Hillbilly Live!

Who doesn’t love Dolly Parton? I mean it’s almost un-American not to.

A new survey says she’s the most beloved public figure in the country. Well, that’s according to the 1,000 people who were interviewed…but I’d bet plenty more would agree.

Dolly was among a list of mostly politicians and world leaders in this particular survey. She has a net favorability of +65…and as she should. She’s followed by Barack Obama with +14, and Volodymyr Zelenskyy with +13. Barack and Zelenskyy are at the bottom of the barrel for me personally.

The rest of the positive scores are Bernie Sanders with +6, George W. Bush with +5, and Taylor Swift with +3. She barely made the cut by the way and this list is actually kind of nauseating to be honest.

The rest are negative…and they include AOC (-6)…Kamala Harris (-11)…JD Vance tied with Taylor Frankie Paul with -10…Gavin Newsom (-14)…Elon Musk (-16)…President Trump (-18)…

Joe Biden tied with Benjamin Netanyahu with -19…Mark Zuckerberg (-43)…and at the very bottom is Vladimir Putin with -65. Which is where he should be along with Barack and Zelenskyy.

The man returned back to work.

Morgan Wallen officially kicked off his 2026 “Still The Problem Tour” in Minneapolis, Minnesota at a packed out U.S. Bank Stadium last Friday night (4/11/26). His walk out intro video got a little more entertaining too.

Morgan debuted a his new intro video starring his boy and comedian Theo Von. Theo plays Morgan’s stage manager “Rick” in the intro video. And “Rick” is showing the Morgan around backstage before the show. Morgan of course played with the switches and the propane in front of a stressed out “Rick”. Theo was the perfect choice to play “Rick”, the stage manager.

Then the walk out portion of the video happened and Morgan walked out to the stage with a Minneapolis Vikings football legend, Jared Allen. And Jared was also inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2025 by the way.

Morgan told the audience in Minneapolis…

“We took a few months off after tour last year. Whenever I walk out and there’s a welcome like that, I always ask ‘Why did I take so many months off?’ But it’s been good for me, good for my band, good for my team. I feel like we’re ready to do it again this year.

I appreciate y’all for being the first night on the ‘Still The Problem Tour.’ We’re gonna sing quite a few songs tonight. I tried to switch up the setlist a little bit this year…I hope y’all enjoy.”

The set list from night one included about 28 songs in total, making for a lengthy show that also included appearances by his openers in Gavin Adcock and Vincent Mason on “Up Down”, and Thomas Rhett on “Cowgirls”.

Baseball and country music are a perfect combination

The Zac Brown Band is the official sound of NBC’s Sunday Night Baseball. It includes a cover of Emerson, Lake & Palmer’s “Karn Evil 9, 1st Impression Part 2”. And it debuted last night (4/12/26) before the Guardians vs. Braves game.

Ladies and gentleman, we give you the sound of SUNDAY NIGHT BASEBALL. 🎶

📺: Guardians vs. Braves, 7pm ET on NBC and Peacock pic.twitter.com/8ryIsUtgfV

— NBC Sports (@NBCSports) April 12, 2026

In related news, Zac Brown Band’s “Free” was the final wake-up song for the Artemis II crew on Friday April 11, 2026. Zac even recorded a special message for the crew. 

“Good morning Reed, Victor, Christina, and Jeremy. Zac from Zac Brown Band here, checking in from the USA. We hope that piece of our song, ‘Free,’ helps start your day with the right kind of lift.

We just want to say how proud we are of you. It takes courage, grit, and freedom to chase the unknown. It’s the purest kind of American spirit. Millions back home are looking up and feeling more inspired because of you. Keep flying strong. Keep flying safe. We can’t wait to welcome you home. Come see us on the road.”

The band will also headline the UFC Freedom 250 Fan Fest on Saturday, June 13th.

Adulting is hard and no one wants to brake their foot on a suitcase.

Eric Church did in fact break his foot last week, right before the final weekend of his tour. He told the audience at his show Friday, “I have made it 44 tour dates unscathed. And 48 hours ago…I wish I could give you a better story, I jumped out of bed, I forgot about a suitcase at the end of the bed. And I kicked the sh*t out of that suitcase, and I broke my foot.”

It’s the real story of how a lot of adults break their damn toes and feet. Let’s be real. I mean I still remember my mom breaking her toes on a sack of potatoes.

Eric went on to say, “so tonight, what I lack in mobility, I’m gonna make up in passion.” He even changed the lyrics to “These Boots” a little to tell the story of kicking that suitcase that caused his broken foot.

“These boots have had to dance with the devil
And nearly had to kick that suitcase, across the road.” And luckily the tour over so he rest his foot now.

Sunday (4/12/26) is National Grilled Cheese Day, which means lunch on Sunday can be simple y’all…assuming you like a basic grilled cheese. 

Here are some fun grilled cheese stats…

61% of Americans say the grilled cheese is their favorite sandwich. But a whopping 75% of people don’t feel confident that they can make a good one. I actually make a damn good grilled cheese sandwich in case you’re wondering.

71% of people say buttering the bread delivers the best crisp on the outside…12% swear by mayo. And 68% say the perfect grilled cheese includes more than one cheese…although cheddar seems like a must.

For what it’s worth, a scientific experiment once found that the best cheeses, based on melting properties, are gouda…gruyere…and manchego. Not that most people have those sitting in their fridge right now…and I don’t. Mainly because some that cheese mentioned is disgusting. Cheddar and pepper jack cheese are perfectly fine for me.

43% of people prefer white bread, but others like sourdough, multigrain, and brioche.

70% of people say they prefer the “toast-level” of their grilled cheese to be “golden brown.” 12% like it well-done or even burnt.

The four most popular add-ons are tomatoes, bacon, ham, and eggs. Which increasingly seem like less of a “grilled cheese.”

Finally, people are divided on the way to cut their grilled cheese. 52% like to cut them in half diagonally, while 21% cut them in half vertically…and 10% cut them in half horizontally. 17% of people don’t cut them at all.

Who’s ready for another country beach party?

Country Splash is a new luxury country music festival held directly on the beach in Cabo San Lucas. The inaugural event is scheduled for Labor Day Weekend, September 4th through the 6th, 2026.

Headliners include Riley Green, Jon Pardi, Tucker Wetmore, and Diplo. And I’m still not sure what a Diplo is…but it sounds like a party.

Robert Fried, co-founder of Country Splash said, “Country Splash was designed to bring the energy of a world-class country music festival into one of the most beautiful beach destinations in the world. The guest experience will be at the core of everything, where fans can see their favorite artists up close, just steps from the ocean while enjoying the amenities of luxury travel from the best of Cabo’s resorts, dining and outdoor adventures.”

Pre-sale for hotel and villa packages, in addition to a limited quantity of individual Splash Passes, begin April 14th. Access to the pre-sale is available by signing up for the Splash List at CountrySplash.com. Then the general on-sale will begin April 15th.

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Country music basically brought the Artemis II crew home.

On Friday (4/10/26), the day that the Artemis II space crew completed their 10-day mission.  NASA has been sharing the astronauts’ wake-up songs on a Spotify playlist, and their final day of waking up in space it was Charley Crockett’s “Lonesome Drifter” to start their day.

Charley commented on NASA’s post saying, “when I was playing on the street in New Orleans years back, a woman named Angel told me I had to start down low if I wanted to get high. Lord’ve mercy was she right.”

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There are some things the late 1900s that should never be talked about…and there some things that absolutely need to be seen…and discussed.

Sturgill Simpson just dropped a RAP track. Well, not really. A grainy video of him as a teenager in the ’90s has been unearthed. It shows him and two friends, and he raps about prom and his “crew”.

Here’s an example of one the lines for you, “don’t you catch no beef or I’ll kick you in the teeth.”

If you plan on catching him on his latest Johnny Blue Skies tour, he insists that his ticket prices are the same as his last tour. He said, “if I’m lying you can sell my bones to Davey Jones.”

I feel with a low quality rap video like that resurfacing of him…proves that Sturgill is a pretty honest man. And thank God he went a different route than pursuing a music career in the hip hop genre.

It’s prom season.

Sturgill spittin’ bars. pic.twitter.com/PyqTn3PRH5

— Galleywinter (@galleywinter) April 8, 2026

You’d probably never guess that Morgan Wallen is actually an indie rock kinda guy. 

On his SiriusXM radio station, he said, “I really just like the sounds and how compressed and how clean [they are] and how all that goes together.  

That’s just what I listen to most right now.”

He’s actually mentioned that he listens to The War on Drugs and Nothing But Thieves. Hell…Morgan has even said how really doesn’t even listen to country music. Which probably has to do with his line of work. He probably likes to separate himself from it when he’s home. I’ve got all kinds of excuses here by the way, because I personally live for good country music.

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The 2026 Academy of Country Music Awards nominees were announced on Thursday (4/9/26) and the ladies are dominating the nominations.

Megan Moroney leads with nine nominations total, followed by Miranda Lambert with eight, and Ella Langley and Lainey Wilson tied with seven. It’s basically the women’s award show this year.

Not to leave the men completely out here. Chris Stapleton picked up six nominations, Zach Top got five and Cody Johnson was nominated for four awards.

The 61st annual ACM Awards will air live on May 17th at 8:00 p.m. Eastern on Prime Video.

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