You probably recognize Joanna Cotten as the background vocalist – and frequent duet partner during live shows – for Eric Church. If you’ve seen Chief in concert over the past decade or so, there’s no doubt that you’re also a fan of Cotten. Calling her a background vocalist feels wrong, because the powerhouse singer is so much more than that. She’s a superstar in her own right, often taking center stage herself and joining Church for duets like their incredible live performances of songs like “Over When It’s Over” or “Like Jesus Does.” On the recently wrapped Free the Machine tour, Cotten even blessed the crowds with her own soulful version of “Proud Mary.” Joanna Cotten, ladies and gentlemen. pic.twitter.com/4RrSR6gbST — Whiskey Riff (@WhiskeyRiff) March 1, 2026 Aside from being a fixture of his live shows, Cotten has also been featured on every Eric Church album since Chief, including his most recent album, Evangeline vs. The Machine. But before teaming up with Church, it turns out Cotten had actually built quite the resume working with other artists – including Cledus T. Judd. Judd, whose real name is Barry Poole, is sometimes called the “Weird Al” of country, and was a massive name in the late ’90s and early 2000s with his hilarious parodies of popular country songs. He had viral hits with songs like “I Love NASCAR,” “Bake Me A Country Ham,” and “My Cellmate Thinks I’m Sexy,” while collaborating with artists like Toby Keith and even Buck Owens. As I was doing research for a totally different article, I happened to stumble upon the credits for Cledus T. Judd’s 2000 album Just Another Day in Parodies. (That other article is coming later, I know you’re anxious to read it). The album contained songs like “Goodbye Squirrel,” a parody of “Goodbye Earl” from the Dixie Chicks, and “How Do You Milk A Cow,” which is obviously a parody of “How Do You Like Me Now” by Toby Keith. And on that album from 2000, whose name was in the credits for providing background vocals? Yep, you guessed it: Joanna Cotten. Cotten confirmed to Whiskey Riff that the album with Cledus was (as best she could remember 26 years later) her first project as a featured singer, and also shared that her connection with Cledus came through an executive with her publishing company, EMI, who had also served as a mentor to the parody singer during the early days of his career. Pretty awesome stuff. I love stories like this about the unexpected connections in the country music industry. One thing you may not know about Cotten is that she actually attended the Juilliard School, a prestigious private school for performing arts whose alumni include some of the greatest musicians and singers in the world. It’s not a stretch to say she’s one of the most accomplished vocalists in country music, so it’s no wonder other artists turn to Joanna to elevate their own music. In fact, Cotten also provided background vocals for Faith Hill’s Sunday Night Football theme, “Waiting All Day for Sunday Night,” which served as the intro for the weekly football game from 2007 to 2012. See if you can catch Cotten’s unmistakable voice: Along with Eric Church, Cledus T. Judd and Faith Hill, Cotten has provided background vocals for a number of other country music icons, including Tim McGraw, Toby Keith, and more recently, Whiskey Myers on their 2025 album Whomp Whack Thunder. She’s also released some great music of her own, blazing her own trail that blends her Memphis and Arkansas roots into her own unique sound. That sound shines through on her autobiographical 2008 song “Funkabilly,” which blends country, soul, blues and funk into something all its own. The song may not have been right for country radio in 2008 (which was, quite frankly, pretty boring and safe), but it may have simply been ahead of its time as the past two decades have seen country continue to blend influences from other genres. I mean, Eric Church himself had a full orchestra and gospel choir on tour with him this past year, and “Funkabilly” would have easily fit in on the setlist. As you peel back the layers on Cotten and her musical journey, you really get an appreciation for what a unique and special talent she is – beyond what even Eric Church fans may have realized. And surprisingly, it all started with a Cledus T. Judd album.The post You Know Joanna Cotten For Her Work With Eric Church, But You’ll Never Guess Her First Album As A Background Vocalist first appeared on Whiskey Riff.

The country music superstar continues to break records. Safe to say that Luke Combs is officially back. After a departure from his regular way of hard-rocking country hits with his 2024 concept album Fathers & Sons (his least commercially successful album), Combs wanted to prove to everyone that he’s still got it. That was evident in one of the lead singles that was released ahead of his latest album, “Back in the Saddle.” That was the perfect precursor to the The Way I Am, which dropped on March 20th. The sprawling, 22-song album can best be described as Combs crafting a musical declaration announcing that he’s back. And he’s proven that to be true along his My Kinda Saturday Night Tour, which just recently stopped at Ohio Stadium in Columbus, Ohio. The home of the Ohio State Buckeyes was all Luke Combs’ for the night, and he didn’t waste the opportunity. In fact, he put together an event that will go down in the history books. His April 25 show at Ohio Stadium now holds the record for the largest single-night concert attendance ever at the Columbus venue. 97,367 fans were there at Ohio Stadium to sing along with the country music star. And it’s not like the attendance record for the college football stadium was barely beaten. Luke Combs boasted 20,000 more fans than the previous record holder, which was Pink Floyd in 1994 (they had 75,245 people at their show). Considering the stadium holds 102,780 for game days, that’s quite the impressive feat by Luke Combs and his band. There’s no doubt that Combs’ openers – Dierks Bentley, Ty Myers, Jake Worthington, and Thelma & James – helped contribute to that record-breaking number. But at the end of the day, almost 100,000 people were there to see one man and one man only. It was the biggest show of his career, and looked like it was a very special night. Luke even took time out of the concert to thank everyone for helping him achieve the milestone moment: “Give yourselves a round of applause. Maybe the biggest show I’ve ever done. Maybe the biggest show I’ll ever do.” @cass_snapp2 @Luke Combs @Luke Combs HQ ♬ original sound – Cass_snapp2 Who knows… maybe you can help Luke Combs continue to break attendance records all across the country (and the world)? All you have to do is see if the “Hurricane” singer is coming to a town near you. My Kinda Saturday Night Tour Dates May 2: Neyland Stadium – Knoxville, TN May 9: Gaylord Family – Oklahoma Memorial Stadium – Norman, OK May 15: Lambeau Field – Green Bay, WI May 16: Lambeau Field – Green Bay, WI May 30: Parc Jean-Drapeau – Montreal, QC June 5: Rogers Stadium – Toronto, ON June 6: Rogers Stadium – Toronto, ON July 4: Ullevi – Gothenburg, Sweden July 7: Accor Arena – Paris, France July 11: Johan Cruijff Arena – Amsterdam, Netherlands July 18: Slane Castle – Slane, Ireland July 19: Slane Castle – Slane, Ireland July 25: Scottish Gas Murrayfield – Edinburgh, UK July 31: Wembley Stadium – London, UK August 1: Wembley Stadium – London, UKThe post Luke Combs Breaks Ohio Stadium Attendance Record With Nearly 100,000 Fans first appeared on Whiskey Riff.

Two songs, two records, two charts. From the beginning of the album’s rollout, it was clear that Luke Combs was playing for keeps with the release of The Way I Am. After diverting from his typical formula back in 2024 with the release of his incredibly personal album, Fathers & Sons, some fans were questioning whether the “Hurricane” singer still had the ability (or desire) to deliver the massive, stadium-level hits he built a career on over the past 9 or so years. It’s safe to say that mindset paid dividends for Combs. Back on March 20th, Combs finally released the sprawling, 22-song album, which he called the biggest of his career, to some massive success both commercially and critically. Debuting at #1 on Billboard’s Top Country Albums chart, The Way I Am sold 101,000 equivalent units in its first week. Typically, it would have been a shoo-in for the #1 spot on the all-genre Billboard 200; however, the “1, 2 Many” singer was blocked by Korean superstars, BTS, and their return album, ARIRANG, which debuted at #1 with a staggering 641,000 total units. Less than two weeks after scoring a top album with The Way I Am, “Sleepless in a Hotel Room” officially rose to #1 on Billboard’s Country Airplay chart on April 10th, moving up from the number three spot and becoming his 20th career #1 on the chart. This week, “Sleepless in a Hotel Room” remained #1 for its third week at #1, drawing a hefty 32.3 million audience impressions throughout the week. Ironically, Combs himself blocked from scoring his 21st #1 and simultaneously tied his own record. With his other surging single, “Days Like These” rising from #4 to #2 this week, Combs owns the #1 and #2 songs on country radio this week, remaining the only artist in the history of the chart to occupy the top two with two songs as a lead artist (“Love You Anyway” and “Fast Car” also reached #1 and #2 simultaneously in September 2023). While artists like Morgan Wallen and Luke Bryan have appeared at #1 and #2 simultaneously, with Wallen scoring it with “Cowgirls” and his feature on Post Malone’s “I Had Some Help” and Bryan snagging it with “Play It Again” and his appearance on Florida Georgia Line’s “This Is How We Roll,” Combs remains the only act to accomplish this with two solo songs. In case that wasn’t enough, he also made history on country music’s other radio chart, Mediabase. In direct contrast to Billboard’s Country Airplay, this week, “Days Like These” rose to #1 on the chart with “Sleepless in a Hotel Room” falling to #2. In turn, he also became the first artist on Mediabase’s chart to occupy the #1 and #2 spot simultaneously in a single week with two solo, non-feature tracks. .@lukecombs is officially the first artist in history to occupy the top two positions at US Country Radio (Mediabase) with solo songs: #1 Days Like These#2 Sleepless In A Hotel Room pic.twitter.com/xIz8cwkpqz — U.S. Radio Updater (@USRadioUpdater) April 26, 2026 Couple that with breaking Ohio Stadium’s concert attendance record and performing to a crowd of 97,367 fans, I think it’s safe to say it was a pretty good weekend for Mr. Combs. “Days Like These” “Sleepless in a Hotel Room” My Kinda Saturday Night Tour Dates May 2 Neyland Stadium – Knoxville, TN May 9 Gaylord Family – Oklahoma Memorial Stadium – Norman, OK May 15 Lambeau Field – Green Bay, WI May 16 Lambeau Field – Green Bay, WI May 30 Parc Jean-Drapeau – Montreal, QC June 5 Rogers Stadium – Toronto, ON June 6 Rogers Stadium – Toronto, ON July 4 Ullevi – Gothenburg, Sweden July 7 Accor Arena – Paris, France July 11 Johan Cruijff Arena – Amsterdam, Netherlands July 18 Slane Castle – Slane, Ireland July 19 Slane Castle – Slane, Ireland July 25 Scottish Gas Murrayfield – Edinburgh, UK July 31 Wembley Stadium – London, UK August 1 Wembley Stadium – London, UKThe post Luke Combs Ties His Own Record As Only Artist In History To Own The Top Two Songs On Billboard’s Country Airplay Chart In A Single Week first appeared on Whiskey Riff.

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