Transcript

5.2.25 · Country Weekly

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Speaker 1: Once again, it's time to catch up with Country Weekly,
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where we check out news and gossip from the world
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of country music. I'm your host, Ken Dawkins, and I'll
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be reading from various sources found online. As a reminder,
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RADIOI is reading service intended for people who are blind
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or have other disabilities that make it difficult to read
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printed material. We'll begin with the first article, dated April
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twenty eighth from countryanow dot com. Dustin Lynch and Scotty
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McCreary announce co headlining Two for the Road Tour and
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that includes a stop in Kentucky. Dustin Lynch and Scotty
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McCreary have announced that they will be teaming up for
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the first time this fall with a co headlining run
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dub the Two for the Road Tour. The trek is
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set to make twelve stops across the US, starting November
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sixth in Saginaw, Michigan. They will make their way from Portland, Maine,
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to Tupelo, Mississippi, before wrapping up the trek in Duluth,
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Minnesota on December sixth. Joining the hit Makers on the
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road for select dates will be Walker Montgomery and Sons
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of Habit. This announcement comes hot on the heels of
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Lynch's recent headlining debut at Colorado's iconic Red Rocks Amphitheater.
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He is currently hosting his ongoing twenty twenty five Win
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night Life Las Vegas residency and making history as Win
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night Life's first ever country music artist in residency in
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Sin City, with dates continuing through the summer. Meanwhile, mcquery,
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who just appeared on stage at California's Stagecoach Festival, has
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a packed twenty twenty five schedule. After touring the US
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and Canada with Caine Brown earlier this year, the North
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Carolina native continues with a slew of headlining shows, major
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festival appearances, and an upcoming UK tour in May. The
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Grand Old Opera You member will also head to Switzerland's
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Gestad Festival in September, further cementing his international connection with fans. Plus,
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he recently announced the June twentieth release of a spec
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edition of the album that launched him into stardom, Seasons
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Changed Platinum Edition. The upcoming project is set to include
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four additional tracks that did not appear on the original
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twenty eighteen album, as well as acoustic versions of the
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project's three number one singles plus the fan favorite Still
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Between McCreary's six number one hits and Lynch's collection of
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ten chart toppers, the Two for the Road Tours set
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list is destined to be stacked with fan favorites. Country
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fans will not want to miss the chance to witness
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these two powerhouses join forces to create a one of
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a kind experience on the Two for the Road Tour.
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Tickets for the Dustin Lynch and Scotty McQuary Two for
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the Road Tour will be available to purchase through an
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exclusive fan pre sale, including VIP packages, beginning well beginning
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this past Wednesday. The schedule will include a stop in
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not only Knoxville on the twentieth of Where is the November,
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but Corbyn, Kentucky at the Corbyn Arena on the twenty
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sevenecond of November next. Ella Langley and Zach Topp to
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perform at the sixtieth ACM Awards After scoring first ACM wins,
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Ella Langley and zach Topp both recently snagged their first
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ever ACM Awards for New Female Artists of the Year
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and New Male Artists of the Year respectively. As a
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result off their milestone wins. The Rising Country Acts have
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also been tapped to perform at next week's sixtieth ACM Awards.
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The news was revealed by the Academy of Country Music
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Prime Video in Dick Clark Productions, just days after each
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of the Rising Stars were surprised with their coveted trophies. Top,
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who is also nominated for ACM Album of the Year
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for his album Cold Beer and Country Music, was the
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first ACM Award winner of the year. He was presented
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with his win for ACM New Male Artist of the
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Year on Thursday before taking the stage for a sold
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out show in Wilmington, North Carolina. The Winningness duo and
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ACM history Brooks and Dunn helped share the good news
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with a special vide message, The Eye Neverlies. Singer can
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be seen posing with this trophy and a new photo
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on Instagram. Later, reflecting on the unforgettable moment, Top appeared
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to be overwhelmed with gratitude and made sure to call
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out the fans for their unwavering support throughout his career
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thus far. I couldn't be more honored, and I can't
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say a big enough thank you to my fans for
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loving music and loving what we do on the road
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and listening to the songs every day, he shared humbly,
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it means the world to me. I've always wanted to
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just play and sing for a living, and I get
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to do that now. It's cool to be able to
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get a little trophy now and then to let us
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know that we're doing good. So thank you so much.
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This is beautiful. Top's win follows the success of his
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debut album, Cold Beer and Country Music, which earned over
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three point five million streams in its first week. He
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currently has his headlining as sold out tour with stops
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in Nashville's Ryeman Auditorium, New York's Terminal five, in Boston's
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MGM Music Hall, and is supporting superstars like Alan Jackson
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and Dirk's Bentley. Langley was already on stage a Rock
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the Country in Knoxville, Tennessee, on Friday the twenty fifth,
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when a familiar face unexpectedly appeared on the screen behind her.
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She turned around to see from the winningest artist in
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ACM history, Miranda Lambert, sharing a heartfelt message celebrating Langley's
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incredible year and their close bond as friends and collaborators.
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I'm here to tell you how proud I am of
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you for being the top nominated artist for the Academy
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of Country Music Awards this year. You are my friend,
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first and foremost a fellow dog rescue advocate. You are
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a co writer. You are my sole sister in country
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music and a partner in crime. Lambert said in the video,
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we are going to celebrate so big in Dallas, Texas.
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They ain't even ready. Do you look like you love me?
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Singer was seen turning down her in ears and making
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her way closer to the video so she could hone
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in on exactly what Lambert was saying. As soon as
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she heard that she had won the award, Langley received
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a roar of cheers from the crowd. Her voice cracked
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as she tried to hold in her emotions while continuing
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on with her set. She took to TikTok later that
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night and fully expressed how she was feeling in the moment.
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Tears welled up in her eyes, where pouring out her heart.
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Every day of my life, I've just prayed about this
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and thought about it, and literally everything I've ever done
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was to be able to do this. I'm so grateful
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for the team I have around me. Langley said, I'm
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just really grateful to have fans that are listening to
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the music and see that it is truth and I'm
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just a real life human being going through life like
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the rest of everyone else, and to see the things
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that I go through is something that everyone goes through.
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Langley's going into this year's award show is the top
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nominee of the night with eight nods. In addition to
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a win for New Female Artists of the Year, she
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is also vying for Female Artists of the Year and
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six nominations for her massive hit single You Look Like
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You Love Me, including Single of the Year, Song of
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the Year as an artist and songwriter, Music Event of
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the Year, and Visual Media of the Year as an
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artist and director. Her latest win arrives after the release
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of her debut album, Hungover, which was named one of
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the best albums of twenty four by The New York
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Times end Rolling Stone. You Look Like You Love Me,
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featuring Riley Green Mark Langley's Billboard Hot one hundred debut
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top thirty, her first number one single on country radio,
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and made her the first of only two female artists
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to lead the Billboard Country Airplay chart in twenty twenty four,
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Ellen Langley and Zach Toppele joined previously announced performers Alan Jackson,
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Blake Shelton, Brooks and Dunn, Chris Stapleton, Clint Black, Cody Johnson,
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Eric Church, Kelsey Vallerini, Landy Wilson, Leanne Riimes, Miranda Lambert,
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Rascal Flats, and Winona Judd. Hosted by six Times No.
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That would be sixteen time ACM Award winning entertainment icon
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Reba McIntyre. The sixtieth ACM Awards will stream it live
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exclusively for a global audience across two hundred and forty
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plus countries and territories on Prime Video and the Amazon
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Music Channel on Twitch. The event will take place Thursday,
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May eighth at eight pm, and that'll be from the
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Ford Center at the Star in Frisco, Texas, the world
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headquarters of the Dallas Cowboys. Now we wonder our on
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over to people dot com Country. Luke Combs closes out
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Stage Coach with Garth Brooks brings out Good Charlotte for
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the Anthem. Luke Combs had a few surprises up his
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sleeve for his headlining set at Stagecoach on Sunday. The
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Hurricane singer closed out the Country Music Festival in Indio, California,
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with a special performance of Friends in Low Places, and
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he had some help from his good friend Garth Brooks.
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The duo took turns singing the lyrics to brooks nineteen
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ninety hit and came together for the chorus as the
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crowd sang along before Combs thirty five brought out Brooks
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sixty three. He played a series of career spanning hits
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and had a few more surprises in store as well.
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At one point in the show, Good Charlotte appeared on
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stage to sing their two thousand and two hit the Anthem.
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After they performed the song, which Combs sang along to,
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Madden brothers, Joel and Benji stuck around to help Combs
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with Where the Wild Things Are off Comb's twenty twenty
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three album Get Old. Good Charlotte shared a video of
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their link up on Instagram and referred to the country
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singer as cousin Line Duke in the caption section. In
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addition to Brooks and Joel and Benji Madden, Combs also
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brought out Bailey Zimmerman to debut their new song back
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Up Plan, which they previously teased on Instagram before they
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kicked off the song, Combs revealed they would be filming
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the music video on stage and put on an energetic
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performance for the roaring crowd. Combs headlining performance came only
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three years after he headlined in twenty twenty two. This
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time around, his fellow headliners included Jelly Roll and Zach Bryan. However,
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the headlining set on the main stage wasn't the end
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of Combs's performance at Stagecoach. After his set, the One
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Number Away singer joined Backstreet Boys at the Palomino stage
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for a performance of their hit I Want It That Way.
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Stage Coach had a number of surprise guests this year.
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Jelly Roll brought out a whopping nine guests during his
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headlining set, including MGK, Shaboozi, Whiz Khalifa, and Lena del Rey.
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Combs released his latest album, Father and Sons in twenty
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twenty four. The album follows twenty twenty three A's Gains
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and Old, twenty twenty two's Grown Up, nineteen's What You
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See Is What You Get, and of course this One's
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for You from twenty seventeen. Later this year, he scheduled
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to perform at a series of festivals, including the New Orleans
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Jazz and Heritage Festival, Boots in the Park, the Newport
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Folk Festival, Lollapalooza, and Boston Calling Next. Willie Nelson's wife
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claps back at the inaccurate report claiming their son Lucas
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is caring for them. Willie Nelson's wife is clapping back
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at an outlet's incorrect report about the couple's state of care.
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One week ago. On Friday the eighteenth, DiAngelo sixty eight
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responded to an Instagram update shared by AXSTV. In the
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social media post, which was published on April fourteenth, the
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station captured a photo of Willie ninety one DiAngelo and
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their son Lucas Nelson, with the claim Lucas Nelson takes
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pride in taking care of ninety one year old dad
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Willy Nelson and sixty three year old mom Annie DiAngelo.
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They concluded, Lucas makes sure mom and dad are comfortable
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and living their best life after many years of making
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good music. In the comments, di Angelo pointed out the
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inaccuracies of the story while slamming the station for using
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a photo shared by someone else. I still take care
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of my husband. Lucas has always been there for us
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as has his brother and love it, she continued, referring
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to the two sons they share, including Micah Nelson. Then
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you claim our incorrect ages. Don't do that. Just ask
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Willi and DiAngelo, the country's singer's fourth wife, have been
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married since nineteen ninety one. Both of their sons are musicians.
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Lucas thirty six set to release his solo debut album,
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American Romance in June, while Micah thirty four performs with
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the band Particle Kid. Despite the station's implication about Willian
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DiAngelo health and well being, the singer is currently on
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tour with Bob Dylan and other musicians for the Outlaw
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Music Festival, which is traveling around the country all summer long.
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In fact, Willie told the Associated Press back in November
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that I feel like I'm in pretty good sh shape physically,
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while explaining that he's not worried about dying. I'm ninety
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one plus, you know I'm not worried about it. I
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don't feel bad, I don'thurt anywhere. I don't have any
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reason to worry about dying, he said, noting that he
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takes pretty good care of himself. Although she typically keeps
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a low profile DiAngelo most recently opened up about playing
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the role of chef and nurse for Willie after he
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contracted COVID nineteen during the pandemic. When her husband got sick,
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DiAngelo sprang into action. We turned the house into a hospital.
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She told The New York Times in twenty twenty two.
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There were a couple of times when I wasn't sure
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he was going to make it. A year later, Willi
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praised DiAngelo while speaking to people. I call her my
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pet rattler. He said, she's my lover, my wife, my nurse,
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my doctor, and my bodyguard. Now we shuffle over to
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Saving Country Music, where we're probably in for some pointed
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commentary along with news. With the first article dated April
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twenty ninth, country is surging in country music, but popstars
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are fusing the signal. Beyonce's Cowboy Carter Tour officially started
13:05
Monday night in Los Angeles, with some surmising this will
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finally be the catalyst for the shift in pop culture
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that they've been waiting Queen Bee to enact through her
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big country move. But that's not going to happen, says
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Saving Country Music. As The Independent and others have reported,
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fans who initially paid hundreds of dollars for tickets are
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now angry as tickets are going for as low as
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thirty to fifty dollars, while most of the stops on
13:29
the tour have yet to sell out. Similar to how
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the Cowboy Carter album itself that saw a cratering in
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sales and consumption that can only be characterized as catastrophic
13:39
from a performer that was recently named the greatest pop
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star of the twenty first century by Billboard, a Beyonce
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tour is already in big financial disappointment. And let's not
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forget even Beyonce said This Ain't a country album, despite
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it winning Best Country Album Grammy and the Grammy for
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All Genre Album of a Year. Though many in the
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media bubble continue to proclaim Beyonce in Cowboy Carter's dominance
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over country, in truth, it's decidedly a non factor. At
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some point, folks are going to have to reconcile with
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the fact that the entire Beyonce Goes Country narrative was
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one giant knard and perhaps a Waterloo moment in her career.
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It's already a commercial low point. However, the trend of
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pop artists and pop projects being pushed to the country
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market that started in earnest with Beyonce is beginning to
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look less like a short lived trend for twenty twenty
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four and now becoming endemic. Many were wondering if post
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Malone would be won and done when it came to
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his twenty twenty four country album F one trillion. Now
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we know the answer is likely no. Post He revealed
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earlier this month that he's recorded about thirty five new
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songs in Nashville. He made the revelation in an article
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in Billboard that reads just as much as an advertisement
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for poppy soda as it does a profile of post Malone. Meanwhile,
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on April twenty second, British pop star Ed Sheeran showed
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up to Nashville's Die Bar Sata's Pub with Noah Khan
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to perform a few songs amid Sharon recording his own
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country album. Yes, Ed Sheeron is going country as well.
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There'll be joining indie rockers Julian Baker and Taurus, who
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released their supposed country album on April eighteenth, called Send
15:16
a Prayer My Way spoiler alert, It's not that country.
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Chapel Rohne recently had the number one song in country
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with The Giver. Post Malone currently has the number three
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album in country with f one trillion. All of this
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was the setup for last weekend's Stagecoach festival in Indio, California,
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says saving Country Music the country music version of Coachella.
15:39
What was the big news coming out of Stagecoach twenty
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twenty five, Well, it wasn't Zach Bryan's headlining set nor
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Jelly Rolls. It was that Lana del Ray confessed to
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kissing Morgan Wallen while performing her song fifty seven point
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five and supposedly shading him afterwards. Monitoring social media and
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the press coming out of Stagecoach twenty twenty five, you
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would have thought that Lena del Ray was the biggest
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name performing at the event. She certainly got more press
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than anyone else. In fact, the biggest news out of
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jelly Rolls headlining set was how lenadl Ray made an appearance.
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And let's not forget that just a few years ago,
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Jelly roll was a rock and hip hop artist himself.
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Lenadel Ray has been teasing her new country album, or
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at least a country inspired album. The album was originally
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to be called Lasso The title has since been changed
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to the right Person Will Stay So Far. There is
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no release date for the project, but the early singles
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sound much more like folk or acoustic Americana as opposed
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to country. As a country music fan, you don't want
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to be completely territorial and adversarial to anyone from outside
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the genre deciding they want to try their hand at country.
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People love to throw out accusations of gatekeeping whenever you
16:48
question why a performer is going country and if the
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music is indeed country, But when performers from outside the
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genre bring their celebrity status to country, they shade out
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all the artists native to the genre who'd been working
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their whole lives and careers to find traction. Beyonce might
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have won the two Big Grammy Awards earlier this year,
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but Sierra Ferrell won four. She also performed as stagecoach,
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but could only garner passing mentions from the national press.
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Despite coming out on stage in a feathery costume and
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as always slaying the audience and participating in big collaborations
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with Nicky Lane and Shaboozi. All Leano Delray had to
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do or say is say she kissed Morgan Wallen, and
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she sucked up all the attention because she's Lena del Rey.
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It might be easier to stomach some of the encroachment
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by pop stars into country music if they weren't hogging
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all of the oxygen the Grammy Awards, the accolades, and
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the press as saving country music. It's not performers like
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Beyonce and Leonard del Ray being gate kept out of
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the country. It's massive superstars moving into the country space
17:51
and gatekeeping actual country performers from worthy attention. Whether it's
17:55
Lena del Rey or Beyonce or Ed Sheeran, It's important
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that country fans and country media don't show their eye
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or don't take their eye off the ball on what's
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most important in country music. That Sharon might have performed
18:07
at Santa's Pub, but country artist Christina Murray has been
18:10
performing at Santa's Pub in Nashville every Sunday for going
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on a decade and is finally releasing her label debut,
18:15
Little Blue, on May ninth. What's wrong with making sure
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she gets some attention too. It's really hard to assess
18:22
where country music truly is heading into the summer of
18:25
twenty twenty five because the pop incursion is confusing the
18:28
signal the genre is clearly going through a traditional country
18:33
resurgence led by Zach Topp and others. But then you
18:36
have so much attention in country music moving to pop stars.
18:38
It's quite problematic because as soon as these performers decide
18:42
country music is uncool again, their departure will potentially leave
18:46
a vacuum. Country music never is desired to want to
18:49
be the most popular genre of music. It's only desired
18:53
to want to be country. To quote Ricky Skagg's song,
18:56
whenever country gets above it's raising, that's when things go wrong.
19:01
Continuing to be so welcoming to pop stars while country
19:04
ones go overshadowed runs that risk. Next, Steve Earle invited
19:10
to be the next Grand Old Opry member. In a
19:14
completely unexpected move, though not entirely undeserved, alt country legend
19:19
and American godfather, Steve Earle has been invited to become
19:23
the next member the Grand Old Opry. The invitation came
19:26
during Steve Earl's set Saturday Night on the legendary Stage
19:30
radio show. Longtime opering member Vince Gill did the honors
19:34
right after Steve Earle performed his signature song Copperhead Road,
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Vince Gill came out to give Steve Earl a commemorative
19:41
Opry one hundredth birthday guitar strap. Gil then acted like
19:45
that was all, before doubling back and saying, Oh, you
19:48
have to be an Opry member to have one of these.
19:50
We want to invite you to become a member of
19:53
the Grand Old Opry. Steve Earl barreled over with emotion.
19:56
This is kind of the biggest thing that's ever happened
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to me in my life, he said of it victually,
20:00
before performing Hillbilly Highway as now an Opry invitee. Though
20:06
Seeve Earl is no stranger to the Grand Old Opry stage,
20:08
it's not as if he's been a long time regular
20:10
of the performing rotation either. Many have been expecting an
20:14
invite for a more contemporary performer next, potentially Jelly Roll
20:17
or The War Entreaty. Instead, Steve Earl adds a decidedly
20:21
alt country character to the Grand Old Opry membership, which
20:24
is something that has been somewhat missing from the ranks
20:27
over the years. Though Earl might have put the alt
20:30
in country. His nineteen eighty six debut album, Guitar Town,
20:33
was a number one on the country charts and produced
20:36
multiple top ten hits under producer Tony Brown. Earl has
20:40
always been somewhat of an outsider to the national establishment,
20:45
as a rather brash individual, politically outspoken, and with a
20:49
felony drug history, but his rehabilitation over the years has
20:53
been strong. In twenty twenty three, Copperhead Road became an
20:57
official state song of Tennessee. Despite the song's Steve Earle
21:01
will formerly be inducted as a member on a future
21:04
show Now We Nip and Tuck our way to Taste
21:07
Ofcountry dot com with the first article date at April
21:10
twenty eighth. Toby Keith's horse beat the odds to make
21:14
it to the Kentucky Derby. Toby Keith's daughter Crystal is
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celebrating the fulfillment of a dream her late father worked
21:20
on for much of his life, and one that she
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says was nearly as important to him as his music.
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One of Keith's horses, Render Judgment, will race in the
21:30
twenty twenty five Kentucky Derby. A social media post on
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his Instagram first shared the news, saying Toby will have
21:36
the best seat in the house as he cheers on
21:39
his horse from Heaven. Even though Keith was an avid
21:42
horse racing fan who owned and trained racing thoroughbreds for years,
21:45
it's still a major accomplishment to place a horse in
21:48
the world's biggest annual horse racing event. Cristel also says
21:52
that render Judgment qualified at the very last second. Our
21:56
horse render Judgment made it yesterday, just hours before the
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post position, which as of this reading is post position fifteen.
22:03
Out of twenty thousand plus race horses born in the
22:06
same year to be eligible for this year's race, only
22:09
twenty will race and the twenty twenty five Kentucky Derby.
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Crystal goes on to say the odds might have been slim,
22:14
but she says her famous dad was working toward his
22:16
dream over thirty years. Here he is making his dreams
22:20
come true from his castle in the sky. She continued,
22:23
My dad could never decide which passion was greater, music
22:26
or horse racing. He could have been a PhD in
22:29
horse pedigrees. What an incredible journey we've been on to
22:32
get here, win or lose. He made it to the Derby,
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and that, for me is everything. Crystal concluded. Not all
22:39
fans know that the country superstar behind hits like Beer
22:42
from My Horses and should have been a cowboy. Was
22:44
also an avid horse racing fan who owned and trained
22:46
racing thoroughbreds. According to a twenty twenty four report from
22:50
the San Gabriel Valley Tribune, Keith enjoyed racing himself and
22:53
raced under the name dream Walking Farms. His most frequent
22:57
venue was in his home to Turf of Oklahoma City,
23:00
but he regularly raised elsewhere too. His top thoroughbred horses
23:04
names were Cactus Ridge, Smacksmack, and Three Cords. Trainer Brett Calhoun,
23:09
who worked with Keith to train Cactus Ridge, told the
23:13
SGV Tribune after Keith's death that he was a big star,
23:17
larger than life, but he was just a regular guy
23:19
as well. He was so approachable, so easy to talk with.
23:23
Calhoun said, you really enjoyed being around him, and he
23:26
treated everybody the same. It didn't matter who you were,
23:29
He respected everybody. Next. Eric Church announces twenty twenty five
23:35
Free the Machine Tour dates. Eric Church has just announced
23:39
a massive fall tour which includes Kentucky. The twenty twenty
23:43
five Free the Machine Tour will begin this September in
23:46
Pittsburgh and run into November. L King, Marcus King Band,
23:50
and Charles Wesley Godwin will open for Church throughout the tour.
23:53
The twenty two day trek fills out a tour calendar
23:56
that had been highlighted by a trio of shows at
23:58
Red Rocks, Amphitheater and Free the Machine tour will support
24:03
Churches New Evangeline Versus the Machine album, due May second.
24:07
It is his first tour since The Outsider's Revival Tour
24:10
back in twenty twenty three. Premium members of the Church
24:13
Choir will get first access to tickets. Pre Sales for
24:17
Church New Tour start May fifth, local time. Premium members
24:21
of Church Choir the Superstars Fan Club get first access
24:24
to tickets. Fans who followed Church closely know that one
24:27
tour is never like the one that came before it.
24:30
Most recently, he embarked on a long journey of solo
24:33
shows that found him playing songs from across his catalog
24:36
for nearly three hours. Prior to that, his sets have
24:39
been an unpredictable combo of acoustic country, hard rock, and blues.
24:45
The Evangeline Versus the Machine album promises to be unlike
24:48
anything he's done previously, as he's teasing heavy strings across
24:51
much of the project. At just eight songs, it's his
24:55
shortest album to date, but several tracks are at least
24:58
five minutes long. Fans have already familiarized themselves with Darkest Hour,
25:03
a song he used to benefit the rebuild after Hurricane
25:06
struck his home state of North Carolina. Hands of Time
25:09
is his current single and Yet He will be at
25:13
Rupp Arena in Lexington on October three. And finally, from
25:17
the boot dot Com, an article published on April twenty ninth,
25:20
Mark Chestnut reveals he almost died during harrowing alcoholism battle.
25:26
Mark Chestnut has previously opened up about his emergency quadruple
25:29
bypass heart surgery back in June of last year, and
25:32
he alluded to some other health complications that were affecting
25:35
to him prior to that, but the Brother Jukebox Singers
25:38
never told the full story until now. In an interview
25:41
with American songwriter, Chestnut says that he had a heavy
25:44
drinking habit for years. By the time the COVID nineteen
25:47
pandemic rolled around in twenty twenty, he was struggling both
25:50
with worsening back issues that required spinal surgery and with
25:53
a level of alcohol consumption that was spiraling out of control.
25:57
Chestnut's spine was fractured in three places by the time
26:00
he had surgery in twenty twenty one, and he tells
26:03
American songwriter that he lost the ability to walk and
26:05
fell down the escalator at the Houston Airport, couldn't keep
26:08
his balance anymore. After surgery, he couldn't work, drive, or walk,
26:12
and pandemic restrictions meant that physical therapy had to wait.
26:16
I drank all day, every day. Chestnut says he knew
26:20
he needed help dealing with addiction, but he feared that
26:22
a scandal would break out. A press caught wind of
26:24
the fact that he checked into a rehab center. Finally,
26:27
he asked an ambulance to be called for him by
26:29
his wife. In November twenty three, he wound up staying
26:33
in a hospital Knoxville for a week his doctor's work
26:35
to address health issues that he accumulated. He says, doctors
26:38
gave him four blood transfusions and diagnosed him with the
26:41
esophagal verses, a result of cirrhosis. I knew I was dying,
26:46
the singer remembers, I was bleeding out from my inside.
26:49
He goes on to say, they basically told me they
26:51
were going to get me over this, and I was
26:53
going to be fine and they could fix everything wrong
26:55
with me. But if they discharged me and I went
26:57
home and started drinking again, I'd be back in a
26:59
miny matter of days and I might not leave alive.
27:02
I had to quit drinking or die, he adds, and
27:05
he did. Chestnut has been sober since November or first,
27:09
twenty twenty three. Around that time, he publicly said that
27:12
he was in a battle to get healthy, posting on
27:15
social media that he was struggling with a battle that
27:17
I fought to overcome for many years on my own,
27:20
but he didn't offer specifics about exactly what kind of
27:22
battle he was fighting. He also took time off the
27:25
road around this point in order to focus on his health. Now,
27:28
Chestnut says the idea of performing sober was pretty nerve
27:31
wracking at first. I wasn't blasted every time I got
27:35
on stage, but it was close. Well. On Tuesday, Chessnut
27:38
announced his Redemption Tour, which includes a number of stops
27:41
in Kentucky, a trek focused on his health and sobriety.
27:45
In a press release, the singer says he can't wait
27:47
to get on the road in matter two or now
27:49
that he's healthy for the first time in a long time.
27:52
My diet is better, I'm more active, and I feel
27:54
better than I did in my thirties. He says, I'm
27:56
excited about the whole process of going on the road.
27:59
I'm excited every night to go on stage. I have
28:01
the energy I wish I had throughout the nineties. Mark
28:05
Chestnuts twenty twenty five Redemption Tour includes dates in Elizabethtown
28:10
on June sixth at the Historic State Theater, the next
28:14
night in Benton, Kentucky at the Kentucky Opery that's June seventh,
28:19
and in Ashland, Kentucky on July twelfth at the Boyd
28:22
County Fairgrounds. Well, this concludes the reading of Country Weekly
28:27
for this week. If you have any comments or suggestions
28:30
about our program, kindly call us at eight five nine
28:33
four two two sixty three ninety. Thanks so much for
28:36
joining me and on behalf of everyone here at RADIOI.
28:39
This is Ken Dawkins, wishing you a great day.