You love to see it. The World Baseball Classic kicked off last week, and it’s already looking like a promising year for Team USA. In case you missed it, Team USA actually fell short in the 2023 tournament, where Japan’s Shohei Ohtani struck out his Angels teammate, Mike Trout, to seal the championship in one of the greatest moments in international baseball history. This year, however, they’re looking to get some revenge, and they’re bringing a whole lot of star power with them. Simply put, Team USA is stacked this year. Highlighted by the likes of Bryce Harper, Aaron Judge, Bobby Witt Jr., Cal Raleigh, Kyle Schwarber, Alex Bregman and more on offense, the pitching staff is equally as talented with reigning NL Cy Young winner, Paul Skenes, leading the staff along with Dodgers’ legend Clayton Kershaw, Logan Webb, Clay Holmes and other stars across the MLB. So far, Team USA has gotten off to a hot start. Their first matchup against Brazil resulted in a 15-5 beatdown thanks to a 7-run ninth inning. Game two produced similar results. Continuing America’s storied history of beating the British, they defeated Great Britain handily, 9-1, thanks to a moonshot from Phillies slugger Kyle Schwarber and a four-hit game from the Orioles’ shortstop, Gunner Henderson. Last night, they remained undefeated in less flashy fashion. After another brilliant start from Skenes, who went four innings with one hit and seven strikeouts, and a pair of home runs from Judge and the Red Sox’s young star, Roman Anthony, Mexico would come back in the game before falling short with a score of 5-3. Though the first round of the tournament hasn’t even ended, with Team USA set to play their final game of the set tonight against Italy, it’s looking like they’ll be the team to beat, along with the likes of Japan and the Dominican Republic. While, of course, you can thank the sheer star power of all the major leaguers on the roster for their success, their secret so far may be country music. In case you missed it, manager Mark DeRosa already had the squad fired up listening to Toby Keith’s “Courtesy of the Red, White and Blue, a favorite in the Team USA hockey locker room (and at the after party), before the tournament even began. According to MLB.com, DeRosa said Anthony was tasked with buying a big old speaker for the bus ride, which was blasting none other than Keith. “He obviously was forced to go buy a gigantic speaker, and they had Toby Keith blasting.” Anthony added that he wasn’t in charge of the playlist, just securing a Bluetooth speaker for the team: “I don’t touch the music. I had the duty of getting the speaker, making sure it was there today, and then handing it over to the guys who want to play the music.” It doesn’t just stop at Toby Keith, however. Cubs star, Alex Bregman, took to TikTok on Sunday during the team’s off day to share a video of himself, Harper, Skenes, Judge, Cubs teammate, Pete Crow Armstrong, and more in the locker room with none other than Ella Langley’s all-genre Billboard Hot 100 #1 hit, “Choosin’ Texas,” playing in the background. @alexbregmanFarm Show USA ♬ Choosin’ Texas – Ella Langley Even before the tournament began, Bregman was keeping the country music coming on his socials. After Team USA played a pair of scrimmage games against the Colorado Rockies and San Francisco Giants, the Cubs star would take to Instagram with photos of himself, along with Harper and Judge repping America, with Riley Green’s “Different ‘Round Here” accompanying the post. Unsurprisingly, Green’s now-famous lyric, “We stand for the flag, and if you don’t like it, we don’t care”kicks off the post. View this post on Instagram The “Worst Way” singer would show his support for Bregman and Team USA in response, simply dropping “” in the comments. Though it’s still too early to tell, it looks like Team USA will be on a crash course with either Japan or the Dominican Republic once the dust is settled in the first rounds of the tournament. If they end up reclaiming the title later this month, we might have to thank country music for firing the boys up.The post Team USA Is On A Roll In The World Baseball Classic… & They’re Listening To A LOT Of Country Music first appeared on Whiskey Riff.

'The Madison' begins on March 14 on Paramount+, but new pictures from Ep. 1 offer clues about what happens. Continue reading…

He was a pioneer and a legend in the world of Texas country and rock. Continue reading…

Is Saturday Night Live giving some of the biggest country music stars the cold shoulder? The long running sketch comedy show has always been known for showcasing modern musical talent just as much as its cast of comedic actors. Showrunner and creator, Lorne Michaels, used to book more unknown musical guests in the early stages of the show to give that raw and up-and-coming feel to the program. Nowadays, they mostly swing big and have guests like Sabrina Carpenter and Harry Styles. And you might remember that last year, Morgan Wallen was the musical guest on SNL, and caused quite the controversy when he walked off stage during the show’s signature sign-off (where the host and cast say goodnight before music plays and the credits roll). It’s hard to believe it’s almost been a year since Wallen said “Get me to God’s country,” and funny enough, Saturday Night Live made a light mention of it in their latest episode: thanks for the bday gift @nbcsnl pic.twitter.com/xdnZOfcEhn — SARAH SQUIRM (@SarahSquirm) March 9, 2026 Morgan Wallen’s appearance in last year’s March 29th episode is actually the last time that a country music star acted as the musical guest for SNL. Which got me thinking… how many country music artists have acted as the iconic show’s musical guest? And how many country greats haven’t ever been asked to join SNL for the week? Chris Stapleton has been a musical guest on numerous occasions, and has even appeared in a sketch on the show. Others like Kacey Musgraves and Carrie Underwood have also played on the show multiple times. And there are some greats that have been a part of the show in the past – like Kris Kristofferson, Willie Nelson, and Randy Travis. But there are even more big names that have surprisingly never been asked to be SNL‘s musical guest, and considering the show has been on air since 1975, it’s a real shame that some of these artists below never got the call: Country Acts & Who’ve Never Been An SNL Musical Guest Alan Jackson Reba McEntire Brooks & Dunn George Strait Shania Twain Alabama Miranda Lambert Kenny Chesney Darius Rucker/Hootie & The Blowfish Toby Keith Emmylou Harris Vince Gill Eric Church Johnny Cash (hosted in 1982, but wasn’t the musical guest) Clint Black Wynonna Judd Dierks Bentley There are some absolute country legends on that list, but the snub that surprises me the most is Reba McEntire. How has SNL not ever managed to get the “Fancy” singer on stage, with all of the projects that she’s always had going on in her career? Though there country music genre has been absent plenty of times in SNL‘s history, there have been moments where country is front and center. Garth Brooks, Blake Shelton, Willie Nelson and Tim McGraw have all hosted shows before, as has the incomparable Dolly Parton. And most of them pulled double duty (Garth most famously when he was the host and “Chris Gaines” was the musical guest). What country music artists should join SNL as musical guests in the near future? Season 51 of the sketch show is coming to a close in a couple of months, so it might have to be next season that country music breaks through once again. But I’d personally love to see Eric Church make his first appearance, and hey… it’s never too late to give Reba a call. While we’re here, let’s enjoy Sturgill Simpson’s defiant “Call To Arms” performance, arguably the greatest SNL musical performance of all time. The post The Biggest Country Music Stars Who Have Never Been A Musical Guest On ‘Saturday Night Live’ first appeared on Whiskey Riff.

'If I had a record deal sitting in front of my face and my son in the other hand, I'd choose my son anytime over anything,' Christian Brown says. Continue reading…