Transcript

5.15.26 · Country Weekly

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Speaker 1: Now we turn to Country Weekly, where we will be
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reading from country or news sources found online. I'm your host,
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Mike Keller. As a reminder, Radio Wizer reading service intended
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for people who are blind or have other disabilities that
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make it difficult to read printed material. We'll begin with
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the first article, dated May tenth, from a Parade magazine.
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UH headline is country star announces decision to cancel remainder
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of twenty twenty six purre dates, details personal reasons, and
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she says I need to be honest. Macan Patrick will
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take a break from the road starting in June. The
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country music star thirty nine, who is currently on her
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Golden Child tour and expecting her first child, a baby girl,
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with husband and fellow country star Mitchell Tenpenny, turned to
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social media on Monday May the eleventh. Sorry, I pray
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my dating was a little off there, announcing the heartbreaking
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decision with her fans and followers. It is hard to say,
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but I need to be honest with myself when with y'all,
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I was wrong. Patrick began an emotional video detailing her
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current situation. When I found out I was pregnant, my
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first thought after being so excited was how is this
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going to affect my career. I was determined not to
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slow down. I thought I had to prove that pregnancy
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wouldn't shareange anything, but that I could just push through
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no matter what, she continued. But over the last few weeks,
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after a lot of conversations with my doctor, my family,
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my teen, and with Mitchell, I've realized that I was
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wrong to tell myself that I had anything to prove
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and to make that a priority more importantly, I know
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my baby's well being has come first. But that said,
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the Canadian born singer explained that she is putting her
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tour on hold to prioritize her family health and the
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rest of her pregnancy. Between complications, hospital visits, exhaustion, and
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the anxiety that comes with experiencing our previous miscarriage, I've
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had to take a hard look at what's truly important
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right now, she noted. Alongside her video, Patrick included a
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caption in writing, with a very heavy heart, I made
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the difficult decision to cancel the remainder of my shows
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for the year starting in June. She went on to
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clarify that she will perform the rest of May. I'm
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sorry the rest of her May shows leading up to
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the canceled summer dates, but added then I'll be stepping
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away from the touring. By the rest of the year.
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She promised, I'll still be making music, and honestly, I
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feel like I'm writing some of the best songs of
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my life right now, So I will not be disappearing
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or quitting, just doing things a little differently and the
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best way, and for not only I'm sorry, doing things
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a little differently and the best way for not only
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the quality of my music, but also for my family.
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In her message, Patrick shared her appreciation for everyone who
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has supported her, bought tickets and showed me grace and
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loved me through every season. I promise I'll be back
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when the time is right, and it will be worth
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the weight. And now we have a story from the
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April twenty seventh issue of People Magazine, how Landy Wilson
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Keeps it Real. It's written by Brian Tracy as her
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career source to New Heights, the country star opens up
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about love, mental health, and her dreams beyond music. On
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a sunny Los Angeles day in late March, Lady Wilson
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is commanding the set of her People cover shoot one minute,
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she's dulled up posing on a bar in her signature
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cowboy hat and well bottoms. The next she'll be dressed
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down in a trucker hat, her golden waves tucked into
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an oversized bomber jacket as she heads out to catch
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a light home to Nashville. The switch from country superstar
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to the incognito base in the crowd feels had a
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montana coated hitting for a singer who impersonated the Disney
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icon at parties before finding fame herself. I feel like
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half the best of both worlds, she says. Literal references included,
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I get to be the songwriter and businesswoman. Then I
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get to do the big hat every now and then
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and be Laaney, the sister, the friend, the daughter, the piance.
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Despite her success, Wilson thirty three feels she can still
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go undercover pretty easily in her daily life. Until she speaks.
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I could be at Walgreens or Walmart, and as soon
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as I'm checking out at the counter, the cashier will
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kind of look at me weird, she says in her
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un missle stakable Louisiana drawl. There's no hitting the voice.
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I'm sorry, there's no hiding the voice. Since your twenty
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nineteen breakout hit Things a Man Ought to Know introduced
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the world to that voice, Wilson has become one of
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the country's biggest stars, earning a Grammy, notching nine country
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music number ones and landing a recurring role on the
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block buster paramount series Yellowstone. Even fifteen years in Nashville
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could not prepare me for the way my career exploded,
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says Wilson, who will headline the Stagecoach Music Festival in Indio, California,
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last week into of April. I mean, this is all
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I could have ever wanted in more. Now. Wilson is
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giving fans a peak behind the scenes of her breakneck
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rise in the new Netflix documentary Landy Wilson, Keeping Country Cool,
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Dreaming April or twenty second. It covers both her professional
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and her personal triums, including her engagement to former NFL
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player Devlin Duck Hodges thirty, who proposed in February twenty
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twenty five, as well as her struggles with mental health.
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For the first time, she also opens up about freezing
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her eggs. I focused on my career for so long,
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and I definitely have something to show for it with
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my music, but I have other dreams too, says Wilson.
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When she was a kid, she adds, I wasn't dreaming
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about my wedding day. I was dreaming a dreaming about
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what I was going to wear at the Grand Old
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Opry debut instead, what song I would want my first
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dance to be. I was dreaming about what song I
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would play at the Red Rocks or the Rhymen. The
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Lord surprises you at times, puts other dreams in your
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art you didn't know you had. Wilson was raised in Baskin, Louisiana,
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population approximately two hundred, by her dad, Brian, a fifth
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generation farmer, and mom Michelle, a school teacher. After writing
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her first song at nine, she spent her teen years
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impersonating Hannah Montana, the fictional pop star played by Miley Cyrus.
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I didn't have the Malibu mansion, but I did have
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a little portable sound system, she says. In nineteen, Wilson
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moved to Nashville in a camper trailer, then spent nearly
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a decade grinding before landing her major label deal in
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twenty eighteen. As her career took off, Wilson struggled with
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anxiety and depression. And a relentless schedule pushed her to
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a breaking point a day's long panic attack. I was
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just exhausted and burned out from having to be constantly on,
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she recalls. I wanted to curl up in a little
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ball and shut the world out completely. Advice from Rieban
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McIntyre helped. When I feel like I can do can't
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do it anymore, I do it with somebody else, Wilson
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recalls McIntyre telling her, adding it was like a light
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bulb went off. She carried that message into a Whirlwind
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World tour, which rapped on March sixth, of bringing a
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young Carodole of the Night on stage during each show
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and telling them you are beautiful, you're smart, you're talented,
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you can do anything. That sentiment helps keep Wilson grounded too.
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I'm not just a singer, songwriter, musician. That's what I do,
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She says. Trophies and awards are things that come along
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with success, but it cannot define me as a person,
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because that's when I lose sight of who I am.
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I just got to keep my head screwed on straight.
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Wilson a poth found support and therapy. At one point
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she had three therapists, including one for business, who she says,
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help me get a point across with the little bow
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wrapped on top, because if I really let my Louisiana
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crazy side come out, I'd be saying things a little sideways.
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She adds, I want people who work for me to
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want to stick around for thirty forty years, have herlong
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we're after getting it through it all. Wilson is thankful
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to have fiancee Hodges, whom she met through mutual friends
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in twenty twenty one, by her side. In the two
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years before making that relationship public, Wilson realized that Hodges
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loves Laney Wade more than Lany Wilson. She says, he
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understands what it means to really work hard for something
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that you've always dreamed about. At home in Nashville, the
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pair keep date nights low, keyinging with their dogs, drinking
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the old fashioned. She says, he can cook the best
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steak in Nashville. He's just that place that I can
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get to come home to and fill my cup back up.
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As she waited for Hodges to propose, Wilson made the
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decision to do an egg retrieval. I thought I was
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going to have to propose, So I was like, dang it,
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if he doesn't hurry up, she jokes. But it was
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decision already made. I found a window in my schedule,
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and as soon as I got back on touring in Europe,
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I started my process. I just made this a big priority.
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Two days after the retrieval, she started filming the movie
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Reminders of Him, her film debut. Though she says her
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homemowns are all over the place, Wilson found peace in
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her decision. I just wanted to make sure that when
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the time comes and I want to have that baby,
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I will hopefully be given that opportunity. She counts the
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day Hodges proposes on the steps of country icon George
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Jones's Franklin, Tennessee home as one of the happiest of
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her life. He makes me want to be a better person,
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she says. We're a good team. With her career demands,
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Wilson admits there hasn't been much time for wedding planning.
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We just want it to be simple. We want to
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make that vowl to each other and not be stressed
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out about what the flowers look like. She says. As
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for those vows, Wilson is confident her songwriter talents will
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come in handy. She might even end up writing them
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as a poem. It's a lot easier for me to
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communicate by rhyming words, she says, adding that she doesn't
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want to show up Hodges too bad, since she quips
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he'll probably using chet GPT. Looking ahead, Wilson hopes to
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continue performing with her husband and future children along for
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the ride. I'll be taking them kids on the road
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and putting them to work, she says, get them selling merch.
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Above all, Wilson wants to hold on to her sense
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of wonder. Being fearless. Got me here, she says. We're
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giving one We're given one life, and I want to
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live it. Then here's an article I found in Taste
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of Country, May the thirteenth of this year, written by
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Sterling Whittaker. The title is fifteen Country Stars who fought
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their own record labels in Court. It's not unusual in
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the high stakes world of country music for singers to
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end up in court over business disputes, but things turn
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especially uncomfortable when an artist goes the war against their
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own record label. Which country stars have bought their own
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record labels? It happens more open often than you think.
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Kim McGraw spent literally the years at war with his
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own label, as did Brad Paisley, Toby Keith, Kenny Rogers,
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Leanne Rimes, Taylor Swift, Morgan Whalen, and many country stars
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are also among the stars who bought their own record label,
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both in and out of court. First one would be
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Kenny Rogers versus Capitol Records. You've got to know wind
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to hold room, and know when to pull them the
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whin to walk away and no win to sue or
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something like that. Kenny Rogers fouled suit against Capitol Records
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in twenty twelve, seeking four hundred thousand dollars that he
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claimed he had hadn't been paid due to accounting errors,
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as well as unspecified damages from what he said were
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unpaid digital royalties the label had deliberately underreported. It's unclear
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if the case ever went to court. Then we have
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Travis Trick versus Category five Records. Travis Trick went to
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court against Category five Records when the label closed just
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after releasing his twenty I'm Sorry his two thousand and
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seven album The Storm. Six years of lattigate litigation followed,
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and Trick ultimately regained control of the masters for that album,
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releasing them in a modified form in twenty thirteen via
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his own record label as The Calm After. And then
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we have Brad Paisley versus Sony Nashville. Brad Paisley filed
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suit against his label Sony in twenty ten, claiming that
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he was owed at least ten million dollars and unpaid royalties.
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He filed an amended complaint in twenty fourteen, focusing on
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digital royalties, prompting Sony to ask a judge to throw
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the case out. It's not clear if the case was
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ever settled, but Paisley has since departed Sony, and he
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announced a new deal with E M I Nashville in
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February of twenty twenty three. And then we have Leanne
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Rhymes versus Curb Records. Leanne Rhymes filed suit against her father,
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Wilder Rhymes, and another former manager in May of two thousand,
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accusing them of misappropriating as much as eight million dollars
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over five years. That November, she sued Curb Records to
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get out of what she claimed was an unfair deal
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her parents had signed on her behalf when she was
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under age. She later settled and reconciled with her father
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while a judge threw out her seat against Curb. Then
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we have Tim McGraw versus Curb Records. Tim McGraw came
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out on top at the Curb suit him for breach
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of contract in twenty eleven. He counter sued to get
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out of his contract, which he claimed was uncare and onnious.
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In twenty thirteen, after years of filings and hearings, McGraw
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triumphed when a judge threw out the last of Curbs
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claims and he was able to record for a big machine.
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And then we have Katie Armagher versus Cold River Records.
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Katie Armiger and her former label, Cold River Records had
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traded lawsuits since twenty sixteen, when the label suited her
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for alleged reach a contract. She carried back with a
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lawsuit that shook Nashville's establishment with allegations of sexual harassment,
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saying her label encouraged her to flirt with kiss and
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sit in the lapse of radio programmers to try to
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garner airplay. After they reached the private settlement, Cold River
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sued Ermiger again in twenty seventeen after she gave an
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interview to Box News about the Me Too movement. She
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then fouled a cocomplex counter seat, alleging a wide list
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of agledged improprieties against her former label. She and labeled
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founder Pete o'hearon settled out of court in twenty nineteen.
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And then we have Steerer and More versus Universal Music Group.
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Steve Earl is one of the artists who led a
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class action lawsuit against Universal Music Group over a fire
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that destroyed more than eight hundred earth Master tapes in
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two thousand and eight. A lawsuit fouled in June of
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twenty nineteen alleges UMG mishandled their tapes, then deliberately covered
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up the fire and excluded the effect of artists from
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the proceeds from insurance settlements and damage claims. A federal
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judge dismissed the lawsuit in twenty twenty. Then we have
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Garth Brooks versus Liberty Records. Garth Brooks was bagbar the
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biggest star in the country music, biggest star in country
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music when he went in to renegotiate his recording contract
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in twenty In nineteen ninety two, the country superstar personally
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sat in on the negotiations with his attorneys, and he
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and Liberty Records head Jimmy Bowen butt heads about the
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new terms Books was demanding, which would give him a
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deal unprecedented in country music history. In nineteen ninety three,
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they announced they had arrived at a new deal in
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which Books would waive future advances for his recordings in
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exchange for a whopping fifty percent royalty on each unit sold.
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Then we have Toby Keith versus Mercury Records. Toby Keith
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had already become a huge star in country music as
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a part of Mercury Records roster when the label rejected
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an album that he had submitted. When the label rejected
20:51
burther songs, Keith asked to be released from his contract,
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moving over to DreamWorks for the album that became how
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Do You Like Meanow? The experience left such a bitter
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taste that Keith and Mercury had Luke Lewis traded Barbes
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in the press for years afterwards. That we have Tanya
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Tucker of us as Capitol Records. Tanya Tucker called the
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loss suit against Capitol Records in nineteen ninety eight, claiming
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the label had neglected her most recent album by paying
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too much attention to one artist on the roster at
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everyone else's expense. Her suit did not name the artist,
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but rumors in Nashville pointed to Garth Brooks, who was
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the darling of the label and the best selling artist
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in country music at the time. Tucker and the label
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subsequently parted and the turns of any settlement were never disclosed.
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And then we have Jody Messina versus Curb Records. Jody
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Messina was yet another artist who had major problems with
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Curb Records. To bring on the Rain, singer complained for
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several years that she was being treated unfairly after her
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initial success, claiming the label was spacing her album so
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far apart that she was basically starting all over every
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time she released a new record. She finally departed Curb
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in twenty twelve, but never really regained the momentum of
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her early career, and the singer has voiced her frustrations
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with the label in public. And then we have the
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Dixie Chicks versus Sony Nashville. The Dixie Chicks career was
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white hot in two thousand and one, but they were
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decided with their label Sony, claiming the label was deliberately
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underreporting their sales so they didn't have to pay what
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was owed. Sony sued for breach of contract when the
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Trio sent a letter saying they intended to depart, and
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the band responded with a counter seat, claiming Sonny had
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failed to pay out more than four million dollars in
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royalties at new were owing. The two parties settled in
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twenty twenty two, announcing on lucrative new contract that gave
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the band a twenty million dollar bonus and a higher
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royalty rate. Then here's a good one. Taylor Swift versus
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Big Machine Records. Taylor Swift wound up at odds with
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her former label, Big Machine Records in twenty nineteen. She
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had left the label for a deal with Republic Records
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after her contract expired, and the label then sold out
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to Scooter Braun, whom she considered a bully and an
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antagonist of hers, leaving him in control of the masters
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to her first sixth solo albums. Swift engaged in a
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very public back and forth with Braun at Big machinehead
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Scott Portetta, ultimately announcing that she would re record her
24:28
early work in new recordings. She would title Taylor's version,
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which she has steadily rolled out in subsequently years. Then
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we have Mark Chestnut versus Decker Records. Mark Chestnut squared
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off against his label Decer Records after his biggest hit single,
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a cover of the Aerosmith smash I Don't Want to
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miss a Thing in four years I'm Sorry war weeks
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at number one in nineteen ninety nine. The staunch country
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traditionalists had agreed to record the song reluctantly, but says
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that its churk position did not reflect in actual sales,
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and worse, his decision to record the song made George
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Jones mad at him, so when Decker suggested he follow
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it up with another re recording of a pop ballad,
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Chestnut outright refused and asked for his release from the label.
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He has continued to focus on traditional country music four
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years since. Then we have Morgan Whalen versus Pantaser Records.
25:47
Morgan Whalen came out against the release of a new
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album titled Standalone in January of twenty twenty four, turning
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to social media to explain that he recorded it for
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small label ten years prior after signing a deal without
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legal representation. Whaling called pantase A Record's decision to re
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release it with some previously unreleased tracks, Gross and Greedy,
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and he re recorded one of the standout tracks, Spin
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You Around, had a new, more professional recording to all
26:24
her fans. As an alternative, Here's a somewhat related story
26:33
out of the People magazine of April twenty seventh about
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Lena Dunham. I don't know I'm familiar with her. I
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hope you people are too. The Girl's creator is back
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in the spotlight and feeling better than ever as she
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opens up about chronic illness, addiction, relationships in her complicated
26:58
path to start them in a new book. Dunham was
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born in New York City to artists Laurie Simmons and
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Carol Dunham. Skyrocketed to Game in twenty twelve for the
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creation of Girls, about four young millennials messine navigating life
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in Brooklyn. She was only twenty three when HBO called
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to offer the pilot deal to change her life. The
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whirlwind of attention overwhelmed her, but she says writing her
27:33
new book has helped her find peace. I will contest
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I've never rewatched Girls since I was on, but not
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because I don't think I wouldn't like it, she says.
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It's just when I have time, I want to watch
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other people's work. Still, she considers a great gift The
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Girls is resonating with the new generation. I think when
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I first got out of Girls, a lot of it
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was about proving I have more in me. This isn't
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my whole story, she says. And now there's just the
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deep apreciation that this young people felt bold enough to
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put a TV show together, that that cast was so
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down for the ride. It's amazing that it happened. This
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concludes the reading of Country Weekly for this week. If
28:26
you have any comments or suggestions about this program, please
28:30
call us at eight five nine or two two six
28:34
three nine zero. Thank you for joining me and on
28:37
behalf of everyone here at RADIOI. This is Mike Keller
28:41
wishing you a good day.