Fans who purchased tickets early are feeling cheated after Kid Rock's festival dramatically slashed prices on general admission entry for all dates. Continue reading…

FINALLY. After a 2025 that was filled with ups and downs, highlighted primarily by suffering a blown-out eardrum in October and following it up with his first-ever CMA Male Vocalist of the Year award just a month later, Cody Johnson is preparing to have himself quite a year in 2026. From a release standpoint, he’s been keeping singles coming early and often, dropping back-to-back Monday morning surprise releases the past two months with a brand new ode to his home state, “Blame Texas,” as well as an incredibly personal cover of Merle Haggard’s 1979 deep cut, “Footlights.” Johnson has also been scoring some major career accomplishments as well. Not only did he receive four nominations at the upcoming ACM Awards (Entertainer of the Year, Male Artist of the Year, Single of the Year for “The Fall” and Visual Media for “The Fall”), but he also broke George Strait’s Rodeo Houston’s concert-only attendance record, performing to a crowd of 80,203. Additionally, he’s set to headline Stagecoach, the largest country festival in the U.S., for the first time next weekend. The lingering question that has been surrounding Johnson, despite all the success, is just when he’s going to announce his next album, which has been nearly three years in the making at this point… And it looks like we finally have our answer. Taking to Instagram Tuesday afternoon, Johnson would not only tease a brand new song, presumably written by Tom Douglas, Tony Lane and Matt Rogers, titled “I Want You,” but he’d also send fans into a frenzy by noting that it’s time to start the next chapter of his music: “Feels like it’s about time to start the next chapter…” View this post on Instagram That new chapter is coming sooner than expected. Just announced, CoJo will be releasing his tenth studio album, Banks of Trinity, on Friday, June 26th. View this post on Instagram In the Instagram post announcing the record, Johnson would note that the album is a reflection of his roots back home in Sebastopol, Texas. Particularly, he’d note that hearing the title track for the first time kick-started the concept for Banks Of The Trinity. “When I heard the song “Banks Of The Trinity” for the first time, it was like a portrait flashed in my head of memories I thought I’d forgotten. It took me straight back home to Sebastopol, Texas, where I grew up on the river. That’s why I chose a photo of Lawrence’s Grocery Store for the album cover. As a kid, I used to ride my bike two miles down an old dirt road just to get a cream soda and a Blue Bell ice cream bar. I’d sit there and listen to the old men talk for a while before heading back home with a basket of groceries. This record is my way of going back to those dirt roads. I can’t wait for you to come with me on that journey back.” As promised, Banks of Trinity will include highly anticipated collaborations with both Luke Combs on “Shoot the Bull” and Brothers Osborne on “Fool Proof.” Discussing the Brothers Osborne collaboration, Johnson would tell Billboard that the song simply “scramed Brothers Osborne” due to its funky groove. “I could just hear that funky groove. It just screamed Brothers Osborne. There’s not a Brothers Osborne song out there that I don’t like. I’m a huge fan, and they’re both really great guys, and I wanted them on it. So I told my band in the studio, ‘Listen, I don’t know if they’re going to be on it or not, but I really want to make this Brothers Osborne-esque.’ And then we finally heard back that they had time to do it. It was the icing on the cake for that tune.” As for the Combs collaboration, Johnson would explain that he was a bit hesitant on the song at first, but Combs was all in from the first time he heard it. “If you take that chance and an artist is like, ‘I’m not really comfortable with the representation of myself in this song’ or whatever, there goes your song, because you can’t really pitch it to another artist. But Luke was like, ‘There’s no way we can’t do this song.’ So, it was a done deal. [Lines about] tattooed knuckles, gold plated buckles and me talking about this wild card band selling out every seat, it literally sounds like me and Luke sitting in a bar, just shooting the bull.” In case the Banks of the Trinity announcement wasn’t enough, Johnson would also tease even more music coming later in the year to Billboard. Telling the outlet that he has a “special collection of songs” that tell the story of a couple, meeting, falling in love and breaking up, he’d note that he’s still looking for a “certain” female artist to write the final song for the project. “They tell the story of this couple meeting, falling in love and breaking up. I decided not to put them on this project because there is a certain female artist that I’m not going to name, that has agreed to write the fourth song to tell their story. It’s just kind of a side project, just a four-song story project.” To kick off the album, Johnson will be releasing the recently teased “I Want You” TONIGHT at midnight. Before you go, fire up one of his most recent releases, “Blame Texas.” Cody Johnson Tour Dates April 24 – Indio, California – Stagecoach May 2 – Clemson, South Carolina – Death Valley (Clemson Stadium) May 9 – Des Moines, Iowa – Casey’s Corner May 30 – Rosemont, Illinois – Allstate Center July 11 – Cavendish, Prince Edward Island – Cavendish Beach Music Festival July 17 – Columbus, Ohio – Nationwide Arena with Drew Baldridge July 18 – Columbus, Ohio – Nationwide Arena with Ian Munsick & Walker Montgomery July 25 – Jacksonville, Florida – Vystar Veterans Memorial Arena August 8 – Oklahoma City, Oklahoma – Paycom Center August 22 – Knoxville, Tennessee – Food City Center August 29 – Saint Paul, Minnesota – Grand Casinoa Arena September 12 – Tacoma, Washington – Tacoma DomeThe post Cody Johnson Officially Announces New Album, “Banks Of The Trinity” first appeared on Whiskey Riff.

You never know where Post Malone might pop up. They say you shouldn’t ever meet your heroes. That’s probably true in some cases, but Post Malone – whose real name is Austin Richard Post – has to be the exception to that rule. The country/pop star always takes time to meet with his fans, and he’s known as a very generous tipper. And he tends to show up in places where people would least expect him to. Right now, Post Malone is enjoying a quiet break in his schedule before he ramps up into his Big A** Stadium Tour Part Two Tour dates. He also recently teased that he’s got a 40-song album titled The Eternal Buzz that could very well drop this year. It was only a year and a half ago that Posty officially ventured into the country music genre with F-1 Trillion. View this post on Instagram And that would be one of two albums that Post Malone is hoping to drop in 2026. All that to say that the “Pour Me A Drink” singer is a very busy man, which makes his recent appearance in Fairbanks, Alaska all the more mysterious. It all started when a gas station employee recognized Malone, took a picture with him, and posted it on Facebook. TMZ talked to that employee, and he told them that Post Malone bought himself snacks, Bud Light and liquor… then paid for another person’s beer before leaving the store (classic Post Malone move). A radio station in the area put this message out on Facebook hoping to get the attention of Post Malone before he leaves town: “Post Malone is in the Fairbanks area. The photos are real. Kind of cool he chose to come spend some time here in Fairbanks. Mr. Malone, we would LOVE to have you stop by our stations! If anyone sees him, or knows his people, let them know we would love to get him some of our station swag!” The Fairbanks community has been understandably excited by the celebrity sighting, but no one knows why he’s actually there. Some think it’s for a vacation, while others are pointing towards the Raising Cane’s location there that is set to open up in a couple of months. Regardless of why he’s there, those in Fairbanks and the surrounding area are just happy that someone like Post Malone decided to stop in their town. It’s definitely not for a concert. Not many touring artists make their way up to Alaska to put on shows, and Post Malone’s next scheduled tour date is Stagecoach Music Festival at the end of April. But hey… if Post Malone has a great time in America’s northern-most state… maybe Alaska will start popping up on future tour announcements? Big A** Stadium Tour Part Two Tour Dates Sun Apr 26 – Indio, CA – Stagecoach Music Festival* Wed May 13 – El Paso, TX – Sun Bowl Stadium Sat May 16 – Albuquerque, NM – Boots In The Park Festival* Tue May 19 – Waco, TX – McLane Stadium Sat May 23 – Baton Rouge, LA – Tiger Stadium Tue May 26 – Birmingham, AL – Protective Stadium Fri May 29 – Tampa, FL – Raymond James Stadium Sun May 31 – Panama City Beach, FL – Gulf Coast Jam* Fri Jun 05 – Oxford, MS – Vaught-Hemingway Stadium Sun Jun 07 – Myrtle Beach, SC – Carolina Country Fest* Tue Jun 09 – Charlotte, NC – Bank of America Stadium Fri Jun 12 – Indianapolis, IN – Lucas Oil Stadium Tue Jun 16 – Toronto, ON – Rogers Stadium Sat Jun 20 – Wildwood, NJ – Barefoot Country Music Festival* Mon Jun 22 – East Hartford, CT – Pratt & Whitney Stadium at Rentschler Field Thu Jun 25 – Cleveland, OH – Huntington Bank Field Sat Jun 27 – Milwaukee, WI – Summerfest* Tue Jun 30 – Nashville, TN – Nissan Stadium^ Sat Jul 11 – Fayetteville, AR – Donald W. Reynolds Razorback Stadium Wed Jul 15 – Kansas City, MO – Kauffman Stadium Fri Jul 17 – Ames, IA – Jack Trice Stadium Tue Jul 21 – Missoula, MT – Washington-Grizzly Stadium Fri Jul 24 – Edmonton, AB – Commonwealth Stadium Tue Jul 28 – Salt Lake City, UT – Rice-Eccles Stadium *Festival appearance ^ Without Jelly RollThe post Post Malone Was Spotted In Fairbanks, Alaska, & Now Residents Are On The Lookout first appeared on Whiskey Riff.

It's rare for a country artist to have a No. 1 hit with a debut single, but Blake Shelton pulled it off. Continue reading…

The girls are absolutely crushing it right now. With artists like Ella Langley, Megan Moroney, Lainey Wilson and more dominating the industry, it’s apparent that there’s a new generation of bad*** ladies ready to take over, and I’m here for it. They’re all putting out great music, selling out shows, and creating a moment for country music that we haven’t seen in decades, honestly. And moreover, they’re doing things no women in country have done before, which makes it all the more exciting. Ella in particular is seeing a ton of success with her newly-released album Dandelion, which is aiming for a top debut on the Billboard Top 200 all-genre albums chart, and in a recent interview with  Billboard, she spoke about how amazing it’s been to watch her career unfold in such a big way over the last year or so. She echoed similar sentiments to Moroney, who previously spoke about how women are “on top of the mountain,” saying that she thinks the three of them in particular were tied for the most-nominated artists at the CMA Awards this past year, tied with six each. She explained that while obviously it’s not perfect, the women are “leading the pack” and putting out such great music, which they’ve always done, but for whatever reason, it seems to be resonating differently in the mainstream now than it ever has before, and the proof is in those aforementioned radio stats: “I feel like right now, we’re on top of the mountain, personally. With artists like Lainey and Ella, us three were the most nominated at the CMA Awards, so not to say that it’s in a perfect state, certainly we could always use some more women. But I think to have women leading the pack and putting out such great music that fans just love, it’s like, something has changed, clearly. It’s not like great music wasn’t being put out, but for whatever reason, it’s being more mainstream and recognized, which is great, I think. And I think that the more successful we can be, the more it opens up lanes for other women.” She absolutely nailed it, and I think it’s incredible that the three of them have already accomplished so much and I know will continue to do while putting out great music that is resonating all over the world… they make country music look really good. In fact, Megan and Ella made history together not too long ago, as they became the first female country duo in history to top both the Billboard Hot 100 and 200 charts simultaneously. Megan’s Cloud 9 became her first-ever #1 on the all-genre Billboard 200 albums chart, while at the same time, Ella’s juggernaut “Choosin’ Texas” hit #1 on the all-genre Billboard Hot 100 chart. Ella said it’s “incredible” to see women at the top of the charts together, and she believes it’s a “testament” to the stories they’re telling and how they’re resonating with so many people. She hopes, like those who came before her, that what they’re doing can help other ladies coming up behind them: “Seeing women at the top of the charts together is incredible. It’s a testament to the stories we’re telling and how they’re resonating with fans. I do hope it keeps opening doors for female artists in the future who’ve been waiting for their turn.” Ella says she feels a responsibility to mentor other women, just like Miranda has been a mentor to her, and Ella says she’s “excited” to see what music will look like in the next several years, saying women are “about to take over.” In many ways, it feels like they already have, as Ella, Megan, Lainey and Miranda are also dominating this year’s ACM Awards nominations. Megan racked up the highest number of nominations with nine, followed by Miranda with eight and then Ella and Lainey with seven. With Miranda Lambert being the most decorated artist in ACM history with 33 to her name, she very well could extend that number at this year’s awards show. It’s no secret that being a female in the country industry comes with its own unique set of challenges, and it’s no secret that women in particular have hard a hard time getting play on mainstream country radio in comparison to many of their male counterparts. In fact, just last year, there was an 11-week stretch on country radio from July to September where no women occupied the Top 10. It was Miss Lainey Wilson who broke the streak when “Somewhere Over Laredo” entered the Top 10 in late September. And since then, Megan and Ella have absolutely blown it all wide open, and it’s impressive, to say the least, and these three women, including Lainey, are absolutely doing things that few, if any, women in country have ever done before. It’s inspiring, and they’ve earned every bit of their success, and the most exciting part is that it feels like it’s really still just the beginning for all of them. To see them publicly supporting each other, too, feels like the biggest win of all. “Choosin’ Texas” “Medicine” The post Ella Langley On Women Dominating Country Music Right Now: “A Testament To The Stories We’re Telling” first appeared on Whiskey Riff.