How’s everybody liking the new Eric Church album so far? It’s really no secret that Chief is one of my all-time favorite artists, so of course I’ve had Evangeline vs. The Machine on repeat since it dropped a week or so ago. But as I usually do, I decided to go back and listen to the rest of Church’s catalog again too – and man, does he have some great songs. When you have a catalog as deep as Church’s, it makes it hard as a listener to pick out your favorites. As I was listening back through albums like Sinners Like Me and Carolina, I kept coming across songs that I hadn’t listened to in awhile and thinking, “Man, I forgot how much I loved that one.” And then there were more recent songs on Desperate Man and Heart & Soul that just never got the credit they deserved, or maybe I just didn’t appreciate them as much at the time. But as I was listening, I decided I was going to try to rank every single one of Church’s songs that he’s released over his two-decade long career. Spoiler alert: It was way harder than I thought it was going to be. Church has released eight studio albums: Sinners Like Me, Carolina, Chief, The Outsiders, Mr. Misunderstood, Desperate Man, Heart & Soul, and most recently, Evangeline vs. The Machine. And he also released an EP, Caldwell County, back in 2011. Along with the bonus tracks from each albums, that makes 105 songs total that Church has released – and let me tell you, ranking them wasn’t an easy task. I know nobody’s going to agree with all of my rankings, and that’s fine. This is just my opinion at this moment in time. Ask me again tomorrow (or in an hour) and I can pretty much guarantee that they’ll change. But hopefully as you go through you’ll discover – or re-discover – some songs that you had forgotten about, or maybe deserve a second look. Or maybe you’ll just totally disagree with me and disregard anything else I have to say. And that’s fine too. Like I said, this is just my opinion. And one more thing: As an Eric Church fan, I would take pretty much every song on this list over the best song in most artists’ catalogs. Just because a song is ranked lower doesn’t mean I don’t like it. There’s not a lot of difference for me between 1 and 100 when it comes to Eric Church songs. So with all that said here’s my attempt at ranking every Eric Church song: 105. Jenny I’ll be honest, this was an easy one for me. I’ve just never been a fan of the song, and it’s pretty much my only skip in Church’s entire catalog. But hey, 1 out of 105 ain’t bad. 104. The Joint 103. Dark Side 102. Chevy Van 101. Look Good And You Know It 100. Three Year Old 99. Heart Like A Wheel 98. My Heart’s Got A Memory 97. Roller Coaster Ride 96. Kill A Word 95. Hangin’ Around 94. Solid 93. Rock & Roll Found Me 92. Without You Here 91. Broke Record 90. Bad Mother Trucker 89. Young And Wild 88. Bright Side Girl 87. Keep On 86. You Make It Look So Easy 85. Faster Than My Angels Can Fly 84. Where I Wanna Be 83. Do Side 82. How ‘Bout You 81. Break It Kind Of Guy 80. Cold One 79. The Outsiders 78. Devil, Devil 77. Doing Life With Me 76. I’m Gettin’ Stoned 75. Drink In My Hand 74. His Kind Of Money (My Kind Of Love) 73. Love Your Love The Most 72. The Snake 71. Love Shine Down 70. Jack Daniels 69. That’s Damn Rock & Roll 68. Clap Hands 67. Mad Man 66. Lovin’ Me Anyway Casual Eric Church fans might not remember this one, but it was a bonus track from Chief. It’s never been released on streaming, which is a shame because it’s a banger. But luckily you can still find it on YouTube if you either missed it when it came out or just want to go back and give it another listen. 65. Through My Ray-Bans 64. Like Jesus Does 63. Ain’t Killed Me Yet 62. Longer Gone 61. Evangeline 60. Drowning Man 59. Bunch of Nothing 58. Creepin’ 57. Like A Wrecking Ball 56. Hell On The Heart 55. Stick That In Your Country Song 54. Never Break Heart 53. Crazyland 52. Rocket’s White Lincoln 51. Kiss Her Goodbye This one’s probably a few spots higher because it contains one of my all-time favorite lines from Church: My lips can’t seem to drink up enough neon To kiss her goodbye 50. Chattanooga Lucy 49. Lone Wolf 48. Hippie Radio 47. Jukebox and A Bar 46. Before She Does 45. Hungover & Hard Up 44. People Break 43. Bleed On Paper 42. Higher Wire This may be one of Church’s weirdest songs, and I have a feeling a lot of people would have it near the bottom of their lists, but it’s actually one of my favorites from Desperate Man. Do I know what it means? Not a clue. Do I love it? Absolutely. 41. Darkest Hour 40. Desperate Man 39. Heart On Fire 38. Hands Of Time 37. Carolina 36. Lotta Boot Left To Fill 35. Homeboy 34. Livin’ Part Of Life 33. Two Pink Lines 32. Country Music Jesus 31. Lynyrd Skynyrd Jones 30. Some Of It 29. Holdin’ My Own 28. Mistress Named Music 27. Give Me Back My Hometown 26. Round Here Buzz 25. Smoke A Little Smoke 24. Over When It’s Over 23. Pledge Allegiance To The Hag 22. Monsters 21. Johnny 20. Mixed Drinks About Feelings 19. Russian Roulette 18. Springsteen 17. What I Almost Was 16. Storm In Their Blood 15. Can’t Take It With You This song has another one of my all-time favorite lines from Church: Never realized how much she brought to the table ‘Til I went to set my cup of coffee where the table used to be 14. Record Year 13. Guys Like Me 12. Hell Of A View 11. A Man Who Was Gonna Die Young 10. Where She Told Me To Go 9. Those I’ve Loved 8. Heart Of The Night This is one I never felt like got the love that it should have, not only for its rock opera sound but also for the vivid imagery in the lyrics about running off into the “still-beating heart of the night.” 7. These Boots 6. Talladega 5. Mr. Misunderstood 4. The Hard Way 3. Knives Of New Orleans 2. Lightning 1. Sinners Like Me And there you have it. How did I do? Chances are you don’t agree with my list, and chances are that as soon as I post this I won’t agree with my list either. But one thing’s for sure: When it comes to other mainstream country artists, nobody has a catalog that can hold a candle to Eric Church’s.The post Ranking Every Eric Church Song That He’s Ever Released first appeared on Whiskey Riff.

Will all my homies still hate Ticketmaster even if they finally include fees in their ticket pricing? For years, Live Nation and Ticketmaster have made the ticket buying experience one full of dread and an inordinate amount of additional, secretive fees. It’s no secret that the ticket market for live events is all the way corrupt, though I’m hoping we’re slowly but surely on the right track to more straightforward ticket buying. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve gone to buy a $45 ticket and when I go to checkout, it’s $145 after all of the services fees and transaction fees are tacked on. I’m the type of guy that always pulls out the Dad Joke of, “Convenience fee? That sure isn’t convenient for me.” There has long been a call for Ticketmaster, which is under the Live Nation Entertainment umbrella, to change their ways and do something about the excessive prices and their shell-game-esque fees. It’s a very complicated issue, and in short, the problem is that ticket sales are intertwined with booking and management and venues and promoters, which we broke down in way more detail here. But one step in the right direction for Ticketmaster happened today. If you were to go to their website, you’d see that the phrase “All In” is plastered all over the place. They’re proudly letting the world know that those pesky fees they used to be known for are no more, sharing this message: “You’ve probably noticed things look different. Now, you’ll see the cost of your ticket – including fees, before taxes – from the moment you start shopping. Find tickets within your budget right away, with no surprises at checkout.” Now to be clear, I’m not trying to paint Ticketmaster as a hero. A number of other ticket providers have long boasted “all-in” prices in an effort to prioritize the consumer. Ticketmaster only did so today because the Federal Trade Commission banned junk fees, and that ban went into effect on May 12. So Ticketmaster didn’t do this with consumers in mind… they did it because they had no other choice (and they still aren’t including local taxes or delivery fees until checkout). All in all though, it’s great to see the FTC bringing the hammer down on the ticket market. And I don’t want to bring “Swifties” into this when I don’t have to, but I think we all have to give some credit to Taylor Swift’s super fans for making this happen… or at the very least expediting the process. Ticketmaster embarrassingly botched Taylor Swift ticket sales in 2022, and it was after that fiasco that demands really started to pour in for Live Nation and its subsidiary Ticketmaster to be investigated for causing harm to consumers. But all the credit can’t go to Taylor Swift (please don’t be mad at me for saying that “Swifties”). There have been many artists that have been outspoken against Ticketmaster, from Kid Rock saying the ticket sellers were a monopoly, to Zach Bryan almost making it his life’s work to speak out against Ticketmaster. There was even a bombshell report that accused Ticketmaster of negotiating increased rates with vendors so that they didn’t have to pay as much out to artists. I’ve gotten this far into the story without saying it, but what Zach Bryan said is true: All my homies hate Ticketmaster, and now the “homies” at Ticketmaster are facing the music. Cue up Zach Bryan’s “Burn, Burn, Burn” from his All My Homies Hate Ticketmaster: Live From Red Rocks album: The post Ticketmaster Finally Caves & Will Include Fees In Their Pricing After The FTC Bans “Junk Fees” first appeared on Whiskey Riff.

This past weekend, the world learned a little bit more about the Judd Family. The Judd Family: Truth Be Told, a docu-series directed by Alexandra Dean, premiered this past weekend on Lifetime. If you missed it, the four-part story can now be streamed on demand through Lifetime’s website, and it’s also available on Hulu and Philo. The entire Judd family was considered to be one of show business’ biggest dynasties in their heyday. Together, Wynonna and Naomi Judd were a hit-making country music duo, and Ashley Judd was just as successful in her own right as an actress. From an outside perspective, it seemed as though the Judds couldn’t have a more perfect life. But as we all slowly found out – and what the docu-series is focuses on – the family dealt with their fair share of struggles. No one more than Naomi, who battled mightily with her mental health, among other things. Wynonna and Ashley gave more insight into their mother’s fight when it was announced that Naomi Judd had tragically taken her own life at the age of 76. pic.twitter.com/4Yd1JJygEC — The Judds (@juddsofficial) April 30, 2022 Lifetime’s docu-series heavily touched on Naomi’s final days, even discussing one of Ashley Judd’s final conversations with her mother, and how she was the one who found her mother following her suicide in 2022. Long story short, they four-part story dove head first into some of the most personal moments of the Judd family’s history, including the time that Naomi Judd fired a weapon at her husband, Larry Strickland, after she discovered that he had been cheating on her in the 1980s. According to the story, Strickland and Judd were happily, and madly in love. That’s why it made Strickland’s sneaking around so shocking. Naomi apparently found out about the other woman when the mistress called Naomi and Larry’s Nashville home. The alleged response that Naomi Judd had (pulling a gun on her husband) was covered in the 1995 made for TV movie Love Can Build a Bridge. Kathleen York played Naomi in the two-part biographical film, and in it, she shot Bruce Greenwood, who was playing Strickland. In the Lifetime docu-series, Strickland was shown that portion of the movie, and he responded to it by saying this: “Well, it really happened. That’s all I can say. That’s all I’m gonna say. It happened.” Though that was obviously a low point for the couple, Strickland and Judd were married for 33 years (1989 to 2022), and Naomi’s widower took care of his wife before she passed away as she struggled with many different health conditions – most importantly mental illness. Shortly after she passed away, Strickland spoke to People about how close they remained, even as Naomi Judd’s physical and mental health deteriorated: “For the past 13 years or more, I was with her 24/7. I never left the house without Naomi knowing where I was going and when I would be back. As far as taking care of myself, I’m not sure that fits my situation. When you have a mate that has a mental illness, you walk that path with them.” If you or someone you know is struggling with thoughts of suicide, call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 800-273-TALK (8255) or text Crisis Text Line at 741741.The post Naomi Judd’s Widower Confirms She Did Shoot At Him When She Found Out He Cheated On Her: “It Really Happened” first appeared on Whiskey Riff.

Of all the times an artist has actually played “Free Bird” at a concert… this doesn’t even compare. Of course, we all know Chris Stapleton is in a league of his own, and the man has a voice like no one else. He can sing anything, and in terms of pure vocal talent, I just can’t think of any current artist, especially in country music, who can match him. And over the weekend during concert in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania at Lincoln Financial Field, where he opened for George Strait, Chris absolutely let it rip with an incredible cover of Lynyrd Skynyrd’s “Free Bird.” Written by frontman Ronnie Van Zant and guitarist Allen Collins, “Free Bird” was released on their 1973 debut studio album, Pronounced ‘Lĕh-‘nérd ‘Skin-‘nérd. They released as a single in November of 1974, and it subsequently debuted on the US Billboard Hot 100 at #87, becoming their second Top 40 hit in early 1975, peaking at #19 in January 25. It’s of course still Lynyrd Skynyrd’s signature song, the finale during their live performances to this day, and their longest song, which often goes well over 14 minutes when played live. I’m sure if you’ve ever been to a concert in your life you’ve heard someone in the crowd yell at the artist or band to “play ‘Free Bird,'” which has become a joke over the decades that, for some, I guess, hasn’t gotten old… it’s kind of annoying, but whatever. Honestly, I’m always secretly hoping they’ll actually take the request because I love that song, but you have to have an incredible guitar player to pull it off, more like 3 of them, and you gotta carve out about ten minutes from your setlist to really give it the attention it deserves. Stapleton doesn’t typically ever play the full song (he’s covered it a few times before), but rather uses it as a transition into his own song “The Devil Named Music,” but he was in top-notch form during the Philly show and sounded absolutely flawless. I know it’s probably unlikely, but one of these days, I really hope he’ll give us the full version because it’s just beyond incredible. Most people will probably roll their eyes at a “Free Bird” cover (myself included), but the bluesy, stripped-back production and Stapleton’s flawless, otherworldly voice is next level. When he just lets it rip… chills. Do yourself a favor and check it out: @lanepeacee Top 10 concert moment of all time #chrisstapleton #freebird ♬ original sound – LanePeace Here’s another angle from further away… it has more audio, though, and is well-worth the listen: @abbybrightbill17 Freebird in Philly #chrisstapleton ♬ original sound – Abby. B Gonna have this stuck in my head all day now… “Free Bird” “The Devil Named Music” George Strait w/ Chris Stapleton & special guest Parker McCollum: May 10, 2025 Philadelphia, PA Lincoln Financial Field May 31, 2025 Pittsburgh, PA Acrisure Stadium June 14, 2025 Buffalo, NY Highmark Stadium June 21, 2025 Foxborough, MA Gillette Stadium George Strait w/ Chris Stapleton & special guest Little Big Town: July 19, 2025 Inglewood, CA SoFi StadiumThe post Chris Stapleton Lets It Rip With Cover Of Lynyrd Skynyrd’s “Free Bird” In Philadelphia first appeared on Whiskey Riff.