Sturgill/Johnny Blue Skies/Disco Stu was on one with his latest project, Mutiny After Midnight. The artist formerly known as Sturgill Simpson had the zany and downright filthy lyricism turned all the way up to full blast for his latest album (that wasn’t supposed to come out for a couple of more weeks). After saying that the only way fans would be able to hear Mutiny After Midnight is through physical media purchase (CD, vinyl, and cassette), JBS dropped the entire disco protest album on YouTube – and did so just shy of two weeks until the official release date. It was a pleasant surprise to say the least. And just as we were promised, the project gives off big time disco-country-rock-dance vibes. When Sturgill Johnny Blue Skies announced his new record with a Mutiny After Midnight letter, he described the new endeavor like this: “We decided to make an album centered firmly on groove. We started every day from scratch with a basic groove. I wrote the songs and lyrics in the moment on the spot, and everyone established their individual parts servicing the songs and not the individual ego… There’s a simple goal we as a band set out to achieve: to make a dance record. So this protest, this mutiny is really more about the primary dance. The dance of all creation. To be clear, it is a protest against oppression and suppression, and the only tried and tested true antidote to that is pure, unfiltered, unapologetic, relentless disco-hedonism.” And that’s 100% what they achieved. There’s all kinds of killer riffs, and plenty of political commentary… anti-ICE, anti-Trump, references to George Floyd. And above all, the album with an overarching theme of love had a healthy amount of head-turning, suggestive lines about, well…. sex. But we were warned that Stu was diving into unadulterated hedonism. So I thought I’d go ahead and provide the top 5 craziest lines that Johnny Blue Skies threw into Mutiny After Midnight. Shall we? (Oh, and because the album was posted on YouTube as one long video, each link starts in the particular song I’m discussing). Honorable Mention: A Mention of Retirement In “Viridescent” “Some days I want to disappear and retire Wanna hop in the saddle and ride.” In terms of craziness, this is definitely the most mundane. And considering Sturgill has hinted at being okay with walking away from music at some point, it’s just an affirmation of what he’s said before. Still… it feels like Johnny Blue Skies is at the top of his game, so he shouldn’t stop anytime soon. Track 5- “Viridescent” 5) Katy Perry Catches A Stray In “Ain’t That A B*tch” “Send me to Mars on a ship overflowin’ Sit me next to Katy Perry, being all annoying Hoggin’ up the whole arm rest and elbowin'” I wonder who broke the news to Katy Perry that she caught a stray in a song called “Ain’t That A B*tch.” In what’s definitely his most politically defiant track on the album, one that kicks off with a direct shot at Donald Trump, Sturgill pokes fun at the pop star’s involvement in the Blue Origin Space Flight, where an all-woman flight crew went on a rocket into outer space for an 11-minute flight. JBS apparently got some intel about it… Katy Perry hogged the arm rest. Track 9 – “Ain’t That A B*tch”  4) Quite The Romantic Comparison In “Situation” “Can’t control my breathing, can’t stay calm Your body’s hotter than a brothel in Guam… Ever since the day that we met Wanna get you wet, wanna make you sweat” This steamy song featured a very specific, laugh-inducing comparison. While singing about… you know, Johnny Blue Skies said his lover’s body was hotter than a brothel located in Guam – a U.S. territory in the Western Pacific. It’s the kind of reference that makes you wonder if JBS took a trip to Guam himself to figure that out, or if this a nod back to Stu’s days in the Navy. Track 6 – “Situation” 3) Group Love In “Everyone Is Welcome” “Life’s better fluid like sexuality Inhibitions are better off rejected No place in the universe for individuality The truth is knowing that it’s all connected Two is enough But threes a whole lot of fun Four is a f***ing party where everybody comes” It’s one of the dirtier lines included in Mutiny After Midnight, and it’s wedged within a song that’s mostly about hopelessness. Frankly, it’s a bit of lyrical whiplash… but because it’s Sturgill Simpson, it works. It’s almost as if the secret to happiness is just one big orgy… Track 8 – “Everyone Is Welcome” 2) An Absolutely Absurd Guitar Euphemism Within “Stay On That” “So let me be the wood, baby, you can be the glue Oh, we gonna We’re gonna stay on that D baby Until we hit that G.” Do I really need to explain this one? After all of these years that music and musical notes have existed, you would have thought someone would have already utilized this euphemism. Leave it to Johnny Blue Skies to crack the code that switching from a D chord to a G chord could be the perfect chorus for a song honing in on… you know. Track 4 – “Stay On That” 1) Joe Biden’s Son In “Make America F** Again” “Don’t know why everybody’s afraid of me I’m a sensitive boy when push comes to shove I got that Hunter Biden energy I’ll make a hooker f*** around and fall in love” Yep, this one takes the cake. Johnny Blue Skies didn’t pull any punches in this project, and certainly had his fair share of Trump shots. But in the very first song on the record, he drops this ridiculous, not-veiled-at-all reference to Hunter Biden and the Biden family. It’s the number one, “oh damn” moment of the album. Track 1 – “Make America F** Again” There you have it. Did I miss any absurd lyrics and lines in Mutiny After Midnight? If I did, feel free to let us know. I’ve only listened through the entire 45-minute-plus album eight or so times… so I could have overlooked a worthy line. But as far as the most absurd lines go, I think I did a pretty respectable job collecting them all together and ranking them.The post The Top 5 Craziest Lines From Sturgill Simpson’s New Johnny Blue Skies Album, ‘Mutiny After Midnight’ first appeared on Whiskey Riff.

She did it. Just over a week ago, Megan Moroney released her highly-anticipated third studio album Cloud 9, which is off to a hot start as it debuts at #1 on the Billboard 200 albums chart, which is her first #1 debut on that chart. According to Billboard, she earned a total of 147,000 equivalent album units in the United States in the week ending Feb. 26, according to Luminate, which “marks the biggest week for a country album by a woman in nearly two years.” 78,000 of those units are pure album sales, and SEA units comprise 69,000 (equaling 71.54 million on-demand official streams of the set’s tracks, her best streaming week; it debuts at No. 2 on Top Streaming Albums). For the sake of comparison, in January, Zach Bryan debuted at #1 on the Billboard 200 albums chart with his sixth studio album With Heaven On Top, earning 134,000 units in its first week, so Megan surpasses that by 13,ooo units. It’s clear that she had emerged as one of the top artists in the mainstream world of country music, and this album release is already proving to be a huge moment for her career that continues to grow with every project: Megan Moroney officially earns her first ever #1 album on the Billboard 200 with ‘Cloud 9’ pic.twitter.com/zEiwMDhs5l — chart data (@chartdata) March 2, 2026 Cloud 9 is the second top 10, and third chart entry, for Moroney, as Am I Okay? peaked at #9 and Lucky peaked at #38 on the Top 200 album chart. Billboard also reports that Cloud 9 if the first country album by a woman to be #1 on the Billboard 200 chart since Beyoncé topped it with Cowboy Carter in April of 2024. Overall, Megan joins a very exclusive group of women in the last decade who have reached the top spot on the Billboard 200 chart since March of 2016, as just seven albums by five women have reached that spot, including the aforementioned Cloud 9 and Cowboy Carter, as well as Taylor Swift’s Speak Now (Taylor’s Version) in 2023, Red (Taylor’s Version) in 2021 and Fearless (Taylor’s Version) in 2021, Carrie Underwood’s Cry Pretty in 2018 and Shania Twain’s Now in 2017. It’s great company to be sure, they’re some of the biggest artists on the planet, and I have a feeling this won’t be Megan’s last time with an album at the top of this particular spot. It can’t be understated how impressive this feat is for any country artist, and a huge congratulations to Megan and her team on such an important milestone, one she’ll certainly remember for the rest of her career. I’ve still been loving both duets from Cloud 9, “I Only Miss You” with Ed Sheeran and “Bells & Whistles” with Kacey Musgraves, and of course, fans are still dissecting “Who Hurt You?” which they are convinced Megan wrote abut Riley Green. It’s clearly resonating with her fans, too, and she will take it on the road very soon as she sets out on her Cloud 9 tour this spring. “I Only Miss You” “Bells & Whistles” “Who Hurt You?” Cloud 9 Tour Dates: 29 | Columbus, OH – Schottenstein Center 30 | Indianapolis, IN – Gainbridge Fieldhouse 2 | Chicago, IL – United Center 5 | Baltimore, MD – CFG Bank Arena 6 | Greensboro, NC – First Horizon Coliseum 8 | Atlanta, GA – State Farm Arena 12 | Louisville, KY – KFC Yum! Center 13 | St. Louis, MO – Enterprise Center 16 | Pittsburgh, PA – PPG Paints Arena 18 | Milwaukee, WI – Summerfest 19 | Grand Rapids, MI – Van Andel Arena 20 | Toronto, ON – Scotiabank Arena 7 | Boston, MA – TD Garden 9 | Brooklyn, NY – Barclays Center 10 | Newark, NJ – Prudential Center 11 | Philadelphia, PA – Xfinity Mobile Arena 14 | Charlotte, NC – Spectrum Center 16 | Orlando, FL – Kia Center 17 | Tampa, FL – Benchmark International Arena 18 | Sunrise, FL – Amerant Bank Arena 24 | Monticello, IA – Great Jones County Fair 25 | Minneapolis, MN – Target Center 26 | Lincoln, NE – Pinnacle Bank Arena 28 | Denver, CO – Ball Arena 1 | Portland, OR – Moda Center 2 | Seattle, WA – Climate Pledge Arena 5 | Sacramento, CA – Golden 1 Center 7 | Los Angeles, CA – Crypto.com Arena 11 | Glendale, AZ – Desert Diamond Arena 14 | Dallas, TX – American Airlines Center 15 | Tulsa, OK – BOK Center 16 | Kansas City, MO – T-Mobile Center 18 | Detroit, MI – Little Caesars Arena 21 | Nashville, TN – Bridgestone Arena 13 | Oslo, NO – Sentrum Scene 15 | Stockholm, SE – Annexet 18 | Cologne, DE – Carlswerk Victoria 19 | Tilburg, NL – 013 Poppodium 21 | Paris, FR – Le Trianon 23 | London, UK – Eventim Apollo 26 | Manchester, UK – O2 Apollo 27 | Glasgow, UK – O2 Academy 1 | Belfast, UK – SSE ArenaThe post Megan Moroney Becomes Just The Fifth Women In Country In The Last 10 Years To Top Billboard 200 Chart As ‘Cloud 9’ Debuts At #1 first appeared on Whiskey Riff.

February was another great month for country music. In terms of strong new releases, at least. J.D. Graham’s tragic accident earlier this week has certainly left a dark cloud hanging over it all, and we are all praying for a full recovery. But all in all, it was a good month for the genre. In just the past few weeks, there have been so many amazing album and single releases, and it’s impossible for us at Whiskey Riff to cover every single song that deserves to be heard upon its release. But in my opinion, that is a great problem to have, and it speaks to the strength of the country music scene today as opposed to a decade ago or so. So, in an effort to draw attention to some of this music, I’ve compiled a list of 30 new songs released over the last month that we didn’t get to cover in depth at Whiskey Riff, but should all be on your radar as a country music fan. I could probably list close to 100 songs that have been released within the past month that we haven’t covered but are still worth listening to, though for the sake of relative brevity, we’ll keep it at 30. And hopefully in addition to finding a handful of songs to throw on your playlist or keep in rotation, you’ll find a few new artists to explore their catalog, keep up with, and see live as well, because there are so many underrated and up and coming artists waiting to be discovered that are included in this list. “Around and Around” – Brit Taylor “Bad Times” – Jonas Conner “Barkeep” – Ashton Naylor ft. Randy Rogers Band “Big Fall” – Magoo – What A Life “Echoes of Midnight” – Connor Daly “Flyin'” – Coleman Jennings “Good As Gone” – Joint Custody “Half A Heart” – Tristan Trincado “Heart’s The Only Compass” – Steep Canyon Rangers ft. Steve Martin “Hell Without the Flames” – Josiah and the Bonnevilles “I Ain’t Bound” – Benjamin Tod “Just Another Morning” – The Wilson Springs Hotel “Last One Standing” – Andy Thomas “Lawdy Mama” – The Deslondes “Lead Don’t Follow” – The Band of Heathens – Country Sides “Lighthouse” – Zachary Baker (Avenge Sevenfold) “Livin’ in Shame” – Emily Nenni “Lonely” – Leah Blevins “Love is a Game” – The Castellows “Never Enough” – Yarn “Participation Award” – Sachin & the Porch “Rainy Day Blues” – Danno Simpson – MID-FI SESSIONS “Something to Get Into” – Josh Mitcham “Stray Dogs and Alley Cats” – Ward Davis – Here I Am “Tennessee (Front Porch Session)” – Dasher the Band “The Deep End” – Graham St. Clair Band – The Narrow Gate “The Whiskey Ain’t Working Anymore” – The Reeves Brothers “Thinkin’ ‘Bout Drinkin'” – Randall King “Truth in Tears” – J.D. Graham ft. John Fullbright “White Horses” – Maggie Antone and Anna Bates Check out our Under The Radar playlist to hear all of these songs in one place. Spotify: Apple Music: The post 30 New Country Songs That Need To Be On Your Radar – March 2026 first appeared on Whiskey Riff.

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