Transcript

11.7.25 · Country Weekly

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Speaker 1: Now it's time once again to catch up with Country Weekly,
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where we check out news and gossip from the world
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of country music. I'm your host, Ken Dawkins, and I
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will be reading from various sources found online. As a reminder,
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RADIOI is a reading service intended for people who are
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blind or have other disabilities that make it difficult to
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read printed material. We'll begin with the first article dated
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November three, and this is from Savingcountry Music dot Com.
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First up, Hot Damn. This twenty twenty six Under the
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Big Sky fest lineup is stacked. Tell anyone you owe
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money to tough luck, They're going to have to wait
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because you might be mortgaging the farm if that's what
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it takes to make it to Montana next summer for
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the Under the Big Sky Festival. They just announced their
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lineup for twenty twenty six and it's loaded top to bottom.
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One of the independent Country's biggest independent festivals is bringing
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big names to Whitefish, Montana's Big Mountain Ranch July seventeenth
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through the nineteenth. Chris Stapleton, Zach Top, and Cody Jinks
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have been announced at the twenty twenty six headliners with
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a huge list of talent beneath them like Ryan Bingham,
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Charles Wesley Godwin, Stephen Wilson Junior, Marcus King, Old Crow
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Medicine Show, and Benjamin Todd, who's hopped on and off
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a few freight trains in Whitefish in the past. If
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you want hot up and comers, they've got that too,
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with folks like Rattlesnake, Milk, Cole Cheney, Whalen Wyatt and
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Max mcnow. You have to go down the list a
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little to find the women, but then you run into
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some big ones like Caitlan Butts, Caitlin Smith and Gabriella Rose.
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Want to hear some bluegrass, They've got you covered there
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too with Hiller Mountain Grass, Unit, Green Sky Bluegrass and
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Leftover Salmon, And like always under the Big Sky make
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sure to feature local talent on their massive stages, with
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Michelle Rivers, Hannah King and Tanner Laws all performing. Along
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with all of this, there's the full blown rodeo that
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happens all weekend inciding with the event, with the creek
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and the train track running straight through the festival site,
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surrounded by mountain ranges, only sixty miles from the Canadian
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border and a skip away from Glacier National Park under
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the Big Sky rank number six on Saving Country Music's
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Best Country and Roots Festivals earlier this year, and is
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definitely a festival worth taking in, especially on a year
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when the lineup is so lush. Pre sale starts this weekend. Next,
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country legend Don Williams falls victim to fake AI album.
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When the general giant Don Williams died on September eighth
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of twenty seventeen at the age of seventy eight, it
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left an abnormally large crater in the hearts of country
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music fans and in the heart of the country music community.
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A country legend by anyone's measure, The reason the passing
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of Don Williams affected us so deeply was due to
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how it was often the music of Don Williams that
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got you to turn to when you needed to be consoled,
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including at times of the death of friends, loved ones,
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and other country legends. The reverence with which country fans
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carry the works and legacy of Don Williams in their
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hearts is one of the reasons the blatant theft of
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his identity and the use of his name to publish
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fake AI generated songs feels like such an egregious offense.
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That's exactly what happened on November one, when an entire
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album of supposed Don Williams songs was published on Spotify,
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Apple Music, Amazon Music, YouTube and other streaming services under
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the name God and the Horses. At first, fans of
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Don Williams felt like a gift had fallen from heaven
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in the form of a new twelve song album from
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the Country Music Hall of Famer. Maybe it was an
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archival release of recently unearthed recordings, but of course that's
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not the case at all. The clearly AI generated cover,
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the way all the songs start off with the same
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exact sequence of notes, and the fact that the copywriters
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attributed to someone named Gary Wayne Moore is a dead
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giveaway that this is an entirely fake. The music is
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still up on all the streaming services as of this post,
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though hopefully it will be taken down soon, but in
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many respects, the damage is already done. This is just
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a harbinger of things to come, as the proliferation of
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AI makes it so easy to compose an album like
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this in minutes and have it uploaded to streaming services.
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Since the guardrails and gatekeepers are removed and the entire
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process of releasing music has become automated. What makes it
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especially egregious is how these AI impostors were able to
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release this fake album under the official Don Williams accounts
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on these streaming services. The other pronouncious issue with all
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of this is to distrust this activity so throughout the
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public when it comes to well everything. When Shooter Jennings
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recently released an album of archived songs from his father,
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Whelan Jennings called Songbird, comments sections filled with people claiming
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it must be AI and not actual real recordings. Music
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legends and deceased artists, unfortunately are going to become the
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biggest victims of this activity since they're not around to
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help police it, and it's often allD fans who might
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fall victim to believing these AI generated songs, albums, and
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artists are real. This fake Don Williams album shouldn't just
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be pulled down. Streaming services should have to answer as
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to why music that someone's stolen identity was allowed to
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stay up for going on two days in counting. If
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Gary Wayne Moore is a real person and was truly
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the individual who created and uploaded it, they should be prosecuted.
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The FBI or some other organization should definitely investigate this
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praizen unprecedented incident, says saving country music. But there's also
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the possibility that all this is generated automatically through AI practices,
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and someone can simply enter the names of country legends
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in a prompt and spit out completed albums automatically uploaded
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to DSPs and start generating income with little if any
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human interaction except cashing the checks. Meanwhile, you have real,
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actual independent music artists like Cam Pierce, The Piedmont Boys,
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Slack Eyes, Slim Grace and Jenkins and a Westcoat and
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more having their albums pulled off of stream services due
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to bogus claims of AI generated streaming fraud. Don Williams
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definitely isn't the first and he most definitely will not
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be the last music legend to fall victim to fake
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AI music. This problem promises to only get worse, not better,
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over time. With all the promises AI has made and
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failed to deliver on its fraudulent activity in scams and
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useless AI slop, it seems to be flooding the marketplace
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while undermining public trust in everything. Since reality can now
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be so easily faked. Next. Beloved country singer John Wesley
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Ryles has died. John Wesley Ryles had a successful career
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as a country music performer, amassing eleven top forty hits
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over a twenty year time span, including signature songs like
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Ka recorded when he was just seventeen years old, and
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nineteen seventy seven's Once in a Lifetime Thing that reached
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the top five. But it was his work as a
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harmony singer and studio musicians, singing on countless country cuts
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that earned him the respect of so many in Nashville.
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An absolute giant in our industry, says nineties country hit
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maker Brian White. An incredible songwriter and an outstanding singer.
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When I moved to town and started singing demos for
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publishers and writers, John Wesley and I would pass each
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other in the hallways of studios all over Nashville. I
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was always in awe. His skills were unmatched. He could
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literally match the tone and phrasing of whomever he was
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singing with. Didn't matter who it was. He was flawless.
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Born and baster of Louisiana. On December fifth, nineteen fifty,
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John Wesley Ryles moved to the Dallas Fort Worth area
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when he was just ten, where his dad worked in construction.
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His father had been a gospel singer with his brothers
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in Arkansas and taught John and his sisters how to sing.
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Rails was playing guitar at the age of six. They
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would perform on local shows such as the Cowtown Hodown
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and the Big d Jamboree, as well as singing backing
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vocals for bigger acts. When Ryles arrived in Nashville with
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his family in nineteen sixty eight, at the age of seventeen,
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he was hired by well known producer George rich to
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sing the demo version of the song k. When Richie
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heard the demo, he thought it would be difficult, too
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impossible to beat it and released it as a proper
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single and went to number nine on the charts, and
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in the career of John Wesley Ryles was launched recording
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four Columbia Records. They changed his last name from I
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guess It's reels to Ryles because they were worried DJs
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and others would have a hard time pronouncing it like
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I just did. His next couple of singles would stall
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outside of the top fifty, and Ryles would spend much
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of his career pinballing between labels, including recording for Plantation, Dot, MCA,
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Warner and others. Throughout his career, he would occasionally land
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a minor hit, including his version of You Are Always
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On My Mind that hit number twenty in nineteen seventy nine.
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Throughout the seventies and eighties, Riles would supplant his career
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by singing harmonies with others, both live and in the studio.
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In nineteen eighty eight, after his last single, Nobody Knows,
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stalled outside the top fifty once again, Wiles focused on
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his career almost solely on singing harmony on studio recordings,
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and quickly became one of the most in demand harmony
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singers around. Willie Nelson, Conway, Twitty Whalen Jennings, Garth Brooks,
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Clint black Allan Jackson, Jeene Watson, Craig Campbell, Aaron Watson,
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Kenny Chesney, Joe Nichols, Martina McBride, Terry Clark, and so
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on and so forth all recorded songs with John Wesley
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Ryles singing harmonies with them, and he remained prolific well
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into the early twenty twenties its Indently, Ryles was married
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to fellow country singer Joni Lee, who is also the
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daughter of Conway Twitty. John Wesley Riles passed away on Sunday,
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November two at the age of seventy four, leaving behind
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a huge, if somewhat unherlded legacy from being the other
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singer on so many timeless country classics. Now we trot
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on over to allcountrynews dot com. First headline, CMA Country
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Christmas returns Lauren Daigil, Jordan Davis, Riley Green in Nashville's
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finest spread holiday cheer. Here's a certain magic that only
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holiday lights, twinkling evergreens in country music and conjure, and
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this December, ABC and the Country Music Association are delivering
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it in spades. The sixteenth annual CMA Country Christmas returns Tuesday,
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December second, at nine eighth Central Time, with streaming on
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Hulu and Disney Plus the following day. For the first time,
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Lauren Dagiel and Jordan Davis step into the co host spotlight,
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bringing their signature warmth, charm and humor to the evening.
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Both artists are known for their ability to connect with audiences.
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Dagle with her soaring, soulful vocals, and Davis with his
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easygoing charisma and sing along sensibility. Together they promise to
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guide viewers through a night that feels equal parts intimate
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and grand, a reflection of the very best of Nashville's
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holiday spirit. The lineup itself reads like a holiday wish
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list come to life. Alongside Dagel and Davis, Riley Green Lady,
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A Little Bigtown, Parker McCollum and Megan Maroney are set
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to bring the country hits and for those looking for
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something a little un expected. Genre defying performers like preservation
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hall jazz band, blues icons Susan Tedesky and Derek Trucks,
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and gospel legend BB Whinings ensure the night will resonate
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beyond traditional country borderers. Filmed in front of a live
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Nashville audience, CMA Country Christmas blends nostalgia with fresh takes
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on holiday classics. Expect duets to tug at the heartstrings,
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soulful renditions that stir the spirit, and a few surprises
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that will make the season field brand new. This isn't
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just a television special, It's become a yearly tradition for
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country music fans a place where memories are made, voices
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join together, and the warmth of the season is amplified
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by some of the genre's biggest names. Beyond the music,
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the special celebrates what the holidays mean in Nashville, family community,
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and the joy of coming together. Whether it's a tender
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solo from Dagel, a full band performance from Little Big Town,
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or a gospel infused number from BB Winings, the show
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reminds viewers that country music has always had a seat
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at the holiday table. So mark your calendar, prep your
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hot cocoa. CMA Country Christmas returns again. That's December two,
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nine Eastern, eighth Central and ABC. Next, Ashley McBride doubles
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down on Lower Broadway with twenty twenty six Redemption Residency.
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Ashley McBride has never been interested in doing the expected,
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so when the Grammy, CMA and ACM ward winner planted
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her flag at Neon Steeple at Chiefs for the Redemption
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Residency earlier this year, fans knew they weren't just buying
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a ticket, they were stepping into her world. Now McBride
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is extending that invitation deep into twenty twenty six, promising
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more storytelling, more grit, and more nights that can only
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be described as so Ashley. This isn't a residency built
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on repeat performances. It's a series of intentionally crafted experiences.
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Eight shows, four themes, countless reasons to keep coming back.
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January and March will be something called just Me in
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My Shadow McBride alone with her guitar, no safety net,
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no distractions. This is where the Arkansas native's unmatched storytelling
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becomes a spotlight all its own, the kind of performance
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that reminds you why she's a writer first and a
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world class performer second. These solo acoustic nights are built
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for goosebumps and truth telling. In February, in the middle
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of that Postcards from Lindeville, her fictional town of misfits
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and real life truths, returned to the stage for a
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double header. Fans obsessed with the Easter eggs and character
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arcs and songs spanning jeloppies and expensive guitars to the
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Devil I Know, will find themselves right back in the
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neighborhood Lindaville lives, and it gets its rowdy, It gets
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really rowdy after dark. In April, its mixtape from the
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mixed up years two nights of songs that shaped her
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cover sets mapping McBride's own crooked, fearless climb from Arkansas
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biker bars to grand old opry member and genre shaping force.
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It's a love letter to the music that made her
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dangerous in the best way. And speaking of Redemption, bar
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McBride's non alcoholic forward hangout has already become Lower Broadway's
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boldest statement in a town soaked in whiskey and neon.
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She's building a new kind of sanctuary, one where you
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can keep your witch sharp while the music hits even harder.
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Ashley McBride doesn't just put on a show, shoe creates
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a chapter. With this extension of the Redemption Residency, twenty
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twenty six is looking like one hell of a story.
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Now we back up to countrynow dot com with the
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first article published November fourth. Cowetzel, Treaty, Oak Revival and
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more set for twenty twenty six. Cattle Country Festival Cattle
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Country Festivals coming back bigger than ever next year. Set
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for April tenth through twelfth in Gonzales, Texas, the three
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day music and camping festival will return for its third
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year with a stacked lineup featuring Cowetzel, Treaty, Oak Revival
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and Randy Hauser. They'll be joined by an impressive roster
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of performers including Robert Earl, Keene, Josh Abbott Band, Paul Coffin,
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Corey Kant, Casey Donahue, Stony LaRue, Dina Carter, Tyler, Braden,
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Jason Boland and the Stragglers Asleep at the Wheel, Drake Milligan,
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Logan Ryan Band, Atlas Tyler, Nancecannon Freeman and crr V,
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Austin Mead, Emily and Roberts and Brad Cox. New in
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twenty twenty six, the festival will also feature a Whiskey
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Jam stage, spotlighting rising talents such as Brook Baird, Brandy Balen,
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Ellis Bullard, Hayden Butler, Aaron McBee, Aaron McDonald and others.
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The Cattle Country Festivals heading back to the Boot, a
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sprawling four hundred acre ranch along the Guadaloupe River and
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Gonzales just an hour from Austin, San Antonio and Houston.
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This one of a kind spot is the perfect home
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for the three day music and camping event. Surrounded by
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more than one hundred and fifty acres if pecond trees,
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festivalgoers can soak up the shade kicked back by the
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river and take in the peaceful Texas scenery. Back by
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popular demand, the twenty twenty six festival will feature more
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GA and VIP camping, expanded lamping options, and additional RV
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spaces and on site amenities for those who want to
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stay close to the Fans who need to cool off
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can head to one of the Boots inviting swimming areas
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dubbed the Cowboy Coves, where they can float, splash and
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enjoy the festival from the water. Of course, no Texas
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festivals complete without good eats and drinks. The grounds will
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be filled with food, wine, spirits, brews, and local shopping.
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Every year, the Boot transforms into a true weekend escape
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where fans and artists come together for NonStop fun. Whether
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it's tailgating, fishing, floating the river, or jamming late into
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the night. The party starts long before the first note
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plays and does an end when the headliner leaves the stage.
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New this year, the festivals introducing a fast pass, giving
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fans quicker entry into the grounds and access to exclusive
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fast pass lines at all GA bars. Cattle Country festivals
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also offering discounts for locals, military members, students, teachers, and
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first responders. Next, Laney Wilson kicks off rescheduled Houston show
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with emotional thank you to fans and pulls off hilarious
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end of tour prank. Landy Wilson was filled with gratitudeor
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she welcomed her Houston, Texas fans to the Whirlwind World
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Tour over the weekend. The country superstar came out stronger
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than ever before for the rescheduled date that was postponed
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earlier this fall. When she finally returned to Houston, the
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moment hit her heart. In a video captured from the
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crowd by Houston's ninety two Q Country, Wilson can be
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seen kicking off the night with an emotional speech in
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which she thanked the pack crowd at the Cynthia Woods
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Mitchell Pavilion for sticking by her. I just want to
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say thank you all so much for showing back up tonight,
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Wilson told the crowd, her voice full of gratitude. Cheers
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echoed through the venue. I'm so sorry. I'm sorry I
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was in the bind, so thank you so much for understanding,
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and I'm feeling one hundred percent so I'm going to
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give it one hundred and ninety percent tonight. She went
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on to gush over her loyal listeners, noting that she
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has the best fans in the entire world. With that,
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she brought the energy back up and explained the empowering
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mission behind her twenty twenty five headlining to her before
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diving into her next anthem of the night, watermelon moonshine.
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I know it feels like life can be a whirlwind
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a lot of time, and we're all just trying to
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keep one foot on the ground. I know it. But
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tonight we're going to lay it down. We're going to
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celebrate it. We're going to embrace it, and I think
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the best way to do that is by singing about
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some watermelon moonshine. The concert also featured plenty of laughs
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when she decided to pull off a hilarious prank on
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her opening act Muscadeine Bloodline, before the duo returned to
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the stage to join Wilson for an acoustic portion of
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her set. The Louisiana native told the crowd, I've been
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wanting to do this prank for a long time. Meanwhile,
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members of her team were seen carrying out and cleaning
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a pair of toilet seats instead of the usual benches
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that appear on stage for the songwriters Muscadine Bloodline, come
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out here. I want you to sit on your throne
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and sing a song with me, she said, calling the duo.
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Wilson also assured them that the toilets were brand new.
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I was thinking about it. It was like, if I ever
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do an acoustic part of my show where I've got
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somebody come out, I'm going to make them sit on
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a toilet and do it. I think that they're all
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full of you know what. That's why I really wanted
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to do this. She continued to gush over the band,
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adding when I tell you I'm the biggest fan, I'm
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also so thankful and proud to have you all out
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here with us. Gary Stanton, one half of the duel,
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returned the praise for Wilson, as he told the crowd,
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We've been on this tour for five weeks and it's
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been an absolute blast playing in front of Lany's fans.
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She has the best fans in country music. The memorable
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night was originally supposed to take place in September. However,
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Wilson informed fans at the time that she'd fallen ill
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and was unable to perform, so she made the tough
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decision to reschedule the show. Since she was clearly heartbroken
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to have to disappoint the fans who were waiting to
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see her, Wilson was determined to make it right, and
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she did that on Saturday, November first. Hey all, I'm
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sorry to do this, she said an emotional video, but
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I'm going to need to reschedule tonight's show in Houston
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on Saturday, November first. All previously purchased tickets will be
19:56
honored for that new date. She ended up by the
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clip golling a kiss to the camera. The Whirlwind tour
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is nearing the end, with only two dates left. She'll
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wrap things up with performances in Tampa on November seventh
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and Orlando on November eighth. Now we move along to
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the boot dot Com with the article dated November fifth,
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Guy Fieri tried to have Gretchen Wilson booted from John
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Rich's Redneck Riviera. According to Gretchen Wilson, Guy Fieri once
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tried to have her booted from John Rich's Redneck Riviera,
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a restaurant, and the story is somewhat comical. Wilson was
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a guest on Taste of Country Nights, where she was
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asked what the craziest phone number in her phone contact is?
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The rest just float out the Redneck woman singer said,
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how do you say his name? That cooking guy, and
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she was asked, you can get in touch with Guy Fieri.
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Wilson replied, I can, but I don't. Wilson continued, When
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John Rich opened up his restaurant, Redneck Rivier in Las Vegas,
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Guy and I were seated at a table across from
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each other. Is because when I first sat down, he
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didn't know who I was, and he tried to have
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me removed. Wilson, being the fierce woman that she is,
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was not having that at all. She said, it's one
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of those drinking nights. We're going to see who's here
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in a minute, spiky hair. I was like, because he's
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my brother and I'm sitting right here. After that encounter,
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Wilson said that Fiery backed down. They both got a
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chuckle over the brief dispute and actually ended up exchanging
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phone numbers. A brief Internet search shows that John Rich's
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Redneck Riviera's the Las Vegas location opened in twenty seventeen.
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There was a VIP grand opening celebration on February sixteenth
21:36
that year. The Vegas location has since closed. In the
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eight years since, Fierrey and Wilson may have both gotten
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new phone numbers, but will never know because Wilson will
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likely never hit up the Spiky Hair Chef and Entrepreneur anytime.
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Soon after John Rich's read Riviera, Las Vegas location closed
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and now remains only one location. It's in Nashville on
21:57
Lower Broadway, and Wilson, of course as a cook and
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a bartender one time, she moved to Nashville to pursue
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her musical career. Moving along, Jake Owen reveals how being
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a single guy again shaped his new album. Jake Owen
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was a guest on Taste of Country Nights, where he
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revealed that he was indeed single again. In Life after
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fiance Eric hertline was lonely, he was engulfed in a
22:21
deep conversation about life, music and sobriety, and honestly, Owen
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kind of broke his breakup news in Passing the Beach,
22:29
and singer said, man, in the last couple of years,
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I've gone through my second separation and going back to
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being just like this single guy. I was alone, dude,
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I really felt alone. There were times I felt like
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I had to get high so I couldn't cry. He
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adds the second half of that sentence was not meant literally.
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It came during a conversation about how Hank Williams Junior
22:47
has affected his life and music. Williams has a song
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called Feeling Better with that lyric. Owen and his ex fiancee,
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Erica Heartline, had been together since twenty nineteen and engaged
22:59
since December of twenty They share a daughter together, Paris Hartley,
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the Barefoot Blue gene Knight singer, is a dedicated father
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to his two children, Paris and Pearl, who's twelve. He
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was even a few minutes late to the interview due
23:12
to being stuck in traffic after dropping his youngest off
23:15
at school. Even though his separations, even through his separations,
23:19
he always shows massive amounts of love for his two daughters. Still,
23:24
I suppose I'm a hard man to love, and I'm
23:25
still working on me, he admits. Owen is taking this
23:29
time in his life to work on not only himself
23:31
but his music. He explained that he had to leave
23:33
Nashville and his record label behind in order to thrive
23:36
and come out of his emotional hardships. There's a reference
23:39
to Hank william Junior's Feeling Better in the title track
23:42
of Owen's new Dreams to Dream album, which is out
23:45
this weekend. Shooter Jennings produced the album, which completes a
23:49
full circle. His father, Whalen Jennings, co produced Williams's New
23:53
South album in nineteen seventy seven. The project featured Feeling Better. Next,
24:00
Jannye Chesney talks about retirement. When will he call it quits?
24:05
After getting inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame
24:07
and with his fifty eighth birthday just around the corner,
24:11
some fans might be wondering if Kenny Chesney plans to
24:14
retire or slow down. Chesney recently spoke to people dot
24:18
com about retirement and when he might call it quits. Thankfully,
24:21
the country music legend with thirty number one songs under
24:25
his belt, is still going strong. I love creating, That's
24:28
what I've always done, so I don't see slowing down
24:30
in my near future, he told the publication speaking on
24:33
Taste of Country Nights in a recent interview, fellow country
24:36
star Landy Wilson told host Evan Paul that she had
24:39
twenty twenty six almost fully mapped out already. Chesney's looking
24:43
even farther ahead. My life is already so planned out.
24:46
I know what I'm doing. In twenty twenty seven, he
24:48
told People Plus, the musician feels most alive when performing
24:52
to a stadium crowd. I love what I do, I
24:54
love making music, and I love being on that stage
24:57
more than any place in the world, he shared with Chesney,
25:01
being single and having no kids, he really doesn't have
25:03
anything holding him back from playing shows until he's Willie
25:06
Nelson's age Nelson's, of course ninety two. Chesney's twenty twenty
25:11
five Vegas Sphere residency was so popular He's already signed
25:14
up for more dates in twenty twenty six, beginning next
25:17
year in June, and Chesney credits his own mother for
25:20
instilling that beachy vibe into the no shoes, no shirt,
25:23
no problem singer. You can give my mom credit on
25:26
this one too. I've always been a fan of feel
25:28
good music. We would go to the beach as a kid,
25:30
and she loved beach music, and she just loved so
25:34
to feel good and loved to make other people feel good.
25:37
So that's always been infused in my thinking when I
25:39
either listen to music or if I'm creating it, he
25:41
explained to people. And finally we move over to Tastes
25:45
of Country with the first article published on November fourth,
25:49
how streaming platforms shaped the new era of country music.
25:53
Country music has always succeeded on storytelling, community, and authenticity.
25:57
In recent years, the way fans discover and can with
26:00
artists has shifted a lot, which is thanks to the
26:02
rise of streaming platforms in social media. Of course, this
26:06
transformation is not just changing how people listen to music,
26:09
but also how artists build their careers and how the
26:12
industry measures success. It's not just about radio or buying
26:16
CDs anymore. Streaming services including Spotify, Apple Music, and YouTube
26:22
play a big role in how people discover new artists
26:25
and how famous musicians get noticed by more people. With
26:28
these platforms, fans can listen to music anytime, which helps
26:32
new artists find their audiences more easily. This change also
26:36
means country musicians are mixing styles with other genres, including pop,
26:40
hip hop, and folk. This blending creates a newer, more
26:44
modern sound that attracts younger fans. The rise in popularity
26:49
around country music is because it is flexible and has
26:52
a strong online presence, as explained in the article on
26:55
country music popularity, which shows how fast it's growing and
26:59
how much it is affecting the music world. Podcasts have
27:02
become a powerful tool for artists and fans alike. Through
27:06
behind the scenes interviews, exclusive song premieres, and candid conversations,
27:11
podcasts offer a direct line to the personalities behind the music.
27:15
This allows artists to share their journey, inspirations, and challenges
27:18
in their own words, which helps deepen the pond with
27:21
their listeners. These efforts not only provide fans with unique content,
27:26
but also foster a sense of community and belonging that
27:29
is the heart of country music culture. With the growth
27:33
of streaming services and social media, the music industry now
27:37
has clear and measurable ways to track performance than they've
27:40
ever had before. They have charts now which show real
27:44
time data on how many people are currently listening, how
27:47
often songs are shared, and where they appear on playlists.
27:51
This helps to give a better picture of what fans like.
27:53
Most artists and record companies can use this information to
27:56
plan wend to release music, where to go on tour,
27:59
and how to prom mote their music. It also makes
28:02
it easier for young independent artists to stand out and
28:04
compete with big name artists from major labels. For the fans,
28:08
this means they can discover a wider range of music
28:10
and actually influence an artist's popularity through the way they
28:13
listen and engage online. As streaming services in social media
28:18
keep changing, country music is getting even closer to its fans.
28:22
This teamwork between artists and listeners means a bright future
28:25
where old traditions mix with new ideas and everyone gets
28:28
to share their thoughts and influence the path of the music.
28:32
This concludes the reading of Country Weekly for this week.
28:34
If you have any comments or suggestions about the program,
28:38
kindly call us at eight five nine four two two
28:40
sixty three ninety. Thanks for joining me and on behalf
28:44
of everyone here at RADIOI. This is Ken Dawkins, wishing
28:47
you a great day.