It’s finally here. At this point, there’s absolutely no denying that Charles Wesley Godwin is a certified star in today’s alt. country scene. With three incredible studio records under his belt, continual placement on high-profile festivals throughout the year and high praise from his peers, fans and critics alike, the West Virginia native has cemented himself as a staple throughout multiple subgenres/scenes in the genre. Throughout 2025 and into 2026, Godwin has been keeping fans satisfied with a plethora of different teasers. Between “Every Once In Awhile” and “Better That Way,” as well as “Hallelujah High” and “Try Again,” it’s more than apparent that he’s looking to outdo himself once again upon the release of his next record. In some ways, it simply feels like he’s teasing us at this point, also sharing stellar tracks like “Stranger on the Street,” “Christian Name” and a Lori McKenna cowrite, “Hey There Son.” He’d turn heads just two weeks ago at Stagecoach when he’d announce that the highly-anticpated “Better That Way,” was coming today featuring none other than superstar Luke Combs. During the performance, Godwin would acknowledge the fact the new album has been in the works for quite awhile at this point before ultimately dropping the bomb that Combs is featured on the track, drawing a huge roar from the Stagecoach crowd. “It’s been two and a half years since our last album; I know that’s too long. But this has been a labor of love, and we turned a new one in in the wintertime. We have the first single on that album coming out on May 15th. It’s called “Better That Way.” I got my buddy Luke Combs on it.” As it turns out, Godwin didn’t just have the single drop incoming, he’d go ahead and announce the release of his fourth studio album, Christian Name, which is coming out Friday, June 24th.   Teaming up once again with Al Torrence, who has produced each of his first three albums, Christian Name will contain 13 tracks. Unsurprisingly, a bunch of the aforementioned, previously-teased tracks such as “Try Again,” ” Hallelujah High,” “Every Once In A While,” “Stranger On The Street” (which has been renamed to “Street Advice”) and the title track will all make appearances on the album. Most excitingly, the standout Lori McKenna co-written track, “Hey There Son,” will feature a collaboration from Wyatt Flores, marking the first time the alternative juggernauts have released a song together. As for today’s highly-anticipated release with Luke Combs, “Better That Way,” it has a mainstream hit written all over it in the best way possible. While still keeping that classic CWG sound, complete with his powerhouse vocals, it’s an incredible melodic and simple love song. Fittingly, he opens the track with a slick reference to hearing the greatest country band of all time (in my opinion), the Turnpike Troubadours, on the radio. From there, he launches into the chorus, which sees him reflect on the thing that makes him the best version of himself- the steady love of his wife, Samantha. “I’m better When my jeans have lost ’bout half their blue I’m better When the work on the farm is done by noon Better, When her eyes of green are looking back at me Fell in love at 23, are still mine to this day Yeah, I’m just better that way…” Immediately after the chorus, Combs takes charge of the second verse. Here, the “Hurricane” singer delivers a rock-solid vocal performance in typical fashion, once again continuing the theme of their lives being better with all the simple things in life. “Better with a pocket ace in a poker game Cover charge paid with that stray change Being a shoulder for a friend in need Picture frame, make you laugh memory Walkin’ this earth with my head held tall Hearing my name in a southern drawl Calling my mom ’cause I still can…” I’m sure there’s some staunch traditional and independent fans that are recoiling at the fact that Godwin would collaborate with an artist as massive as Combs, but I’m happy to report that the “Hardwood Floors” singer did not compromise anything here on “Better That Way.” Is it a little more streamlined than the likes of “Cranes of Potter” and “Seneca Creek?” Sure. With that being said, however, it’s an incredibly fun, rock-solid track that serves as a beautiful ode to both Godwin and Combs’ wives as well as a stellar prelude to the rest that Christian Name has to offer when it’s released on July 24th. Christian Name Tracklist “Sermon” “Try Again” “Better That Way” (with Luke Combs) “Hallelujah High” “Hey There Son” (with Wyatt Flores) “I Caught The Sunrise” “Place I Know” “Street Advice” “Every Once In A While” “Christian Name” “God’s Been Good to Me” “Gospel Of The South” “Brand New” “Better That Way” The post Charles Wesley Godwin Announces Fourth Studio Album, ‘Christian Name,’ Drops Highly-Anticipated Collab With Luke Combs, “Better That Way” first appeared on Whiskey Riff.

Maren will guest star on CBS’ 'Sheriff Country' and debut an original song called “Parachute” in the episode. Continue reading…

Luke Bryan recently announced that he’s got a new album titled Signs coming later this year, and he paired that news with the release of a new single called “Fish Hunt Golf Drink.” Say what you want about Bryan, but he’s got over 30 No. 1 hits throughout his career. He’s found the formula, cozied himself into it, and keeps delivering music that he knows his fanbase is going to like. If the goal as a country artist is to make your fans happy, Luke Bryan is nailing it. In “keep it coming” fashion, Bryan rolled out a new song titled “Fish Hunt Golf Drink” earlier this week. It’s the third single from his forthcoming album, and it’s reminiscent of some of his previous hits that tackle similar topics, like “Huntin’, Fishin’ and Lovin’ Every Day” and “Sunrise, Sunburn, Sunset.”  The kind of easy-listening, summertime, radio friendly hit he’s delivered over and over throughout his career. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it, eh? Here’s the teaser that Luke Bryan dropped earlier this month: View this post on Instagram I suppose you could say that Luke Bryan’s personal version of the classic song “My Favorite Things.” Now that you’ve watched that, it feels like an appropriate time to say that music often evokes emotions. Some might listen to that teaser – or the full song that’s out now – and walk away saying, “You know what, I like to do those activities too. Now there’s a song that reminds me of that. Makes me feel good.” It was the basis of comical argument that John Mayer recently made about country music “cheating” to evoke positive emotion. Others, like this guy… Jiujtsu Weasel on Instagram… were quick to label the song as “AI-generated,” or at least sounding as if it is. The video that he posted, which now boasts over 1 million views, had this to say about the new fishing, hunting, drinking and golfing song from Luke Bryan: “Luke Bryan, what the f*** is going on with your new song? We live in a day and age where people are so dopamine fried. This clearly AI-generated song is going to pop off. It literally sounds like someone went to Google Gemini and said, ‘Make country song, but make it sound like a 4-year-old wrote it.'” View this post on Instagram Pretty harsh review. If you check out the comment section of the post (it’s always a dangerous thing to do on social media), you’ll see many people saying much of the same. Funny enough, you’ll also see Luke Bryan defending himself and his song, and going after the troll that called his music AI. It was honestly a pretty funny comeback from the country music star. Bryan started the return fire with a good, old fashioned “who are you” and stuck the landing by telling the social media user to “go touch grass,” with Luke Bryan’s personal spin on the jab: “Who are you? Chill on the Adderall… It’s called a fun song. Just listen and have fun. Go get on a boat, quit scrolling on your phone all day.” Just in case you are lost, Bryan told the guy to “go get on a boat” instead of “touching grass.” Honestly, it’s a great comeback. I might have to start telling people to “go get on a boat.” Quit scrolling and get off the phone… always solid advice. Love the song or hate it…. I like to see Luke clapping back in the comments section. He’s still got some fire in him. “Fish Hunt Golf Drink” by Luke Bryan The post “Get On A Boat… Quit Scrolling”: Luke Bryan Claps Back At Troll Trashing His New Song, “Fish Hunt Golf Drink” first appeared on Whiskey Riff.

An incredible choice. Today, Lainey Wilson revealed that she and fiancé Devlin “Duck” Hodges are officially husband and wife, as they tied the knot with a gorgeous wedding in Tennessee this past weekend, on Mother’s Day. View this post on Instagram The pair got engaged last February at the stunning George Jones estate the week after the Super Bowl, and they dated for about four years before getting engaged. The pair met through a mutual friend, and in her new Netflix documentary, Lainey revealed that the night they met she was “broke,” and Duck might’ve thought she was doing a little better than she was, and just a few weeks later, she had to have her sister send her some money so she could continue to stay afloat in Nashville and make her dreams a reality: “That was the night we met. I was broke. I was so broke when we met. And he thought I was doing a little bit better than I was. But a few weeks after we met, my sister had to Venmo me a couple hundred bucks.” That was in 2021, and it’s really incredible how much has changed since the years following. Lainey often talks about how supportive Duck is with her career, and they seem like a great match that have already gone through a lot of change together during the course of their relationship with Lainey’s stardom exploding. Lainey and Duck’s special day took place at The Ruskin Cave in Dickson, Tennessee on May 10th, and they shared all of the details with Vogue. Lainey says they selected the venue because of the “simplicity” of the property. They worked with Hugh Howser and Kate Steele with H Three Events to plan everything, and of course, Lainey had to bring in some of that Cajun flair, so they had a 12-piece jazz band and Cajun meal prepared by the chefs at her Nashville bar, Bell Bottoms Up”: “We wanted it to be special and beautiful, but really welcoming and comfortable for our guests. We tried not to take ourselves too seriously. Being from Louisiana, I wanted to bring in a little bit of Cajun flair, so naturally we hired a 12-piece jazz band called Rebirth and had a Cajun meal from the chefs at my bar, Bell Bottoms Up.” Lainey also traded out her iconic bell bottoms for a stunning white dress, which was designed by the Oscar de la Renta team, along with help from her stylist, Alexandra Mandelkorn. It features gorgeous Japanese cherry blossoms around the neckline and throughout the dress, which represents living in the moment, Lainey says. Duck wore a bespoke suit by D. Lacquaniti; a custom bolo, cufflinks, and a hat pin created with Mud Lowery, in addition to custom boots by Golden West Boots and a cowboy hat by Charlie 1 Horse, which was styled by their friend Raina Gir. Of the ceremony, Lainey says it was a beautiful spring day, and she came in on a white horse-drawn carriage, of course walking down the aisle with her dad. They were married by friend Wes Williams, and Lainey and Duck also took communion together during the ceremony. It sounds (and looks) like a fairy tale, and Lainey of course made an absolutely stunning bride, all of the photos are just gorgeous, and it looks like it was a really beautiful day filled with love. Congratulations to the happy couple. You can see some of the photos here: View this post on Instagram There were tons of country stars in attendance, of course, as Miranda Lambert, Ella Langley, Wynonna Judd and many others were there, and I was very curious as to what Lainey and Duck might use as the soundtrack to their first dance, because Lainey is obviously a country artist and has great taste… I mean, when you’re an artist yourself, and you know music so well, I imagine that makes picking one song that much harder. Lainey revealed to Vogue that they danced to Muscadine Bloodline’s “Walk in a Room,” which was first featured on Burn It at Both Ends, but was redone on their new album The Sound of Roses. It’s a stunning ballad that is just perfect for that kind of moment, especially the newer arrangement: “You walk in a room And I lose my breath Coming my way Counting your steps My heart starts to beat Out of my chest Harder and harder The closer you get” Vogue listed the song as MB’s “10-90 (The Sound of Roses),” but Lainey cited the lyrics from “Walk in a Room” in her description, so I think that’s probably what they meant to print. Either way, that whole album is full of those kinds of love songs, and she couldn’t have gone wrong with any of them. There are photos of their first dance in that aforementioned Vogue articles, you can see a lot of great ones in that post, but since Lainey also had the live band, I imagine all of the music was top notch, not that I expected anything less, and if you’re getting married anytime soon, this is certainly a great choice: “Walk in a Room”  She won’t be slowing down anytime soon, though, as Lainey is slated to open for Chris Stapleton for a run of shows here soon: LAINEY WILSON CONFIRMED TOUR DATES May 23—Nashville, TN—Nissan Stadium* June 13—Tampa, FL—Raymond James Stadium* June 20—Charlotte, NC—Bank of America Stadium* June 28—Calgary, AB—Country Thunder Alberta July 10—Chicago, IL—Windy City Smokeout July 12—Craven, SK—Country Thunder Saskatchewan July 17—Pasa Robles, CA—California Mid-State Fair August 1—Cincinnati, OH—Paycor Stadium* August 6—Detroit Lakes, MN—WE Fest August 7—Oshkosh, WI—Xroads41 August 8—Detroit, MI—Ford Field* August 9—Canton, OH—Concert for Legends August 12—Sturgis, SD—The Sturgis Buffalo Chip August 15—Springfield, IL—Illinois State Fair August 16—Des Moines, IA—Iowa State Fair August 21—Atlanta, GA—Mercedes-Benz Stadium* October 2—Ocean City, MD—Country Calling Festival *with Chris StapletonThe post Lainey Wilson Reveals the Beautiful Country Song She & Duck Picked for Their First Dance first appeared on Whiskey Riff.

Eric brought out his guitar to impart some wisdom on the class of 2026. Continue reading…