After a number of complications, and a fair share of waiting, Charley Crockett’s Clovis record is back in the hands of the fans… and the work put forth should earn him a Grammy for Best Traditional Country Album. It was late in April when fans of Crockett were stunned to see an unexpected album drop into their lap just three weeks after his highly anticipated Age Of The Ram was released. There were a lot of questions from the masses, but not from Charley… he described Clovis becoming available as, “You can drop a f***ing record whenever the f*** you want.” And that’s what he did. Though that didn’t play out exactly how he or his fans would have liked. Legal issues with the release – most likely stemming from his previous home at Island Records – made Clovis disappear from streaming as quickly as it had appeared. Ever since, fans have clamored for it to become available again. Today’s the day. Clovis is both a record and a statement. The 14-track album features a number of originals co-written by Charley and his frequent collaborator, Shooter Jennings. It also features a Johnny Cash cover, “Don’t Take Your Guns to Town,” and boasts a handful of other co-writers. And when you take a look at the entirety of Clovis, it’s clear that the album exists to spite the experience he’s had depending on previous labels (he’s now releasing this one through Atlantic Outpost). I mean… feel free to call any of these connections a stretch, but the first track of the album being “The Hallelujah Trail” after parting from his former record label can’t be a coincidence, right? The characters within the story the song – Cuatro and Cholla – might even represent Charley and Shooter themselves: “Cuatro, and Cholla, the best of friends Cuatro died but then he came back again A fabled story, away out west He rides forever, no fear of death Out here on the Hallelujah Stick it to ya, outlaw trail!” Then you’ve got Crockett’s Johnny Cash cover, “Don’t Take Your Guns to Town,” which tells the story of a man named Billy who gets shot down. His previous Age of the Ram project was fully encompassed by a fictional outlaw named Billy McLane. That right there seems like an intentional cover choice. And in “I Ain’t Riding Anymore,” which has one of the most infectious riffs of any song released this year, Crockett sings of being tired of the chess game that is the music industry, and continuing on his music career for himself and himself only. That same sentiment is echoed in “Waylon Rides Again,” which doesn’t need much of an explanation. Literal chains are used as a musical instrument in that one, and the final song of the album is Charley Crockett riding off into the sunset with lines like this: “I’ll admit there’s somethin’ out in Tennessee But on my life it ain’t ever done much for me. They all know, ain’t no use to pretend.” Though that’s the perfect exclamation point for Clovis, one of the best lines in the new album finds a home in “Honky Tonk Philosophy.” If there was a set of lyrics that seemed to capture Crockett’s current mood the best, it just might be the subtle line proclaiming that he’s done being anyone else but himself: “There was a time when I missed my self, But that was when I was someone else.” Now that he’s broken from the chains of his former record label, and now saddles up with Atlantic Outpost, it’s a new era of Crockett’s career. Charley will likely set out to do whatever he wants, when he wants to… as long as there’s no legal hangups, of course. After all, following a brief hiccup, he’s already tapped into that power by pushing to and ultimately releasing Clovis, and arguably overshadowing Age of the Ram by doing so. The intentional overshadowing, the “I can drop art whenever I like” attitude, the inconvenient spat of fighting the law… it’s all fitting. Clovis is Crockett stepping into the outlaw role himself, standing up against those who he felt were holding him down and announcing to the world that he’s riding again. That’s why the record might be the most important work of Charley Crockett’s already impressive career. It’s a stellar album front to back, and I’d argue that Clovis showcases Crockett’s range better than any of his previous albums, and that’s no slight to his sprawling catalogue. It’s rather just an exemplary compliment of the second project of his to release in 2026. The mixing on “Hallelujah Trail” is majestic (no surprise there with Shooter producing), and feels fresh. The storytelling and structure of “Top Hand” sounds like its from a different era, as does “Last Night At The Alamo.” Heck, the title track of the album is a four-plus-minute cinematic score. Clovis is unique and intriguing at every corner, and fits into country music past, present and future, all at once. Which is why I could definitely see Charley Crockett accepting a Grammy for the project in 2027. It’s a surprise album that has all the feel of a magnum opus. Dream Chaser by Willie Nelson would probably like a word, but Clovis has to be the leader in the clubhouse for the Best Traditional Country Album at the 2027 Grammy Awards right now. And that’s a category that Charley Crockett is familiar with. Just last year, the Recording Academy put his Dollar A Day record up against Margo Price’s Hard Headed Woman, Willie Nelson’s Oh What A Beautiful World, Lukas Nelson’s American Romance, and Zach Top’s Ain’t In It For My Health. Top actually walked away with last year’s Grammy in that category. But in 2027, the Grammy for Best Traditional Country Album should be Crockett’s to lose. Clovis is a masterpiece, and could go down as the country crooner’s best ever work (so far)… and that could be confirmed by Charley going from Grammy-nominee to Grammy award-winner. Go ahead and listen to a few of the tracks here, but make sure to do yourself a favor and listen to the album front to back: “Hallelujah Trail” “Last Night At The Alamo” “Don’t Take Your Guns To Town”   “I Ain’t Riding Anymore”   “Waylon Rides Again” The post Charley Crockett’s Grammy Award-Worthy ‘Clovis’ Finally Makes Its Triumphant Return first appeared on Whiskey Riff.

New music from Randy Travis is coming SOON. Few living artists have made an impact on country music the way Randy Travis has. With over 23 million albums sold worldwide, 23 #1 singles, seven Grammys and dozens upon dozens of awards from the likes of the ACMs and CMAs, the “I Told You So” singer has paved the way for over two generations of artists at this point. Simply put, Travis’ journey over the past twelve 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. Recently, we’ve seen quite a bit of music from the North Carolina native over the past few years. With that being said, however, it hasn’t come without its controversy. Back in 2024, he’d release his first new song in well over a decade with “Where That Came From.” The catch with the release, as many know, was the fact that it was created using the use of AI. Of course, it wasn’t as nefarious as today’s mess that is AI-generated “music,” given the fact that Randy himself gave his consent to guest vocalist, James Dupré, to aid in the song’s creation. With that being said, it still caused quite a stir around the industry, and they’d follow it up in 2025 with another AI-assisted song with Dupré, “Horses In Heaven.” Back in November, he released yet another new track, this time pulling from the vault and dropping a beautiful Christmas song, “Where My Heart Is.” Undoubtedly, this gave fans hope that more unreleased, original music from Travis was on the horizon, much in the vein of recent releases from the likes of Waylon Jennings, Don Williams, Luke Bell and more. It looks like that day is coming incredibly soon. Travis teased that a new song is coming next Friday, July 10th. Thankfully, it appears that it will be an original song from the vault, NOT another AI-assisted song, judging by the image that reads, “Went Fishing in the Vault.” View this post on Instagram 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 do have plans of releasing a full-length album of even more vaulted tracks from the legend. During our conversation, Mary revealed that they have an entire album’s worth of archived music, recorded before Randy’s stroke in 2013, that has already been mixed and mastered. “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.” When asked about a potential time frame for the release, Mary wouldn’t go into specifics. However, she would confirm that the album will be released by the end of the year, and judging by the timing of this upcoming release, it very well might be the project’s lead single. Of course, it’s all speculation at this point. With that being said, we should know more when the unnamed vault track releases next Friday. Before you go, fire up his most recent vault track, “Where My Heart Is.” 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 Theatre The post “Went Fishing In The Vault”: Randy Travis Teases New Song Coming Next Week first appeared on Whiskey Riff.

The Long Haired Country Boy is hitting the stage once again. With this Fourth of July marking America’s 250th birthday, cities all across the country are going all out and bringing out the biggest names for their massive Independence Day celebrations. But a concert from Charlie Daniels, who passed away in 2020, might be the most impressive of the birthday parties for our country. Daniels unfortunately passed away at the age of 81 back on July 6, 2020 following a hemorrhagic stroke at his Nashville area home. But thanks to technology, the “Devil Went Down To Georgia” singer will be making his return to the stage to headline this year’s 4th of July celebration in Fort Campbell, Kentucky… or at least a Charlie Daniels hologram. “The Legend of Charlie Daniels” tribute concert will feature a hologram created by 8 Track Entertainment, who worked closely with the Daniels family in bringing the country music legend back to life. According to Charlie Daniels Jr., he was hesitant at first, but wouldn’t commit if it wasn’t done right: “I only agreed to it with the understanding that this could not in any way look strange, creepy or unnatural. If it looked like a bad Disney audio animatronic figure, then I was out, but the work-in-progress 3D models has been very promising, and continues to improve with each new model.” The hologram will be brought to life by having someone in a motion-capture suit mimic Daniels’ movements, which his son says will include everything down to the way he held his fiddle: “I will be highly critical to make sure it is as authentic as possible.” Of course a military base is the perfect place to debut the new show, given Charlie’s intense patriotism and love for his country and our military: “Dad always said, ‘From an early age I realized that only two things protected America, the Grace of Almighty God, and the United States Military.'” The show will also feature Aaron Tippin, Eric Lee Beddingfield, as well as the 101st Airborne Division Band, and Daniels Jr. is careful to stress that this will be different from other hologram shows that we’ve seen in the past featuring artists like ABBA: “What the show is NOT is the ABBAtars ABBA Voyage show where the entire show is motion captured performing images of the band from their heyday in 1979.  With The Legend of Charlie Daniels, the hologram of Dad will be used more sparingly … While we may be able to present the hologram of Dad in various eras at some point, the decision was made to concentrate on his look in the later years of his life, in which he was still vibrant and energetic for an octogenarian.” Of course we’ve also seen various other artists resurrected as holograms in the past, including Tupac making an appearance at Coachella all the way back in 2012, and Roy Orbison going on a hologram tour back in 2019. As for Charlie Daniels, there haven’t been any plans announced yet to take the hologram on tour, but it’s not something his son is ruling out: “After the July 4th show, if there is a demand for it, there could be more performances. We may stick to the military bases for 2026, but we hope to be able to put the show on the road in 2027.” Technology is incredible.The post A Charlie Daniels Hologram Will Be Performing a 4th of July Concert In Kentucky first appeared on Whiskey Riff.

There’s going to be a lot of country star power representing at the wedding of pop superstar Taylor Swift and her fiancé, Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce. If you’re on social media, you’re probably already sick of hearing about this weekend’s wedding between Swift and Kelce, and after months of secrecy, it’s finally been revealed that the wedding will take place tomorrow, July 3 at Madison Square Garden in New York City. Permits filed with the city for street closures from July 2-4 reveal that the couple expect to host around 1,000 guests at the event, which will reportedly feature performances from Tim McGraw and Stevie Nicks. And trucks have been spotted unloading massive amounts of gear, with TMZ reporting that the couple would construct a giant garden inside the New York City arena. Some still think it might be some sort of decoy, though most signs seem to be pointing to an MSG wedding, and honestly I think it’s a terrible place to have a wedding, but I get they want tight security so from that standpoint, it makes a lot of sense. The guest list is expected to include a ton of people, I mean 1,000 guests is just insane, but considering Taylor’s country roots, it probably won’t surprise you to learn that there will be quite a few country star on-hand to help celebrate the couple. It’s been rumored that Tim McGraw will performing, along with Stevie Knicks, and he certainly won’t be the only country artist in attendance (I assume his wife Faith Hill will also be there, as they’ve known Taylor forever now). Page Six also confirmed that Mrs. Miranda Lambert herself received an invitation, along with country artists in Kane Brown, Little Big Town, Kelsea Ballerini, Maren Morris, Kenny Chesney and even Lainey Wilson, who just got married herself and recently performed with Swift at Kelce’s TightEnd University concert in Nashville. Of course, Taylor has worked with most of them before seeing as she got her start in the country genre, and she and Miranda go pretty far back, and have even shared the stage before. They performed together in Greensboro, North Carolina in October of 2015 during a stop on Swift’s 1989 World Tour, where she brought Lambert out as a surprise special guest to duet Miranda’s hit song, “Little Red Wagon.” Taylor put out her debut self-titled country album in October of 2006, just about a year after Miranda put out her debut album Kerosene in March of 2005, and Miranda is only about six years older than Swift, so they really did come up in country around the same time. I have to imagine most of them will attend, and I’m sure at some point, we’ll get all the photos and videos and see everything about this wedding which has really become a massive event that the world is watching. The post All Of The Country Stars Expected To Attend Taylor Swift And Travis Kelce’s Wedding first appeared on Whiskey Riff.

One Landman star will now make as much as Billy Bob Thornton. Continue reading…