in July of the Shear, but
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Speaker 1: this marks the first complete takeover. The latest achievement adds
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Speaker 1: another chapter to Langley's remarkable breakout year. Beyond leading the
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Speaker 1: Hot one hundred for a sixteenth week, Choosing Texas also
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Speaker 1: remains number one on Billboard's Hot Country Songs chart for
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Speaker 1: the thirty fourth week, tying for the third longest reign
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Speaker 1: in that chart's history. Songs also spending its ninth week
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Speaker 1: atop the Songs of the Summer chart. Billboard also highlighted
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Speaker 1: another unusual accomplishment involving Langley and Wallen Along with holding
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Speaker 1: the top two positions individually, the pair also occupies number
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Speaker 1: four together with I Can't Love You Anymore. According to Billboard,
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Speaker 1: it's the only or it is only the fourth time
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Speaker 1: on Hot one hundred history that two artists have each
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Speaker 1: had solo songs in the top five while also sharing
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Speaker 1: a collaboration there simultaneously, and the first time it's happened
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Speaker 1: with country music. For a genre that has steadily grown
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Speaker 1: in its presence on the Hot one hundred over the
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Speaker 1: past several years, this week's chart represents a landmark moment.
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Speaker 1: Thanks to Langley wallin Swift and Lefty Sounds like a
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Speaker 1: pitching staff for a law firm, country music has officially
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Speaker 1: accomplished something no genre lineup ever had before on Billboard's
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Speaker 1: flagship chart. Now we head on over to countrynow dot
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Speaker 1: com with the first article, also dated August third. Jellyroll
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Speaker 1: reveals plans to step away from touring for a year
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Speaker 1: or two. Jelly Roll is stepping away from the road
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Speaker 1: for the foreseeable future. During a recent concert in Salt
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Speaker 1: Lake City, the Grammy winning artist revealed that he plans
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Speaker 1: to take an extended break from touring following his final
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Speaker 1: scheduled performance, which took place on July thirtieth at Widener
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Speaker 1: Field in Colorado Springs. This has truly been a lifetime
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Speaker 1: experience for me, Jellyroll told the crowd and a couple
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Speaker 1: of nights, I go to Colorado Springs and do my
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Speaker 1: last show for a year or two. I'm fixing to
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Speaker 1: take some time off and heal. Thank you for the opportunity.
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Speaker 1: The announcement came as Jellyroll wrapped up his headlining the
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Speaker 1: Little Ass Shed Tour and several stadium dates a part
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Speaker 1: of the Big Ass Stadium Tour with Post Malone. His
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Speaker 1: official tour website now lists no upcoming events, confirming that
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Speaker 1: the Tennessee native is taking time away from the stage.
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Speaker 1: Jelly Roll did not elaborate on what led to his decision,
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Speaker 1: but the news comes after a major year of personal
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Speaker 1: and professional changes. Earlier this summer, fans were surprised when
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Speaker 1: reports surfaced that he had filed for divorce from his wife,
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Speaker 1: Bunny Xo, after nearly a decade together. Following the news,
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Speaker 1: Bunny Xo addressed the split during a tell all episode
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Speaker 1: of The Dumb Blonde podcast, where she opened up about
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Speaker 1: the challenges that led to the divorce, details surrounding their agreement,
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Speaker 1: and what life after marriage could look like. She also
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Speaker 1: discussed the possibility of jelly Roll entering the dating world
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Speaker 1: again and revealed that despite their separation, the two had
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Speaker 1: planned to have a baby together and continue co parenting.
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Speaker 1: Shortly after its release, the episode was removed from the Internet,
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Speaker 1: leaving fans with more questions about the couple's future. While
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Speaker 1: Bunny XO has spoken publicly about the situation, jelly Roll
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Speaker 1: has remained largely private about the divorce and has not
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Speaker 1: shared many details about their separation. Earlier this year, jelly
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Speaker 1: Roll reached a major career milestone when he was officially
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Speaker 1: inducted as a member of the Grand Old Opry. He
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Speaker 1: was welcomed into the Opry family by his longtime friend
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Speaker 1: and collaborator and fellow member Lany Wilson during a special celebration.
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Speaker 1: Singer recently released his latest single, Hands Up, and has
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Speaker 1: been teasing a new album for quite some time. While
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Speaker 1: details surrounding the upcoming project remain under wraps, The yet
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Speaker 1: to be announced album will serve as the follow up
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Speaker 1: to his chart topping twenty twenty four release Beautifully Broken.
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Speaker 1: Next Jason Aldeen Tracy Lawrence, and Brantley Gilbert reflect on
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Speaker 1: the changing road to country music stardom. The road to
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Speaker 1: becoming a country star looks a lot different than it
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Speaker 1: did when artists like Jason Aldean, Tracy Lawrence, and Brantley
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Speaker 1: Gilbert were coming up after years of grinding through small
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Speaker 1: venues before reaching the big stages. The artists have each
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Speaker 1: shared their thoughts on the way this generation of country
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Speaker 1: stars is rising to the top and why they believe
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Speaker 1: there are steps along the way that are still important
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Speaker 1: part of building a lasting career. Gilbert most recently joined
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Speaker 1: the conversation during an appearance on Lawrence's Roadhouse podcast, where
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Speaker 1: he reflected on the template of finding success that artists
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Speaker 1: like Lawrence and Toby Keith created for those coming up
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Speaker 1: behind them. He explained that he's always admired the way
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Speaker 1: they built their momentum by grinding their way up, making mistakes,
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Speaker 1: learning from each experience, and taking the time to understand
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Speaker 1: what it takes to connect with an audience before reaching
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Speaker 1: the biggest stages. However, with this age of social media,
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Speaker 1: they've watched new artists go from sharing songs in their
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Speaker 1: bedrooms to performing in arenas almost overnight. When you see
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Speaker 1: these kids kind of come from one song on TikTok
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Speaker 1: to blow up in they're here. I was like, man,
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Speaker 1: that kind of sucks because coming up the old way,
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Speaker 1: playing that bar with ten people you don't know in
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Speaker 1: it and that have never heard you until you go
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Speaker 1: to the next size bar. Eventually, Man, you get a
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Speaker 1: club in town, You've really done something. Gilbert said, it
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Speaker 1: kind of sucked at first, but then on the flip
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Speaker 1: side of the coin is that there are a major disadvantage.
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Speaker 1: Gilbert went on to explain how there are plenty of
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Speaker 1: pros and cons to coming up the way he did
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Speaker 1: compared to the way many acts do in this current world.
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Speaker 1: He notes that one of the best advantages to taking
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Speaker 1: years to develop a name in the business is learning
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Speaker 1: how to properly communicate and win over the very small
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Speaker 1: amount of people in the bar by the end of
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Speaker 1: the night. One of the greatest disadvantages that both him
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Speaker 1: and Lawrence can agree on is the fact that being
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Speaker 1: thrown into the spotlight so quickly inevitably leads to the
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Speaker 1: artists facing a downward spiral. When you see them going
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Speaker 1: through this crisis and things like that, it makes a
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Speaker 1: ton of sense I couldn't imagine not coming up the
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Speaker 1: way we did and just being thrust into that. It's
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Speaker 1: not a poor, pitiful me situation at all. It's just
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Speaker 1: like man, looking at it from the inside. That's a lot,
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Speaker 1: Gilbert said, sympathizing with artists who have gone through that.
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Speaker 1: Gilbert also recognizes that playing the place field has shifted dramatically,
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Speaker 1: with today's artists facing a level of competition that didn't
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Speaker 1: exist when he was coming up. Watching so many rising
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Speaker 1: stars navigate this new landscape has given him a different
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Speaker 1: perspective on their journeys. The competition's different. The process again,
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Speaker 1: being seen and discovered is different. We didn't have ompteen
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Speaker 1: million people putting songs out from their bedroom. The way
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Speaker 1: of being found is different. So in a way, through
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Speaker 1: the years, I've gone through kind of being salty about
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Speaker 1: it to finding respect for it and almost coming from
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Speaker 1: a place of not sympathy empathy. Man, I get it
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Speaker 1: from the inside looking out. It's a good bit different.
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Speaker 1: You get thrust into all this stuff you don't understand,
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Speaker 1: and nobody you know this when you're on your way up,
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Speaker 1: nobody's telling you that there's a plateau and a way down.
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Speaker 1: Jason Aldeen also spoke about this topic during a recent
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Speaker 1: episode of his Try That in a Small Town podcast,
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Speaker 1: recognizing that many up and coming artists may not realize
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Speaker 1: the value of slowing down, saying no to certain opportunities,
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Speaker 1: and taking the time to build their careers before rushing
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Speaker 1: into the next thing. He used the example of turning
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Speaker 1: down a chance to do his own headline shows in
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Speaker 1: order to open for Brooks and dun back in the day.
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Speaker 1: I even put it off a little longer, just to
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Speaker 1: be like, you know, give us time to get another
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Speaker 1: song out, kind of let the heat that was starting
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Speaker 1: to happen, just let it bubble a little, he recalled.
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Speaker 1: So how far does a Goodbye? Goh Singer also came
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Speaker 1: to the same realization that Gilbert touched on, as he
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Speaker 1: explained that today's artists haven't had to experience building a
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Speaker 1: strong catalog and developing their ability to connect with the
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Speaker 1: crowd before taking on a headlining role. The problem is
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Speaker 1: a lot of them only have one or two songs
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Speaker 1: and think they can go out and carry an hour
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Speaker 1: and a half or two hours of his show. It's like, dude,
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Speaker 1: you've got two songs. People really care about that they
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Speaker 1: want to hear, they what are you going to do
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Speaker 1: for the other eighty minutes? This often leads to them
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Speaker 1: having to give tickets away for free in an attempt
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Speaker 1: to make the room look more full. While the path
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Speaker 1: to country music success continues to evolve, Jason Aldeine, Tracy Lawrence,
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Speaker 1: and Brantley Gilbert all seem to agree on one thing.
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Speaker 1: Building a lasting career takes more than one viral moment,
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Speaker 1: and that the most important lessons only come with time. Next,
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Speaker 1: Riley Green reveals that Just Me track list drops new song.
12:15
Speaker 1: Imagine that. Riley Green is continuing to build anticipation for
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Speaker 1: his upcoming studio album That's Just Me. It's arriving on
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Speaker 1: September eighteenth. This week, the country star gay fans a
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Speaker 1: preview of all nineteen tracks, sharing short snippets of each
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Speaker 1: song on social media, while offering an even longer previews
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Speaker 1: exclusively to members of his back forty fan club. Along
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Speaker 1: with the previews, Green also unveiled the album's full track list,
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Speaker 1: revealing several collaborations. The project will feature the recently released
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Speaker 1: duet Go Again with Hannah McFarlane as well as well
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Speaker 1: well Whiskey with Jake Worthington, Pave all Them Red Dirt
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Speaker 1: Roads featuring Brooks and Dunn, and look Out Mountain with
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Speaker 1: Randy Owen of country supergroup Alabama. The album also showed
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Speaker 1: odo cases a number of co writes with some of
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Speaker 1: Green's longtime collaborators, including Randy Montana, Eric Dillon, Jonathan Singleton,
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Speaker 1: and others. Green also pandra coopen several of the album
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Speaker 1: tracks himself. The actual track list from Riley Green's new
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Speaker 1: album My Way, That's just Me, Don't come any closer,
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Speaker 1: Go again, imagine that got that from you, bartender and
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Speaker 1: destined bech happy, Thank you, thank you, as Let's think
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Speaker 1: as you drunk well well, whiskey pos runs in the family,
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Speaker 1: and pave all them Red Dirt Roads. Now we'll take
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Speaker 1: a peek atcountrycentral dot com with the first article or
13:38
Speaker 1: only article dated the third of August. Gavin Adcock reveals
13:42
Speaker 1: Workingman release date. Gavin Adcock has announced a new single, Workingman,
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Speaker 1: due out this weekend. The Georgia Bourne singer songwriter shared
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Speaker 1: a clip of the track on Instagram ahead of the release.
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Speaker 1: In the chorus, he shared, Adcock leans into his roots
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Speaker 1: with the kind of plainspoken confidence that has defined his right,
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Speaker 1: drawing contrast between a flashy suitor and what's he offering instead.
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Speaker 1: He might have money, but either have love and time.
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Speaker 1: After five, you're tired of seeing that grown man go
14:10
Speaker 1: out and swipe mom and Daddy's credit card. You just
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Speaker 1: say when, and girl, I'm in If you want to
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Speaker 1: lean on a steady heart. I might be rough around
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Speaker 1: the edges, but baby, you can come and smooth them
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Speaker 1: out this kind of love. Don't give a damn. It's
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Speaker 1: about time you found you a working man. It's a
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Speaker 1: natural fit for an artist who grew up working on
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Speaker 1: his family's cattle farm in Wickinsville, Georgia, before a football
14:32
Speaker 1: career at Georgia Southern was cut short by knee injury
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Speaker 1: that ultimately redirected him toward music. The announcement comes off
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Speaker 1: the back of one of the strongest stretches of Adcock's
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Speaker 1: young career since his third LP own Worst Enemy. He
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Speaker 1: stayed on one of the most consistent release schedules in
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Speaker 1: the format, with a new single out every nearly every month.
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Speaker 1: Working Man is coming out again this weekend. Now it's
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Speaker 1: on to saving country music for news and commentary. With
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Speaker 1: the first article dated the fourth of August making sense
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Speaker 1: of Stella Lefty a new song Boston. It's not just
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Speaker 1: Ella Langley's choosing Texas that's setting music on fire here
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Speaker 1: in the summer of twenty six. As we've learned, granted,
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Speaker 1: nothing can rival what Elle is doing with the song,
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Speaker 1: even going back into country history or any music history.
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Speaker 1: It's already the most successful song from a woman in
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Speaker 1: American country music. All of the Yello Aangley accolades and
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Speaker 1: attention of somewhat overshadow the rather incredible success of another song,
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Speaker 1: Stella Lefty's Boston, Whether it deserves to be or not,
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Speaker 1: it has been a signed to the domain of country
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Speaker 1: and has been surging throughout the summer to where it
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Speaker 1: sat at number three last week, as we mentioned earlier,
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Speaker 1: only knocked out of the top spot by, of course,
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Speaker 1: Ella Langley and Taylor Swift. This week, Country sweeps the
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Speaker 1: top five. As we said, so who is Stella Lefty
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Speaker 1: and how did her song get so high on the
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Speaker 1: charts side of nowhere will? This has been a big
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Speaker 1: discussion point in certain circles for a while now. For many,
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Speaker 1: she's the perfect symbol of how affluents and privilege are
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Speaker 1: the primary drivers behind celebrity and success in America at
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Speaker 1: this point. Since her father is the billionaire co founder
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Speaker 1: of Groupon who now owns a healthy AI company called
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Speaker 1: tampas Ai, a lot of people have surmised that Stella
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Speaker 1: was able to skip the line and go straight to
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Speaker 1: the top. Well respected music producer and commentator Rick Vito
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Speaker 1: at a video of a couple of months ago titled
16:25
Speaker 1: why only rich Kids Make it in Music Today? That's
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Speaker 1: sort of coincided with Stella Lefty's rise, and this further
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Speaker 1: the discussion. Does it feel like this hypothesis is true
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Speaker 1: that unless you come from money or a connected family,
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Speaker 1: you can't rise to the top in music. Well, it helps,
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Speaker 1: but that might be a little overly cynical. Ella Langley
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Speaker 1: didn't come from a particularly affluent or connected family, but
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Speaker 1: Stella Lefty did. And it's not just that her family
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Speaker 1: had money or that it comes with a double strike
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Speaker 1: of being involved with AI. It's that her hit song
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Speaker 1: Boston kind of feels like the product of affluence. Stelle
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Speaker 1: and Boston fit the profile. While the appeal behind Ella
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Speaker 1: Langley and choosing Texas is that they don't and drip
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Speaker 1: with live experiences that element of real world authenticity. Is
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Speaker 1: Boston a country song? Asks saving country music? It's definitely
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Speaker 1: interesting that they decided to texturize the song with steel guitar,
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Speaker 1: which certainly allows it to be open for that discussion.
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Speaker 1: It's a bit similar to the music of Megan Marony,
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Speaker 1: where it comes with heavy pop influences, but the pronounced
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Speaker 1: steel guitar puts it in the country music conversation. But
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Speaker 1: except for the pedal steel, Boston just feels like a
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Speaker 1: fluttery bop. Unlike Megan Morony's rather involved writing, Boston is
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Speaker 1: basically one big chorus, with the song beginning and ending
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Speaker 1: on the chorus and a post chorus thrown in there
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Speaker 1: as well. The two quick verses come and go, and
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Speaker 1: there's not a lot of depth there. Stella doesn't really
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Speaker 1: deliver any twang in her voices either, and unlike choosing Texas,
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Speaker 1: a distinctly urban geography that is evoked in the lyricism
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Speaker 1: of Boston. So that brings us to perhaps the most
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Speaker 1: important wrinkle to the song, which is that it strongly
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Speaker 1: interpolates the massive hit stick Season by Noah Kahan, which
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Speaker 1: is very likely where the viral appeal for the song
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Speaker 1: comes from. Kahan is credited as co writer on the track,
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Speaker 1: similar to Shaboozi's of bar Song, Tipsy and others. Boston
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Speaker 1: is the musical version of a film remake. NOA. Kahan
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Speaker 1: has gone out of his way to say his music
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Speaker 1: is not country, so has Zach Bryant. So should Boston
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Speaker 1: be considered country? All of this music feels more like
18:30
Speaker 1: the domain of contemporary folk or indie folk realm. Boston
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Speaker 1: has been specifically characterized as indie folk in the past.
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Speaker 1: This is a massively surging category of popular music with
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Speaker 1: these huge hit singles like stick Season and Boston. This
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Speaker 1: is one of the reasons the Grammy Awards make a
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Speaker 1: new category this year for contemporary folk specifically. Another big
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Speaker 1: question about Boston is what its staying power will be,
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Speaker 1: and for Stella Lefty in general. Mela Langley and Choosing
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Speaker 1: Texas proven to be incredibly sturdy, and the only reason
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Speaker 1: Langley doesn't have multiple number ones under her belt at
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Speaker 1: this point is because it's her own song keeping them
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Speaker 1: out of the top spot. Boston feels like it could
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Speaker 1: be similar to Dash's Austin, which was also not really country.
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Speaker 1: Even though Dash has had some other big songs, she's
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Speaker 1: failed to sustain something that feels like a broad appeal
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Speaker 1: beyond the one hit. If you listen to Stell Lefty's
19:23
Speaker 1: EP Is This Heaven, which also features her boyfriend and
19:26
Speaker 1: fellow performer Vincent Mason, is it overly offensive? No, not
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Speaker 1: at all, Just like Boston. You understand that appeal, even
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Speaker 1: if that appeal doesn't feel distinctly country. But when you
19:38
Speaker 1: take a step back and ask yourself, if some no
19:40
Speaker 1: name from the Sticks had posted a song like Boston
19:42
Speaker 1: on the internet, would it have blown up? And the
19:45
Speaker 1: answer is probably no. Yet, if you start eliminating people
19:49
Speaker 1: who come from the affluence of being able to make
19:51
Speaker 1: good music, you eliminate the catalog of Graham, Parson, Towns,
19:55
Speaker 1: Van Sand and many more. Nobody should be foisted to
19:58
Speaker 1: the front of the line in music, but at the
20:00
Speaker 1: same time, performers shouldn't also be summarily discounted just because
20:04
Speaker 1: they come from privilege. Ultimately, the music should be the
20:07
Speaker 1: most important consideration, unfortunately, says saving country music. For Boston, though,
20:13
Speaker 1: with its rather thin writing, borrowed melody, and generally passing appeal,
20:17
Speaker 1: it just feels like another pop song, despite the roots
20:19
Speaker 1: he sound behind it. What Stella Left he does next
20:22
Speaker 1: will prove if she's a one hit wonder or has
20:25
Speaker 1: staying power in country or popular music in general. Next,
20:31
Speaker 1: Merle Haggard helped get Brooks and Dune back together. Merle
20:35
Speaker 1: Haggard deserves credit for a lot in country music, as
20:38
Speaker 1: arguably a Mount Rushmore artist, singer, songwriter, and performer in
20:42
Speaker 1: country history h history, It's hard to fathom what country
20:45
Speaker 1: music would sound like and where it would be if
20:47
Speaker 1: it wasn't for the Hag. His catalog and legacy loom
20:50
Speaker 1: as large as any, with songs like Mama Tride, working
20:53
Speaker 1: Man Blues, and Okie from Muskoki creating the very foundations
20:57
Speaker 1: of what we consider country music to day. But who
21:01
Speaker 1: knew that late in his career, when an aging Merle
21:03
Speaker 1: Haggard was in his swan song. He also played a
21:06
Speaker 1: pivotal role in the legacy of another Country music Hall
21:09
Speaker 1: of Fame act, Brooks and Dunn. Now, granted, not every
21:13
Speaker 1: Merle Haggard fan might be a Brooks and Dun fan.
21:15
Speaker 1: When they came along in the nineties, some old school
21:18
Speaker 1: country fans felt they symbolized the over commercialization of country.
21:22
Speaker 1: But as for Merle Haggard, he was a huge fan
21:24
Speaker 1: and an admirer of the duo. That is why after
21:27
Speaker 1: Kicks Brooks and Ronnie dun announced they were parting ways
21:30
Speaker 1: in twenty ten after their last rodeo tour, Merle Haggard
21:34
Speaker 1: was ticked, and like Merle Haggard had a pension for doing,
21:37
Speaker 1: he let them know about it. Lo and Behold. When
21:40
Speaker 1: Ronnie and Kicks finally decided to get back together, Merle
21:43
Speaker 1: Haggard was directly responsible. In a recent interview with r FDTV,
21:48
Speaker 1: Kicks Brooks reminisced Merle was a great friend and he
21:51
Speaker 1: chewed my butt because Ronnie and I stopped in twenty ten.
21:54
Speaker 1: We really thought we'd gone as far as we could.
21:57
Speaker 1: Then he chewed me out then or in Woodstockney York
22:00
Speaker 1: sold out and he's looking out the window and goes,
22:02
Speaker 1: what the hell are you all doing? Look at all
22:04
Speaker 1: those people out there? Why would you stop playing. Brooks
22:08
Speaker 1: goes on to explain that when the duo was formed,
22:10
Speaker 1: he didn't even know Ronnie done. They wrote their first
22:13
Speaker 1: two number one records the week they met, and it
22:15
Speaker 1: was off to the races for the next twenty years,
22:18
Speaker 1: and they had never taken a break and never slowed down,
22:20
Speaker 1: thinking it could all end the next year, even though
22:22
Speaker 1: it never did. Then, when Kicks Brooks was interviewing Merle
22:26
Speaker 1: as the host of American Country Countdown, in the middle
22:29
Speaker 1: of the conversation, Merle stopped, stepped down and said, when
22:32
Speaker 1: are you getting back together with Ronnie Kicksbrooks responded, I
22:36
Speaker 1: don't know, Merle, we're talking. We've been duck hunting quite
22:39
Speaker 1: a few times. Merle responded, no, when are you two
22:43
Speaker 1: getting back together and doing your job? Let me tell
22:45
Speaker 1: you something. You two have a thing. Everybody doesn't get
22:49
Speaker 1: that opportunity at the level you guys have gotten to.
22:51
Speaker 1: Don't waste that. You guys have a thing, and you
22:53
Speaker 1: need to get back to work Kicks. Brooks then took
22:57
Speaker 1: that clip from the interview and sent it to Ronnie Dunn.
23:00
Speaker 1: Merrill's kind of our living, dad, Kicks explains, and Ronnie
23:02
Speaker 1: posted immediately it really put a fire beneath us. Brooks
23:06
Speaker 1: and Dunn would reform to open shows for Reba McIntyre
23:09
Speaker 1: in Las Vegas in twenty fifteen. Subsequently, they have won
23:12
Speaker 1: the CMA's Vocal Duo of the Year both in twenty
23:15
Speaker 1: four and twenty five. Once again, Merle Haggard was right.
23:19
Speaker 1: Brooks and Dunn and their music have definitely been big
23:21
Speaker 1: beneficiaries of the resurgent in interest in nineties country recently,
23:26
Speaker 1: perhaps even more than someone like Garth Brooks with his
23:28
Speaker 1: inaccessible catalog or other class of eighty nine acts like
23:31
Speaker 1: Travis Tritt, if only because their music was so defining
23:34
Speaker 1: of the era. Though they've spent more recent years participating
23:38
Speaker 1: in reboot retrospectives, now feels like the time for them
23:42
Speaker 1: to release a new original album. Their last album was
23:45
Speaker 1: two thousand and sevens Cowboy Town. Something tells saving country
23:50
Speaker 1: music that Merle Haggard would definitely agree. Now we step
23:54
Speaker 1: on the gas to get over to the boot dot com.
23:57
Speaker 1: With the article dated August third, This is list ten
24:00
Speaker 1: country stars who canceled shows or even whole tours in
24:05
Speaker 1: just this year twenty twenty six. Takes more than one
24:09
Speaker 1: off illness to make those lists. These ten country stars
24:12
Speaker 1: canceled large segments of their tours, and in some cases
24:15
Speaker 1: they scrap the whole run altogether. Whenever a singer scraps
24:19
Speaker 1: multiple dates or an entire tour, there's typically some speculation
24:22
Speaker 1: about low ticket sales, and it's warranted. Often the rising
24:26
Speaker 1: costs of gas and transportation, combined with skyrocketing costs of
24:30
Speaker 1: living across the US and beyond, mean ticket prices are
24:33
Speaker 1: higher and more fans can't afford them. But the majority
24:36
Speaker 1: of stars who've taken time away from the road in
24:38
Speaker 1: twenty twenty six have said they're doing so for health reasons,
24:42
Speaker 1: including a number who are prioritizing their mental health, and
24:46
Speaker 1: that's part of a growing trend of artists sitting out
24:48
Speaker 1: benchmark industry events in the name of their own well being.
24:52
Speaker 1: Across the board, we're moving past the era of toughing
24:55
Speaker 1: it out and dismissing mental health concerns. Fans trend toward
24:59
Speaker 1: compassion when an artists says they need to put their
25:01
Speaker 1: mental health first, and celebrities who speak openly about mental
25:04
Speaker 1: health can be a major health to fans, reminding them
25:07
Speaker 1: to prioritize mental well being in their own lives. It's
25:13
Speaker 1: tempting to look at the jump in major live show
25:16
Speaker 1: cancelations and talk about blue dot fever and the increasingly
25:19
Speaker 1: thin margins of the touring industry, and those factors could
25:22
Speaker 1: certainly be a contributing negative factor to an artist to
25:25
Speaker 1: mental health. But there's a more optimistic take. Maybe another
25:28
Speaker 1: reason for the increased cancelations is that artists are more
25:31
Speaker 1: willing to listen to their mental health needs and fans
25:34
Speaker 1: are more willing to understand them. So here are the
25:37
Speaker 1: ten country stars who've taken major time off the road
25:40
Speaker 1: this year twenty twenty six. Number one Chase Rice. Okay,
25:44
Speaker 1: Chase Rice didn't cancel a tour per se, but he
25:47
Speaker 1: did come forward in January to say he won't be
25:49
Speaker 1: touring this year, and that's a major break from the
25:52
Speaker 1: past several years. He did not put a return date
25:55
Speaker 1: on the calendar. Number two Charlie Crockett. Charlie Crockett canceled
26:00
Speaker 1: all nine dates on the Canadian leg of his winter
26:02
Speaker 1: tour in twenty twenty six. There's no real need to
26:05
Speaker 1: speculate about why he did it. Crockett straight up told
26:07
Speaker 1: fans he wasn't allowed to cross the border. He even
26:10
Speaker 1: showed them the paperwork. He wasn't allowed to cross the
26:13
Speaker 1: border controlled because he's a foreign national, has previously been
26:17
Speaker 1: convicted of a crime that, had he committed it in Canada,
26:20
Speaker 1: would have waranted serious prison time. Number three Culture Wall
26:26
Speaker 1: Canadian singer songwriter Colton Wall announced an indefinite touring hiatus
26:30
Speaker 1: back in March. He shared the news with fans on
26:32
Speaker 1: social media, saying he was grateful for the opportunity to perform,
26:36
Speaker 1: but struggling with a grueling tour schedule mental health struggles
26:40
Speaker 1: led to the cancelation. The singer is yet to return
26:43
Speaker 1: to the stage, but he did quietly get married in July.
26:45
Speaker 1: According to Country Central, number four cancelation leader Randall King,
26:53
Speaker 1: just days after Culter Wall announced his hiatus, another country singer,
26:56
Speaker 1: Randall King, also stepped back from the stage, citing mental
27:00
Speaker 1: health reasons. King canceled several planned shows and festival dates
27:04
Speaker 1: and postponed several others. Megan Patrick number five, she announced
27:10
Speaker 1: in May that she was canceling all remaining tour dates
27:12
Speaker 1: on her calendar. The chan change of plans was due
27:15
Speaker 1: to health reasons and pregnancy complications. Patrick and her husband,
27:19
Speaker 1: fellow country singer Mitchell Tenpenny, announced in marsh that she
27:22
Speaker 1: is pregnant with their first child. Jake Worthington number six.
27:26
Speaker 1: Technically he didn't cancel shows, but he did announce that
27:29
Speaker 1: he was taking a break in the summer of twenty
27:31
Speaker 1: twenty six ahead of the July dates on his The
27:34
Speaker 1: Intent to Talk Tour. Repeat offender Number seven Justin Moore
27:39
Speaker 1: and June, Justin Moore stepped away from multiple tour dates
27:43
Speaker 1: to address an unspecified health problem. Five of the affected
27:46
Speaker 1: shows were opening gigs on Riley Green's tour. Justin Moore
27:50
Speaker 1: says he was battling alcohol addiction and spent his month
27:53
Speaker 1: long tour break completing a stint in rehab. Number eight
27:57
Speaker 1: Rodney Foster. Rodney Foster posts upon the bulk of his
28:00
Speaker 1: summer shows after a serious health crisis. First, he gave
28:03
Speaker 1: himself until mid July to heal and then get ready
28:06
Speaker 1: to return to the stage. Whoever, once he returned to performing,
28:10
Speaker 1: he realized he'd come back too soon. Number nine Casey
28:14
Speaker 1: Musgraves canceled three dates on her upcoming Middle of Nowhere tour.
28:18
Speaker 1: All three of those dates, added after the initial tour announcement,
28:20
Speaker 1: were all second and in one case, third nights in
28:23
Speaker 1: cities where she was already booked to perform. And Bailey
28:27
Speaker 1: Zimmerman Number ten. At the end of July, Zimmerman canceled
28:30
Speaker 1: a ten date international leg of his twenty twenty six tour.
28:33
Speaker 1: Those dates included stops in UK Scandinavia and Europe. Well,
28:38
Speaker 1: this concludes the reading of Country Weekly for this week.
28:40
Speaker 1: If you have any comments or suggestions about our program,
28:44
Speaker 1: kindly call us at eight five nine four two two
28:46
Speaker 1: sixty three ninety. Thank you for joining me and on
28:49
Speaker 1: behalf of everyone here at Radio I. This is Ken Dawkins,
28:53
Speaker 1: wishing you a great day.