The surprise album that Charley Crockett dropped could be the most impressive and important work of his entire career. Is Clovis a record? Or is it a statement? This is one of those situations where two things can be true. 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 Clovis comes just a few weeks after Crockett closed out his Sagebrush Trilogy with the release of Age of the Ram, which the country star also worked with Shooter Jennings on. Though it’s important to note that this latest release comes through a label called $10 Cowboy (presumably Crockett’s own). It’s a departure from from Island Records (UMG), where his last three albums – Lonesome Drifter, A Dollar A Day, and Age of the Ram – were released. Shortly after the release of Age of the Ram, Charley confirmed that he and Shooter had already finished his next project, saying: “In a country music scene full of frauds they been dying to get me hung. Ain’t never been more proud of a record than ‘Age Of The Ram.’ 3 albums in 12 months. Me and Shooter Jennings sure figured out how to tie one on. Guess I might as well tell y’all, the next one’s already done. I know cowboys who pay to stay off the bull I’m riding. To the folks who get what I’m putting down, thanks for listening. I can’t do it without you.” That was a pleasant surprise to hear, but I don’t think anyone realized Crockett – who is known to drop multiple albums every year – would release “the next one” only three weeks after the conclusion of his Sagebrush Trilogy. But that’s exactly what he did with Clovis, and in a new video from Crockett, it’s clear that doing so was a bit of a professional, musical-middle-finger to the label he used to belong to: “I paid for it. I think I spent about $300,000 on it. And I cut it at Clovis, New Mexico at the old Norman Petty studio where Buddy Holly started out, and Waylon Jennings had his first recording… just released the full record. Completely independent of the label system I’ve been tied up in for 10 years. Every time I find I signed a deal I don’t like, and I go to these f***ing business people, and I tell them, ‘I don’t like the deal, I don’t think it’s fair.’ They say, ‘Tough luck kid, shouldn’t have f***ing signed it.’ As soon as I hold them to that same standard, I’m the f***ing bad guy.” pic.twitter.com/4LaVnMBtv3 — Charley Crockett (@CharleyCrockett) May 1, 2026 Charley Crockett is always going to tell it like it is. And when you take a look at the entirety of Clovis, it’s clear that’s exactly what he’s doing, and that the new album exists to spite the experience he’s had depending on labels. 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 a 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! Lonesome land, old west o’ Caddo Comanche comes to wish you well!” Then you move on to “One Eyed Jack,” which talks of back stabbing, and having everything stacked up against you. Like in the video above, it feels like this track is a direct metaphor to dealing with his former record label: “You’re a one eyed jack, yeah everybody knows I done seen your other side, Lord, I done seen it up close You must be crazy if you think I don’t see The way you settin’ all up against me You’re a one eyed jack, a fair weather friend A knife in the back, the way it always ends” Crockett’s Johnny Cash cover, “Don’t Take Your Guns to Town,” 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,” 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 in echoed in “Waylon Rides Again,” which doesn’t need much of an explanation. Chains are actually used as a musical instrument in that one, and the final song of the album is Charley Crockett riding off into the indie 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 blink-and-you’ll-miss-it 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 record label, and appears to be going full-on indie, there’s no guide rails. Charley Crockett can do whatever he wants, when he wants to… and he’s already tapped into that power by releasing Clovis, and arguably overshadowing Age of the Ram by doing so. Personally, I think Clovis fits in better as the third installment of the Sagebrush Trilogy anyways. I know that his last record release through Island Records (UMG) focused in on a fictional outlaw that’s on the run, and that undoubtedly fit the mold of the story that Lonesome Drifter and A Dollar A Day set out to tell. But Clovis is Crockett stepping into the outlaw role himself, standing up against the record labels and announcing to the world that he’s riding again. That’s why Clovis – both right now and with hindsight down the road – might be the most important work of Charley Crockett’s impressive career. Spotify Apple Music The post Why ‘Clovis’ Might Be The Most Important Project Of Charley Crockett’s Career first appeared on Whiskey Riff.

Jordan McCullough is a favorite to make the Top 3 on 'American Idol' this week. Continue reading…

Incredibly sad stuff. As problematic as AI has gotten in the music industry over the past year from a pure artistic and ethics standpoint, highlighted primarily by a completely AI-generated “artist,” Breaking Rust, capturing the #1 spot on a Billboard country chart this past October, the concerns over artificial intelligence reach far beyond the music itself. Of course, this is hardly a dismissal of the very real issue of AI “artists” not only stealing both streams and intellectual property from actual, human artists. With that being said, there’s yet another increasingly dangerous problem popping up lately, thanks to AI. And that, of course, is scams using artists’ likenesses. It’s no stretch to say that scams such as these have existed as long as the internet has existed. It seems like weekly, you’ll see some story pop up about a fan giving thousands of dollars to fake accounts posing as their favorite artists. Oftentimes, however, these scams seem fairly obvious to anyone with any internet savvy and ultimately catch elderly and disabled people who may not have the capacity to distinguish the differences between these seemingly endless fake accounts that exist everywhere from Instagram, Facebook, X (formerly Twitter) and especially on TikTok. Notably, a Central Texas resident by the name of Anthony McAlfney, who has an intellectual and developmental disability, had money stolen from him by scammers posing as both Cody Johnson and Chris Young. And, you guessed it, these scammers were using clearly AI-generated images of Johnson to aid their scheme. Recently we have another case similar to McAflney’s; however, this one is much more insane. On a recent episode of Derek “Big D” Haskins and Sean “Bubba” Powell’s always-entertaining radio show, Big D and Bubba, a woman appeared to tell the hosts that she’s getting married soon… to Riley Green. No, that wasn’t a typo. This unnamed woman is the latest in a growing number of people who have fell for the seemingly endless amount of bots and scammers on social media, which are only getting worse and more dangerous thanks to AI. Talking to the duo, she’d explain that she met “Riley” on Facebook and quickly hit it off with whoever is running the fake account, texting the person “20-30 times” a day. “We have a private chat that we chat on… every day, 20-30 times a day.” Diving further into the insanity, when Big D and Bubba asked about the situation some more, she’d then go onto say that she had fallen in love with “Riley” and she’s planning on getting married to him soon, noting that she’s leaving the wedding up to him. Even more mind-numbingly, she’d then go onto say that she’s talked to “Green” on the phone after texting, telling the radio hosts that she moved onto phone calls to avoid being scammed… The irony here is actually palpable. “Oh, I’ve talked to him… I’m not gonna text him no more. I know there’s a lot of people out that [are] scammers and stuff, and I don’t like that. I’m honest. I’m truthful, and they don’t need to be doing me like that. They’re messing with the wrong person.” At this point in the story, I’m thinking this is a great, drawn-out bit. I mean, seriously, the woman directly talks about hating scammers. The sad thing is, it’s not. The pair would then go on to play a recording of the “Worst Way” singer’s actual voice when he recorded a quick radio liner for their show. When asked if that’s the same voice she heard on the phone, she’d double down once again and say she’s actually talking to the ACM Male Artist of the Year nominee. Looking out for the woman, the duo would ask if the Green impersonator ever asked for money, which she denied. Clearly defeated, dumbfounded and shocked, the two would simply laugh it off and tell her to have fun and get married to “Riley.” Even more delusional, she’d push back on Big D and Bubba laughing at the absurdity of the situation “You go ahead and laugh. And when it happens, I’m gonna call y’all back. And I’m gonna tell you, ‘Big D and Bubba, I told you so.” I wish I could tell you this was just a drawn-out bit from the hilarious duo, but it became pretty clear throughout the interaction that it was genuine. You can clearly tell as the conversation went on just how dumbfounded they were. I genuinely don’t even know where to begin with this one, but I’ll finish with a word of advice: artists are not going to randomly start messaging you on Facebook. If it sounds too good to be true, it definitely is. Watch the full interaction here: View this post on Instagram The post Woman Duped By Catfish Scam Is Convinced She’s Going To Marry Country Star, Riley Green… & She’s Not Backing Down first appeared on Whiskey Riff.

Picture this: two country music legends at dinner, one scheming to dodge the bill. The playful rivalry is real! Continue reading…