He's one of country music's most rising young artists. Continue reading…

If it sometimes feels like we’re on the cusp of a revival in America right now, I think that’s because we are. Overall church attendance may be holding steady, but younger folks like Millennials and Gen Z are having a resurgence in church attendance, outpacing older generations for the first time in decades. Last year marked a 21-year high in Bible sales in the United States, and even country music is wrestling more with faith. Cody Johnson just teamed up with Brandon Lake for “When A Cowboy Prays,” Jelly Roll and Brandon Lake had an absolute smash with “Hard Fought Hallelujah,” and Carly Pearce just released a new song called “Church Girl.”  Despite the divisiveness in our political climate, and the constant chaos on the internet, people are searching for more, deeper purpose and meaning, something they can put their hope in that isn’t a pop star or a politician. We’re even hearing the Gospel be proclaimed on Netflix? NETFLIX!? What a time to be alive… Netflix recently revived the talent competition Star Search, featuring Anthony Anderson as host, and judges Jelly Roll, Sarah Michelle Gellar, and Chrissy Teigen. And during the Week 2 episode, a contestant named Bear Bailey, who you may recognize from his viral gas station performances, took the stage for a powerful, moving, performance of “Hard Fought Hallelujah.” But here’s the kicker… as it turns out, Bear had discussed song selection with producers and was planning on performing that song long before anyone knew that Jelly Roll would actually be a judge on the show. And he crushed it… check it out: But the most powerful part of the performance was what came after. Host Anthony Anderson asked Bear why he wanted to perform that song, and he delivered a powerful personal testimony about what he has overcome through the healing power of Jesus Christ: “Because I’m a very imperfect person loved by a perfect God. And Jesus has redeemed me, Jelly, from drug addiction. I’ve lost everything because of addictions, and I’m not perfect, but I serve a God who is, and he believes in redemption. I’m sorry. I’m sorry for being emotional. I’m just thankful for God. I thank you, Jesus.” PREACH. Of course, Jelly Roll was an emotional mess throughout the entire performance, as someone who has lived and breathed every word of the song, but when he finally worked through the tears and was ready to speak, he said that a performer like Bear was exactly what he prayed for when he agreed to do this show: “Man, I had no clue… I prayed this morning. I said, God, give me an opportunity to talk about you. Night one was great, but I didn’t get to live on my purpose yet. God, you called me here to talk about you. What I just seen was a room full of people that might not have ever felt it before, but that is called the Holy Spirit of God. He don’t care anything about your past. He doesn’t care what you’ve been through. He doesn’t care about your drug addiction. He is your Father. He us here to father you, to show you to be a father to those kids, He is here to pour life into you. He hung so you can stand here and sing His name on the biggest streaming service in the world… on Netflix. Can I get an amen in here? “This is a God moment to show what God has done. He is a redeemer. He is for everybody. Jesus is for everybody. He doesn’t hate anybody. He loves everybody, and that’s what He stands for. I’m cheering for you… you took my song and made it yours. In fact, you took our song and you gave it to God. I know Brandon Lake is somewhere crying right now.” View this post on Instagram How about it? Did we ever think we’d be hearing Jelly Roll of all people, boldly proclaiming the Gospel during a Netflix talent show? Bringing people tears, openly weeping himself, about the opportunity to bring people to Christ with his presence on the show? Go ahead and ask Jelly Roll if he ever thought he’d be preaching on a talent show? I mean, who would’ve seen this coming five years ago? God that’s who…. an all powerful, loving, creator God who has routinely proven that He can call anyone… from anywhere… out of any thing… and redeem them. And then mold and shape them into a vessel to make much of His glorious name. Powerful stuff is happening in America right now… can I get an amen?  The post “God Is A Redeemer”: Jelly Roll Breaks Down & Proclaims The Gospel After Bear Bailey Delivers A Gut-Wrenching “Hard Fought Hallelujah” Performance first appeared on Whiskey Riff.

It’s a great time to be an Ashley McBryde fan lately. If you haven’t been keeping up with the “One Night Standards” singer as of late, at the very end of December, she’d share a tearful video to Instagram and tell fans that she had just got done listening to her upcoming album. She explained that even though she’s written and been through every stage of the process with these songs, it still felt brand new and had her in tears, and she said that it was like she had never heard the music, or the artist: “I just listened to ‘—‘ for the first time. It’s a rough mix, it’s not even mixed. And I had just listened to ‘Hand Me Downs,’ and I wrote the damn thing, me and Jessie Jo and Laura, I knew what was in that song. And then I listened to it, and I kept staring at the dash, like, why would you do that to me? I’ve been here for every note, every syllable, every breathe of this record. And I’m listening to the mixes and it’s like I’ve never heard this record. It’s like I’ve never heard this artist.” After announcing it back on January 13th, today, McBryde officially kicked off her new era of music with the re-recording of a fan-favorite track, “What If We Don’t,” which first appeared on her independently-released debut EP, Jalopies & Expensive Guitars, back in 2016. In addition to the brand new track, she just started her eight-show residency at Eric Church’s Broadway bar, Chief’s, last night. If you recall, she announced that there will be three unique sets of shows during the residency,“Just Me and My Shadow,” an intimate acoustic session chalked full of stories behind her songs, “Postcards from Lindeville,” a set dedicated to her brilliant 2022 concept album of the same name and finally, “Mixtape from the Mixed Up Years,” which she describes as the “music that made us want to make music.” View this post on Instagram She kicked everything off last night with the “Just Me and My Shadow” portion of the residency, and it did not disappoint. In addition to playing some of her best deep cuts, “What If We Don’t,” “Luckiest S.O.B.” and the title track for the residency as a whole, “Redemption,” McBryde would also deliver some killer covers throughout the show, including Garth Brooks’ “Papa Loved Mama” and the Man in Black himself, Johnny Cash’s, “I’ve Been Everywhere.” Though many country fans recognize it as Cash’s song, it actually was first written back in 1959 by the Australian country singer, Geoff Mack. It would then be popularized by fellow Australian artist, Lucky Star, in 1962. Throughout the years, there have been seemingly dozens of different versions of the songs recording, ranging from a Great Britain and Ireland Version to a New Zealand version. Additionally, there have been even more, niche versions of “I’ve Been Everywhere” recorded, with Texas, Canada and more all getting their own renditions. Hanks Snow’s American version topped the country charts in 1962. As for Cash’s version, it appeared on his 1996 album, America II: Unchained, and has remained as one of his most popular songs as of late, despite being a cover and being released quite late in his career. Back to McBryde’s cover last night, before performing the track, she’d tell a hilarious story of getting offered $20 to perform a fan’s favorite Johnny Cash song. Thinking (and praying) it was something easy like “Folsom Prison Blues,” instead, she was blindsided by the request of none other than “I’ve Been Everywhere,” which is quite obviously a song that’s nearly impossible to memorize and play live, let alone off the top of your head after learning it. “I was offered $20 one time to learn it, and I only had four hours to learn it. Is this embarrassing? Yes… If you’ve never heard me sing this song, you should be able to make fun of me for this.  “She said, ‘My favorite Johnny Cash song, I’ll give you $20 if you can play it tonight.’ And I was like, ‘Okay, I have a smartphone, and now I have $20. Please say Folsom Prison Blues.’ And she says, ‘My favorite is I’ve Been Everywhere Man.'” After crushing the opening into and chorus (the “easiest” parts of the song), she proceeded to flawlessly run through the first verse, amazingly hitting all 23 cities that are sandwiched in the single verse. McBryde would pause for a moment after repeating the chorus for a second time, noting it took roughly two hours to fully memorize. “That took two and a half hours to memorize. I only had two hours… Well, I don’t math, but it was less than two hours. And I didn’t know how to memorize the rest of it, so I just made up my own words.” She’d then sing her own version of the chorus, which I’m sure killed it at whatever bar she was playing at during the story. “I like every beer, man I like every beer, man Just bring one over here, man It can be dark or clear, man I’ll trade you my brassiere, man  If you buy me a beer” To put icing on the cake, she then continued the beer theme for the second verse of the song. I’m genuinely not even sure how she managed to pull it off, but she proceeded to rattle off over twenty different beers. Starting off with the classics, Coors, Bud, Natty and Miller Lite, she’d then name the likes of Shiner Bock, Busch, Michelob and PBR, before wrapping up by calling one of the final beers “b*tch water.” Not to be outdone, she’d use mixed drinks for the third chorus and verse. Once again rattling off over two different cocktails, she’d proceed to name-drop Bloody Marys, margaritas, mojitos, Long Island iced teas and many, many more. This is definitely one of those performances that are so incredibly fun that words hardly do it justice, so check out the full performance down below for yourself. You seriously don’t want to miss it. Watch here: @kimberlybryant101 Tonight may have been one of the BEST concerts I have ever been to!!! It was real, raw and intimate…nothing but a guitar and some of the best vocals you will ever hear! And she played my favorite @Johnny Cash song…Ashley-style! @Ashley McBryde #fyp #ashleymcbryde #johnnycash #livemusic #countrymusic ♬ original sound – kimbryant0525 Redemption Residency Dates January 22 & 23 – Just Me and My Shadow February 19 & 20 – Postcards from Lindeville March 19 & 20 – Just Me and My Shadow April 17 & 18 – Mixtape from the Mixed Up YearsThe post WATCH: Ashley McBryde Lays Down Phenomenal Acoustic Cover Of Johnny Cash’s “I’ve Been Everywhere” With A Hilarious Twist first appeared on Whiskey Riff.

The trailer for 'Marshals' leaves us with more questions than answers about Monica Dutton's fate—talk about a cliffhanger! Continue reading…

Today, Carly Pearce released an incredibly emotional and introspective new song called “Church Girl,” which finds her contending with the fire and brimstone kind of preaching that you sometimes hear in church. I think many of us who have grown up in a religious household and in the church, especially in the south, probably know exactly what she’s talking about here. And speaking for myself, as a Christian who grew up going to church multiple days a week, it’s not uncommon to see church folks get really wrapped up in this guilt-driven legalism… don’t drink, smoke, don’t cuss, don’t watch R-rated movies… or you’re going to Hell. Of course, the opposite of that spectrum can be a slippery slope into license (everything is fine because God forgives), but this is why the context matters, and good, Biblical teaching is so important. Especially when the message is going out to be people who are new to Christianity, young in their faith. I am in no way saying that church is bad, or pastors and elders are bad, or even Christians… quite the opposite in most cases. But bad, fear-driven teaching can do a lot of harm, turn people away from the faith forever, and I’ve never heard a songwriter address the idea of religious judgement, for lack of a better term, in this way. Carly explained in a post on Instagram that she grew up in church, and is still very much “led by [her] Christian faith today,” and her desire to release this song so others can feel a sense of acceptance, regardless of where they are in their walk with Jesus: “I am someone who grew up in the church, in my Christian faith. I am very much led by my Christian faith today. I wanted to release this song because I feel that through a lot of different parts of my life, I have to come to the understanding that we’re all on a journey. Over the last several years, for any of you fans who have come to my shows, you have poured your heart into sharing your stories with me as I’ve shared mine with you, and I think we’re all trying to figure it out. If you are on a journey with your spirituality, or you feel lost or confused or shameful or judged by something that has happened to you or is happening to you, what I hope this song does and what I hope this message does and what I hope that you carry with you this year is, the message that you are welcome at my shows, you are loved. I hope that this song meets you wherever you are and gives you a sense of love and acceptance, and not judgement.” Here’s a little more from Carly: View this post on Instagram The lyrics paint a very clear picture of a girl who likes to wear heels, maybe sometimes shows a little too much skin with a “Jezebel dress,” and enjoys a drink every now and then, but she still has faith and tries to follow Jesus’ teaching, no matter how much she falls short: “Hey, church girl, doing everything wrong Walking on eggshells with your high heels on Hey, church girl, with the Jezebel dress Better take it off, you’re making all the boys think sex You got your questions, but you’re too scared to ask I’m just a sinner who’s been where you’re at So you like to get high when you talk to Jesus So you love who you love and you go out on the weekend So you drink and you think for yourself That don’t mean you’ll go to Hell when you leave this world Just ’cause you heard it in church, girl” The song resonated very deeply for me in many ways, my favorite miracle is Jesus’ first at the Wedding at Cana where he turns water into wine if that gives you any context of where I’m at, and so I very much relate to the idea here where she shows grace in the areas where many of us fall short every day. Of course any time you’re tackling religious topics, you’re gonna spark some differing opinions, so out of curiosity for my own research purposes, I also sent the song to a few of my friends who are very much believers, but maybe have different interpretations of the song… they all loved it: “The ‘If God is who he says he is then I don’t think you’re cursed girl,’ I love it.” Here’s another one: “Oh I love that song! I can definitely see, like you said, debate will spark on what is ‘right’ but I think it speaks to a lot of girls and they will relate big time.” Of course, Carly’s song is a message for everyone, but I think women, in particular young women, will find it incredibly helpful and I personally find it very comforting because sometimes you just need the reminder that God’s love is unconditional and there is plenty of grace and hope because of it. If the goal is to make disciples, and help to draw people into a deeper life with Christ, hellfire and damnation right out of the gate probably isn’t the best way to do it, right? The songwriters really did their thing with this one, so my compliments to Carter Faith, Seth Ennis and Cameron Bedell for penning such a beautiful and meaningful song. It’s well worth your time to check out, and I know we’re only about three weeks into January, but I foresee this being one of my favorite singles for this year already. “Church Girl” Carly also recently released a song called “Dream Come True”, so it’s likely these new ones will be featured on a forthcoming, yet still unofficially announced, new album: The post “You Are Loved”: Carly Pearce Preaches Grace For Those Who Fall Short On Bold New Single, “Church Girl” first appeared on Whiskey Riff.