We’re COUNTRY and NEVER apologize for it
Tomorrow, Saturday (10/31/26), is Halloween!
If you need any last-minute costume ideas, why not use your favorite country star as inspiration? Here are your 10 ideas:
1. Dolly Parton
2. Toby Keith
3. Brooks & Dunn
4. Reba McEntire
5. Ella Langley
6. Morgan Wallen
7. Lainey Wilson
8. Luke Combs
9. Alan Jackson
10. Willie Nelson
Welcome to another new music Friday…October 30, 2026!
PROJECTS (Albums & EPs):
Kaitlin Butts – “Hello, Honky Tonk”
The Creekers – “Follow The Sound”
Dustin Lynch – “Clean Slate”
Mitchell Ferguson – “Everyone Knew”
Jonah Kagen – “Eternity of Anything”
Thomas Edwards – “High Times”
Hunter Flynn – “Roots”
HARDY – “Sides”
SINGLES:
Koe Wetzel, Stephen Wilson Jr. – “Hard Way”
Dylan Marlowe – “Here Lately”
Jordan Davis – “Steady Flame”
The Castellows – “Mr. Right, Closer Still”
Scotty McCreery – “King Size Bed”
Randy Travis – “Mission Of Love”
Lady A – “Bigger Picture”
Carter Faith – “Still The Sparrow Sings”
Redferrin – “Don’t Slow Down”
Cody Lohden – “Good Ole Boy”
Ingrid Andress – “Snowed In With Me”
Caroline Jones – “Your Wife Is Dead”
Macy Todd – “this life & the next”
SJ McDonald – “Grocery List”
Chase McDaniel – “Pick Mine”
Jackson West – “You’re Coming Back, Right?”
Karley Scott Collins – “When The Moon Turns Blue”
Mackenzie Carpenter – “Be Alright (The Beer Girl Anthem)”
KC Brunner – “You’re Making Me Nervous”
Kasey Tyndall – “White Picket Fence”
Niklas Juritsch – “Stranger”
Ava Liv Mabry – “Crying Wolf”
DELTONA – “Say No More”
Taylor Rae – “Good Without You”
Hailey Hutcheson – “Gethsemane”
I still can’t believe it’s been 25 years since the release of their first album…and I’m still listening to their music proudly.
The Randy Rogers Band has announced their “Songbook Tour” for late 2026 and 2027, launching alongside their companion album project “Songbook”. The tour officially kicks off New Year’s Eve, December 31, 2026 at the Regent Bank Amphitheater in Broken Arrow, OK.
They are hitting up eight cities as of now this tour…annd according to RRB…”more dates to be announced”.
Tickets for the “Songbook Tour” will go on sale Friday 10/30 at 10AM CT, but you can get first access to tickets starting today (10/29/26) at 10AM CT by signing up for the pre-sale at randyrogersband.com/tour.
Vince Gill said it’s harder than ever to make money as an artist because of streaming.
He said, “the income stream is dried up in a big way. I used to make money for writing songs but also for selling records. You don’t sell records anymore.
What you might make from selling records is gone. In all the times I’ve been streamed on YouTube or any of those formats, I’ve never received anything. So, it’s kind of hard getting paid for what it is that you create.”
Now I get what he’s trying ti say, but this is why it’s extremely important for artists to own their work instead of signing over rights to their work to a label. And that’s because in the age of streaming…labels are becoming more and more useful.
Florida honored this man perfectly.
Governor Ron DeSantis issued an executive order Tuesday to make John Anderson’s “Seminole Wind” as the official anthem of Florida. There will also be historical markers installed in Apopka, where John was born and raised.
DeSantis will also designate a wildlife drive and trail system as John Anderson Wildlife Drive.
A special taping of Alan Jackson’s record-breaking farewell concert last June will air December 8th on NBC. It’s called “Alan Jackson: The Last Show“, and will also be available to stream the next day on Peacock on December 9th.
I’m just hoping they show Alan and King George Strait’s performance of “Murder On Music Row”. The way George literally pointed at music row when he said “they committed murder…down on music row” was priceless…because they did.
There were also performances from Luke Bryan, Eric Church, Luke Combs, Riley Green, Cody Johnson, Carrie Underwood, and Lainey Wilson. I mean everyone in country music showed up in Nashville for Alan’s final show in June of 2026.
Are you familiar with Miranda Lambert’s song, “Gunpowder & Lead”? I mean you should be, because it’s a certified twanger.
Now in case you’re unaware about the substance of the song…let me remind you. It’s about a woman who’s ready to shoot her abusive husband when he gets out of jail. Which is what abused wives should probably do in all fairness. Well, a fan once told Miranda that the song gave her courage to do just that.
Miranda said, “she’s like, ‘I just want to tell you that I finally had enough and that song gave me the courage, and I did shoot him, and I got off.’ Then we cried together.”
Elsewhere on the “And the Writer Is…” podcast, Miranda said after she split from Blake Shelton, she leaned into her misery and wrote 75 songs. Now I’m not a fan of watching someone go through heartbreak…but it makes for some damn good country music. And God bless it.
After spending three weeks at in the #2 spot behind Taylor Swift, her song rebounded to reclaim the crown, further cementing its position as the longest-running #1 song in the history of the Billboard Hot 100 chart.
Ella Langley’s massive country hit “Choosin’ Texas” has returned to the #1 spot on the Billboard Hot 100, extending its historic, record-breaking run to 25 nonconsecutive weeks.
The song previously shattered the long-standing 22-week record held by Mariah Carey’s holiday staple “All I Want for Christmas Is You”. Which fills my country soul just knowing that too.
By hitting its 25th week at the summit, it continues to widen the gap ahead of other historic chart-toppers like Lil Nas X’s “Old Town Road” and Shaboozey’s “A Bar Song (Tipsy)”. So, with all due respect. Hopefully it keeps widening that gap.
This is definitely one way to not let the bots and ticket scalpers win.
Remember how Garth Brooks shut down ticket sales for his third date in Kansas City due to “excessive bot activity”? Well, the show has officially been canceled. Those who did manage to buy tickets will be refunded.
The shows for the other two dates, on November 6th and 7th, will go on as planned. For everything Garth, please visit garthbrooks.com.
Brooks & Dunn are in fact working on new music for the first time in almost 20 years.
Their last album of new music was 2007’s “Cowboy Town”. So, it’s been long enough…and their compilation “Reboot” albums they’ve released were fine…but we need some new music from Ronnie and Kix now. They made the announcement about some new music on “CBS Mornings”.
Ronnie Dunn said, “we’re compromising right now. As songwriters, we’re firing stuff back and forth, you know, we’re criticizing one another’s music, that’s the holy grail, right?
I want all my songs on there, he [Kix Brooks] wants all his songs on there. So, we have to work that stuff out. And you sweat and bleed every word.”