Gotta think he’s not too upset about the checks he’s getting for letting that one go. Larry Fleet scored his first #1 hit at country radio with the song “Man Made A Bar,” which he wrote alongside Rocky Block, Jordan Dozzi, and Brett Tyler. The song was, of course, recorded by Morgan Wallen featuring Eric Church for Morgan’s 2023 album One Thing At A Time, and tells the familiar tale of a man hitting up a bar after going through a painful breakup: “God made the world in seven short days He said it was good, I bet it was great And God made a man, the man got lonely He said, “Please, Lord, if I could only Have an angel to hold in my arms” So God made a girl, his best work of art Oh, but he didn’t make no place to go when she breaks your heart So man madе a bar” It hit #1 on the charts (ironically not long after Morgan was arrested for throwing a chair off the rooftop of Church’s downtown Nashville bar, Chief’s), though Morgan has said previously that it was one of the last songs he recorded for the massive 36-song album: “That was one of the last songs that made the record.  I wasn’t thinking about features.  Literally the last week, I thought maybe I should get some of my friends on here.  I hollered at Eric, sent him the song, he came in and did it, so it was awesome for me, because I’m such a fan of Eric.” In fact, Fleet was such a fan of the song that he was going to record it himself if Morgan didn’t want it. Talking about “Man Made A Bar” before performing it in his own show, Fleet said he wrote the song on the same day as he wrote his own single, “Things I Take For Granted.” But when he heard that Morgan needed two more songs for his own album, he decided to offer “Man Made A Bar” to him. “I love this song. I was going to do it myself, but my buddy Morgan Wallen needed two songs to finish out that big old record he put out. And so I sent him this one. I said, ‘If you want it, you can have it. If not, I’m going to do it.’ About a week later, he called me and said, ‘Hey, I recorded that song. And I got Eric Church to sing it with me too.’ And so this song went to radio. This is my very first number one hit I’ve ever written for two people at the same time.” @larryfleetfanclub I’m not sure what’s better, Larry Fleet’s songwriting or his singing!! #larryfleet #realcountrymusic #morganwallen #ericchurch #manmadeabar ♬ original sound – The Fleet While he ended up not recording it himself, you could also see the excitement in his face the first time he ever heard the demo of the version that was recorded by Morgan and Eric, especially as Church comes in with his characteristic passion on his version. View this post on Instagram Fleet also had the opportunity to perform another one of his songs, “Where I Find God,” with Morgan while out on the road opening for the country music superstar on his massive One Night At A Time stadium tour. I’m sure there are times where Fleet may have wished that he kept “Man Made A Bar” for himself. But the song is currently sitting at nearly 300 million streams on Spotify, so I’d also say that the royalty checks he gets from Morgan’s version help him get over any regrets he has from giving it away.The post Larry Fleet Was Going To Keep “Man Made A Bar” For Himself Until Morgan Wallen Wanted It For His ‘One Thing At A Time’ Album first appeared on Whiskey Riff.

Country music artist and political commentator Alexis Wilkins isn’t going to take spy accusations lying down. Wilkins, who is the girlfriend of FBI Director Kash Patel, has been in the news lately for a number of different reasons. She made headlines not too long ago when she revealed that record labels allegedly told her to take the American flag out of her bio. Wilkins fought back against that, and said that being patriotic shouldn’t be something that’s sileneced. And that’s kind of her thing with her music career. Wilkins has released songs like “Grit” and “Stand,” which could both be described as patriotic anthems. Her music has actually been helped by the promising political commentator career that she’s seemingly been more focused on as of late… and it’s her involvement in politics that has also contributed to the lawsuit she just brought to a former candidate for the U.S. Senate. Alexis Wilkins is suing Sam Parker $5 million after he made allegations that she was connected to Israeli intelligence, and claimed that she was a spy – implying that Wilkins is only with FBI Director Patel because she’s attempting to collect information. The pair have been together since early 2023 (before Patel was confirmed as FBI Director). And though there’s quite the age gap between the two (18 years), Patel and Wilkins seem happy together, and are often seen supporting one another. In the federal court filings, the attorney representing the 27-year-old singer and political commentator described her as the following, and dismissed the thought that she could be a spy for Israel: “Alexis Wilkins is a Christian, American-born, United States citizen (who is) unaffiliated with any intelligence agency, much less the government of Israel. (She) has never even been to Israel.” The lawsuit states that Wilkins is bringing the $5 million suit to Parker because he’s spread false accusations that have harmed her reputation and brought more attention to himself: “Defendant Samuel Parker has repeatedly lied about Alexis Wilkins, falsely asserting and suggesting that she – an American-born country singer –is an agent of a foreign government, assigned to manipulate and compromise the director of the FBI. Parker is using this fabricated story as fund-raising click-bait, and has spread it to over 1.3 million viewers. Accordingly, Ms. Wilkins seeks to hold defendant accountable for his malicious and knowing lies.” Wilkins brought a similar defamation lawsuit to podcaster and former FBI agent, Kyle M. Seraphin, back in August. He has since filed to have the lawsuit dismissed. And this all comes after FBI Director Kash Patel was under fire for allegedly using his FBI jet to fly to a Real American Freestyle wrestling event on October 25 where Alexis Wilkins was performing. Following the event, the jet was tracked flying to Nashville, Tennessee – where Wilkins lives (she also spends a lot of time in Washington D.C.). Once Patel face criticism publicly, the FBI jet was made untraceable on flight tracking sights like Flight Aware. The FBI Director finally addressed all of the noise around his travel activity and alleged misuse of government funds on X (formerly Twitter), where Patel provided this statement to those that were calling out both him, and Alexis Wilkins: “I’ve always said — criticize me all you want. But going after the people doing great work, my personal life, or those around me is a total disgrace. The disgustingly baseless attacks against Alexis — a true patriot and the woman I’m proud to call my partner in life — are beyond pathetic. She is a rock-solid conservative and a country music sensation who has done more for this nation than most will in ten lifetimes. I’m so blessed she’s in my life. Attacking her isn’t just wrong — it’s cowardly and jeopardizes our safety. My love of family will always be my cornerstone, and you will never tear that down or keep me from them. I and this FBI will stay laser-focused on our mission and continue the reform we promised — rebuilding this Bureau from the ground up.” I am proud of the work of this FBI. We’re taking violent criminals off the streets in record numbers, crushing the fentanyl crisis, dismantling cartels, saving children, hunting down terrorists — and so much more. Let me be clear: we will not be distracted by baseless rumors or… — Kash Patel (@Kash_Patel) November 2, 2025 Needless to say, there are a lot of accusations surrounding Kash Patel and his girlfriend, Alexis Wilkins, but so goes it in the political world right now. Seems like a lot of folks are unfortunately spending more time defending their integrity than they are getting things done. The good news? It looks like they are both willing to fight against everything being thrown at them…The post Kash Patel’s Country Music Girlfriend, Alexis Wilkins, Responds To Rumors Of Her Being A Spy… With A Lawsuit first appeared on Whiskey Riff.

She appears to be returning to normal. Continue reading…

As it turns out, there will be a country music act at the Super Bowl. No, that petition for George Strait to replace Bad Bunny hasn’t led to a complete overhaul of the Super Bowl Halftime show. The global superstar and Puerto Rican rapper, whose real name is Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio, is still set to headline the Big Game’s biggest stage on February 8. However, there is going to be some country music injected into the event. Super Bowl LX is being held in San Francisco, California this year, and the NFL has announced some musical events that will lead up to the clash between two teams competing for the Lombardi Trophy. For people that have been clamoring for country music to return to the grand stage of the Super Bowl, the genre will at least be represented during the Super Bowl week festivities. The Bay Area Host Committee has set up a three-night concert series at San Francisco’s Bill Graham Civic Auditorium, running February 5 through the 7. Acts for the first two nights have not been announced, but the finale of that series will belong to a couple of Grammy award winners in the country music space: Chris Stapleton and Sierra Ferrell. If you ask me, Stapleton will always be synonymous with the Super Bowl after he blew the roof off the place with his National Anthem performance prior to the Big Game in 2023. So it makes sense to have him involved in some way for the Super Bowl. Sierra Ferrell is a great addition as well, and the two should pair up incredibly well at the concert that will take place one day before the Super Bowl. NFL hospitality partner On Location is also putting on a concert series of it’s own, only this one will stretch just two nights (February 6 and 7). The second night’s headliner has yet to be revealed, but the first night will feature Rock and Roll icon Sting. Would be quite the get (and make a lot of fans happy) if they could also get the King of Country – George Strait – to handle that first night. Front Office Sports first reported the news of the added concert series: “The NFL is leaning heavily into music for Super Bowl week as the league cements itself as a cultural powerhouse. Chris Stapleton, Sting, and Sierra Farrell are among several artists who’ll perform in the days leading up to the NFL’s Super Bowl halftime show featuring Bad Bunny.” The NFL is leaning heavily into music for Super Bowl week as the league cements itself as a cultural powerhouse. Chris Stapleton, Sting, and Sierra Farrell are among several artists who’ll perform in the days leading up to the NFL’s Super Bowl halftime show featuring Bad Bunny. — Front Office Sports (@FOS) November 7, 2025 So this might be a small consolation for country music fans who are eager for the genre to be involved with the Super Bowl once more. It’s been a long time since a country music artist was the headliner for the Super Bowl halftime show… over 20 years to be more specific. Shania Twain was the halftime show in 2003, and before that, it was the iconic 1994 show that featured the likes of Clint Black, Tanya Tucker, Travis Tritt, and The Judds at the Georgia Dome. There’s an undoubtable yearning for country music to take the Super Bowl’s biggest stage again. And now does seem like a great time, since country music seems to have more global reach than it ever has. Artists like Luke Combs, Zach Bryan and Morgan Wallen have been selling out football stadiums all around the world… particularly in Europe, where the NFL has been hosting a ton of games in the past few years. Guess there’s always next year?The post NFL Taps Chris Stapleton, Sierra Ferrell To Play In Concert Series Leading Up To Super Bowl LX first appeared on Whiskey Riff.

I shouldn’t enjoy this as much as I do. I’ve got a confession: I actually like Nickelback. I know it’s fun and cool to hate on them, but you can’t deny that they have some bangers in their catalog. Songs like “How You Remind Me,” “Animals,” “Photograph,” and of course, “Rockstar.” Of course Nickelback isn’t exactly a country band, but they’ve definitely been dipping their toe into the country world here lately. This past summer they headlined the Rock the Country festival series alongside Kid Rock, and last year they released a Live From Nashville album that featured guest appearances from several country artists, including a live duet with Ernest of his stone-cold country hit “Flower Shops.” Nickelback also teamed up with HARDY for a CMT Crossroads (which was an awesome show, by the way), and that one makes a lot of sense because HARDY is one of the more rock-leaning country artists out there right now. But you probably wouldn’t expect them to collab with…Shenandoah, the ’90s country hitmakers behind songs like “Two Dozen Roses,” “Moon Over Georgia” and “Sundays In The South.” It was definitely a little surprising to see that Shenandoah had teamed up with Nickelback for a new version of their 1989 hit “The Church on Cumberland Road,” the second single from their album The Road Not Taken and the band’s first #1 hit. I wasn’t sure what to expect when I hit play, but honestly…it kind of rips. Speaking on the opportunity to collaborate with Nickelback, Shenandoah lead singer Marty Raybon (one of the greatest voices in country music, by the way) admitted that it might seem like an odd pairing, but he called it one of the coolest things the band has ever done: “First, let me say that it’s always a great opportunity to befriend those in the music industry, regardless of the genre. Nickelback’s Chad Kroeger and I had the chance to talk about their music and ours and the parallels of some of the tunes that could be swapped out on the setlists. The idea came up, and after a few text messages, we were off and running with what is one of the coolest things we’ve ever done. Shenandoah and Nickelback. Who would have thunk it.” Kroeger, meanwhile, had high praise for Shenandoah and the legacy that they’ve created over their iconic career: “We’ve always had a deep respect for the artists who came before us, and Shenandoah is one of those bands that helped define an era. Getting the chance to collaborate with them on ‘The Church On Cumberland Road’ was an absolute blast. It’s a song that feels as vibrant today as it did when it first came out.” The new version stays pretty true to the original, which no doubt helps with fans who have been spinning the song for over 30 years now. But the addition of Kroeger’s vocals adds a new grittiness to the barnburner that somehow just drives up the energy and gives the classic song a new life. I was skeptical at first but after listening to it…I’m all in. Hey, if it works it works. And this one works. The post Shenandoah Teams Up With Nickelback For New Version Of “The Church On Cumberland Road” – And It Kind Of Rips first appeared on Whiskey Riff.