Latest / Country Weekly / 9.25.26

Transcript

9.25.26 · Country Weekly

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  Speaker 1: Howdy, folks. Time once again to catch up with Country Weekly,
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  Speaker 1: where we check out news and gossip from the world
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  Speaker 1: of country music. I'm your host, Ken Dawkins, and I
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  Speaker 1: will be reading from various sources found online. As a reminder,
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  Speaker 1: Radio Eye is a reading service intended for people who
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  Speaker 1: are blind or have other disabilities that make it difficult
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  Speaker 1: to read printed material. We'll begin with the first article
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  Speaker 1: dated September 22nd, and this is from countrycentral.com. Morgan Wallen
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  Speaker 1: shares new song Last Thing You Need from the Grand
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  Speaker 1: Theft Auto VI soundtrack. After teasing the track earlier this
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  Speaker 1: week with nondescript GTA-inspired artwork, Morgan Wallen has released Last
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  Speaker 1: Thing You Need, an original song written for the forthcoming
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  Speaker 1: Grand Theft Auto VI. The track is one of the
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  Speaker 1: first six songs made available from Grand Theft Auto VI,
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  Speaker 1: the album, a companion soundtrack Rockstar Games announced Thursday featuring
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  Speaker 1: 34 original recordings. The full album arrives November 19th, the
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  Speaker 1: same day the game launches for PlayStation 5 and Xbox
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  Speaker 1: Series XS. The remaining 28 tracks, or their artists, have
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  Speaker 1: not been announced. Pre-orders for the album open Thursday in
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  Speaker 1: multiple vinyl and CD configurations. Wallen wrote Last Thing You
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  Speaker 1: Need with frequent collaborators John Byron, Charlie Hansen, Blake Pendergrass,
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  Speaker 1: and Chase McGill. The song continues the pop and R
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  Speaker 1: & B direction of his recent output rather than a
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  Speaker 1: traditional country arrangement, landing closer to the synth-driven sound of
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  Speaker 1: his earlier single, Been By Now, albeit with a little
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  Speaker 1: more twang. Rockstar has described the collection as drawing on
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  Speaker 1: a genre-spanning roster meant to reflect the setting of Vice
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  Speaker 1: City and the surrounding state of Leonida. Next, Muscadine Bloodline
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  Speaker 1: reveals new single, Escatapa Hollow. Muscadine Bloodline have announced their
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  Speaker 1: first new music in nearly a year. Escatapa Hollow arrived
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  Speaker 1: last week and marks the duo's first release under a
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  Speaker 1: new partnership with Trenches Records and Republic Records. Charlie Muncaster
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  Speaker 1: and Gary Stanton shared the news alongside a note to
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  Speaker 1: fans about where they've been. We haven't put out new
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  Speaker 1: music in almost a year, but we've been quietly writing, recording,
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  Speaker 1: and creating the next chapter of Muscadine Bloodline. We've taken
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  Speaker 1: our time, we've pushed our boundaries, and we're bringing you
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  Speaker 1: our very best, the duo wrote. The title refers to
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  Speaker 1: a real place, a stretch of Blackwater-Escatapa River near the
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  Speaker 1: Alabama-Mississippi line. The duo framed the song as the entry
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  Speaker 1: point to something larger, promising to take fans on the
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  Speaker 1: wildest ride through South Mississippi. The label news is the
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  Speaker 1: more surprising half of the announcement. Muscadine Bloodline have operated
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  Speaker 1: independently for most of their run, building past a billion
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  Speaker 1: streams and a national touring footprint without major label backing
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  Speaker 1: since launching back in 2015. Both members were careful to
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  Speaker 1: characterize the Trench's Republic arrangement as a partnership rather than
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  Speaker 1: a handoff, describing it as adding horsepower without changing the engine.
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  Speaker 1: They emphasized that their fan-first approach isn't changing, and the
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  Speaker 1: goal is simply added reach. Now we head on over
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  Speaker 1: to People.com Country. We go back to September 17th for
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  Speaker 1: this article, an exclusive to People.com. Shania Twain and Kane
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  Speaker 1: Brown reveal how they worked together to manifest their collaboration
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  Speaker 1: on playful new single. 31 years ago, Shania Twain wondered
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  Speaker 1: just who her cheating lover was spending time with in
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  Speaker 1: the hit single, Whose Bed Have Your Boots Been Under? Now,
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  Speaker 1: thanks to Kane Brown, she's finally got her answer. The
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  Speaker 1: country stars have teamed up on the new single, Boots,
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  Speaker 1: which twists Twain's original song on its head and answers
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  Speaker 1: the titular question from the perspective of the lover himself,
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  Speaker 1: and as it turns out, it's not what you think.
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  Speaker 1: I think it's very well done in the sense that
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  Speaker 1: it's kind of like a call and response, a continuation
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  Speaker 1: of the story, Twain, who's now 61, tells people. Lyrically,
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  Speaker 1: the intention was to make it playful and not offensive
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  Speaker 1: from the woman's point of view, and I think Brown
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  Speaker 1: doing it in the same spirit was the right thing.
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  Speaker 1: The You're Still the One singer co-wrote the original song,
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  Speaker 1: which was released back in 1995 on her breakthrough album,
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  Speaker 1: The Woman in Me, whose bed have your boots been under,
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  Speaker 1: was a song Brown, 32, grew up listening to. So
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  Speaker 1: when songwriter Josh Hogue sent him boots, in which the
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  Speaker 1: man in the song insists that there is no, in fact,
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  Speaker 1: other woman, it was a no-brainer. I'd been a fan
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  Speaker 1: of the Queen for the longest time. My mom was
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  Speaker 1: a huge fan, and I was a massive fan growing up,
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  Speaker 1: being raised by all women. So we heard Shania all
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  Speaker 1: the time in my house, he tells people. I listened
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  Speaker 1: to Boots and immediately just fell in love with the song.
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  Speaker 1: And then I just tried to manifest Shania, allowing us
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  Speaker 1: to do the song and getting her on the song. Well,
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  Speaker 1: luckily for Brown, getting Twain on board wasn't all that difficult.
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  Speaker 1: The two first met years ago at an awards show
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  Speaker 1: in which he hosted the ACM Awards in May. Brown,
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  Speaker 1: who performed at the show, knew it was his perfect window.
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  Speaker 1: I said, you know what? I'm going to meet her again.
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  Speaker 1: She's going to say that we can do the song,
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  Speaker 1: he recalls thinking. And then she one-upped me and said
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  Speaker 1: she was going to hop on the song with me.
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  Speaker 1: So I was like, hell yeah. Sure, his manifestation worked
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  Speaker 1: its magic, but it helped that the queen of pop,
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  Speaker 1: country pop, was already a fan. I was really a
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  Speaker 1: big supporter from the very, very beginning, she says, talking
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  Speaker 1: to Brown. You just have a great voice and a
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  Speaker 1: very steady, calm way about you that's very attractive. You're
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  Speaker 1: so likable and easy to meet, which is good. And
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  Speaker 1: your voice is incredible. I love your voice, and I
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  Speaker 1: loved your voice on the song, too. It's not lost
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  Speaker 1: on the pair that through the original song and its iteration,
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  Speaker 1: they've managed to bridge a gap between generations, some of
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  Speaker 1: whom adore Twain's original, and others have only ever heard
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  Speaker 1: Brown's take. I just want to thank you for carrying
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  Speaker 1: the torch, Cain, Twain says. I'm a songwriter first, and
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  Speaker 1: the songwriting is so critical, it's all about the story. Brown, meanwhile,
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  Speaker 1: sees a kindred spirit in Twain as he recognizes that
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  Speaker 1: they're both not scared to be boxed in when it
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  Speaker 1: comes to genre and the type of music that they're making.
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  Speaker 1: It's an attitude he's taking with him as he works
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  Speaker 1: on his next record, which will follow last year's The
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  Speaker 1: High Road. I've always been trying to cater to the
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  Speaker 1: wrong people. Is it country enough? Basically the people that
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  Speaker 1: aren't going to buy my records or listen to my
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  Speaker 1: music anyway. I'm just now realizing that, he says. I've
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  Speaker 1: gotten away from the slow type songs, even though that's
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  Speaker 1: what got me started. I just don't like playing them live.
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  Speaker 1: I'm just more energetic running around, so there's going to
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  Speaker 1: be a lot of up-tempo, head-bopping type songs. Twain, meanwhile,
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  Speaker 1: is staying plenty busy, too. She released her seventh album,
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  Speaker 1: Little Miss Twain, in July and announced a new deluxe
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  Speaker 1: version of the record earlier this week, set for release
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  Speaker 1: on October 9th. She's also set to narrate the audiobook
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  Speaker 1: of a new recorded edition of her best-selling memoir from
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  Speaker 1: this moment on. It's not difficult to keep me inspired
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  Speaker 1: that so many new ideas surfacing constantly that my head
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  Speaker 1: spins will never exhaust chord progression options or possibilities. The
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  Speaker 1: scales are infinite. The lyric combinations are infinite. I lose
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  Speaker 1: sleep over this stuff, she says. I'm really easy to inspire,
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  Speaker 1: so staying creative is easy for me. It's like lighting
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  Speaker 1: a match. From the creative side of things, there's always
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  Speaker 1: a flame burning. Next, Lainey Wilson brings out surprise guest
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  Speaker 1: John Mayer for a live debut of Phone Keys Wallet
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  Speaker 1: at Country Music Hall of Fame event. Laney Wilson had
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  Speaker 1: a few tricks up her sleeve as the host of
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  Speaker 1: the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum's annual All
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  Speaker 1: for the Hall guitar poll. Wilson, 34, spent most of
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  Speaker 1: the night telling stories and playing songs with fellow country
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  Speaker 1: stars Jelly Roll and Lucas Nelson. But for her final song,
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  Speaker 1: she surprised the crowd in Los Angeles by bringing out
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  Speaker 1: her latest collaborator, John Mayer. Mayer, who's now 48, surprised
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  Speaker 1: fans at the Novo on Thursday, September 17th, by joining
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  Speaker 1: Wilson for the song Phone, Keys, Wallet, with the two
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  Speaker 1: playing it live together for the first time. The day
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  Speaker 1: we actually wrote this song, I was like, man, there
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  Speaker 1: is somebody that I'm thinking in particular that needs to
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  Speaker 1: play on this song, and I said it out loud,
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  Speaker 1: she told the crowd. We were actually here in L.A.,
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  Speaker 1: at Chaplin Studios, and we heard this guy was there,
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  Speaker 1: and we ran over to the office and played this
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  Speaker 1: song for him, literally just through the cell phone speaker,
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  Speaker 1: and it was Mr. John Mayer. The star then welcomed
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  Speaker 1: Mayer to the stage, who recalled the scene himself. I said,
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  Speaker 1: let's go, he said, and I grabbed my guitar. The performance,
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  Speaker 1: which featured a signature Mayer guitar solo, wrapped up an
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  Speaker 1: eventful night that also included acoustic versions of hits from Wilson,
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  Speaker 1: Nelson 37, and Jelly 41. The event raises funds each
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  Speaker 1: year to support the Country Music Hall of Fame and
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  Speaker 1: Museum's educational initiatives, which serve more than 125,000 people. The
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  Speaker 1: set list included Wilson playing her hits 4x4xU, Wild Flowers
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  Speaker 1: and Wild Horses, and Heart Like a Truck. She teamed
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  Speaker 1: up with Nelson on More Than Friends and a cover
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  Speaker 1: of You Can't Make Old Friends in honor of Dolly Parton. Nelson, meanwhile,
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  Speaker 1: played a few songs of his own, including Find Yourself,
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  Speaker 1: which received the night's only standing ovation, while Jelly played
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  Speaker 1: hits like I Am Not Okay, Need a Favor, and
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  Speaker 1: Save Me. The trio spent much of the night bantering
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  Speaker 1: with one another, talking about everything from Wilson's May wedding
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  Speaker 1: to Nelson's new girlfriend. The night also featured a performance
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  Speaker 1: by students from the local Manual Arts High School, The
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  Speaker 1: students sang an original song that was written during a
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  Speaker 1: words and music program at school with help from songwriters
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  Speaker 1: Liz Rose and Phil Barton. Now we go to countrynow.com.
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  Speaker 1: Garth Brooks shares statement following end of the three-year radio
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  Speaker 1: venture with TuneIn. Article dated September 21st. Garth Brooks has
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  Speaker 1: issued a statement following the announcement that his three-year radio
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  Speaker 1: venture with TuneIn is coming to an end. According to
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  Speaker 1: a press release, Brooks' free radio stations, including the Big 615,
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  Speaker 1: Tailgate Radio, and the Garth Channel are coming to an end.
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  Speaker 1: The stations have provided live free radio to millions of
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  Speaker 1: country music fans around the world. The Garth Channel and
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  Speaker 1: Tailgate Radio are set to sign off or did sign off, rather,
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  Speaker 1: on September 22nd, bringing their run on TuneIn to an end. Meanwhile,
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  Speaker 1: the Big 615 will remain on TuneIn through the end
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  Speaker 1: of 2026, but it will continue without its affiliation with
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  Speaker 1: Garth Brooks or the Sevens Network. The move comes shortly
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  Speaker 1: after Stingray Group, Inc. acquired TuneIn. The Stingray family has
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  Speaker 1: been fantastic in the transition along with TuneIn's people, Brooks said.
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  Speaker 1: We couldn't be happier with the three years we've spent
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  Speaker 1: with them, and wish them well in their future endeavors
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  Speaker 1: and hope we cross paths in the future. While the
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  Speaker 1: three-year venture is coming to a close, this doesn't necessarily
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  Speaker 1: mark the end of Brooks' work in the radio and
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  Speaker 1: multimedia space. More information about his future broadcast and multimedia
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  Speaker 1: initiatives is expected to be announced in the coming months,
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  Speaker 1: giving fans a look at what could be next for
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  Speaker 1: the country superstar. On the touring front, Brooks is showing
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  Speaker 1: no signs of slowing down. His 2026 Blame It On
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  Speaker 1: My Roots Arena Tour is currently underway, with sold-out shows
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  Speaker 1: taking place across the country. After selling out his first
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  Speaker 1: two nights at Salt Lake City's Delta Center, Brooks recently
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  Speaker 1: added a third show at the venue. A third Orlando
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  Speaker 1: date at the Kia Center was also added after the
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  Speaker 1: first two shows sold out. Brooks has reportedly sold more
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  Speaker 1: than 200,000 tickets so far this year, with additional shows
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  Speaker 1: expected to be announced. Looking ahead to 2027, the country
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  Speaker 1: icon will take the stage at Stagecoach Festival alongside fellow
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  Speaker 1: headliners Riley Green and Zach Topp. Florida Georgia Line will
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  Speaker 1: also reunite for a late-night set during the festival. Brooks
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  Speaker 1: also recently announced that his history-making album Double Live will
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  Speaker 1: be released on vinyl for the first time ever for
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  Speaker 1: a limited time. Set for release on November 6th, the
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  Speaker 1: vinyl edition is positioned as a collector's item and potential
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  Speaker 1: holiday gift for fans. Pre-orders are available through Walmart, Target,
• 12:14
  Speaker 1: and Amazon. Now we check out Saving Country Music with
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  Speaker 1: the first article dated September 22nd, Neil McCoy to become
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  Speaker 1: latest member of the Grand Old Opry. He certainly paid
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  Speaker 1: his dues, and he's definitely waited in line for his opportunity.
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  Speaker 1: Now Neil McCoy will be the newest member of the
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  Speaker 1: Grand Old Opry. It happened Tuesday evening at the Grand
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  Speaker 1: Old Opry House as part of the evening's Opry Presentation,
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  Speaker 1: During a tribute to the great Charlie Pryde that included
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  Speaker 1: Pryde's widow, Roseanne, and current Opry member, Patty Loveless, Neil
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  Speaker 1: McCoy was formally invited to be the next official Grand
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  Speaker 1: Old Opry member. Tell us, speaking for Charlie Pryde, said
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  Speaker 1: to McCoy, you know what I think he would say?
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  Speaker 1: He'd say Neil McCoy needs to become an official member
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  Speaker 1: of the Grand Old Opry. So on behalf of Roseanne,
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  Speaker 1: Charlie Pryde, and all of us of the Grand Old Opry, Neil,
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  Speaker 1: what do you say? I don't even know, McCoy responded.
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  Speaker 1: Oh my gosh, this is great. What a great night.
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  Speaker 1: What a great night to be invited. McCoy's connection with
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  Speaker 1: Charlie Pryde isn't coincidental. Neil's big break in music came
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  Speaker 1: when he performed in a talent contest hosted by longtime
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  Speaker 1: Opry member Janie Fricke and won a spot opening for
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  Speaker 1: Charlie Pryde on tour. In 2013, McCoy released the album Pride,
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  Speaker 1: a tribute to Charlie Pryde. Neil McCoy minted two number
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  Speaker 1: one singles back-to-back in 93 and 94 with No Doubt
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  Speaker 1: About It and Wink. This led to a total of
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  Speaker 1: eight top five songs between 1993 and 97. Though the
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  Speaker 1: hits stopped coming for McCoy after only a half a decade,
• 13:47
  Speaker 1: his career has seen significant longevity as one of country
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  Speaker 1: music's greatest hustlers, putting on high-energy and super-entertaining shows well
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  Speaker 1: into his 60s. Neil McCoy is also well-liked among his
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  Speaker 1: peers and known as a personal performer. He's also somewhat
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  Speaker 1: famous for reciting the Pledge of Allegiance every single day
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  Speaker 1: for 3,912 consecutive days as of Tuesday morning, and for
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  Speaker 1: being one of the country's few performers of Filipino heritage.
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  Speaker 1: The Neil McCoy pick for the Opry is hard to
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  Speaker 1: argue with, though like with any older performer who gets inducted,
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  Speaker 1: many will ask why did it take so long? McCoy's
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  Speaker 1: induction comes at the age of 68. Neil McCoy's invitation
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  Speaker 1: comes after Red Atkins was invited to become an Opry
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  Speaker 1: member in July, and Charlie Worsham was invited back in August. Next,
• 14:38
  Speaker 1: Chris Stapleton finally gets his Tom Petty moment. The Americana
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  Speaker 1: Music Awards were held at the Ryman Auditorium back on
• 14:46
  Speaker 1: September 16th, and for the first time in a long while,
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  Speaker 1: Saving Country Music was not there in person, but did
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  Speaker 1: follow along online. Molly Tuttle won Artist of the Year
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  Speaker 1: over a field that included Brandi Carlile, Charlie Crockett, Margo Price,
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  Speaker 1: and Jesse Wells. Sure, Molly's foray into more pop territory
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  Speaker 1: with her latest album, So Long, Little Miss Sunshine, wasn't
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  Speaker 1: as bad as some had predicted, but it doesn't feel
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  Speaker 1: like she achieved the same heights as she did with
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  Speaker 1: her previous two Bluegrass albums. Then again, the whole field
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  Speaker 1: feels a bit weak of performers that really made an
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  Speaker 1: impact over the past year. Nobody in the Americana realm
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  Speaker 1: really separated themselves from the herd. Tyler Childers won Album
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  Speaker 1: of the Year for Snipe Hunter with Irony Thick in
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  Speaker 1: the Air since in 2018. Childers proclaimed Americana ain't no
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  Speaker 1: part of nothing from that very rhyming stage and called
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  Speaker 1: Americana a distraction from the real problems facing country music.
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  Speaker 1: Of course, Childers wasn't there to accept the award and
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  Speaker 1: is unlikely to acknowledge it, similar to Sturgill Simpson's behavior
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  Speaker 1: when he's been recognized by Americana recently. But despite the
• 15:51
  Speaker 1: polarization around the Americana term, the Americana Music Association does
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  Speaker 1: what it can to shine a spotlight on roots artists
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  Speaker 1: that mainstream country usually ignores. Chris Stapleton is not really
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  Speaker 1: one of those artists. He's one of the most awarded
• 16:05
  Speaker 1: country performers in the last decade by the CMAs, ACMs,
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  Speaker 1: and Grammys. Nonetheless, he opened the Americana Music Awards show,
• 16:13
  Speaker 1: and with a reunification version of Tom Petty's Heartbreakers behind him,
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  Speaker 1: the first time the full band has played together since
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  Speaker 1: Petty's passing in 2017. Guitarist Mike Campbell, keys player Benmont Tench,
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  Speaker 1: drummer Stan Lynch, and bass player Ron Blair were all
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  Speaker 1: there to open the show. Lynch being there was especially
• 16:33
  Speaker 1: significant since he was officially replaced by Steve Ferone back
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  Speaker 1: in 1994. Both Ferone and multi-instrumentalist Scott Thurston, who also
• 16:43
  Speaker 1: officially joined the Heartbreakers in 1991, were also there for
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  Speaker 1: the finale. But for Chris Stapleton, it was a full-circle moment.
• 16:51
  Speaker 1: and had to be a significant career landmark for him,
• 16:54
  Speaker 1: perhaps even bigger than winning many of his CMA and
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  Speaker 1: ACM awards. The otherwise quiet, reserved, and private performer has
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  Speaker 1: been outright outspoken about his admiration for Petty and his
• 17:04
  Speaker 1: heartbreakers over the years, and specifically on the topic of
• 17:07
  Speaker 1: how Petty felt about the state of country music later
• 17:10
  Speaker 1: in life. In 2013, Tom Petty had some unsavory words
• 17:14
  Speaker 1: for what was happening in modern country. Well, yeah, I mean,
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  Speaker 1: I hate to generalize on a whole genre of music,
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  Speaker 1: but it does seem to be missing that magic element
• 17:22
  Speaker 1: that used to have, Petty said. I'm sure there are
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  Speaker 1: people playing country that are doing it well, but they're
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  Speaker 1: just not getting the attention that the worst stuff gets.
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  Speaker 1: But that's the way it is always, isn't it? In 2013,
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  Speaker 1: Chris Stapleton was not the Chris Stapleton we know today.
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  Speaker 1: Though a lot of folks love to profess they were
• 17:40
  Speaker 1: Stapleton fans from back when he was a member of
• 17:42
  Speaker 1: the Johnson Brothers and the Steel Drivers, and granted some were,
• 17:46
  Speaker 1: the truth is Stapleton wasn't known by many at that time,
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  Speaker 1: and those who did know of him saw him primarily
• 17:52
  Speaker 1: as a songwriter. Stapleton had written some quality songs for
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  Speaker 1: folks like George Strait, Alan Jackson, and Leanne Womack, but
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  Speaker 1: he'd also written Luke Bryan's big hit, Drink a Beer,
• 18:01
  Speaker 1: and Thomas Rhett's Crash and Burn. Before Chris Stapleton rocketed
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  Speaker 1: to superstardom at the end of 2015, thanks to his
• 18:10
  Speaker 1: virtual sweep of the CMA Awards and his Tennessee Whiskey
• 18:12
  Speaker 1: performance with Justin Timberlake, he was very much a creature
• 18:16
  Speaker 1: of mainstream songwriting community. Feeling slightly offended, Stapleton chose to
• 18:21
  Speaker 1: challenge Tom Petty's comments at the time with an open letter.
• 18:25
  Speaker 1: Dear Tom Petty, he wrote, I think it's safe to
• 18:27
  Speaker 1: say most modern country artists, including me, would list you
• 18:31
  Speaker 1: as an influence. Your recent comments lead me to believe
• 18:34
  Speaker 1: you see room for improvement in modern country music. I,
• 18:37
  Speaker 1: for one, would like to see you put money down
• 18:40
  Speaker 1: where your mouth is in a tangible way. So in
• 18:43
  Speaker 1: the interest of making country music less crappy, I suggest
• 18:47
  Speaker 1: a collaboration. I'm extending an open invitation to you to
• 18:50
  Speaker 1: write songs with me, produce recordings on or with me,
• 18:54
  Speaker 1: or otherwise participate in whatever way you see fit in
• 18:56
  Speaker 1: my little corner of music. In the event that you
• 18:59
  Speaker 1: actually read this and are interested, look me up. Sincerely,
• 19:02
  Speaker 1: Chris Stapleton Just reading back through the letter, it seems
• 19:06
  Speaker 1: like it comes from an entirely different universe than the
• 19:09
  Speaker 1: one Stapleton inhabits now. These days, Stapleton doesn't say much
• 19:13
  Speaker 1: of anything, especially so boldly. Tom Petty never took Chris
• 19:17
  Speaker 1: Stapleton up on his offer for a collaboration, though Petty
• 19:20
  Speaker 1: eventually did pick him up as an opener on his
• 19:22
  Speaker 1: final tour. Petty died in October of 2017, so there
• 19:27
  Speaker 1: wasn't a lot of time between when Stapleton hit it
• 19:29
  Speaker 1: big and when Petty passed on. When it came to
• 19:32
  Speaker 1: someone who could step into the shoes of Tom Petty
• 19:34
  Speaker 1: at the Mother Church of Country Music and not just
• 19:37
  Speaker 1: play the role but put the spirit of Petty back
• 19:39
  Speaker 1: into the room, Stapleton was really the one real pick.
• 19:43
  Speaker 1: Stapleton and the Reunified Heartbreakers performed American Girl, Breakdown and
• 19:50
  Speaker 1: You Wreck Me for the Americana Music Awards audience. Some
• 19:53
  Speaker 1: fan videos exist out there. The full produced versions of
• 19:56
  Speaker 1: the performances will be available later this year when the
• 19:59
  Speaker 1: awards are broadcast on PBS. The moment might not have
• 20:03
  Speaker 1: pierced the Zeke keys like it did when Stapleton and
• 20:06
  Speaker 1: Justin Timberlake sang Tennessee Whiskey back in 2015, launching Stapleton
• 20:11
  Speaker 1: into the stratosphere. But make no mistake about it, to Stapleton,
• 20:15
  Speaker 1: it's seen as one of the most proud moments of
• 20:17
  Speaker 1: his career. Now we slide across the pew to Forbes.com.
• 20:21
  Speaker 1: Going back to the 16th of September, Luke Bryan passes
• 20:25
  Speaker 1: one of country music's favorite female stars. Luke Bryan's current single,
• 20:30
  Speaker 1: Country and She Knows It, has lived on Billboard's country
• 20:32
  Speaker 1: airplay chart for months, and it's still growing in popularity.
• 20:37
  Speaker 1: The superstar dropped the track back in late March as
• 20:39
  Speaker 1: a preview for his forthcoming album, Signs, his ninth full length.
• 20:44
  Speaker 1: That set, which did drop on September 18th, will likely
• 20:48
  Speaker 1: be another big win for Brian, just as Country and
• 20:50
  Speaker 1: She Knows It has become. This week, however, or actually
• 20:54
  Speaker 1: last week, the single reached a new peak position on
• 20:57
  Speaker 1: every roster in which it appears in America, and it
• 21:00
  Speaker 1: helps Brian break out of a tie with one of
• 21:02
  Speaker 1: the most successful women in country music history. Country and
• 21:06
  Speaker 1: She Knows It becomes a top ten smash on the
• 21:08
  Speaker 1: country airplay chart, which ranks with the most successful tunes
• 21:12
  Speaker 1: in country radio throughout the United States. The song only
• 21:15
  Speaker 1: needs to improve by one space to enter the competitive
• 21:18
  Speaker 1: tier as it rises from number 11 to number 10.
• 21:21
  Speaker 1: Country and She Knows It is Bryan's 38th top ten
• 21:24
  Speaker 1: hit in the radio ranking. The other top ten hits
• 21:28
  Speaker 1: on Billboard's country airplay chart from Luke Bryan include All
• 21:32
  Speaker 1: my friends say, but I got a beer in my hand.
• 21:34
  Speaker 1: Buy dirt with Jordan Davis. Country and she knows it.
• 21:37
  Speaker 1: Country girl, shake it for me. Country man, country on.
• 21:41
  Speaker 1: Country song came on. Crash my party, do I. Down
• 21:44
  Speaker 1: to one, drink a beer. Drunk on you. Fast, home
• 21:47
  Speaker 1: alone tonight with Karen Fairchild. Hunting, fishing, and loving every day.
• 21:51
  Speaker 1: I don't want this night to end. I see you.
• 21:55
  Speaker 1: Kick the dust up. Kiss tomorrow goodbye. Knockin' boots, light
• 21:58
  Speaker 1: it up. Love you, miss you, mean it. Most people
• 22:01
  Speaker 1: are good. Move. One margarita. Play it again. Rain is
• 22:05
  Speaker 1: a good thing. Roller coaster. Someone else calling you baby.
• 22:08
  Speaker 1: Strip it down. Sunrise. Sunburn. Sunset. That's my kind of night.
• 22:12
  Speaker 1: The only way I know with Jason Aldean and Eric Church.
• 22:16
  Speaker 1: This is how we roll with Florida Georgia Line. Waves.
• 22:19
  Speaker 1: What makes you country and what she wants tonight. With
• 22:23
  Speaker 1: 38 top 10 smashes on the country airplay tally to
• 22:26
  Speaker 1: his name, Brian breaks a tie with Reba McIntyre. on
• 22:30
  Speaker 1: a list of acts that have scored the greatest number
• 22:33
  Speaker 1: of hits. He now solely claims the ninth most tunes
• 22:36
  Speaker 1: to break into the arena in the country, I'm sorry,
• 22:39
  Speaker 1: in the history of the roster. McIntyre remains steady with
• 22:42
  Speaker 1: 37 top tens as Bryan advances. The all-time record for
• 22:47
  Speaker 1: the most top tens on the country airplay chart belongs
• 22:49
  Speaker 1: to Kenny Chesney. He recently broke out of a match
• 22:53
  Speaker 1: with both George Strait and Tim McGraw, as all three
• 22:56
  Speaker 1: men jointly held this honor for a time with 61 wins.
• 23:00
  Speaker 1: Chesney's latest single, Carry On, improves to number three this week,
• 23:03
  Speaker 1: establishing a new peak as he eyes another possible champion.
• 23:08
  Speaker 1: Between Strait and McGraw and where Brian lands on the
• 23:11
  Speaker 1: all-time ranking come Alan Jackson, Keith Urban, Jason Aldean, Brooks
• 23:15
  Speaker 1: and Dunn, and Blake Shelton. Those artists have scored 51, 44, 42, 41,
• 23:21
  Speaker 1: and 39 top tens on the country airplay countdown. Country
• 23:26
  Speaker 1: and She Knows It also climbs to a new high
• 23:27
  Speaker 1: point on another two Billboard charts this frame The tune
• 23:30
  Speaker 1: inches from No. 26 to No. 25 on the Radio
• 23:33
  Speaker 1: Songs ranking, which tracks airplay across all genres throughout the
• 23:37
  Speaker 1: United States. On the Hot Country Songs chart, Brian's latest
• 23:41
  Speaker 1: single performs even better. Country and She Knows It advances
• 23:44
  Speaker 1: three spaces from No. 32 to No. 29, reaching a
• 23:48
  Speaker 1: new peak after months on the country-focused roster. Country and
• 23:52
  Speaker 1: She Knows It appears on one more Billboard tally this week. Actually, again,
• 23:56
  Speaker 1: it's last week. The smash opened at number 81 on
• 23:59
  Speaker 1: the Billboard Hot 100, the company's list of 100 most
• 24:02
  Speaker 1: popular songs of any style in the U.S. Brian Nabbs'
• 24:06
  Speaker 1: milestone 40th career hit on the Billboard Hot 100 as
• 24:10
  Speaker 1: it arrives. Leave it to Forbes to come up with
• 24:13
  Speaker 1: all those numbers. Now we finish up at theboot.com with
• 24:17
  Speaker 1: the first article dated September 22nd. MAGA Festival featuring Kid
• 24:21
  Speaker 1: Rock canceled after only six VIP tickets sold. A MAGA
• 24:26
  Speaker 1: political festival in Kentucky that was supposed to feature Kid
• 24:29
  Speaker 1: Rock this upcoming weekend has been canceled at the last minute.
• 24:33
  Speaker 1: According to the Cincinnati Inquirer, the event, called Freedom Fest,
• 24:37
  Speaker 1: was scheduled for September 26. It was supposed to include
• 24:40
  Speaker 1: Kid Rock, Dog the Bounty Hunter, and Republican U.S. Representative
• 24:44
  Speaker 1: James Comer. Eric Dieters, a prominent and controversial figure of
• 24:48
  Speaker 1: Northern Kentucky politics and legal matters, was the organizer behind
• 24:52
  Speaker 1: the event. He's mounted this festival three times in the
• 24:55
  Speaker 1: past four years. Dieter said the problem wasn't a lack
• 24:59
  Speaker 1: of people wanting to come. He said the problem was
• 25:01
  Speaker 1: that he couldn't sell enough of the $ 1, 000 VIP tickets
• 25:05
  Speaker 1: needed to pay for the event. Having artists like Kid
• 25:08
  Speaker 1: Rock and public figures like Dog the Bounty Hunter come
• 25:10
  Speaker 1: with a hefty price tag that the promoter had hoped
• 25:13
  Speaker 1: to recoup. He was hoping to sell 100 VIP tickets,
• 25:17
  Speaker 1: which would have amounted to $ 100, 000, obviously. He says only
• 25:21
  Speaker 1: six people bought them. That's only $ 6, 000, which might be
• 25:24
  Speaker 1: enough to pay for catering backstage for the event personnel,
• 25:27
  Speaker 1: and that's about it. Because regular admission and parking were
• 25:31
  Speaker 1: supposed to be free, Dieter said he was counting on
• 25:34
  Speaker 1: those VIP sales to cover the cost of putting the
• 25:36
  Speaker 1: whole thing on. He was pretty ticked off about it
• 25:39
  Speaker 1: and blamed wealthy people for not supporting the event. Dieter said,
• 25:43
  Speaker 1: when I put together Patriot's Day Freedom Fest, I put
• 25:46
  Speaker 1: it together with the game plan and the idea that
• 25:48
  Speaker 1: I could pay for it with VIP sales of $ 1, 000
• 25:51
  Speaker 1: from these 100 people that I interact with on a
• 25:54
  Speaker 1: regular basis. Rich people as a whole suck, he added.
• 25:58
  Speaker 1: He then basically oddly explained that he's rich himself, but
• 26:01
  Speaker 1: said he doesn't think money is what matters most. Now,
• 26:04
  Speaker 1: I'm a rich person. I live in one hell of
• 26:06
  Speaker 1: a house. I don't suck because I know that money
• 26:08
  Speaker 1: isn't what freaking matters the most. It's the fight, the cause.
• 26:11
  Speaker 1: It's helping people. The festival had been held in previous
• 26:16
  Speaker 1: years and attracted thousands of people. Dieters said he's done
• 26:20
  Speaker 1: with it and doesn't plan to put the festival on again.
• 26:24
  Speaker 1: Freedom Fest has been canceled before. Per the Louisville Courier-Journal,
• 26:27
  Speaker 1: the event was scrapped in 2023 after a planned appearance
• 26:31
  Speaker 1: from President Trump fell through. The festival also cited issues
• 26:35
  Speaker 1: with securing vendors. But that time around, Dieters vowed it
• 26:38
  Speaker 1: would be back. This time, he says, Freedom Fest is
• 26:41
  Speaker 1: done for good. And finally, Carrie Underwood, Guns N' Roses reunite.
• 26:47
  Speaker 1: furthering speculation that a rock album is coming. One day
• 26:51
  Speaker 1: after reports that Carrie Underwood was leaning hard on Guns
• 26:54
  Speaker 1: N' Roses singer Axl Rose for advice, the two shared
• 26:57
  Speaker 1: a stage in Atlanta. The country singer's performance with Guns
• 27:01
  Speaker 1: N' Roses isn't new, but the context is different this time.
• 27:05
  Speaker 1: Underwood and GNR performed Paradise City and Sweet Child O'
• 27:08
  Speaker 1: Mine together at Truist Park in Atlanta. She opened for
• 27:12
  Speaker 1: the rock legends back in 2023. This is the second
• 27:15
  Speaker 1: time in a month she's taken the stage to sing
• 27:17
  Speaker 1: rock music. Underwood commemorated the performance with a post and
• 27:22
  Speaker 1: pictures on social media, and she said yet another amazing
• 27:26
  Speaker 1: show from Guns N' Roses. Video finds Underwood taking full
• 27:29
  Speaker 1: ownership of the song. It's clear that at this point
• 27:32
  Speaker 1: she's very comfortable with the GNR songbook. Carrie Underwood has
• 27:36
  Speaker 1: said nothing about her next album, let alone that it
• 27:38
  Speaker 1: will deviate from her country and Christian roots. She's certainly
• 27:41
  Speaker 1: been focused on the rock scene lately. On September 5th,
• 27:44
  Speaker 1: she played Velocity Festival in Dyersville, Iowa, and during that set,
• 27:48
  Speaker 1: she broke down several metal songs from Limp Bizkit and
• 27:51
  Speaker 1: Papa Roach, plus hits from Collective Soul and Linkin Park.
• 27:55
  Speaker 1: TMZ continues to report she's working on a rock album,
• 27:59
  Speaker 1: but no one has stated as much on the record. Still,
• 28:02
  Speaker 1: the entertainment outlet's latest report claims that Rose is personally
• 28:06
  Speaker 1: advising her. Underwood's last album was Denim and Rhinestones, and
• 28:11
  Speaker 1: that was released back in 2022. There is precedent for
• 28:15
  Speaker 1: a woman of country going rock. Dolly Parton's final album
• 28:18
  Speaker 1: was a full-on rock album released back in 2023. Well,
• 28:23
  Speaker 1: this concludes the reading of Country Weekly for this week.
• 28:27
  Speaker 1: If you have any comments or suggestions about our program,
• 28:30
  Speaker 1: please call us at 859-422-6390. Thank you for joining me,
• 28:36
  Speaker 1: and on behalf of everyone here at Radio Eye, this
• 28:40
  Speaker 1: is Ken Dawkins wishing you a very good day.