Transcript

10.16.26 · Country Weekly

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Speaker 1: Now it's time to catch up with Country Weekly, where
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Speaker 1: we dive into news and gossip from the world of
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Speaker 1: country music. I'm your host, Ken Dawkins, as always, and
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Speaker 1: I will be reading from various sources found online. As
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Speaker 1: a reminder, Radio Eye is a reading service intended for
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Speaker 1: people who are blind or have other disabilities that make
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Speaker 1: it difficult to read printed material. We'll begin with the
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Speaker 1: first article dated October 13th from WOWK 13 News. Long
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Speaker 1: Time Kentucky Music Festival Retires After 25 Years After more
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Speaker 1: than two decades of favorite festivals saying goodbye, RudyFest announced
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Speaker 1: that it will not be returning in 2027 after a
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Speaker 1: 25-year run. Founded in Grayson, Kentucky, the festival brought large
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Speaker 1: crowds out for the bluegrass genre. The community it created
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Speaker 1: inspired young musicians like Jace Turley. My parents started taking
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Speaker 1: me to RudyFest with our family friends in 2011. and
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Speaker 1: I attended Rudy Fest for several years, Turley said. That's
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Speaker 1: where my love for music started. I started playing music
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Speaker 1: because of Rudy Fest. In a statement, the festival's founders
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Speaker 1: said they were grateful for everyone who made it so successful.
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Speaker 1: The Rudy Fest members will announce the end of an era.
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Speaker 1: With much thought and heartache, we decided to retire from
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Speaker 1: the Rudy Fest LLC and close out the festival. First,
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Speaker 1: we'd like to thank all the attendees, volunteers, sponsors, musicians, agents, promoters,
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Speaker 1: and businesses that have helped make RudyFest successful for the
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Speaker 1: past 25 years. Without all of you, there's no way
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Speaker 1: we could have made the event what it has grown into.
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Speaker 1: In 25 years, we've had the opportunity to bring the
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Speaker 1: biggest and best bluegrass to Kentucky and become one of
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Speaker 1: the best bluegrass festivals in the country. This has allowed
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Speaker 1: us to support our community in so many ways, there
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Speaker 1: are too many to list, but the biggest must be
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Speaker 1: support our local youth sports programs. This is by far
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Speaker 1: our biggest regret in not continuing the festival. The founders
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Speaker 1: did not elaborate further on their decision. Turley said their
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Speaker 1: absence will be felt deeply. I think there's definitely a
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Speaker 1: hole to be filled, especially in June every year, without
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Speaker 1: Rudy Fest being there, he said. I think there's definitely
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Speaker 1: a lot of opportunity for some more bluegrass shows to
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Speaker 1: pop up in the summer. The bluegrass community will always
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Speaker 1: stand through time and stick together, Turley said. It's a
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Speaker 1: big family. The final Rudy Fest ran from June 20th
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Speaker 1: through the 27th this past summer at the Poppy Mountain Campground.
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Speaker 1: in nearby Moorhead, Kentucky. Now we move over to Saving
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Speaker 1: Country Music with the first article, dated October 12th, Casey
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Speaker 1: Musgraves Just Wanted Fans to Two-Step at Surprise White Horse Show.
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Speaker 1: Casey Musgraves was in Austin playing two capacity shows at
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Speaker 1: the Moody Center as part of her Middle of Nowhere tour,
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Speaker 1: October 7th and 8th. And though the big story coming
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Speaker 1: out of the shows was how she brought out Miranda
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Speaker 1: Lambert to sing their Bury the Hatchet song, Horses and Divorces,
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Speaker 1: of the audience. What strangely went underreported is that on Thursday,
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Speaker 1: the 8th, Musgraves stopped into Austin's famed honky-tonk The White
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Speaker 1: Horse to play a surprise intimate show for the two-stepping crowd,
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Speaker 1: reprising a bunch of old-school country covers in the process.
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Speaker 1: For Musgraves, it was sort of a full-circle moment. She
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Speaker 1: grew up playing classic country in the small-town Opry Circuit
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Speaker 1: in East Texas, and that's where her and Miranda Lambert
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Speaker 1: first rubbed elbows as up-and-comers. Musgraves also lived in Austin briefly,
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Speaker 1: though before the White Horse opened. She did, however, shoot
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Speaker 1: her video with Willie Nelson for the song Are You
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Speaker 1: Sure There in 2015. Some of the songs Musgraves reportedly
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Speaker 1: performed were Hey Baby, Que Pasa by the Texas Tornadoes,
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Speaker 1: Patsy Cline's Walking After Midnight, Hey Good Lookin' by Hank Williams,
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Speaker 1: Lookin' Back Texas with William Beckman joining her on stage,
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Speaker 1: I've Been Everywhere, and others. Musgraves showed up with her
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Speaker 1: backing band for the performance, and they were doing their
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Speaker 1: best to keep up with Casey's requests. Sweet Meg was
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Speaker 1: in town from Nashville to play the White Horse that night,
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Speaker 1: along with Austin Two-Step favorites Bovine and Sentimental Family Band.
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Speaker 1: They all seeded time from their set so Musgraves could
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Speaker 1: show up and play at midnight. Though the set was
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Speaker 1: somewhat of a surprise, word started to trickle out, and
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Speaker 1: by the time Casey took the stage, a line was
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Speaker 1: snaked around the block and it was one in, one
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Speaker 1: out at the door. The counterfeit merch sellers even showed
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Speaker 1: up selling T-shirts and keychains of Casey's now-famous glittery bovine testicles.
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Speaker 1: The White Horse is pretty famous for attracting a two-step
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Speaker 1: audience almost exclusively these days, meaning most audiences aren't allowed
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Speaker 1: or able to crowd up near the stage. But with
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Speaker 1: so many Musgraves-dedicated fans there and the bar pushed to capacity,
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Speaker 1: the two-steppers got pushed to the margins and near the back.
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Speaker 1: Along with no media coverage of Casey's surprise show, There's
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Speaker 1: only a little bit of video and photos from the show,
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Speaker 1: including from the Musgraves camp. In fact, the one viral
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Speaker 1: post about the show was from the next day and
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Speaker 1: from Bovine singer-bass player founder Georgia Ferguson at her regular
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Speaker 1: job at Pizza Restaurant throwing a bag of trash into
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Speaker 1: the dumpster and saying, Not one at my restaurant job
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Speaker 1: knows my band opened for Casey Musgraves last night. The
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Speaker 1: caption of the Instagram post reads, The duality of working
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Speaker 1: in an up-and-coming Americana band. As enamored as a band
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Speaker 1: like Bovine might be of all the success and the
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Speaker 1: cushy lifestyle someone like Casey Musgraves gets to lead, it's
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Speaker 1: interesting to note that in her White Horse moment, it
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Speaker 1: was Casey Musgraves who was envious of all those Austin
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Speaker 1: two-step bands who get to play for enlivened audiences that
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Speaker 1: dance and interact with the music in that most intimate
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Speaker 1: and connectative ways. This is the kind of culture places
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Speaker 1: like the White Horse, the Broken Spoke, Sagebrush, Sam's Town, Point,
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Speaker 1: and others have cultivated in Austin. And whether it's the
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Speaker 1: lyrics of Ella Langley's Choose in Texas or a Kacey
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Speaker 1: Musgraves surprise show at the White Horse, they're all trying
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Speaker 1: to tap into that culture that is so elemental to
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Speaker 1: country music. Next, questions remain after Ella Langley cancels Tulsa's
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Speaker 1: show amid threats. Ella Langley had canceled her show set
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Speaker 1: for last Friday at the BOK Center in Tulsa, Oklahoma,
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Speaker 1: after a caller threatened great harm to the people at
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Speaker 1: this event in the way of shots fired and bombs.
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Speaker 1: Even though the Tulsa Police Department had swept the arena
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Speaker 1: and greater area before the call and came out to
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Speaker 1: sweep the area again after the call, out of an
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Speaker 1: abundance of caution, Ella Langley's team chose to cancel the show.
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Speaker 1: Just before 5 p.m. Central Time, a notice went out
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Speaker 1: on Ella Langley's social media pages saying, Due to a
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Speaker 1: serious security threat involving the safety of my fans, venue personnel,
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Speaker 1: and the artist, Ella Langley's scheduled performance tonight at BOK
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Speaker 1: Center in Tulsa has been canceled. The safety and well-being
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Speaker 1: of everyone involved is our absolute priority, and after careful consideration,
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Speaker 1: we have determined that the show cannot proceed. We understand
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Speaker 1: the disappointment this news brings and apologize to fans who
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Speaker 1: plan to attend, but the safety of our fans is
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Speaker 1: our foremost concern and will always come first. However, the
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Speaker 1: Tulsa Police Department has felt the need to clarify that
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Speaker 1: after sweeping the area twice, they found no credible threat
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Speaker 1: and advised Ella Langley's crew that they didn't see a
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Speaker 1: reason to cancel the event. In a video statement by
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Speaker 1: Tulsa Police Captain Richard Muhlenberg, he said, I want to
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Speaker 1: first start off by saying that we did not cancel
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Speaker 1: the event and neither did the BOK Center. What happened
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Speaker 1: was every time we have an event down here, we
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Speaker 1: do a pre-sweep. We work very closely with BOK security
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Speaker 1: and with police officers in the street out here. So
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Speaker 1: we walked this area several times with our canine team,
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Speaker 1: with our bomb dogs, and could not find any threat.
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Speaker 1: So the event was ready to go and Then what
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Speaker 1: happened was a call came in saying that someone was
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Speaker 1: going to do great harm to the people here at
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Speaker 1: this event in the way of shots fired and bombs.
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Speaker 1: So we came out again in an overabundance of caution,
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Speaker 1: used our bomb dogs again, searched the entire area. We
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Speaker 1: could not find a credible threat here at the BOK Center.
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Speaker 1: We advised the group that was supposed to be performing
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Speaker 1: tonight that we could not find a credible threat. We
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Speaker 1: would never tell anybody if we couldn't find a credible
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Speaker 1: threat to cancel their event. So they made the decision
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Speaker 1: to cancel the event tonight. I'm sorry that had to
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Speaker 1: take place. The most disappointing thing is that thousands of
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Speaker 1: people were here for a sold-out event to come and
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Speaker 1: enjoy this show, and they can't be here. So the
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Speaker 1: person who called this in was a phone call, disrupted
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Speaker 1: the entire event for all these folks. So I can
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Speaker 1: tell you no, says the police captain. We can't find
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Speaker 1: anything here at the location that indicates this is a
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Speaker 1: credible threat or event. We apologize to everyone who came
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Speaker 1: down to the Tulsa area for this. but everything is safe. Well,
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Speaker 1: though it's understandable why the Tulsa Police Department might not
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Speaker 1: want to shoulder the criticism for Ella Langley's show being canceled,
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Speaker 1: Saving Country Music says it seems strange they would release
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Speaker 1: a video statement so emphatically making sure the public knows
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Speaker 1: they are not to blame instead of trying to encourage
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Speaker 1: people to help in the investigation of who made the
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Speaker 1: threats in the first place. This invariably puts the onus
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Speaker 1: on the Ella Langley camp for canceling the show and
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Speaker 1: alludes to them being overcautious for doing so. But what
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Speaker 1: we don't know is the specific details of the threat
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Speaker 1: and how ominous or serious it might have been. If
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Speaker 1: the Ella Langley camp had ignored the threat and something
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Speaker 1: happened at the event, then they would have to answer
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Speaker 1: and want to know why they didn't take the threat
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Speaker 1: seriously or proceeded with the show. The Ella Langley camp
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Speaker 1: might have also been required by insurance or the contract
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Speaker 1: policy of the promoter or the policy of the contractors
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Speaker 1: or vendors involved to cancel the event when such threats
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Speaker 1: are made. Whenever an event of this nature is canceled,
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Speaker 1: it inconveniences many fans, including those who drove or sometimes
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Speaker 1: fly from out-of-state and book hotel rooms for the show.
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Speaker 1: Now the Tulsa Police Department has given these angry fans ammunition.
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Speaker 1: to go after Ella Langley, who might have had no
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Speaker 1: other choice but to cancel herself. More information is needed
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Speaker 1: as to who made the decision to cancel the show
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Speaker 1: and why, but the Tulsa Police Department also needs to
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Speaker 1: worry about doing their job as opposed to assigning blame
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Speaker 1: and shielding themselves from criticism, says Saving Country Music. Tulsa
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Speaker 1: police threw Ella Langley under the bus instead of centering
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Speaker 1: the Tulsa Crime Stoppers number of 918-596-COPS for anyone to
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Speaker 1: call with credible information on who made the death threat
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Speaker 1: so they can be brought to justice. Next, Roger Miller
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Speaker 1: gets new featured exhibit at the Country Hall of Fame.
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Speaker 1: The man, the myth, the weirdo, and the best at ways,
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Speaker 1: you'd be hard-pressed to find someone who could equal or
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Speaker 1: imitate what Roger Miller did during his illustrious and ultimately
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Speaker 1: Country Music Hall of Fame career. You can almost forget
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Speaker 1: about him with all the emphasis in 90s country these
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Speaker 1: days and the continued veneration of country music's outlaws, but
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Speaker 1: Roger Miller was as an important character to the history
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Speaker 1: of country music as any, and he was most certainly
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Speaker 1: a character. Miller's Black has been hanging inside the Country
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Speaker 1: Music Hall of Fame Rotunda since 1995. But in November,
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Speaker 1: he will get his own special exhibit at the museum
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Speaker 1: as part of their rotating featured exhibit schedule. Called Roger Miller, Wit, Wisdom,
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Speaker 1: and Wonder, it will feature artifacts and infographics from his career,
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Speaker 1: along with programming from the Hall of Fame to coincide
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Speaker 1: with the exhibition. It will run from Friday, November 6th
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Speaker 1: until March 2028. Roger Miller was a singular creative voice,
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Speaker 1: said Kyle Young, CEO of the Country Music Hall of
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Speaker 1: Fame and Museum. Though considered a musical genius and humorist,
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Speaker 1: His greatest gift may have been his ability to connect
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Speaker 1: with people. He channeled his many sides into fantastically absurd, touching,
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Speaker 1: and astute songwriting that still resonates today. Some of the
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Speaker 1: artifacts that will be included in the exhibit are fiddle.
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Speaker 1: When Miller was around 10 years old, musician and actor
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Speaker 1: Sheb Woolley, who was married to Rogers' cousin Melva at
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Speaker 1: the time and lived nearby, bought him his fiddle. There'll
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Speaker 1: be a drawing during his senior year in high school,
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Speaker 1: Roger Miller drew this portrait of one of his musical heroes,
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Speaker 1: Hank Williams. An Army shirt. Miller wore his shirt while
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Speaker 1: serving in the U.S. Army from March of 54 to 57.
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Speaker 1: He was stationed in South Korea for a time where
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Speaker 1: he drove a jeep and played in a country band
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Speaker 1: with other soldiers. A guitar. The 1963 Gibson C-1E nylon
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Speaker 1: string model was Miller's primary guitar for most of the 60s.
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Speaker 1: He used it to write, record, and perform many of
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Speaker 1: his biggest hits, including King of the Road. Song manuscript
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Speaker 1: and statuette, the credit card application on which he started
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Speaker 1: writing lyrics to King of the Road, and a wood
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Speaker 1: carving of a hobo which inspired him to finish writing
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Speaker 1: the song, are housed together in a shadow box built
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Speaker 1: by Miller. Grammy Awards. Miller won 11 of them in
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Speaker 1: 1965 and 66. In addition to Miller's wins in the
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Speaker 1: nine country music categories, King of the Road earned him
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Speaker 1: Grammys for Best Contemporary Rock and Roll Single and Best
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Speaker 1: Contemporary Rock and Roll Vocal Performance Male. Motorcycle. Miller purchased
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Speaker 1: a Honda CA-95 Bentley Touring 150 motorcycle in 65 following
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Speaker 1: his financial windfall with the success of Dang Me, Chug-A-Lug,
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Speaker 1: and King of the Road. There'll be handwritten notes. Miller
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Speaker 1: often wrote down song ideas and lyrics on scrap pieces
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Speaker 1: of paper. Mary Miller, Roger's wife, called them his droppings.
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Speaker 1: A western shirt. Miller wore this shirt designed by Emanuel
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Speaker 1: Cuevas when he performed at a taping of Roger Miller's
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Speaker 1: a soundstage special at WTTW Studios in Chicago in 1982.
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Speaker 1: And there'll be a Tony Award in Tuxedo. There will
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Speaker 1: also be programming surrounding the exhibit, including a panel discussion
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Speaker 1: on Saturday and a songwriter session with Dean Miller on
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Speaker 1: February 6th at noon at the Ford Theater. Dean Miller
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Speaker 1: is Roger's son and an accomplished singer and songwriter. He
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Speaker 1: will perform and discuss some of his father's songs, as
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Speaker 1: well as his own. During songwriter sessions at the museum,
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Speaker 1: songwriters share stories and songs behind the classic and current hits.
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Speaker 1: Now we head over to People.com Country with the first
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Speaker 1: article dated, let's see here. There we go. October 13th,
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Speaker 1: Tate McRae reflects on controversy of surrounding 2025 Morgan Wallen duet.
14:31
Speaker 1: Tate McRae reflected on the controversy surrounding her collaboration with
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Speaker 1: Morgan Wallen recently. In a W Magazine cover story published
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Speaker 1: on October 13th, the pop star opened up about the
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Speaker 1: impact of teaming up with the country singer in their
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Speaker 1: 25-single What I Want. It's crazy to think that one
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Speaker 1: song could define a whole person, McCray, 23, told the publication.
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Speaker 1: There are many aspects of my personality that three-quarters of
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Speaker 1: my audience has no idea about. You hope one day
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Speaker 1: you figure out a way to show all aspects of it.
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Speaker 1: In an August Variety cover story, the sports car performer
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Speaker 1: responded to claims she's a MAGA supporter, following the release
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Speaker 1: of the track and amid her rumored romance with NHL
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Speaker 1: star Jack Hughes. At the time, McRae spoke about choosing
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Speaker 1: not to firmly label her political beliefs. I like to
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Speaker 1: say my piece through organizations that I support and the
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Speaker 1: environment that I have on tour, said McRae, who previously
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Speaker 1: released a hoodie on her merchandise store with a portion
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Speaker 1: of proceeds going to LGBTQ plus charity, the Trevor Project,
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Speaker 1: and as well as the Global Fund for Women. She
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Speaker 1: added that it's pretty obvious what kind of person I
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Speaker 1: am and the things I support, and I hope that
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Speaker 1: my fans can see that through the things that I'm
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Speaker 1: putting my energy towards, says McRae. She was questioned by
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Speaker 1: fans about her political leanings after she released the chart-topping
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Speaker 1: collaboration with Wallen due to his controversial past. In 2021,
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Speaker 1: a video of the Last Night singer using the N-word
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Speaker 1: while speaking to his friends was posted by TMZ. Wallen
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Speaker 1: later apologized, went to rehab, and donated to the Black
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Speaker 1: Music Coalition. He has not publicly endorsed President Trump. McRae's
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Speaker 1: beliefs were questioned when Hughes visited the White House with
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Speaker 1: the U.S. men's hockey team after winning a gold medal
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Speaker 1: at the 2026 Winter Olympics and watched the president deliver
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Speaker 1: his annual State of the Union address. Everything is so political.
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Speaker 1: We're athletes. We're so proud to represent the U.S. and
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Speaker 1: we get the chance to go to the White House,
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Speaker 1: meet the president. You know, we're proud to be Americans, Hughes, 25,
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Speaker 1: told Daily Mail. He added, no matter what your views are,
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Speaker 1: we're super excited to go. What I Want, Wallen's first
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Speaker 1: collaboration with a female singer, became McRae's first number one
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Speaker 1: hit on a Billboard Hot 100 and the Whiskey Glasses
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Speaker 1: artist's fourth on the chart. Next, The Chicks recall receiving
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Speaker 1: a very kind apologetic letter from woman referenced in Not
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Speaker 1: Ready to Make Nice lyrics. Taking the long way proved
16:55
Speaker 1: to be a successful move for The Chicks. The country
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Speaker 1: trio is currently on an intimate sold-out tour to celebrate
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Speaker 1: the 20th anniversary of their 2006 album, Taking the Long Way,
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Speaker 1: and performed at New York City's Beacon Theater on Saturday,
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Speaker 1: October 10th. While on stage, the bandmates looked back on
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Speaker 1: how the body of work, especially the single Not Ready
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Speaker 1: to Make Nice, responded to the controversy surrounding vocalist Natalie
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Speaker 1: Maines' 2003 comments about her disapproval of the Iraq War
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Speaker 1: and then-President George W. Bush. During a London concert in
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Speaker 1: March 2003, Mainz told the crowd, just so you know,
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Speaker 1: we're on the good side with y'all. We do not
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Speaker 1: want this war, this violence. And we're ashamed the President
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Speaker 1: of the United States is from Texas. The comments sparked
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Speaker 1: major backlash at the time. Some listeners destroyed the chick's CDs,
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Speaker 1: while the band's music was largely banned from country radio. Mainz,
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Speaker 1: who's 51, as well as her bandmates, Marty McGuire and
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Speaker 1: Emily Strayer, later wrote Not Ready to Make Nice about
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Speaker 1: the experience, and released the power ballad as a single
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Speaker 1: from Taking the Long Way. The song reached number four
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Speaker 1: on the Billboard Hot 100 and won three Grammy Awards,
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Speaker 1: including Record of the Year and Song of the Year.
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Speaker 1: The Chicks performed the album in full at Beacon Theater,
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Speaker 1: showed video footage from around 2006 in between each song,
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Speaker 1: and shared stories about the creation of Taking the Long Way.
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Speaker 1: At the top of the show, Mainz referenced her infamous
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Speaker 1: 2003 comments about Bush as she spoke about President Donald Trump.
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Speaker 1: It's been 20 years, now we're looking back in retrospect
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Speaker 1: on this album that was inspired by, yes, my brilliant words,
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Speaker 1: she began. Let me start the night off right, just
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Speaker 1: say I'm ashamed. The President of the United States is
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Speaker 1: from the United States. Three songs into the set, the
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Speaker 1: group performed Not Ready to Make Nice to a packed
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Speaker 1: venue of fans singing every word aloud, including the bridge,
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Speaker 1: which features the lyrics, it's a sad, sad story when
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Speaker 1: a mother would teach her daughter that she ought to
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Speaker 1: hate a perfect stranger. The chick showed footage of a
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Speaker 1: news interview with a woman holding her baby and encouraging
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Speaker 1: the infant to join her in saying, screw them, about
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Speaker 1: the band. McGuire, 57, spoke on stage about how the clip,
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Speaker 1: featured in the 2006 documentary Shut Up and Sing, about
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Speaker 1: the controversy, directly inspired the song's lyrics. The woman in
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Speaker 1: that clip was who we wrote about, who we wrote
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Speaker 1: the bridge about, holding a young child, trying to get
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Speaker 1: him to say, screw them, said McGuire, noting that the
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Speaker 1: woman later saw the documentary and reached out to the band.
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Speaker 1: She wrote us a very kind, apologetic letter, and that
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Speaker 1: was sweet. It was something, added McGuire, to laughs from
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Speaker 1: the crowd. Meanwhile, we were skanks and bimbos. Strayer, 54,
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Speaker 1: then shouted out the band's team for sticking by them
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Speaker 1: through the controversy. When we wrote this song, we felt
19:37
Speaker 1: like it was so personal. It was just so specific
19:40
Speaker 1: to our situation, and we just had to block out.
19:43
Speaker 1: We usually try to write songs that relate to everybody,
19:46
Speaker 1: and we felt like this one isn't going to relate
19:47
Speaker 1: to everybody, but we really didn't care, she said. But
19:51
Speaker 1: somehow we couldn't have anticipated that it was other people's Anthem, too,
19:54
Speaker 1: for whatever they were going through. Thank you for that.
19:58
Speaker 1: During the show, Mainz also looked back on writing the
20:00
Speaker 1: song with collaborator Don Wilson, that's Dan Wilson, and said
20:04
Speaker 1: he knew we wanted to write something about the moment.
20:06
Speaker 1: He said, Oh, what kind of song do you want
20:08
Speaker 1: to write? You want to write like an apology? She said,
20:11
Speaker 1: hell no. I mean, he just met us. He didn't know.
20:14
Speaker 1: He said, okay, do you want to write like not
20:16
Speaker 1: ready to make nice? We said, yes. The Chicks Taking
20:20
Speaker 1: the Long Way 20th Anniversary Tour continues through November. Now
20:25
Speaker 1: we jog on over to theboot.com with the first article
20:28
Speaker 1: dated October 14th. Garth Brooks unveils a new city, two
20:33
Speaker 1: new dates for 2026 Blame It All on My Roots
20:36
Speaker 1: Arena Tour. Garth Brooks has revealed the next city he'll
20:39
Speaker 1: play as part of his ongoing 2026 Blame It All
20:42
Speaker 1: on My Roots arena tour. The country icon set to
20:45
Speaker 1: perform two concerts in Seattle in November. According to a
20:48
Speaker 1: press release, Brooks will perform at the Climate Pledge Arena
20:52
Speaker 1: in Seattle on November 13th and 14th. The 2026 Blame
20:56
Speaker 1: It All on My Roots arena tour is a modern-day
20:58
Speaker 1: reprise of a world tour Brooks undertook back in 1996.
21:02
Speaker 1: The country superstar announced the tour back in July. Going
21:07
Speaker 1: back into the arenas is about putting the stadium show
21:10
Speaker 1: in a box, he said in revealing his 2026 touring plans.
21:13
Speaker 1: The excitement gets multiplied by the intimacy. Every seat is
21:16
Speaker 1: a great seat, and this is personal. Brooks' 2026 tour
21:20
Speaker 1: borrows heavily from the world tour he launched in March
21:23
Speaker 1: of 1996. That tour ran for 344 shows over two years.
21:28
Speaker 1: It was Brooks' final headlining tour before his retirement in 2001.
21:33
Speaker 1: It became one of the highest-grossing tours of the 90s,
21:35
Speaker 1: posting record-breaking attendance, and widespread sellouts in North America and abroad.
21:41
Speaker 1: Brooks' late 90s tour featured the drum pod, a plexiglass
21:45
Speaker 1: and aluminum structure that enclosed his drummer during the shows.
21:49
Speaker 1: The drum pod returns as a much-talked-about centerpiece of the
21:52
Speaker 1: new tour. He first hinted at an upcoming tour on
21:55
Speaker 1: July 7th after wiping his Instagram page clean. Brooks' world
22:01
Speaker 1: tour in the 90s resulted in his best-known live album,
22:03
Speaker 1: Double Live, and that's another tradition he's carrying into 2026.
22:09
Speaker 1: He's recording the 2026 tour for a project titled Killer Live,
22:13
Speaker 1: a groundbreaking new tour or new approach to live recording
22:16
Speaker 1: that continues Brooks' tradition of capturing history in real time. Meanwhile,
22:22
Speaker 1: the boot asks, could Garth Brooks retire again after wrapping
22:26
Speaker 1: up his 2026 arena tour? On stage during a recent
22:30
Speaker 1: Blame It All on My Roots tour stop in Salt
22:32
Speaker 1: Lake City, Brooks teased a couple of different possibilities, and
22:36
Speaker 1: they seemed to be mutually exclusive. He acknowledged the possibility
22:40
Speaker 1: that this tour could be the last major extended headlining
22:43
Speaker 1: effort of his career. But he also said that if
22:45
Speaker 1: he does tour again, he'd leave or he'd have Salt
22:48
Speaker 1: Lake City top of mind as a tour opening stop.
22:52
Speaker 1: I'm not sure what the future holds, but I can
22:54
Speaker 1: tell you this, Brooks told the audience, according to a
22:56
Speaker 1: post shared by the venue. If we tour again after this,
23:00
Speaker 1: I would be crazy not to make, let's just say it,
23:02
Speaker 1: the opening city of the next tour in Salt Lake City.
23:04
Speaker 1: He continued to roaring applause, of course. He hasn't said
23:08
Speaker 1: anything official to that effect. The singer's comments on stage
23:12
Speaker 1: at Salt Lake City are the closest he's come to
23:13
Speaker 1: teasing a possible retirement down the line. Still, it's not
23:17
Speaker 1: completely out of left field thought that Brooks could be
23:20
Speaker 1: considering retirement, given that he is 64 years old and
23:23
Speaker 1: squarely within a common retirement age bracket. He's also accomplished
23:27
Speaker 1: just about every bucket list dream that's out there for
23:30
Speaker 1: a country star to chase. He has retired before. He
23:33
Speaker 1: stepped away, as we said, from music in 2001 to
23:36
Speaker 1: focus on raising his daughters and made only sporadic public
23:40
Speaker 1: appearances in the years that followed. After a successful three-year
23:44
Speaker 1: Las Vegas residency that concluded in January of 2014, Brooks
23:48
Speaker 1: returned to full-fledged touring later that year. There's one additional
23:52
Speaker 1: piece of evidence that could cause fans to wonder if
23:55
Speaker 1: if Brooks is eyeing retirement, but at this point it's
23:58
Speaker 1: purely speculative. His current tour is a throwback tour focused
24:01
Speaker 1: on the hits and includes the drum pod, as we mentioned,
24:04
Speaker 1: that the singer famously used during his late 90s run.
24:08
Speaker 1: Brooks is even recording his current tour for a live album.
24:11
Speaker 1: The world tour was Brooks' last major headlining run before
24:14
Speaker 1: he announced that he was stepping away from music, so
24:16
Speaker 1: if he continues to pattern this current run after that tour,
24:19
Speaker 1: it's certainly possible that the Blame It On My All
24:21
Speaker 1: Roots tour could conclude with a retirement announcement. Next, Jelly
24:27
Speaker 1: Roll has done everything he wanted in music. Now he's
24:30
Speaker 1: asking God what's next. Jelly Roll has accomplished more in
24:34
Speaker 1: the music business than he ever imagined, of course, but
24:36
Speaker 1: he's not sure where he's supposed to stay. The country
24:40
Speaker 1: singer opened up about his future in music during a
24:42
Speaker 1: conversation with the all-access radio's Kelly Sutton backstage at the
24:46
Speaker 1: Grand Ole Opry. In a clip shared on social media,
24:50
Speaker 1: Jelly Roll explained that he's reached a point where he's
24:52
Speaker 1: willing to let his faith guide whatever comes next. Everything
24:56
Speaker 1: that Jason DeFord or Jelly Roll wanted to do in
24:58
Speaker 1: the music business, I've done now. So at this point,
25:01
Speaker 1: I really need to talk to God and see what
25:03
Speaker 1: he wants me to do and stick around or what
25:05
Speaker 1: he wants me to do next. Jelly Roll has earned
25:08
Speaker 1: three Grammy Awards, topped the Billboard 200, and landed 22
25:12
Speaker 1: songs on the Billboard Hot 100. He's also a member
25:15
Speaker 1: of the Grand Ole Opry. But instead of immediately chasing
25:18
Speaker 1: another goal, he's taking a step back and asking God
25:20
Speaker 1: what he's supposed to do next. If God tells me
25:23
Speaker 1: to go work at a homeless shelter in Paducah, Kentucky,
25:26
Speaker 1: I'm out of here. You'll never see me again. He
25:29
Speaker 1: gave me everything I wanted, man. Grammys, ACMs, CMAs. I'm
25:33
Speaker 1: a member of the Grand Ole Opry like God has
25:34
Speaker 1: done it, he said. Jelly Roll also opened up about
25:38
Speaker 1: the personal work he's doing during this period of transition.
25:41
Speaker 1: He says he's completely sober, deep in therapy, and spending
25:44
Speaker 1: more time in his Bible. I just got to do
25:47
Speaker 1: a little bit of work on myself to make sure
25:49
Speaker 1: that I'm all the way ready, he said. I'm completely sober, though.
25:53
Speaker 1: I'm clear-headed and I'm deep in therapy. I'm deep in
25:55
Speaker 1: my Bible, but I think I've got to separate from
25:57
Speaker 1: the chaos of the business for me to really hear
26:00
Speaker 1: what God wants me to do next. Jelly Roll has
26:03
Speaker 1: already started creating that distance from the music business. He
26:06
Speaker 1: wrapped up what he said would be his final show
26:08
Speaker 1: for the next year or two with a headlining performance
26:10
Speaker 1: in Colorado Springs back on July 30th, just days after
26:15
Speaker 1: telling a Salt Lake City crowd that he planned to
26:17
Speaker 1: step away from the road. The break comes during a
26:20
Speaker 1: major transition in his personal life as well. Jelly Roll
26:23
Speaker 1: and Bunny XO, as we know, finalized their divorce on
26:26
Speaker 1: July 17th, ending their 10-year marriage. For now, Jelly Roll
26:30
Speaker 1: isn't trying to map out exactly what his next chapter
26:33
Speaker 1: will look like, but he's stepping away from the noise,
26:35
Speaker 1: doing personal work, and looking to his faith for an answer. Next,
26:41
Speaker 1: Chris Stapleton, Nora Jones release Christmas duet, April's Gone. Chris
26:48
Speaker 1: Stapleton is getting into the holiday spirit as he joins
26:50
Speaker 1: Nora Jones for a new duet called April's Gone that's
26:54
Speaker 1: as cozy as matching pajamas on Christmas morning. Despite how
26:58
Speaker 1: April's Gone feels sonically, the song is actually fairly somber.
27:02
Speaker 1: Jones opens up with a story of great love in
27:04
Speaker 1: the spring, but as time goes on, Stapleton reveals that
27:07
Speaker 1: the love has begun to fade by the time fall
27:10
Speaker 1: rolls in. Now that the Christmas season is here, it
27:14
Speaker 1: feels like the couple is just hanging on by a thread.
27:16
Speaker 1: Do you still care, they ponder. The two plead with
27:19
Speaker 1: one another to give the relationship one last chance. After all,
27:22
Speaker 1: the holiday season can produce a spark that could reignite
27:25
Speaker 1: the flames of love. Because April's gone, but here we are. Well,
27:29
Speaker 1: this Christmas, make it right. Light the lights. Bring our
27:31
Speaker 1: love back to the start, they sing in the chorus.
27:34
Speaker 1: The song is a perfect blend of Norah Jones' signature
27:37
Speaker 1: piano stylings combined with a steel guitar to bring in
27:40
Speaker 1: some country essence. It truly feels like a song that
27:43
Speaker 1: could be at home in either artist's catalog. And if
27:46
Speaker 1: you listen closely... You'll hear sleigh bells in the background.
27:50
Speaker 1: Never too early for Christmas. And finally, Peyton Manning sings
27:55
Speaker 1: Riley Green stirs the pot in Alabama vs. Tennessee. Riley
28:01
Speaker 1: Green has a new song out, and this time he's
28:03
Speaker 1: bringing a pretty legendary duet partner along for the ride,
28:06
Speaker 1: Peyton Manning. Yep, that Peyton Manning. The Tennessee Volunteers legend
28:10
Speaker 1: is trading football calls for a few musical lines on
28:13
Speaker 1: Green's new song, Alabama vs. Tennessee. released just in time
28:17
Speaker 1: for one of college football's most heated rivalries. The song
28:20
Speaker 1: arrives just weeks after Green released his new album, That's
28:23
Speaker 1: Just Me, which debuted at number three on the Billboard 200,
28:26
Speaker 1: his highest charting album yet, and his first top ten
28:30
Speaker 1: on the all-genre chart. Well, this concludes the reading of
28:34
Speaker 1: Country Weekly for this week. If you have any comments
28:37
Speaker 1: or suggestions about our program, kindly call us at 859-422-6390.
28:44
Speaker 1: Thank you for joining me, and on behalf of everyone
28:46
Speaker 1: here at Radio Eye, this is Ken Dawkins wishing you
28:50
Speaker 1: a great day.