Lainey Wilson is currently touring over in Australia, and she stopped by the No Filter podcast with Kate Langbroek, where she spoke about her life growing up in Louisiana, her time grinding in Nashville before she ever had a record deal or any fame or notoriety, and show she still strives to maintain some sort of normalcy in this crazy world she finds herself navigating now. And of course, she spoke about her fiancé Devlin “Duck” Hodges, whom she got engaged to last February: View this post on Instagram Duck was a four-year starter at Samford University in Birmingham, Alabama before being signed as an undrafted free agent by the Steelers in 2019. He was named the starter during the 2019 season when Mason Rudolph went down with an injury, going 3-3 as a starting quarterback before being waived by the Steelers and signed to the practice squad prior to the 2020 season. They dated for about four years  before getting engaged, and during a party celebrating her radio hit “4X4XU,” Lainey previously shared details about the proposal that happened at the stunning George Jones estate the week after the Super Bowl. Lainey has mentioned several times that the wedding is is still very much in the planning process, but when asked about her relationship with Duck and how she knew he was the one, she talked about how he felt like “home” and keeps her grounded: “Oh my gosh… even if I’m not in Nashville at my house, he is home. We’ve been gone a month now, and I can FaceTime him and just for a minute, I feel at home. He helps me kind of come back down to my center, and he’s just my biggest cheerleader, really.” It sounds like they have a pretty normal home life with their two dogs Willow and Hippie, and Lainey explained that they really enjoy doing the simple things in life when they have time at home in Nashville: “Two dogs, he has a little black lab, her name is Willow, and she is the sweetest dog. And prior to Duck I had one named Hippie, and she is a French bulldog… it’s just us. We load up on the 4X4 and ride around, we do all the simple things in life. That’s the things that bring us the most happiness, like riding down the road and going to hang out with the neighbors and things like that.” She also said that they would love to have kids one day, because she thing they would both be good parents and she would love to see Duck be a dad, though that will come after the wedding and it sounds like is a few years off for them still: “We definitely want to have a family, you know, time is ticking. Time is always ticking, yeah. But I think him and I would both be good parents, and I’d love to see him be a dad. We’re gonna get married, we’re gonna do the whole thing, and kids will be later. But we’re definitely going to do it.” Lainey joked that she had an idea the aforementioned proposal was going to happen at George Jones’ estate which you can see in the pictures above, because Duck had been “acting weird” that day, and asked her to show him a breathing exercise she does… but then she talked herself out of it because she didn’t want to be mad at him or disappointed it didn’t happen. Her instincts were right, and it sounds like they’ve already created a lovely life together that will only continue after they get married and hopefully one day start a family. The full podcast is available below. Lainey Wilson 2025 Tour Dates: February 26—Perth, Australia—RAC Center* March 20—Thackerville, OK—WinStar World Casino & Resort March 21—Thackerville, OK—WinStar World Casino & Resort April 10—Florence, AZ—Country Thunder Arizona April 11—Laughlin, NV—Laughlin Event Center April 25—Indio, CA—Stagecoach Festival 2026 July 10—Chicago, IL—Windy City Smokeout August 6—Detroit Lakes, MN—WE Fest August 7—Oshkosh, WI—Xroads41 August 9—Canton, OH—Concert for Legends August 12—Sturgis, SD—The Sturgis Buffalo Chip August 15—Springfield, IL—Illinois State Fair * with special guests Flatland Cavalry and Kaitlin ButtsThe post Lainey Wilson Says She Would Love To Start A Family One Day With Her Soon-To-Be Husband, Duck: “I Think Him & I Would Both Be Good Parents” first appeared on Whiskey Riff.

Make it happen. In an era filled with some of the most exciting voices we’ve heard in the genre lately, ranging from the likes of Tyler Childers and Sturgill Simpson to Turnpike Troubadours and Colter Wall, there’s no one doing it quite the way Zach Top is these days on a national scale. Though there are plenty of other stellar artists keeping the traditional scene alive, such as Jake Worthington, Charley Crockett and more, the Washington native has launched himself into the stratosphere as of late. Of course, this was highlighted on a national scale the past few months when he not only took home Best New Artist at the CMA Awards in November, which he accepted with a Coors Banquet in hand, but also when he scored his first-career Grammy earlier this month. In turn, Top became the first-ever winner of the brand-new Best Traditional Country Album category, winning it with his sophomore album, Ain’t In It For My Health. Even if you take away all the success at recent award shows, it’s becoming clear that the “I Never Lie” singer has become an artist who’s bridging the gap between generations through some key opening spots for legends as of late. In addition to opening for Alan Jackson on his Last Call Tour last year, he’s also slated to open up for the King himself, George Strait, at Jones AT&T Stadium in Lubbock this April. One aspect of Top’s artistry, at this point in his career at least, is the lack of collaborations. In an era where star-studded duets and features are all the rage, ranging from Zach Bryan and Kacey Musgraves, to Morgan Wallen and Post Malone, to Cody Johnson and Carrie Underwood (to name a few), you’d think that Top would have pulled the trigger on some sort of collaboration other than his under-the-radar, three-song EP with the bluegrass god himself, Billy Strings, last March. There’s a good reason for that, as it turns out. In a recent interview with Absolute Country Radio, the U.K.’s leading country radio station, the Washington native would reveal that he simply doesn’t think he’s written the right song for a standout collaboration yet. Additionally, he’d point to classic duets from the likes of George Jones and Tammy Wynette as well as Conway Twitty and Loretta Lynn as the gold standard. “I feel like I need to find the right song or write the right song. You know, I’m a big fan of all the old duets people would do. They’d do whole duet albums and stuff back in the day. George and Tammy, Conway and Loretta, and Vince Gill-Patty Loveless [are] all great examples.” Top was then asked who his dream duet partner is. While many over the past year or so have dreamed of him collaborating with either legends such as Strait, Jackson, Vince Gill and more, or fellow traditionalists like former tourmate, Jake Worthington, Randall King or even Charley Crockett, his answer was a bit unexpected. Instead of choosing any of the aforementioned artists, he chose none other than one of the premier female country acts of the 1990s: Patty Loveless. As Top explains, her early days in bluegrass, much like his own, coupled with her quintessential ’90s country sound, have always made her one of his favorite female singers. “Patty Loveless has always been one of my favorite gal singers. She kind of comes from the bluegrass world too, before she had her big country career, obviously. I love Patty; she’s awesome. I feel like we’d sing good together. I just need to find the right song and cut a little duet like that.” I’ll be honest, I never imagined Loveless and Top teaming up. Taking a look back at her severely underrated discography and re-listening to her overall sound, however, it honestly sounds like a match made in heaven. Though Loveless hasn’t released new music since 2009, she’s made sporadic appearances on tracks recently, most notably on Carly Pearce’s “Dear Miss Loretta” in 2021. Watch the full interview here: Zach Top Tour Dates March 7 – Rotterdam, Netherlands – Rotterdam Ahoy March 8 – Berlin, Germany – Uber Eats Music Hall March 13 – London, United Kingdom – The O2 March 14 – Belfast, Northern Ireland – SSE Arena March 15 – Glasgow, United Kingdom – OVO Hydro April 9 – Florence, Arizona – Country Thunder Arizona April 24 – Lubbock, Texas – Jones AT&T Stadium May 22 – Norfolk, Virginia – Patriotic FestivalThe post Zach Top Reveals His Dream Collaboration And It Might Not Be Who You’d Expect first appeared on Whiskey Riff.

Jane Buffett is appealing to a court in the latest update in a contentious legal battle over the late singer's estate. Continue reading…

She'll perform an original song called "Next To You" during a barroom scene in 'Marshals.' Continue reading…

Lainey Wilson is currently touring over in Australia, and she stopped by the No Filter podcast with Kate Langbroek, where she spoke about her life growing up in Louisiana, her time grinding in Nashville before she ever had a record deal or any fame or notoriety, and show she still strives to maintain some sort of normalcy in this crazy world she finds herself navigating now. The famous story goes that Lainey lived in a camper trailer for her first three years in town, which she’s talked about that a lot before, but her grandfather had helped out a friend in the 70’s with moving to Music City, and eventually, he wanted to return the favor and allowed Lainey to park the camper on his studio lot for several years while she started her career. She spent many years as a struggling writer, building connections and remaining hopeful that it would eventually work out, and her faith and determination proved to be a winning strategy because she sells out venues all over the world now and has become a household name. Lainey has spoken plenty about mentors she has leaned on for advice since coming into this fame and success, which includes her close friend Miranda Lambert, Lainey explained that she is “20 music and 80% business,” which has helped her a lot in terms of advice: “She has been somebody that I can call, and she just, like, tells you like it is. And she’s one of the people who told me, she’s like, ‘It’s 20% music and 80% business.’ And, so, once I started hearing that kind of stuff and just picking up on random wisdom that so many artists have been willing to share with me, I write it down in a little section of my phone.” But when asked about Keith Urban’s advice, he had a more straightforward approach, telling Lainey there’s “no whining on the yacht” when she had told him how tired she was after doing 180-something shows in a year (which is an insane number, by the way… “Well, there’s been a few. He told me it’s better to maintain balance than to always be achieving it. To me, that means figure out what works for you. Have work-life balance and don’t lose that. Because once you do, and you’re kinda lopsided, then, like, it’s hard to get back. I ran into him, and I was so tired, I had been on the road, I think we played 180-something shows that year. And I saw him, I was just like, ‘I’m tired.’ And he was like, ‘No whining on the yacht.’ And I was like, ‘Keith, you better get up out of my face with that.'” I mean… what a line, and clearly, it’s stuck with Lainey and probably something we’ve all needed to hear at one point or another because it’s easy to lose sight of the good things in life when you’re just plumb wore out. Lainey had gone onto win the coveted Entertainer of the Year award at the 2025 CMA Awards twice, in addition to many other awards, and she says that little 9-yea-old girl that used to watch the show would be overjoyed with how it’s all worked out for her: “I just remember being a little girl watching all these awards thinking, ‘Man, it’d be really cool if I could be down there in the mix with those people.’ Because I felt like I was one of them. It was one of those moments for me where I’m like, ‘OK, this industry that I have been working on my relationships for 15 years now, these people have come to bat for me. And now, people like Keith Urban and all the other people in between that I’ve met – when your peers and the people that you look up to are proud for you and voting for you. It makes you feel like, ‘OK, like that little 9-year-old girl wasn’t that crazy.'” It’s such a beautiful success story, and Lainey has certainly earned every bit of it… and she’s proof that even super-humans like her get tired every now and then too: View this post on Instagram The full podcast is available below. Lainey Wilson 2025 Tour Dates: February 26—Perth, Australia—RAC Center* March 20—Thackerville, OK—WinStar World Casino & Resort March 21—Thackerville, OK—WinStar World Casino & Resort April 10—Florence, AZ—Country Thunder Arizona April 11—Laughlin, NV—Laughlin Event Center April 25—Indio, CA—Stagecoach Festival 2026 July 10—Chicago, IL—Windy City Smokeout August 6—Detroit Lakes, MN—WE Fest August 7—Oshkosh, WI—Xroads41 August 9—Canton, OH—Concert for Legends August 12—Sturgis, SD—The Sturgis Buffalo Chip August 15—Springfield, IL—Illinois State Fair * with special guests Flatland Cavalry and Kaitlin ButtsThe post “No Whining On The Yacht”: Lainey Wilson Reveals The Blunt Advice Keith Urban Gave Her When She Told Him She Was Tired From Touring first appeared on Whiskey Riff.