Standing on business…. sorta. Though he’s had a few bumps in the road so far this year, mainly catching fire for some comments during the Super Bowl and getting denied entry to Canada not once but twice back in February, Charley Crockett has been on a tear in 2026. Riding the highs of his second-career Grammy nomination for the brand-new Best Traditional Country Album category, Crockett would drop Age of the Ram in April and follow that up with the release of Clovis last Friday after months of complications. Throughout the entire Clovis saga, Crockett had been hitting the road hard on his Age of the Ram tour. Announced back in March, the tour has been sprawling, including 49 shows that began back in April and will conclude in early October. Unsurprisingly, the “Jamestown Ferry” singer grabbed a ton of openers, employing the likes of Myers and Durand Jones & The Indicators as primary openers during a majority of the tour. Additionally, he called upon the likes of Kashus Culpepper, Sierra Hull, Margo Price, Lee Fields, Honky Tonkin’ Queens, Wild Horses, Pony Bradshaw and Twin Temple as support on select dates. If you’re familiar with the alternative/independent country scene, a majority of these names are sure to ring a bell. With that being said, however, there was one major outlier, at least aesthetically: Twin Temple. In case you’re unfamiliar with Twin Temple (they actually probably got a lot more famous since the firing), they are a self-proclaimed “satanic doo wop” duo hailing from Los Angeles with their most popular tracks featuring titles such as “Lucifer, My Love,” “Satan’s a Woman,” “Let’s Have A Satanic Or*y” and “The Devil (Didn’t Make Me Do It).” In case those interesting (for lack of a better term) song titles weren’t enough, taking one look at their social media posts clearly signals that the duo isn’t performing these tracks satirically. They’re actual satanists, repping pentagrams, upside-down crosses and the like. In other words, you know what you’re getting into if you’re booking Twin Temple. Apparently, however, either Crockett or his team didn’t do their research. Taking to Instagram on Wednesday, Twin Temple announced that Crockett and Co. have removed them from their upcoming shows next week (July 14th and 18th) due to their satanic imagery. The duo would apologize to fans and express how grateful they are for their support, finishing the post by hailing Satan. “Today we were informed that Charley Crockett has decided to remove Twin Temple has decided to remove Twin Temple from his upcoming shows next week due to our Satanic imagery. Unfortunately, that means we will not be able to perform for you next week as planned. We are really disappointed as we were looking forward to getting back out and seeing you, and also what it means as far as bringing different types of people and music lovers together. We are sorry to everyone who was planning to see us. We’re grateful for your support, not only of Twin Temple, but more importantly of artistic freedom. HAIL SATAN! 93/93″ View this post on Instagram Unsurprisingly, fans of Twin Temple were quick to pounce on Crockett in the duo’s comment section, calling out the “$10 Cowboy” singer and wondering why he’d book them in the first place, given the fact that their entire identity revolves around their love of Lucifer. First, Crockett would tell Rolling Stone via his representative on Thursday that he thought they were like Black Sabbath. “I thought they were like Black Sabbath, but they ain’t. Not today, Satan.” Hours later, he’d take to Instagram to upload a photo of Johnny Cash posing in front of a church along with Kris Kristofferson’s “To Beat The Devil” playing in the background. In the caption, he’d simply write: “If they did it to Jesus, imagine what they’ll do to you.” Since then, Crockett’s entire Instagram post history has been wiped, including the aforementioned Cash image. However, it is still up on Facebook. Unsurprisingly, fans of Twin Temple, as well as some of Charley’s own fans, are not happy and have continued to rail against the Texas native for the last-minute decision. Of course, Twin Temple fans have taken exception to firing, but others are more upset with Charley and company’s poor planning: “Twin Temple is rad. You have burned one admiration point.” “Thanks to you Twin Temple has a new supporter, also who are you again?” “Johnny Cash wouldn’t be scared to play on the same bill as Twin Temple” “So did you do absolutely no research before you invited them to open? Lol” “Man’s definitely not taking being clowned on by the entire internet very well “ “All this time, after all his talk, I didn’t think Charley was a b*tch. Guess I was wrong.” And to be fair, many others praised Charley for taking a stand… arguing that he has every right to ditch a band promoting that kind of darkness. Some even mentioned that they wanted to bring kids or younger fans to the show and that an opener certainly wasn’t appropriate: “I love some pretty blasphemous music, but Twin Temple is just Edge Lord stuff that gets old after one track.” “The amount of people here saying that they like satanic crap is alarming. Christ is King.” “A man of God doesn’t fear the devil and all their forms of performance and attention seeking.” “Absolutely love this post Charley. Thanks for never shying away from what you believe in.” “Didn’t think I could like you anymore but here it is.” “Was already a huge fan of you and your music but I admire you even more now! Way to go standing up for what is right.” “You did the right thing!” Good call, Charley.” While I can’t say I’m too upset about the fact that Crockett took a continued stand against giving a platform to satanists, I can’t really wrap my head around why he’d book them in the first place. Even with his Black Sabbath explanation, it’s not like Twin Temple is very subtle about their beliefs in any way, shape or form, judging not only by their aforementioned song titles or the fact that their social media bios clearly state they’re a “satanic doo wop” duo. I can’t comprehend booking an opener without digging in a little more. Good on Charley for sticking to his guns, but this controversy could have been avoided PRETTY easily… Age of the Ram Tour Dates July 10 – Saint Paul, MN – Minnesota Country Club Festival July 11 – Alta, WY – Grand Targhee Festival July 12 – Nampa, ID – Ford Idaho Center Amphitheater with Sierra Hull and Wild Horses July 14 – Troutdale, OR – McMenamins Edgefield with Twin Temple July 15 – Spokane, WA – BECU Live at Northern Quest Resort & Casino with Sierra Hull July 16 – Bend, OR – Hayden Homes Amphitheater with Margo Price July 18 – Paso Robles, CA – Vina Robles Amphitheatre with Twin Temple July 27 – Goshen, IN – Elkhart County 4-H Fair Aug 27 – Canyon, TX – The Lumberyard Canyon with The Weary Boys Aug 28 – Fort Worth, TX – Billy Bob’s Texas with The Weary Boys Aug 29 – Fort Worth, TX – Billy Bob’s Texas with Jake Penrod Aug 30 – Helotes, TX – Floore’s Country Store with Jake Penrod Sept 01 – Mobile, AL – Saenger Theatre with Pony Bradshaw Sept 02 – Dothan, AL – The Plant with Pony Bradshaw Sept 04 – Savannah, GA – Johnny Mercer Theatre with Pony Bradshaw Sept 05 – Charlottesville, VA – Ting Pavilion with Nat Myers Sept 09 – Orlando, FL – Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts with Nat Myers  Sept 10 – Hollywood, FL – Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino with Nat Myers Sept 12 – Robinsonville, MS – Horseshoe Casino’s Bluesville – Bluesville with Nat Myers Sept 14 – Columbus, OH – KEMBA Live! with Nat Myers Sept 15 – Madison, WI – The Sylvee with Nat Myers Sept 16 – Maryland Heights, MO – Saint Louis Music Park with Durand Jones & The Indications Sept 17 – Kansas City, MO – Starlight Theatre with Durand Jones & The Indications Sept 19 – Youngstown, OH – Youngstown Foundation Amphitheatre with Durand Jones & The Indications Sept 21 – Wilmington, NC – Live Oak Bank Pavilion at Riverfront Park with Durand Jones & The Indications Sept 22 – North Charleston, SC – Firefly Distillery with Durand Jones & The Indications Sept 24 – Charlotte, NC – Skyla Credit Union Amphitheatre with Durand Jones & The Indications Sept 25 – Atlanta, GA – Synovus Bank Amphitheater at Chastain Park with Durand Jones & The Indications Sept 26 – Louisville, KY – Bourbon & Beyond Festival Sept 29 – Lewiston, NY – Artpark Mainstage Theater with Durand Jones & The Indications Oct 01 – New York, NY – SummerStage in Central Park with Durand Jones & The Indications Oct 02 – Asbury Park, NJ – Stone Pony Summer Stage with Durand Jones & The IndicationsThe post “If They Did It To Jesus, Imagine What They’ll Do To You”: Charley Crockett Responds To Twin Temple Backlash With A Johnny Cash Photo first appeared on Whiskey Riff.

Randy is BACK. Simply put, Randy Travis’ journey over the past 13 years has been nothing short of incredible. If you recall, the “Three Wooden Crosses” singer suffered a massive stroke back in July 2013, which was caused by a complication of his congestive heart failure. At the time, doctors only gave him a 1% chance to live, but Travis pulled through. The stroke, as we all know, did not come without its consequences, however. Despite surviving in what can only be described as a miracle, Travis has remained severely affected by it, developing aphasia and being extremely limited in terms of both speech and his ability to sing. In fact, Travis’ wife, Mary, recently revealed that the doctors advised her to “pull the plug” on the 7x Grammy winner after he developed a plethora of different hospital-born viruses, including Serratia, Pseudomonas and a staph infection while in the hospital. Thankfully, the living legend has been seemingly making more appearances than ever over the past few years. Beyond releasing two new songs, “Where That Came From” and “Horses In Heaven,”  with the help of AI (which has opened up an entirely new can of worms around the music industry recently) and guest vocalist, James Dupré, over the past two years, Travis has recently been touring extensively around the U.S. along with his original backing band and Dupré once again serving as a guest vocalist for all of his hits. Back in June, during the grand opening of the Randy Travis Room at Nashville Palace, Mary and Randy would tell us here at Whiskey Riff that they have plans of releasing a full-length album of even more vaulted tracks from the legend. “We got a full deck. We have a whole new album coming out of archived music. It’s stuff that he had sang before the stroke. It’s been mastered, mixed and ready to go. We’ll be having a new album.” After reconfirming that the album is ready to go earlier this week, today, Travis and Co. are gearing up for the project with the release of the first new track from the vault, “Fish On.” View this post on Instagram Being assembled, remixed, and remastered by Kyle Lehning, Travis’ longtime producer, “Fish On” transports you straight back to the early days of the “Deeper Than the Holler” singer. Beyond capturing his iconic voice beautifully, Lehning does a masterful job capturing that classic sound present on just about any song early in his career, complete with some fiddle, twangy electric guitar and piano. As for the song itself, it does exactly what the title suggests and finds the North Carolina native on a journey to make a living on the water, fishing ocean to ocean. “We’re going ocean to ocean and all points in between Headin’ for some waters few have evеr seen Rivers, lakes, streams, or bays, gеt ready, set, we’re gone Any place we can find to wet a line is a good time Fish on” While it’s not exactly the most ground-breaking song lyrically, “Fish On” doesn’t really have to be. The infectious melody, coupled with an excellent recapturing of Travis’ iconic vocals, makes the track an undeniably fun outing from the living legend. At this point in his career, it’s a miracle that we’re still receiving originals from Travis, and “Fish On” is seemingly just the tip of the iceberg from this point forward. “Fish On” Randy Travis Tour Dates Aug. 21 – Hiawassee, GA – Georgia Mountain Fall Festival – Anderson Music Hall Aug. 22 – Richmond, KY – The Vine at Chenault Vineyards Sept. 23 – Wilkes-Barre, PA – F.M. Kirby Center for the Performing Arts Sept. 24 – Lansdowne, PA – Lansdowne Theater Sept. 25 – Westbury, NY – Flagstar at Westbury Music Fair Sept. 26 – York, PA – Pullo Center Sept. 27 – Albany, NY – The Egg Performing Arts Center Oct. 1 – New London, CT – Garde Arts Center Oct. 2 – Keene, NH – Colonial Theatre Oct. 3 – Plymouth, MA – Plymouth Memorial Hall Oct. 4 – Northampton, MA – Academy of Music Theatre Oct. 14 – Austin, TX – The Long Center for the Performing Arts Oct. 15 – Dallas, TX – Longhorn Ballroom Oct. 22 – Lubbock, TX – Buddy Holly Hall Oct. 23 – Albuquerque, NM – Popejoy Theatre Oct. 24 – Pueblo, CO – Pueblo Memorial Hall Nov. 6 – Oklahoma City, OK – Civic Center Music Hall Nov. 7 – Topeka, KS – Topeka Performing Arts Center Nov. 8 – Branson, MO – Clay Cooper TheatreThe post Randy Travis Reaches Into The Vault & Releases “Fish On,” The First Single From Upcoming Album first appeared on Whiskey Riff.

Jonathan and Abigail Peyton are back with an EP you won’t want to miss. Titled, ‘Mountain to Climb,’ the 4-track project from the Woodstock, GA-based husband and wife duo is the latest in a rather prolific run of strong output from these two, and it is an absolute must-hear new release. Between the music they’ve recorded as a duo as well as Jonathan’s solo work, the Peyton’s have released two killer albums, a live album, three EPs, and a handful of singles in just the past two years and change. They’ve been making great music for much longer than that, with Jonathan’s debut record Waters Below dropping in 2016, but it seems as if they’ve really hit their stride in the past few years. And they’re showing no signs of letting up, either. A natural extension of their existing catalog, the Peytons’ latest endeavor features stripped-back and bare bones instrumentation, making the deftly-penned lyricism the focus of the project, and setting up for their powerful harmonies to steal the show. The duo took to Instagram to share some some thoughts yesterday ahead of the EP release. “Our new ep Mountain to Climb is out tonight! We made this one right here at the house with just a handful of instruments. It’s special to create music together and we’re excited to share it with you. This ep is about relationships and the value of doing the hard work. It’s about self reflection and change. It’s about making peace with relationships that no longer exist. None of us have it all figured out but the hope is that we grow and learn through all the highs and lows. “We got a big tall mountain to climb before we see the other side” View this post on Instagram Kicking things off with “Lesson Learned,” the EP’s lead track is an aptly titled dose of perspective, driving home the notion that past mistakes can teach valuable lessons if you let them. They follow that one up with the most poignant tune on the tracklist in “Back To Ohio,” a striking exploration of the destructive impact addiction can have on a relationship between loved ones. “Different Light” mulls over forgiveness and perception through intricate metaphor, and the title track closes things out with a powerful reminder that improvement takes perseverance, and redemption rarely follows a clear path. No matter how you cut it, Mountain To Climb is a deeply emotional offering from one of the genre’s most underrated duos. And if you ask me, this collection finds Jonathan and Abigail Peyton operating at their absolute best and delivering some of their most compelling work to date. If you’ve come here looking for an upbeat summertime anthem, then you’re probably in the wrong place. But if sad songs make you happy, and emotion-evoking lyricism is what you look for in music, Jonathan and Abigail Peyton might just be your new favorites. Give their latest project a listen and see for yourself here: Mountain To Climb Tracklist “Lesson Learned” “Back To Ohio” “Different Light” “Mountain To Climb” The post Jonathan & Abigail Peyton’s ‘Mountain To Climb’ EP Is a Powerful Reminder That Personal Growth Doesn’t Always Come Easy first appeared on Whiskey Riff.

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