Transcript

7.17.26 · Country Weekly

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Speaker 1: Welcome back to Country Weekly, where we dive into news
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Speaker 1: and gossip from the world of country music. I'm your host,
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Speaker 1: Ken Dawkins, and i will be reading from various sources
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Speaker 1: found online. As a reminder, RADIOI is a reading service
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Speaker 1: intended for people who are blind or have other disabilities
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Speaker 1: that make it difficult to read printed material. We'll begin
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Speaker 1: with the first article day of July thirteenth from Countrycentral
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Speaker 1: dot Com. First up, Chris Stapleton, Red Clay Strays, Highlight
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Speaker 1: twenty twenty six Bourbon and Beyond lineup. The Bourbon and
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Speaker 1: Beyond Music Festival is set for September twenty fourth through
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Speaker 1: the twenty seventh at the Kentucky Exposition Center in Louisville,
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Speaker 1: with country and Americana acts featured prominently across the bill.
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Speaker 1: Chris Stapleton headline Saturday September twenty sixth alongside The Red
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Speaker 1: Clay Strays and Jason Isbel in the four hundred unit
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Speaker 1: the Kentucky Natives. Appearance follows his twenty twenty six Grammy
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Speaker 1: win for Best Country Solo Performance. Friday September twenty fifth
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Speaker 1: brings Casey Musgraves as a top billed act alongside Mumford
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Speaker 1: and Sons. Other notable headliners included The Foo Fighters, Dave
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Speaker 1: Matthews Band, Queen of stone Age, and many more. Beyond
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Speaker 1: the headliners, the festival's broader lineup carries a deep country,
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Speaker 1: Americana and bluegrass presence, including Charlie Crockett, Max McNown, Avery,
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Speaker 1: Anna Caitlin Buttz, Bryan Martin, Jason Scott in the High Heat,
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Speaker 1: Daniel Donado's Cosmic Country, The Steel Wheels, Woodbox Heroes, Nathan Bess,
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Speaker 1: Clover Country, kelleb And Reeve Palmyra, Longhorned, Slim and the Creakers.
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Speaker 1: Bluegrass and string band acts round out the bill as well,
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Speaker 1: including Sierra Hall, the Infamous String Dusters, Kitchen Dwellers, Fireside Collective,
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Speaker 1: Shelby Means, and Rainbow Girls. Festival producer danner Wimer said
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Speaker 1: in a statement, Bourbon and Beyond is built to be
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Speaker 1: the best weekend of your year, plain and simple. From
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Speaker 1: a second and you arrive. Everything is designed so you
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Speaker 1: can fully experience what a music festival should be. It's
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Speaker 1: an escape with soul, a place where you can unplug
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Speaker 1: from real life, let loose, be a kid again, and
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Speaker 1: really live in the moment. You can ride roller coasters
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Speaker 1: at Kentucky Kingdom, discover new artists, into your favorites, sip
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Speaker 1: great spirits and eat incredible food and it all just works.
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Speaker 1: At its core, It's about creating memories. It's a vacation
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Speaker 1: inside of vacation. This line up reflects everything Bourbon and
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Speaker 1: Beyond stands for. And I say this with a humility
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Speaker 1: and confidence. There's nothing else quite like it in this space.
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Speaker 1: It truly is the best weekend you can have at
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Speaker 1: a festival of this scale. Passes including four day single day,
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Speaker 1: ga Mint VIP and Angels Envy Beyond VIP options are
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Speaker 1: on sale now at Bourbonanbeyond dot com. Next, Hudson Westbrook
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Speaker 1: shares Hits Me Fall Tour dates. Hudson Westbrook has announced
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Speaker 1: the Hits Me Too, or a Fall headlining run with
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Speaker 1: special guests Kenny Whitmer and Ethan Burdick. The two are
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Speaker 1: open in September eighteenth in Fort Worth, Texas, and runs
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Speaker 1: through December third in Nagadosis, Texas, with dates across the country.
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Speaker 1: The announcement comes during a breakout stretch for the Stephenville,
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Speaker 1: Texas native. Westbrook scored his first number one hit with
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Speaker 1: House Again on the media based Country chart, making him
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Speaker 1: the youngest male country artist to land a solo number
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Speaker 1: one on that chart. The single was the lead track
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Speaker 1: from his debut studio album, Texas Forever, released in July
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Speaker 1: of last year. Painted You Pretty followed as the album's
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Speaker 1: second radio single this past March. Westbrook has surpassed a
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Speaker 1: billion global streams in roughly eighteen months, and has been
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Speaker 1: alternating headline dates with opening slots for arena level acts
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Speaker 1: including Parker McCollum and Bailey Zimmerman. Ahead of the Hits
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Speaker 1: Me tour. He also has opening date set with George
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Speaker 1: Strait and Morgan Wallen. Early access registration is open now
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Speaker 1: at Hudson's website. The closest he gets to us would
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Speaker 1: be in Huntington, West Virginia, on November twelve. Next. Tuck
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Speaker 1: Wetmore reveals Who Told You That? Release date. Tucker Wetmore
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Speaker 1: has confirmed that his song Who Told You That will
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Speaker 1: be released this week or this weekend, actually, following weeks
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Speaker 1: of the track being teased at his live shows. The
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Speaker 1: song is circulated among his fans through concert clips and
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Speaker 1: social media snippets in recent weeks ahead of its official
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Speaker 1: release date. Lyrics for the track have also surfaced online.
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Speaker 1: The release comes on the heels of a banner stretch
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Speaker 1: for Wetmore. Brunette off his twenty twenty five album debut,
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Speaker 1: What Not To became his third career number one single
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Speaker 1: in May, topping both the media based Country and Billboard
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Speaker 1: Country airplay charts and following earlier Charttarper's wind Up Missing
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Speaker 1: You in three two one. Wetmore was also recently named
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Speaker 1: ACM New Mail Artist of the Year. He's currently on
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Speaker 1: the road supporting his headlining Brunette World Tour, which launched
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Speaker 1: June twenty first, with US dates running through October, alongside
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Speaker 1: a stop at Cmafest. He also released of the single
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Speaker 1: Sunburn back in March. What More Washington native That's a
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Speaker 1: Washington State native played college football at Montana Technical University
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Speaker 1: before an injury ended his athletic career and he turned
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Speaker 1: his focus to music. He relocated to Nashville in twenty twenty.
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Speaker 1: He signed with Black Blocks Music in twenty three, and
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Speaker 1: later added a partnership with U m G Nashville. Further
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Speaker 1: details on Who Told You That, including whether it will
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Speaker 1: be tied to a future project, have not yet been announced.
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Speaker 1: Next Zach Bryan teases two new songs e P Young
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Speaker 1: Manhood and Other Donatable Organs. July third, Zach Bryan shared
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Speaker 1: acoustic clips on YouTube of two new songs, Lodi Wen
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Speaker 1: and Better Friends, both of which were teased as part
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Speaker 1: of a forthcoming ep called Young Manhood and Other Donatable Organs.
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Speaker 1: As of yet, there is no word on that record's
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Speaker 1: release date or other songs that may be included. The
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Speaker 1: release follows the time Honored Zach Bryan formula, dating back
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Speaker 1: to his earliest releases, each recorded in the informal amateur
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Speaker 1: style that first charmed audiences years ago. Lodi Win was
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Speaker 1: recorded on a verdant porch, while Better Friends was shot
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Speaker 1: in his front seat in a parking garage. The pair
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Speaker 1: of tracks comes on the heels of the mellow unreleased
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Speaker 1: single Breakfast in Bed, which Brian shared to YouTube last month.
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Speaker 1: Right now, it's not clear whether that song will be
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Speaker 1: released in tandem with Better Friends and load I Win.
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Speaker 1: Zack Bryan is currently in the midst of his With
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Speaker 1: Heaven on Tour stadium run Slater to wrap up in October,
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Speaker 1: promoting the eponymous album With Heaven on Top, released this
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Speaker 1: past January. This year, he's kept a comparably lower public profile,
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Speaker 1: staying fairly reserved on social media, with few public appearances
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Speaker 1: beyond his ongoing tour stops. Next, Stella Lefty teases new
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Speaker 1: song good at Leavin'. Stella Lefty is set to release
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Speaker 1: her new single, good at Leavin' this Friday, the singer
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Speaker 1: songwriter announced this week alongside a short snippet of the
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Speaker 1: track featuring the song's hook. The twenty three year old
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Speaker 1: Los Angeles based artist born Stella Leftoff Leftofski and raised
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Speaker 1: in Glencoe, Illinois, broke through earlier this year with Boston,
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Speaker 1: a country pop single built around an interpolation of Noah
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Speaker 1: Kahan's Stick Season, for which Kahan received co writing credit.
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Speaker 1: The song debuted on the Billboard Hot one hundred at
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Speaker 1: number ninety five in April, before climbing into the top
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Speaker 1: twenty the following month. Left He signed to Atlantic Outpost
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Speaker 1: after her earlier singles gained traction online, and she built
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Speaker 1: her following largely through TikTok and Instagram covers of artists
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Speaker 1: like Tyler Childs and the band Perry before pivoting to
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Speaker 1: original material. She has since performed at Stagecoach, opened for
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Speaker 1: Cameron Whitcomb on his Fragile Egos tour and made her
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Speaker 1: CMA Fest debut earlier this month. Now we take a
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Speaker 1: trip on over to Savingcountry Music dot Com with the
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Speaker 1: first article dated July fourteenth, The Miles Zero Fest announces
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Speaker 1: stacked twenty twenty seven lineup. It's not easy to get there,
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Speaker 1: it's not cheap to stay, but those who have made
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Speaker 1: the trick now over the ten year history will swear
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Speaker 1: there ain't nothing like Mile Zero Fest in Key West, Florida.
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Speaker 1: You just can't replace or exchange experiencing your favorite music
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Speaker 1: in paradise, especially smack Dab in the middle of frozen winter.
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Speaker 1: This setting is spectacular and so are the people. For some,
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Speaker 1: it's an annual pilgrimage. For others it's a one time splurge.
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Speaker 1: Either way, Country Music's Saving Country Music says it's worth it.
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Speaker 1: The twenty twenty seven lineup just announces, crowned by headliners
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Speaker 1: Cross Canadian Ragweed, Old Crow, Medicine Show, the resurgent Ryan Bingham,
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Speaker 1: and They're surging Wyatt Flores and Caitlin Butts. Of course,
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Speaker 1: the undercart is stacked as well, with returning favorites like Tanner, Ushery, Silverada,
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Speaker 1: Wayde Bowen and American Aquarium, but there's also some really
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Speaker 1: exciting new names like Pony Bradshaw, Nicholas Jamerson and The Creakers.
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Speaker 1: The Mile Zero Fest isn't just an intimate amphitheater show.
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Speaker 1: It's also like its own songwriters' festival, with folks like
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Speaker 1: Jason Edy, Adam Hood, and Walton Tina Wilkins making the track.
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Speaker 1: There's also always something to discover there when it comes
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Speaker 1: to up and coming performers. This was the place many
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Speaker 1: first saw Tyler Childers, The Red Clay Strays, Morgan Wade
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Speaker 1: and so many more. And though the lineup might be
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Speaker 1: eye popping and daunting at the same time, everybody plays
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Speaker 1: at least two sets, meaning you have multiple opportunities to
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Speaker 1: see your favorite artists. The settings around Key West make
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Speaker 1: for unique experiences, from the legendary Sunset Peer to Jimmy
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Speaker 1: Buffett's Margheritaville, to the southernmost point of the US on
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Speaker 1: the beach, and beyond the festival itself. Key West has
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Speaker 1: so much to experience and discover if you're in so inclined.
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Speaker 1: Passes and packages go on sale to the public this
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Speaker 1: weekend at ten a m. On Friday, mile zero fest
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Speaker 1: dot Com. Well Saving Country Music is calling it now.
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Speaker 1: They say Ella Langley has the twenty twenty six song
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Speaker 1: of the Summer. Sure, there's a little bit more race
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Speaker 1: to run, but at this point and Ella Langley has
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Speaker 1: gotten so far out in front and lapped so much
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Speaker 1: of the field, it's a foregone conclusion how this race
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Speaker 1: will end, and against some massive competitors like Taylor Swift
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Speaker 1: and Drake Ellen. Langley's win is also a win for
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Speaker 1: country music and traditional country specifically. This week, Ella Langley's
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Speaker 1: Choosing Texas spent its thirteenth week at number one atop
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Speaker 1: the Billboard All Genre Hot one hundred. This just adds
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Speaker 1: more historic benchmarks to the songs already historic run. At
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Speaker 1: this point. The only other singles in popular music history
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Speaker 1: that have done better by a solo woman are I
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Speaker 1: Will Always Love You by Whitney Houston and Mariah carries
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Speaker 1: We Belong Together back in five. They both spent fourteen
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Speaker 1: weeks at number one. You also have Mariah's All I
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Speaker 1: Want for Christmas Is You, but that's another story. If
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Speaker 1: Choosing Texas spends another week at number one, it will
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Speaker 1: tie those two juggernaut songs, and if it spends two
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Speaker 1: weeks more it will best then. At this point it
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Speaker 1: would be a shock if it doesn't do this. There's
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Speaker 1: really nothing else to challenge the song's dominance. Taylor Swift
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Speaker 1: tried with her Toy Story track, but it sits strongly
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Speaker 1: at number two at the moment. Ella's only other competition
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Speaker 1: is well Ella Her song be Her is the number
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Speaker 1: three song on the Hot one hundred, while her duet
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Speaker 1: with Morgan Wallen I Can't Love You Anymore is number four. Meanwhile,
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Speaker 1: Ella's biggest competition for Song of the Summer, which is
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Speaker 1: Drake's Janis Stfu, sits at number eight on the Hot
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Speaker 1: one hundred this week. Though the Song of the Summer
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Speaker 1: is often considered more of a vibe than a measurable metric,
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Speaker 1: Billboard does keep a chart of it. Of course, Ella
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Speaker 1: Langley and Choosing Texas are leading it, and with only
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Speaker 1: six weeks to go, don't really have anyone nipping at
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Speaker 1: their heels, and just appreciate that all this is coming
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Speaker 1: from a single that was initially reached in October of
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Speaker 1: last year, and it had made such a racket by
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Speaker 1: the end of the year. Was awarded Saving Country Music's
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Speaker 1: Music Single of the year. Here in the dead of summer,
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Speaker 1: it's still going as strong as ever. The only thing
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Speaker 1: left to settle about choosing Texas is if it's the
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Speaker 1: most successful cunt single of all time, it's hard to
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Speaker 1: argue against it owning that distinction from a country woman.
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Speaker 1: At this point, from a charting standpoint, it already owns
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Speaker 1: that distinction. It's not surprising that at this point some
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Speaker 1: have become tired of Ella Langley and choosing Texas. After all,
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Speaker 1: it's been so dominant, never present, for so long. But
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Speaker 1: irrespective of how you feel about the song or whether
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Speaker 1: you even liked it in the first place, it's hard
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Speaker 1: not to cheer for this historic moment from a woman
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Speaker 1: from the country realm with a song that is so
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Speaker 1: country it's like nothing we've seen before in the history
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Speaker 1: of the genre, and savor it now like the summer,
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Speaker 1: because we may never see a moment like this in
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Speaker 1: country ever again. Moving a long, towering songwriter Roy Orbison
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Speaker 1: co writer Joe Melson has died. Nobody needs to be
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Speaker 1: convinced how titanic the legacy of the incomparable Roy Orbison
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Speaker 1: was to American music, and how that influence still very
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Speaker 1: much remains resonant and immediate up to today. Only the Lonely, Crying,
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Speaker 1: Blue Bayou, Running, Scared, Blue Angel, and so many more
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Speaker 1: compositions comprised the very foundation that American music rests upon.
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Speaker 1: Roy's voice was like no other, and to this day
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Speaker 1: can only be mimicked at best, never bested. Roy's style
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Speaker 1: was timeless and universal. But one aspect of the Roy
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Speaker 1: Orbison story that often goes undertold is that the songs
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Speaker 1: listed above and over one hundred and twenty Roy Orbison
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Speaker 1: compositions total, his co writer Joe Melson, was an essential
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Speaker 1: element to coaxing that Orbison magic out and putting it
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Speaker 1: on full display. In many ways, he was Roy Orbison's
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Speaker 1: silent partner, even though that's him you hear singing Dum
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Speaker 1: Dum Dum Dumbie dua, only the Lonely. It's not that
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Speaker 1: Joe Melson went completely unrecognized for his contributions. In twenty eighteen,
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Speaker 1: he was dutifully inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame,
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Speaker 1: But when he passed away on July first, no obituaries
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Speaker 1: populated news feeds. Perhaps that says more about the state
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Speaker 1: of the media than it does the legacy of Joe
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Speaker 1: Melson the estate of his old friend Roy Orbison didn't forget, though,
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Speaker 1: posting on July ninth. Melson was born on May eleventh,
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Speaker 1: nineteen thirty five, in Bottom, Texas, where he grew up
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Speaker 1: on a farm until he was sixteen. The long term
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Speaker 1: musical relationship with Roy Orbison started in nineteen fifty nine.
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Speaker 1: According to the family, Joe Melson tapped on the window
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Speaker 1: of Roy's car in West Texas. Roy was sitting there,
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Speaker 1: guitar in hand, working out a melody the way he
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Speaker 1: often did. That knock on the glass changed everything. Joe
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Speaker 1: heard something in Roy, a voice built for heartbreak, for
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Speaker 1: the operatic, for songs that just didn't tell a story
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Speaker 1: but eight. What followed was one of the great songwriting
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Speaker 1: partnerships in American music nineteen sixties. Only. The Lonely co
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Speaker 1: written with Joe Melson, was the song that shot Roy
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Speaker 1: Orbison to number two on the Billboard Hot one hundred
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Speaker 1: and made Orbison an international superstar. In nineteen sixty one,
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Speaker 1: Orbison would score his first number one with Running Scared,
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Speaker 1: also co written with Melson. That was followed up with
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Speaker 1: the number two Crying, another Melson co Write Now. Roy
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Speaker 1: Orbison was one of the most beloved singers in the world.
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Speaker 1: Joe Melson had his his own career as well. Between
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Speaker 1: nineteen sixty and sixty three, he was signed to publishing
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Speaker 1: house acoff Rose Music and recorded on Hickory Records, but
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Speaker 1: Melson only found moderate success with a handful of singles. Nonetheless,
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Speaker 1: he continued to write, and his legacy extended well beyond
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Speaker 1: Roy Orbison. He co wrote the number twelve hit Run Baby,
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Speaker 1: Run Back to My Arms for The News Beats Back
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Speaker 1: in nineteen sixty five. He also wrote songs for Glenn
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Speaker 1: Barber and Dan Folger in a similar relationship to Roy Orbison.
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Speaker 1: Though Orbison might be best known as a rock icon, the
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Speaker 1: songs he co wrote with Joe Melson had significant influence
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Speaker 1: on country as well as country chart success. Sonny James
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Speaker 1: had a number one country hit with Only Lonely in
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Speaker 1: nineteen sixty nine. Linda Ronstadt's definitive take on Blue Bayou
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Speaker 1: went to number three in country in nineteen seventy seven.
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Speaker 1: Don McLean had a country hit with Crying in nineteen
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Speaker 1: eighty one. Roy Orbison's hit with Blue Bayou in nineteen
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Speaker 1: sixty three was the songwriter's pair's last major collaboration, though
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Speaker 1: songs they wrote between fifty nine and sixty three would
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Speaker 1: go on to be cut by Orbison later. They worked
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Speaker 1: with each other again in nineteen seventy one, and the
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Speaker 1: collaboration continued again through nineteen seventy five. Few songwriting pairs
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Speaker 1: had the success of Roy Orbison and Joe Melson. But
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Speaker 1: isn't it the fate of a songwriter to be overshadowed
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Speaker 1: by the performer and unfortunately forgotten by the rest of music.
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Speaker 1: The fact that it's a country website writing the first
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Speaker 1: obituary for Joe Melson in fourteen days since his passing
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Speaker 1: tells you just how overlooked his legacy has been, But
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Speaker 1: that takes nothing away from the legacy itself. The most
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Speaker 1: unsung hero in songwriting is still an incredible legacy to
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Speaker 1: leave behind, as is the catalog of Joe Melson, who
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Speaker 1: was ninety one. Next, Randy Travis previews new album of
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Speaker 1: unreleased songs. Been a long time coming and has been
16:52
Speaker 1: rumored for many years now, but we're finally hearing the
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Speaker 1: first of archive music from country music legend Randy Travis,
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Speaker 1: recorded before he suffered his way stroke in twenty thirteen
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Speaker 1: and lost his ability to sing. Ever since his stroke,
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Speaker 1: there's been efforts to make sure Randy's music and legacy
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Speaker 1: don't go forgotten, even if his Hall of Fame voice
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Speaker 1: is no longer able to grace audiences. He was one
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Speaker 1: of the very first artists to test out using AI
17:16
Speaker 1: an experiment. It appears they decided to move on from
17:19
Speaker 1: at least for now. But as we've seen with so
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Speaker 1: many artists lately, including will And Jennings, Gary Stewart and
17:25
Speaker 1: Don Williams, singers always leave an archive of recorded songs
17:28
Speaker 1: behind them, often left over from recording sessions for albums
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Speaker 1: that didn't make it on the track or on the
17:35
Speaker 1: track list for one reason or another. Now it's Randy's
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Speaker 1: turn to delve into the archive and see if any
17:40
Speaker 1: gold can be found. On July eighth, word came down
17:43
Speaker 1: that Randy was prepping the release for his first album
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Speaker 1: in eighteen years, with longtime producer Kyle Lenning compiling lost
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Speaker 1: songs and making them release ready. On Tuesday the seventh,
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Speaker 1: Travis gave a preview of the currently unnamed project of
17:57
Speaker 1: patients and their families at the Saint Jude Children's Hospital
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Speaker 1: in Memphis. No release date has been announced, but it
18:03
Speaker 1: was revealed at the time that the first song from
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Speaker 1: the project, called phish On, would be forthcoming on Friday,
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Speaker 1: July tenth. I wrote this song with my longtime bus
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Speaker 1: driver and dear friend Ron Avis, and it's incredibly special
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Speaker 1: to me that it's been found in the archives, Travis said,
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Speaker 1: with help from his wife Mary. Fish On is a
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Speaker 1: feel good, good time ditty for the summer. It probably
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Speaker 1: won't compete for anyone's Song of the Year, but it
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Speaker 1: is good to finally hear an archive song from Randy
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Speaker 1: Travis after years of hints and promises that unheard material
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Speaker 1: was on the way. Now we wait for final confirmation
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Speaker 1: of a title, track list and release date for the
18:38
Speaker 1: archive album and what hopefully will be another important chapter
18:41
Speaker 1: in the Randy Travis story. And speaking of AI as
18:46
Speaker 1: we all seem to be doing these days, this is big,
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Speaker 1: says saving country music music industry comes together for AI labeling.
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Speaker 1: This will not solve the scourge of AI music infiltrating
18:57
Speaker 1: the marketplace or slowly increasing flood of it, or be
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Speaker 1: a full proof tool. It still can't be manipulated, but
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Speaker 1: it's a very important start to addressing a very big
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Speaker 1: problem that will help protect creators and inform consumers. Announced
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Speaker 1: last week, a host of major organizations have presented a
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Speaker 1: plan to mark AI generated and AI assisted tracks across
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Speaker 1: all platforms and mediums so that consumers know when they're
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Speaker 1: listening to something utilizing emerging tech. The IFPI or International
19:27
Speaker 1: Federation of the Phonographic Industry, the RIAA Recording Industry Association
19:32
Speaker 1: of America, the Recording Academy, the Grammys, the A two
19:36
Speaker 1: I M, the American Association of Independent Music, along with
19:40
Speaker 1: wind in Palace, sag After, and the Human Artistry Campaigns
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Speaker 1: all forwarded a universal labeling system they hope the entire
19:47
Speaker 1: music industry adopts globally. As saving country music implored back
19:52
Speaker 1: in November of twenty twenty five, no different than when
19:55
Speaker 1: a track is uploaded to streaming services and it's mandated
19:57
Speaker 1: to disclose whether explicit language just present in it, the
20:01
Speaker 1: same should go for disclosing AI. With this information then
20:05
Speaker 1: presented to consumers. Well nine months later, something's finally being done,
20:09
Speaker 1: and it couldn't be soon enough. According to streaming service Deezer,
20:13
Speaker 1: forty four percent of the music delivered to their platform
20:15
Speaker 1: as AI generated. Deezer is one of the first companies
20:18
Speaker 1: that implemented software to help detect AI generated tracks. Apple
20:23
Speaker 1: Music says that over one third of the music uploaded
20:26
Speaker 1: to its platform is one hundred percent AI. Back in November,
20:30
Speaker 1: the concern was that by Q two of this year
20:33
Speaker 1: there might not be any human based music industry left.
20:36
Speaker 1: At the rate things were progressing, that's where we are headed.
20:40
Speaker 1: But that was not or what was not considered, was
20:42
Speaker 1: the dramatic public backlash against the technology, not just in
20:45
Speaker 1: music but across the AI spectrum, from opposition to data
20:49
Speaker 1: center construction on the local level to distaste for AI
20:53
Speaker 1: slop videos mucking up social media. Public rebuke of AI
20:57
Speaker 1: has been the saving grace for human musicians. That's why
21:00
Speaker 1: implementing a tool to identify AI generated tracks is so powerful.
21:05
Speaker 1: As AI continues to be integrated into the creative process,
21:09
Speaker 1: artists and fans alike deserve a clear way to community
21:12
Speaker 1: kate how and when it's being used. As Harvey Mason Junior,
21:15
Speaker 1: the Grammys CEO, this initiative ensures the creativity, authorship, and
21:21
Speaker 1: artist artistic intent remain at the center of every song,
21:26
Speaker 1: giving artists the ability to tell that story strengthens trust
21:29
Speaker 1: and supports a more sustainable future for music. Something this
21:33
Speaker 1: tool also protects as human creators getting accused of being AI,
21:37
Speaker 1: an accusation that can have damaging effects. There are already
21:41
Speaker 1: multiple companies offering certifications for human made songs to protect
21:45
Speaker 1: creators from these kinds of accusations, but the kind of
21:48
Speaker 1: universally adopted system proposed would have more power than a
21:51
Speaker 1: patchwork of independent entities. If this system is implemented industry wide,
21:57
Speaker 1: will it be fool proof? Well, of course not. Will
22:00
Speaker 1: AI creators try to game it absolutely from now on
22:03
Speaker 1: it will be a cat and mouse game between streaming services,
22:06
Speaker 1: distribution platforms and awards charting organizations with software looking to
22:11
Speaker 1: detect AI and the AI creators trying to circumvent it.
22:15
Speaker 1: That's a guarantee. But you have to start somewhere in
22:18
Speaker 1: an honest attempt to inform the public so they can
22:20
Speaker 1: make better choices is an excellent place to start. Now
22:25
Speaker 1: we kickstart our way over to the boot dot com
22:28
Speaker 1: with the first article published July thirteenth, Charlie Crockett kind
22:32
Speaker 1: of explains why he fired satanic rock band Twin Temple.
22:37
Speaker 1: Charlie Crockett shared a couple of posts explaining his decision
22:40
Speaker 1: to remove indie rock band Twin Temple from two tour
22:43
Speaker 1: dates this week. He took a stand against the satanic
22:47
Speaker 1: imagery the duo are known for, and said it was
22:50
Speaker 1: his prerogative as a headliner to remove any opening act
22:53
Speaker 1: anytime he saw fit. Crockett also seemed pretty exasperated by
22:57
Speaker 1: the hypocrisy and exploitation that comes along with stordom, and
23:01
Speaker 1: said he's received more threats of violence over the Twin
23:03
Speaker 1: Temple backlash than he ever did when he was beefing
23:06
Speaker 1: with Gavin Adcock and Morgan Wallen. A popular point from
23:10
Speaker 1: the comments section on those posts is that Crockett has
23:12
Speaker 1: been following Twin Temple for a while now. Likes from
23:16
Speaker 1: him on their Instagram posts date back at least several months,
23:19
Speaker 1: so some fans are confused as to why he's just
23:21
Speaker 1: now decided to take issue with their satanic inclinations. Last week,
23:27
Speaker 1: la rock duo Twin Temple said Crockett next two appearances
23:30
Speaker 1: they were planning to make as opening acts on his
23:33
Speaker 1: age of the RAM tour in July. The band claimed
23:36
Speaker 1: the decision was because of the satanic imagery they used
23:39
Speaker 1: in their show. They said they were disappointed not to
23:41
Speaker 1: be on the bill, especially because of what it meant
23:44
Speaker 1: as far as bringing different types of people and music
23:46
Speaker 1: lovers together. The next day, Crockett responded with his own
23:51
Speaker 1: statement about why the show wasn't going on as schedule.
23:55
Speaker 1: The post was deleted, reposted, and deleted again on Instagram.
23:58
Speaker 1: It's still live on Facebook, and it was the start
24:01
Speaker 1: of a series of strongly worded but still arguably kind
24:03
Speaker 1: of unclear comments and posts from Crockett about the situation.
24:07
Speaker 1: In a comment on his initial post, Crockett added, this
24:10
Speaker 1: ain't got nothing to do with Twin Temple, really, It's
24:13
Speaker 1: about all the hypocrisy out there. The creator gave us
24:17
Speaker 1: free will, but with free will comes the burden of choice.
24:20
Speaker 1: You have rights, and so do I. I'm standing on mine.
24:24
Speaker 1: Later that same day, another post arrived, and this time
24:26
Speaker 1: Crockett focused on the backlash he was getting for parting
24:28
Speaker 1: ways with Twin Temple. I won't conform and I'm not sorry,
24:32
Speaker 1: he wrote. I might wake up at one pm on
24:34
Speaker 1: the back of that bus and find out that the
24:36
Speaker 1: opener ain't working for me that night. Tough luck, Life's hard.
24:41
Speaker 1: He had sharp criticism for the entertainment industry too, saying
24:44
Speaker 1: the further he's come up in it, the more shameless
24:46
Speaker 1: exhibitionists he's been betrayed by. I love what I do
24:50
Speaker 1: and I'm grateful for the privilege every minute, and if
24:53
Speaker 1: everybody disappears, I'll go back to the street corner where
24:55
Speaker 1: I started. Hell, sometimes I dream about it, the singer
24:58
Speaker 1: admitted it also seemed like the backlash of the Twin
25:01
Speaker 1: Temple cancelation was getting to him. In a comment on
25:04
Speaker 1: one of his since deleted Instagram posts, Crockett responded to
25:07
Speaker 1: a fan who called his statements corny and thought he
25:10
Speaker 1: should have announced the removal of Twin Temple from his
25:12
Speaker 1: shows with a little more grace. Crockett replied that he
25:16
Speaker 1: didn't think he should apologize when all I did was
25:18
Speaker 1: ask an opening band to drop two shows they're being
25:20
Speaker 1: paid for. He also said that the backlash has been
25:24
Speaker 1: even wilder than back when he was feuding with Gavin
25:26
Speaker 1: Adcock and tangentially Morgan Wallen. That all went down last
25:31
Speaker 1: September when Adcock and Krockett butted heads online over whether
25:36
Speaker 1: Beyonce is or isn't Country. Wallin caught astray when Crockett
25:40
Speaker 1: posted that the number one country artist on Earth listens
25:43
Speaker 1: to nothing but rap. Openly, he says he doesn't really
25:46
Speaker 1: know any country music. Got to respect his honesty. Wallen
25:50
Speaker 1: rebutted during a tour day that Adcock was opening when
25:53
Speaker 1: Adcock approached him with a Charlie Krockett t shirt and
25:55
Speaker 1: Wallen held up two middle fingers. Wallin's a huge star
25:59
Speaker 1: with a huge fan army, but Crockett says the backlash
26:01
Speaker 1: pales in comparison to what he's going through. Now you
26:05
Speaker 1: know what's really crazy. Crockett commented, for all the drama
26:08
Speaker 1: I got into with Wallin and Beyonce and Adcock, I
26:10
Speaker 1: never had so much violence threatened against me. Next, Bill
26:15
Speaker 1: Anderson looks back at sixty five years as a Grand
26:18
Speaker 1: Old Opring member very thankful. Wednesday marks the sixty fifth
26:24
Speaker 1: anniversary of Whispering, Bill Anderson's Grand Old Opry membership, extending
26:28
Speaker 1: his record as the longest living and longest serving continuous
26:31
Speaker 1: member in Opray history. It'll be fun to think back
26:35
Speaker 1: on sixty five years, Bill Anderson told Taste of Country
26:37
Speaker 1: in an interview earlier this year. That's kind of a
26:40
Speaker 1: marker number, I guess, for a lot of things. People
26:42
Speaker 1: retire at sixty five, and heck, I'm just celebrating, he adds,
26:45
Speaker 1: before breaking into an easy laugh and imagining the headline
26:49
Speaker 1: most people at retire at sixty five. Bill celebrates. Bill
26:54
Speaker 1: Anderson became a member of the Grand Old Opry back
26:56
Speaker 1: on July fifteenth, nineteen sixty one. Last year, celebrated his
27:00
Speaker 1: status as the longest tenured member in Opry history when
27:03
Speaker 1: he marked his sixty fourth anniversary at eighty eight years old.
27:07
Speaker 1: Anderson is among the Opry's living legends. He's a fixture
27:11
Speaker 1: on the stage and a major presence in honoring the
27:13
Speaker 1: Opry's history and safeguarding its legacy into the future. I'm
27:17
Speaker 1: not the oldest member of the Opry. I know two
27:19
Speaker 1: people that are still living, Anderson says, naming two more
27:22
Speaker 1: Opry greats, Bobby Bear and Jeanie Pruett, who are older
27:26
Speaker 1: than he is. But in terms of longevity on the show,
27:29
Speaker 1: I've been there longer than everybody that's ever been a
27:31
Speaker 1: part of the show. So I'm very grateful for that,
27:34
Speaker 1: very thankful for it, and looking forward to celebrating in July.
27:38
Speaker 1: Anderson explains that his anniversary falls on a Wednesday, but
27:40
Speaker 1: he's always been kind of a Saturday night Opry guy,
27:43
Speaker 1: always raised on the Opry on Saturday nights before they
27:45
Speaker 1: did all the weekday shows. I said, let's celebrate it
27:48
Speaker 1: on the eighteenth, he says, So he's booked for a
27:51
Speaker 1: special lineup this Saturday the eighteenth, featuring artists such as
27:54
Speaker 1: Laurie Morgan, Crystal Gale, Ronda Vincent, John Berry, The Isaacs,
27:58
Speaker 1: and Steve Dwarf, the latter who mis Anderson's longtime friend,
28:02
Speaker 1: plus a co writer and producer on his recent album
28:04
Speaker 1: Forever More. Anderson says he got some input about who
28:08
Speaker 1: would be featured on the show celebrating his anniversary, though
28:11
Speaker 1: he knew that it was going to be awfully hard
28:13
Speaker 1: to find a lot of them in town during July,
28:15
Speaker 1: which is the heart of a touring season. Plus, he says,
28:18
Speaker 1: of course, an awful lot of my Opery buddies have
28:20
Speaker 1: unfortunately passed on the ones that were there when I
28:22
Speaker 1: joined the opera, very few, if any of them, are left.
28:27
Speaker 1: This concludes the reading of Country Weekly for this week.
28:29
Speaker 1: If you have any comments or suggestions about our program,
28:32
Speaker 1: call us please at eight five nine four two two
28:35
Speaker 1: sixty three ninety. Thank you for joining me on behalf
28:38
Speaker 1: of everyone here at RADIOI. This is Ken Dawkins, wishing
28:42
Speaker 1: you a great day.