Country artist Martina McBride drops out of your supposedly apolitical “Great American State Fair”? No problem: The FBI Director has one on speed dial. Kash Patel’s girlfriend Alexis Wilkins has signed on to be a “featured performer” at Trump’s Freedom 250 celebration, which is slated to begin June 25, after McBride, Morris Day and the … Read more
Jason Eady just released a record full of original music, but it’s not a record full of traditional Jason Eady country. The singer-songwriter, born in Mississippi but based in Texas for most of his career, is highly-regarded for his old-school country sound, mixing honky-tonk beats and acoustic ballads with aim-for-the-heart lyrics. When Eady recorded Tulsa … Read more
Keyland have spent the better part of the past year positioning themselves as the next band to break out of Oklahoma’s Red Dirt scene. This month, the group put those efforts on full display with Knuckle Sandwich, Keyland’s third studio album and first since 2023. Founded and fronted by Kyle Ross, an assistant high-school football … Read more
In Ashley Monroe’s writing room on the West Side of Nashville, you can find all sorts of relics of a career well-lived. There are acoustic guitars played with Vince Gill, framed hymns she grew up singing back in Knoxville, and a trio of posters on the wall from a Pistol Annies tour, her band with … Read more
No sooner had Caleb Caudle written “Heavy Thrill” than he became mystified by the song. “This life that I live, it comes with amazing highs and incredible lows, and there’s a lot of sacrifice,” Caudle says. “But there’s all these moments that you get to have and you just couldn’t get there without all that … Read more
Since Ella Langley released “Choosin’ Texas” last year, she’s been breaking records left and right. She surpassed Taylor Swift for the longest-running country Number One, became the first female artist to top the Billboard Hot 100, Hot Country Songs, and Country Airplay simultaneously, and took home seven ACM awards. And as she resumes her Dandelion … Read more
Mark Wystrach of Midland refuses to accept the fact that he once owned overalls. “Nope, not me,” he says, seated on a velvet couch in a mysterious secret wing of Garth Brooks’ Nashville bar, Friends in Low Places, his feet kicked up on the coffee table. Today, he’s wearing jeans, a striped pearl snap, and … Read more
Four years ago, Reckless Kelly announced their retirement from the road-dog grind that defined the band’s career. The Idaho-turned-Austin outfit have spent the time since winding down a touring schedule that had them playing upwards of 180 shows a year. Now, with only eight gigs on the books for the rest of 2026, Reckless Kelly’s … Read more
Buy me a boat? That’s so 2015. This year, country music — or at least a few of its leading men — is moving up from fishing rigs and pontoons to the easy listening waters of yacht rock. On Friday, Keith Urban released his 13th album, Flow State, a collection comprising mostly covers of classic … Read more
Koe Wetzel brought together a mix of friends, industry VIPs, and journalists at a Nashville speakeasy late last month to preview The Night Champion, his sixth studio album and first since 2024’s 9 Lives transcended his career from cult Texas artist to mainstream country star. The plan was for Wetzel to play a handful of … Read more