Not only do my husband and I celebrate our 16th anniversary, but also Chris Stapleton just dropped a new single. So, yeah, good things all around!
The new song “White Horse” rocks pretty hard, and you cannot go wrong with Chris’s incredible vocals that marry Country and Rock and Blues together. I’ve already listened to this five times this morning.
Holy smokeronis, right? All of it. YES to ALL OF IT!
I’ve always enjoyed Chris on higher tempo, rock-inspired songs. His voice just kills on those. Well, his voice kills on everything, but yeah. You know what I mean.
And even better?
Chris announced his fifth studio album “Higher” and that will be dropping November 10th.
CMA Fest 2023 took place last month in Nashville- have you ever been? Omg. It’s a Country fan’s dream. So many incredible performances from the best in the industry, and the highlights always air later in the Summer on ABC. Well, they had their CMA Fest Special last night hosted by Dierks Bentley, Lainey Wilson and Elle King, and one of my favorite performances involves two of the hosts, and the “Mother Trucker” herself Tanya Tucker on one of her classics “Texas (When I Die)”
Tanya still has it!!!
And damn, Lainey and Elle do, too. This new generation of women in Country is straight fire.
Keep on breaking up the sausage party that is Country music!!!
One of my favorite newer artists on the Country scene is Hailey Whitters. She’s like Miranda Lambert 2.0- talented, sassy, and the real Country deal. (Fun fact: She was actually Miranda’s body double in her “Fastest Girl In Town” music video)
Hailey had a hit this year already with “Everything She Ain’t” and she just announced a new EP called “I’m In Love” and I’m in love with the title track.
Isn’t that the cutest?
Simple, pure, fun Country. I love the deer in a rut reference… any Country girl can relate!
I love that Hailey doesn’t sound like anyone else on the radio, and she is the “real deal”. Iowa born and raised, and a self proclaimed “Corn Star”- I’m here for everything she’s putting out!
She even did a keg stand at her wedding recently. So, basically, my kind of woman!
If you’re a Country fan, you probably remember Daryl Worley’s hit song “Have You Forgotten”, which talked about how quickly many of us seemed to have moved on from the terrorist attacks of 2003.
Fast forward 20 years later, our beloved America is basically a hot mess express right now. And who is to blame? Basically all of us. It absolutely sickens me to see what has happened to our country, and our people. We are so ridiculously divided now, and noone wants to stop and listen to the other side. We don’t need China or Russia to destroy us. We’re doing a pretty damn good job of it ourselves. Yet, we’re too busy finger pointing and worrying about offensive beer cans to even see what we stand to lose if we don’t change.
Darryl Worley just dropped an updated version of his original hit, and it basically echoes that sentiment.
Well done, Darryl!
What we seem to forget is how lucky we are to be free. Ever wonder why we have so many immigrants and migrants? Because of all the freedoms and opportunities that we take for granted every day. Is our Country perfect? Hell no. But social change takes time, and you know what? Everyone acting a fool on BOTH sides hinders us more than anything.
Stop for a minute. Look around. Be grateful for what we have and be kind to others, even if they don’t agree with you politically.
It’s not complicated.
I myself have had people tell me I should use my “platform” to be more political, but I just personally can’t. We have enough poison out there, and I don’t want to add to it. Plus, I have a really hard time choosing a side. I really can’t say that I’m a Democrat or a Republican. Just somewhere in between, wondering what the hell happened to our country…
We are destroying something amazing. Something that my husband and so many other great Americans have fought and died for. Remember that this Independence Day. Let’s all do better, OK? Our country deserves it!
Being a Country fan, I got kind of excited when I heard that Aaron Watson (love him!) was doing a version of Roseanne Cash’s 1981 hit “7 Year Ache” as a duet with Jenna Paulette. And you know what? It works.
I’m a big fan of the Texas/Red Dirt Country, and songs like above are why.
Want more Aaron? (seriously one of the NICEST humans, btw) check out his site and tour dates here.
In honor of Father’s Day, I wanted to share a new song from a girl from my hometown of Henderson, TN. Her name is Lakelin Lemmings (remember her name! Pretty sure you’ll be hearing more of it!), she’s 17 years old, and she’s a singer/songwriter who has been performing since the age of 6!
Here’s her new single that she wrote with Ash Bowers (also from the area I grew up in!) and Rose Falcon (Rodney Atkins wife!)- it’s called “Baby Daddy” and I thought it was definitely worth a share!
How sweet is that? And what a talent, too.
She also went viral this week on tiktok when she showed her dad her new song for the first time!
CMA Fest 2023 was last week in Nashville, and videos of the performances are starting to surface. This one caught my attention because Shania, Tanya AND Wynonna were involved.
I grew up on these three 90’s Country Icons, and one of my favorite songs in High School was “Man! I Feel Like a Woman”, so when I saw this, I was all up on it!
It’s an 11-minute long video, so you want to start about halfway through for the full performance.
Ok, how great does Shania look, though? And damn Wynonna can still wail. And Tanya will forever be the MotherTrucker. It’s like the Holy Trinity of 90’s Country Awesomeness right there.
The full recap of the 2023 CMA Fest will air July 19th on ABC if you want more!
You know I love me some Lainey Wilson, and I’ve liked Lauren Alaina since she was on “American Idol” back in 2011. Remember that? Yeah, I used to watch religiously and discuss every performance with my parents because that’s what people did back then. Anyhow, Lauren Alaina just dropped a 6 song EP “Unlocked” this morning, and it features a really fun song with Lainey Wilson called “Thicc as Thieves”, and of course, it’s super fun.
It actually sounds a lot like Gretchen Wilson’s “Here for the Party” in the beginning. It has that same kind of vibe, too. I just like the celebration of the big booty, as I have one myself. And damn proud of it!
Also, I’m pretty sure Lainey Wilson is poised to take over the Country music world. She’s really exploded this past year, and I can’t think of anyone who deserves it more!
Did I ever mention that I interviewed her last year?
Miranda Lambert is forever one of my favorite artists- not just in Country Music, but across all the genres. She’s got a lot of things happening right now, including several collaborations that we can look forward to. In fact, she just gave us a new song this morning with Leon Bridges called “If You Were Mine” and it’s perfect.
I just love the easy vibe to the song, as well as those two unique voices together. Can’t wait to hear more of what she’s got in the pipeline for us!
Miranda did say that her dream collab would be with Beyonce.
Ever since I was a kid, I have loved Tanya Tucker. Not only is she a great Country singer-like, total LEGEND status- but she has always been an equine enthusiast as I have been since pretty much birth. She actually used to show Arabian Horses, which is the breed I’ve always been into, but lately has moved onto Friesians, which, really, unless you are super rich, good luck affording one! They’re like the Onyx Unicorns of the equine species.
Anyhow, Tanya made quite the entrance at the Grand Ole Opry Friday night, riding her Friesian Stallion onstage!
Audio, Video
