Fans quickly connected Riley Green’s unreleased song to Megan Moroney, but he insists the timing was purely coincidence. Continue reading…

And that’s what friends are for. Ella Langley has already had incredible year, taking home a record-breaking seven trophies in a single night during last months ACM Awards, and her sweep officially shattered the previous single-night record of six wins, which was shared by country legends Garth Brooks (1991), Faith Hill (1999), and Chris Stapleton (2016). Not bad company at all… Her hit sophomore album Dandelion has been one of the biggest albums of the year, and it was executive produced by country superstar Miranda Lambert, who also helped write and was a huge part of Ella’s smash crossover hit single “Choosin’ Texas,” which they wrote with Luke Dick and Joybeth Taylor. Ella and Miranda have become close friends, and Ella has spoken at length about how much it has meant to her to have Miranda in her corner. And last night, she opened up about just how important it has been to have Miranda there to give her advice during this crazy time in her life. But during a recent interview with Billboard, Miranda was very humble in explaining that she just sees herself as “just kind of a hype girl,” and that Ella knows exactly what she wants, ands he’s just there to support her and occasionally “Talk her off a ledge.” I mean, that’s probably the most important thing, honestly… “I’m either talking her off a ledge or hyping her up, because she knows exactly what she wants, We’re girls; we talk each other off the ledge all the time.” Amen to that… Miranda also explained that it’s been a really cool experience for her to be part of a hit album as a producer… of course, she knows that feeling as an artist, but to be able to be part of such a big album in a different way has been a very unique experience for her: “I’ve never had a record in the world that I was just a co-producer, not the artist — so Dandelion has been a pretty cool feeling. I was texting Jon Randall, my best friend and co-producer, like, ‘I’ve never known the feeling that this is before, just having a beautiful masterpiece in the world that I got to have a hand in doing that doesn’t say my name on the front.’ It’s really a crazy feeling and I love it.” She says that she was surprised at how much success “Choosin’ Texas” has had, and at a certain point as the song become a global phenomenon, she told Ella she needed to ask an artist much bigger than her, joking she should “call Taylor Swift”: “It was not on my bingo card for ‘Choosin’ Texas’ to take over the world. I love that song, and it so feels like such a part of me. I’m from Texas, and it was one of those things where we just wrote this song we really loved, and all of a sudden… I’ve never seen anything like it. So when Ella calls and is like, ‘What does this mean?’ I’m like, ‘I don’t know. You might need to call Taylor Swift right now [and ask her], because this is, like, that kind of big.” It really has been that kind of year for Ella, but I’m sure she feels very thankful to have had Miranda there holding her hand and supporting her through it all, and they teamed up for a beautiful song on Ella’s new album called “Butterfly Season” that’s one of my favorites: “Butterfly Season” Miranda also recently released her first new song with new label home MCA , the disco-inspired “Crisco”: The post Miranda Lambert Says She Has Mostly Provided Moral Support For Ella Langley: “Talking Her Off A Ledge Or Hyping Her Up” first appeared on Whiskey Riff.

Weird choice for a kid’s movie… After weeks of teasing, Taylor Swift finally confirmed yesterday that she would be releasing a new track for the fifth installment in the Toy Story franchise this Friday, June 5th, titled “I Knew It, You Knew It.” View this post on Instagram Though it’s not explicitly confirmed by Swift, Disney itself is touting the song as her “return” to country, where she got her start in music: “Inspired by the rootin’ tootin’ cowgirl Jessie’s ongoing journey in ‘Toy Story 5’ that began back in ‘Toy Story 2,’ ‘I Knew It, I Knew You’ also marks a return to Taylor Swift’s country roots, blending styles that have defined her record-breaking career as a songwriter and artist.” But Taylor’s team chose an interesting lyric to promote the new song… A post on @taylornation13 on X, which is the official account run by her management and PR team, took a line from her song “Wood” to make a Toy Story pun: We don’t have to knock on Wood(y)! #IKnewItIKnewYou https://t.co/cqrckhYNjX — Taylor Nation (@taylornation13) June 1, 2026   “Wood” is, of course, the ninth song off Taylor Swift’s latest album The Life Of A Showgirl, and is without a doubt her most raunchy song to date. The song has a cheeky double entendre meaning, with Swift opening the song by discussing how superstitious she was about Travis Kelce being her endgame, given her tumultuous relationship history. She’s knocking on “Wood” that this relationship will last: “Forgive me, it sounds cocky He ah-matized me and opened my еyes Redwood tree, it ain’t hard to see His love was thе key that opened my thighs Girls, I don’t need to catch the bouquet, mm To know a hard rock is on the way” Sounds innocent enough, right? However, the song that initially seems like a cute tune about knocking on wood for good luck takes a 180-degree turn, delving into their life behind closed doors (if you know what I mean). “And baby, I’ll admit I’ve been a little superstitious (Superstitious) The curse on me was broken by your magic wand (Ah) Seems to be that you and me, we make our own luck New Heights (New Heights) of manhood (Manhood) I ain’t gotta knock on wood” Yeah, a pretty raunchy song to use to promote a song from a kid’s movie. It seems that even Taylor’s fans were uncomfortable by the reference: Dad no! Not that joke! This is a kids movie!! — Clearstarglue Indy N3 (@clearstarglue) June 1, 2026 are y’all allowed to say that about a disney song — lawson (@lawsonphernelia) June 2, 2026 knock on what now? pic.twitter.com/rjDbuc7T16 — rylie (@justlikerylie) June 2, 2026 I’d rethink this post guys. It’s really not the best analogy. — Elle Girton (@elle_girton) June 1, 2026 am I too woke or is it not okay to use a dick reference to promote a children's song https://t.co/VsbiXwmIGh — Ray (@livbilney) June 2, 2026 this is so weird cause wood is literally a song about Travis's penis and they're using it to promote a children's movie… https://t.co/13jis4AheT — kat (@ervis_2000) June 2, 2026 girl this is a children's movie lmfaooooooooooooo https://t.co/YojREs1PjD — (@taybiIIionaire) June 1, 2026 Yeah, awkward… Apparently the song is awkward for Travis’s family too: His sister-in-law, Kylie Kelce, even admitted that she didn’t need to know that much about her husband Jason Kelce’s brother: “Who are we kidding? ‘Wood.’ Here’s the deal. Do I need that much detail? Specifically about my brother-in-law? Probably not. But also, good job, Trav. That’s it. Guys, yes. A thousand percent yes. That’s women supporting women. Proud of ya.” Maybe not the best song for a kid’s movie though.The post Taylor Swift’s Team Used A Reference To Travis Kelce’s Dong To Promote Her New Song From ‘Toy Story 5’ & Even Her Fans Are Uncomfortable first appeared on Whiskey Riff.

There were so many. I think we can all admit that country music itself is no stranger to tropes, clichés and the like. Of course, you have your classic beer, trucks, dirt roads, dogs and mama clichés that have invited critics and haters to subsequently dunk on the worst the genre has to offer. That’s not to say that songs with any or all of those cannot be good — look at Chris Stapleton’s “Maggie’s Song” or his penned Luke Bryan hit, “Drink a Beer.” With that being said, I think that anyone who has closely followed the genre over its history would be kidding themselves if they haven’t found a particular trope or trend a bit annoying at times. The 2010s, which many (myself included) consider the dark ages for the genre, brought about a lot of different trends. Dominated by both the rise of bro-country and its softer, nauseatingly romantic offshoot, boyfriend country, it spawned some of the worst country had to offer and ultimately inspired a whole lot of copycat artists. With names like Florida Georgia Line, Thomas Rhett, Dan + Shay, Sam Hunt, Kane Brown and more rising to the top of the genre from roughly 2012-2018, that six-year period saw the genre arguably hit an all-time low. While many like to rightfully harp on both the bro-country and boyfriend-country era, one trend that was also pretty prevalent in the 2010s was the odd obsession with simply writing a song by naming and referencing older, significantly better tracks and building around them. Of course, this isn’t an entirely new concept, but it was brought to a ridiculously higher level throughout the time period. Tracks like Old Dominion’s “Song For Another Time,” Walker Hayes’ “90’s Country,” Lauren Alania’s “Ladies In The ’90s,” which were some of the worst the trope had to offer, were these odd amalgamations of simply writing lyrics around massive, hit songs. Sure, this could be a fun songwriting exercise; however, I personally never really understood the appeal of simply listing off old songs, which are undeniably better. I should probably preface this by saying that not all of these types of songs are inherently bad. As you’ll see later, there are actually some incredibly solid tracks that name-drop classics throughout. With that being said, however, a majority of the good ones have a key feature that the bad ones lack: an actual through line. With all of that being said, let’s take a look at some of the best and worst this rarely-talked-about trend had to offer. Good Examples “Hippie Radio” – Eric Church In typical Church fashion, he elevates this trope tenfold. Instead of simply vomiting out as many classic songs as he heard on the titular hippie radio, he crafts a narrative of how classic tracks such as “Carry On My Wayward Son,” “Rebel Yell” and “Cat’s In The Cradle” have impacted him at different times in his life. Going on a journey from childhood in his father’s Pontiac to his first love to becoming a father, “Hippie Radio” is an expertly crafted journey through Church’s life that is more than just name-dropping songs for the sake of it. Songs Referenced: “Carry On My Wayward Son” – Kansas “White Wedding” – Billy Idol “Rebel Yell” – Bon Jovi “Werewolf in London” – Warren Zevon “Lady Marmalade” – Labelle “Cat’s In the Cradle” – Harry Chapin “Nashville Without You” – Tim McGraw While not an incredible song by any means, “Nashville Without You” has some groundings that both acknowledge the history and importance of Nashville as well as the most influential songs in country music history. Packaged as a love letter to both the genre and Music City itself, it sounds great production-wise and ultimately is one of the better examples of this type of song out there. Songs Referenced: “Blue Eyes Crying In The Rain” – Willie Nelson “Ring of Fire” – Johnny Cash “Crazy” – Patsy Cline “Stand By Your Man” – Tammy Wynette “Hey Good Lookin'” – Hank Williams “Mama Tried” – Merle Haggard “The Gambler” – Kenny Rogers “Jolene” – Dolly Parton “Smoky Mountain Rain” – Ronnie Milsap “A Country Boy Can Survive” – Hank Williams Jr. “Galveston” – Glen Campbell “He Stopped Loving Her Today” – George Jones “Fancy” – Reba McEntire “Old Alabama” – Brad Paisley Though it can be argued that Paisley’s doing exactly what I harped on earlier, there’s an inherent amount of charm with this one. Couple that with the fact that Alabama themselves hop on the track and even add in the bridge of “Mountain Music,” it feels much more reverent and respectful to the songs (and band) referenced here. The breakdown at the end goes pretty hard too. Songs Referenced: “Dixieland Delight” “Feels So Right” “Love in the First Degree” “Why Lady Why” “Tennessee River” “Mountain Music” “After the Music’s Stopped” – Jake Owen Though this one is bordering on egregious, given the 27 songs listed throughout, Jake Owen delivers this reference-filled track, penned by Tom Douglas and Jaren Johnston, marginally better than other songs of its type. Owen and Co. really covered all their bases, giving nods to everyone from Brad Paisley and Johnny Cash to Pink Floyd and The Beatles. It should also be applauded that the theme of never getting over a heartbreak is further added to by listing a seemingly never-ending list of songs, making “After the Music’s Stopped” a smarter song than meets the eye on a first listen. Songs Referenced: “Wish You Were Here” – Pink Floyd “Be My Baby” – The Ronettes “Heartbreak Hotel” – Elvis Presley “I Heard It Through the Grapevine” – Marvin Gaye “Comfortably Numb” – Pink Floyd “Highway to Hell” – AC/DC “(Sittin’ On) The Dock of the Bay” – Otis Redding “Hound Dog” – Elvis Presley “American Pie” – Don McLean “Tangled Up In Blue” – Bob Dylan “Dancing In the Street” – David Bowie & Mick Jagger “While My Guitar Gently Weeps” – The Beatles “The Tracks of My Tears” – Smokey Robinson “The Sound of Silence” – Simon & Garfunkel “Set ’em Up, Joe” – Vern Gosdin “Fire and Rain” – James Taylor “Born to Run” – Bruce Springsteen “Thunder Road” – Bruce Springsteen “Dazed and Confused” – Led Zeppelin “Purple Haze” – The Jimi Hendrix Experience “I Walk The Line” – Johnny Cash “Whiskey Lullaby” – Brad Paisley & Alison Krauss “I Fall to Pieces” – Patsy Cline “You Can’t Always Get What You Want” – The Rolling Stones “What a Friend We Have In Jesus” “Ain’t No Sunshine” – Bill Withers Bad Examples “Song for Another Time” – Old Dominion Arguably the most egregious of these, numbers-wise at least, is none other than Old Dominion’s 2016 #1 hit, “Song for Another Time.” Referencing a total of 20 hit songs across genres, it simply smashes you over the head with classic, infinitely better songs throughout the decades. Songs Referenced: “Marina Del Rey” – George Strait “Yesterday” – The Beatles “I Can’t Make You Love Me” – Bonnie Raitt “Brown Eyed Girl” – Van Morrison “Sweet Caroline” – Neil Diamond “Free Fallin'” – Tom Petty “Small Town Saturday Night” – Hal Ketchum “You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feelin'” – The Righteous Brothers “Dancing on the Ceiling” – Lionel Richie “Teenage Dream” – Katy Perry “Paradise City” – Guns N’ Roses “I’m So Lonesome I Could Cry” – Hank Williams “One More Day” – Diamond Rio “Oh, Pretty Woman” – Roy Orbison “Sunday Mornin’ Comin’ Down” – Kris Kristofferson/Johnny Cash “Take Me Home, Country Roads” – John Denver “Pink Houses” – John Mellencamp “Candle in the Wind” – Elton John “Always on My Mind” – Willie Nelson “I Will Always Love You” – Dolly Parton/Whitney Houston “What’s Your Country Song” – Thomas Rhett* Though this one technically came out in 2020, all the problems present on the other songs still remain. Building a song around framing iconic songs and lyrics as questions simply isn’t that interesting and ultimately just makes me want to listen to them instead of this Frankenstein’s monster of a song. Songs Referenced: “Drive (For Daddy Gene)” – Alan Jackson “Whiskey Bent and Hell Bound” – Hank Williams Jr. “Mama Tried” – Merle Haggard “Cruise” – Florida Georgia Line “Dixieland Delight” – Alabama “Chattahoochee” – Alan Jackson “Barefoot Blue Jean Night” – Jake Owen “All My Ex’s Live in Texas” – George Strait “I’m So Lonesome I Could Cry” – Hank Williams Sr. “That Ain’t My Truck” – Rhett Akins “Friends in Low Places” – Garth Brooks “Neon Moon” – Brooks & Dunn “I Was Country When Country Wasn’t Cool” – Barbra Mandrell/George Jones “Strawberry Wine” – Deana Carter “Family Tradition” – Hank Williams Jr. Abhorrent Examples “90’s Country” – Walker Hayes Mr. Applebee’s himself crafted a song about 90’s country that feels neither ’90s nor country. It’s truly incredible how Walker Hayes even made somewhat of a career for himself despite releasing some of the most abhorrent singles year-in and year-out. Unsurprisingly, “90’s Country” is another example of this. Songs Referenced: “Strawberry Wine” – Deana Carter “Amazed” – Lonestar “Cowboy, Take Me Away” – The Chicks “Wink” – Neal McCoy “I Like It, I Love It” – Tim McGraw “Check Yes or No” – George Strait “She Thinks My Tractor’s Sexy” – Kenny Chesney “Jukebox Junkie” – Ken Mellons “Vidalia” – Sammy Kershaw “Queen of My Double Wide Trailer” – Sammy Kershaw “Shut Up and Kiss Me” – Mary Chapin Carpenter “John Deere Green” – Joe Diffie “I Cross My Heart” – George Strait “Walkaway Joe” – Trisha Yearwood “The Church on Cumberland Road” – Shenandoah “Dust on the Bottle” – David Lee Murphy “Sold (The Grundy County Auction)” – John Michael Montgomery “She Don’t Know She’s Beautiful” – Sammy Kershaw “Chattahoochee” – Alan Jackson “Daddy’s Money” -Ricochet “Don’t Be Stupid (You Know I Love You)” – Shania Twain “Friends in Low Places” – Garth Brooks “Ladies In The ’90s” – Lauren Alania Somehow worse than Walker Hayes’ disaster that is “90’s Country,” Lauren Alania’s “Ladies In The ’90s” is even less country than the aforementioned track. I guess you can argue that Alania was simply talking about the nineties in music as a whole. With that being said, however, it doesn’t excuse the track from being as aggressively terrible as it is. Songs/Artists Referenced: “Strawberry Wine” – Deana Carter “…Baby One More Time” – Britney Spears “Man, I Feel Like a Woman!” – Shania Twain “Breathe” – Faith Hill “Say My Name” – Destiny’s Child “No Scrubs” – TLC “Cowboy, Take Me Away” – The Chicks “Fancy” – Reba “Genie in a Bottle” – Christina Aguilera “Vogue” – Madonna “Wannabe” – The Spice Girls “You Oughta Know” – Alanis Morissette The post Looking Back at Country Music’s Bizarre 2010s Obsession With Name-Dropping Old Songs first appeared on Whiskey Riff.

I guess this is really happening. At this point it seems like a Florida Georgia Line reunion is pretty much inevitable, four years after the duo called it quits back in 2022. The group’s official Instagram account has remained dormant since May 26, 2023, when Brian Kelley used the duo’s account to promote his then-upcoming single “See You Next Summer.” But now, three years since that last post, there are signs of life once again. Fans quickly noticed that their social media accounts have changed their profile pictures to a new logo that simply says “FGL LFG,” which obviously stands for “Let’s F—ing Go.” They’re back! @FLAGALine Will we see a surprise appearance at #CMAFEST this week? #FGL #LFG pic.twitter.com/ebED9o1CoO — EF Country (@EFCountry) June 2, 2026 And fans who were signed up to receive text messages and emails about the group also received an automated message: “Turns out, some things are just better together. Much more to come. FGL LFG.” FGL Fridays coming back? @TyeTheGolfGuy pic.twitter.com/yZdvu8C3G4 — Wes Busby (@WBusby13) June 2, 2026 I guess it’s really happening… Of course Florida Georgia Line is one of the most successful heroes in the history of country music. But they were also a driving force behind one of the darkest periods of country music with the “bro-country” era. While they weren’t the only offenders, their shallow lyrics and pop-heavy production, as well as their success, made FGL the target of a lot of criticism and the face of a genre of country that often served as a punchline to critics of the genre. But back in 2022, after years of declining sales of their new music and a changing sound in country music, Tyler Hubbard and Brian Kelley announced that they were bringing an end to FGL and would instead continue making music as solo artists. At the time, there was a lot of speculation that the duo split due to political differences between the two after Hubbard unfollowed Kelley on social media during the 2020 election. (Hubbard and his wife Hayley supported Joe Biden, while Kelley and his wife Brittney supported Donald Trump). The duo denied that their split had to do with politics, but it became clear that it was a nasty breakup between the two when both began telling their side of the story. Hubbard, the “Georgia” half of FGL, made an appearance on the Bussin’ With the Boys podcast featuring Will Compton and Taylor Lewan last year, where he confirmed that he wasn’t speak much with his former bandmate and saying that the split caught him by surprise: “For me it was really unexpected. But BK came to me and said, ‘Man I’m really feeling like I want to do a solo thing.’” He also revealed that he tried to talk Kelley out of it, with the duo even going to therapy together to try to work through their issues. But turns out Kelley was adamant about it, though he still wanted to keep Florida Georgia Line together. Hubbard wasn’t going to do that though, and basically gave him an ultimatum: It was either FGL or solo, but not both. “I don’t have capacity to do two careers. And also it’s going to get super sticky. When we’re writing songs, who are we writing for? When we got two show offers, an FGL date and a solo date, what are we taking? I’m like, I don’t even logistically see how that would work, much less emotionally.” Well, those comments didn’t sit well with Kelley, who was then given his own appearance on the podcast to tell his side of the story. During his interview, Kelley confirmed a lot of what Hubbard had said: He wanted to release solo music, Hubbard didn’t see how it would work if they tried to have solo careers while also being a duo, and they ended up splitting. But there were a lot of disagreements too. Kelley says that there had been talks about doing solo music as far back as 2016, but that the two had agreed that they would wait until the end of their contract, and after the release of FGL’s fifth album, before pursuing these other avenues. Well it turns out that, although Hubbard said he didn’t want them to pursue solo careers apart from FGL, he had actually gone behind Kelley’s back and recorded a song with Tim McGraw amidst the social unrest of 2020 – and when he told Kelley about the song, he also informed him that they would be performing it at Biden’s inauguration. “Tyler had solo music out before I even did. Before we even got our fifth album out, he had released a couple songs, he had played Biden’s inauguration which was a huge look to be a solo act with Tim McGraw. He released another song. I didn’t start releasing music ’til April… He was rockin’ at radio immediately, top of January of 2021 and I didn’t get music out ’til April and then the album in June.” And Kelley says he was blindsided by Hubbard’s decision to make the first step to go solo with “Undivided,” the duet with Tim McGraw: “Surprised. Shocked for sure. I thought we had a deal about what the plan was. Going back to my main thing, is protecting FGL. I didn’t think that was a good look, if I’d have done it or if he did it.” All that to say, it wasn’t an amicable split and there were plenty of hurt feelings on both sides of the Florida/Georgia line. But over the past few months, there have been signs that the two have been working on healing their relationship. Hubbard and Kelley were spotted together at the CMA Awards last year for the first time, and during an appearance on the Human School Podcast late last year, Hubbard revealed that the two were actively working to repair their friendship and even had a hike planned together. Then earlier this year they shared photos from the hike, and have shared pictures of themselves getting together a couple times since then. The rumors reached a fever pitch when the duo reunited for the first time since the split to honor Jason Aldean during Broken Bow Records’ annual late night bash during Country Radio Seminar. And last month, Hubbard confirmed that a reunion was in the cards and likely to happen next year: “We have been toying around and flirting with the idea of playing a handful of shows next year … No new FGL music at the moment… I do know that we’re kind of (excited about) the idea of playing shows together. Sounds like a lot of fun. We want to keep it low stress, and nothing but a good time… I think for the world to experience a little taste of the emotion and healing that we’ve gotten to feel, it’s really special. It’s bigger than just us. It’s bigger than just the music, and it’s actually a story and a powerful testimony to grace and forgiveness and healing.” It could also be the power of neither of them having much success on their own as solo artists…but hey, maybe that’s just the cynic in me. Ready or not, it sounds like FGL is back.The post Florida Georgia Line Just Updated Their Social Media For The First Time In Years first appeared on Whiskey Riff.