Hillbilly Live!

Get your boots ready for the party of the year in Oklahoma. Your Born & Raised Music Festival 2026 lineup is here.

Even if you have friends who like to get drunk and climb fences to fight someone, they’re going to love this. Justin Moore, Gavin Adcock and the Red Clay Strays are all set to headline the festival this year. And as for the rest of the lineup, it’s country gold and headliners in our book too to be honest. I mean the entire lineup is pure country festival perfection to me.

The party officially kicks off on Wednesday night, September 16th, with the Honk Tonk Kick-Off featuring Josh Weathers, Gannon Premin & CCREV, Jamie Lin Wilson and Covington Creek. It’s all going down in Pryor, OK September 16th through the 19th with tickets going on-sale starting today (3/04/26) at 10am CT.

Everything you need to know….please visit bornandraisedfestival.com.

View this post on Instagram

Brantley Gilbert just became an investor and equity partner in Real American Beer. Which is Hulk Hogan’s beer brand.

And Brantley’s first move was helping launch a brand-new product called “RAB ZERO.” It’s a non-alcoholic beer that’s trying to taste like the real thing.

Brantley has a personal reason for getting involved. He’s been sober for 14 years and wanted a non-alcoholic option.

Brantley said, “this is for people who want to show up, be part of the moment, and enjoy the same experiences with friends and family while staying true to their lifestyle.”

The launch also includes a partnership with the United Service Organizations. The company will donate one dollar from every case sold to support active-duty service members and their families. 

View this post on Instagram

(Business Wire)

On February 28, 2026, something beautiful happened in Houston, Texas.

Gilley’s Club, located in Pasadena (near Houston), was a legendary, massive honky-tonk co-owned by country singer Mickey Gilley from 1971 to 1990. It was famous for the mechanical bull and obviously for hosting the 1980 film “Urban Cowboy”. The club unfortunately burned down in 1990.

The Gilley’s sign stood tall and homeless until recently. This place called Bob-N-Jeans in Crosby, Texas gave that sign a new home on February 28th.

They threw a big party to celebrate its relighting in Texas fashion. They had a 3200 square foot dance floor in front of the outdoor stage, mechanical bull onsite all day, food trucks, adult beverages, amazing people and live music.

View this post on Instagram

People showed up to see that sign come back to life at its new home and I wish I could’ve been there for that. To bad Bud and Sissy couldn’t have been too though, because that would’ve been even sweeter.

Well done Bob-N-Jeans…well done on giving the original Gilley’s Club sign another chance to live.

I’m not a professional rodeo judge in anyway, but I’ve seen a bunch of rodeos in my life…and this was clearly not a qualifying ride.

The cowboy is supposed to stay on the horse for at least 8 seconds to get points. The horse was apparently not in the mood to work neither. I’m also proud of that cowboy for jumping up so fast after that horse fell on him in the shoot like that.

I would’ve laid there on the ground and waited for help to rescue me. That’s just me though.

I’m well aware how some people say that social media is ruining society…but it’s also educational to me.

As I was scrolling through TikTok, I learned something about pigs that I probably wouldn’t have ever learned. I learned that pigs can in fact jump and clump fences.

And I’m absolutely impressed that can climb fences without hands too.

If you’re not a coffee drinker like my wife, this won’t compute. But for the rest of us here…

A new poll found almost all coffee fans agree it helps get them through their day.  93% said it provides at least some of that motivation.

Some of us even go to bed thinking about it (I’m one of them too). 47% said they’re motivated to go to bed earlier, just to make room for their coffee routine the next day.

Here are a few more fresh stats on America’s coffee-drinking habits…

1. A good cup of coffee can make your whole day feel easier. 79% agreed.

2. We dedicate 16 minutes to coffee per day, on average.  That includes 6 minutes making or buying coffee, plus 10 minutes spent sipping.  It’s more time than we spend showering (11 minutes), or eating breakfast (9 minutes).

3. We’ll lean on it even more when we “spring forward” next week. 28% said they’ll drink more coffee after Daylight Saving Time starts on Sunday.

4. Only 15% will skip coffee if they’re running late next Monday. We’re more likely to skip making our bed, skip breakfast, or skip packing a lunch.

5. We’d rather be late for work than not have coffee. Which is absolutely true for me personally. And half of the people surveyed said they’d rather show up a few minutes late with caffeine coursing through their veins.

6. Ideally, we’ve had at least two cups of coffee by 11:00 a.m. Two-thirds said their first cup should happen before 8:00. The average person needs that second cup at 10:42 a.m. 

And still one of the best songs ever heard was Tracy Lawrence’s 1997 hit, “How A Cowgirl Says Goodbye”. It opens up singing about coffee as it says, “a cup of coffee with the first sunlight…at a last chance Texaco”, fills my coffee loving soul to this day.

(Talker)

You have to hear this new mashup.  It combines Ella Langley’ssong “Choosin’ Texas” with Fleetwood Mac’s classic “Dreams”…and it works really well.

The remix comes from electronic duo, Altego. They keep the country feel of “Choosin’ Texas” during the verse…then slide right into “Dreams” for the chorus.

To make this even cooler, Ella has openly said her dream collaboration is with Stevie Nicks. Neither of them has reacted to the video as of yet. But if the internet has its way, hopefully this will turn into a real thing.

View this post on Instagram

Riley Green can now officially add actor to his resume. 

He has a role in the new “Yellowstone” spinoff “Marshals” alongside Luke Grimes. Riley plays Garrett, a former Navy SEAL who served with Luke’s character. Riley said, “Garrett is a former Navy SEAL…He’s troubled. He’s got some issues in what they went through together back in the day.”

Riley admitted that acting made him nervous too. He said, “I don’t get nervous to play shows anymore…but this was a brand-new thing for me. It was a big learning curve, I’m glad they were patient with me.”

“Marshals” premiered Sunday on CBS.  But Riley wasn’t in the first episode. According to some disappointed fans, it seems like Riley’s character will appear later in the season.

(Country Living)

Megan Moroney’s third studio album “Cloud 9” just debuted at #1 on the Billboard 200.

It earned 147,000 equivalent album units in its first week.  For comparison, Zach Bryan’s album “With Heaven on Top” opened at #1 back in January with 134,000 units.

That means Megan is only one of four women in country music to ever to have a #1 album on the Billboard 200. The others are Taylor Swift, Carrie Underwood and Shania Twain. That’s pretty good company too. I have to point out how Billboard keeps trying to call Beyoncé’s “Cowboy Carter” album country…but I refuse to do that. Mainly because she’s not country music to me.

Fans are really loving her duets “I Only Miss You” with Ed Sheeran and “Bells & Whistles” with Kacey Musgraves. And everyone’s still talking about her diss track, “Who Hurt You?”, which fans really believe that’s it’s about Riley Green.

View this post on Instagram

Then we have Ella Langley, who really can’t stop winning with “Choosin’ Texas”. She scored her first-ever #1 hit on the all-genre Billboard Hot 100 back on February 9th and she became just the seventh female artist in history to go #1 on that chart with a country song. Additionally, she became the first woman ever to triple up and score #1s on Billboard’s Hot Country Songs, Country Airplay and Hot 100 chart simultaneously.

Now after falling to #2 last week, thanks to Taylor Swift going #1 again with “Opalite”, Ella has returned to #1 on the Hot 100 with “Choosin’ Texas”. Of course, this marks the Alabama native’s first-ever multi-week #1 entry on the all-genre chart too. I mean this two women (Ella and Megan) are making country great again. Let’s be real.

View this post on Instagram

(Whiskey Riff)

As a native Texan, I enjoy waking up to a surprise like this.

It’s Monday, March 2, 2026, and Cody Johnson just dropped a brand new song today called “Blame Texas”. The first verse is strong too y’all. It opens up with a lot of Texas pride.

”If I chase my tequila with an ice cold beer, blame Texas. If I swear there ain’t no better place than here, blame Texas. If you think I say a few words wrong, And find a way to put a fiddle in every song…If I take George Strait over Elvis, Blame Texas.”

Now I do love Elvis…but in Texas…George Strait is the damn King. And I don’t make the rules. I just try to follow them and act accordingly. This song is basically a break up song that’s also not technically blaming Texas, because he’s only blaming Texas for being the way he is. Which apparently she couldn’t handle.

Once Cody gets to the course it’s clear that he screwed up, causing his better half to leave…but you really can’t blame Texas for it. Mainly because it’s his fault for her leaving. Texas is innocent in here.

“But if you wonder why she packed all her things…Left me back here alone in the Lone Star State, Yeah, I messed up a good thing again. Guess I just can’t help it. She loved the wide open skies. No, she didn’t want to leave. Did her wrong, now she’s gone, And it’s all on me. Comin’ back, no she ain’t. Wish I could, but I can’t blame Texas.”