Who's got your vote this week? Continue reading…

Joel and Luke Smallbone visited with Evan Paul of Taste of Country Nights. Continue reading…

Riley Green’s duet with Ella Langley “Don’t Mind If I Do,” which was the title track to Riley’s 2024 third studio album, is on pace to go number one sometime in the very near future, and it’s actually a solo write by Riley. I’m telling you, there’s just something about when he writes alone that works… another example that comes to mind is “Jesus Saves.” They’re just some of his best songs, and that is NOT easy to do, actually, and this is easily one of my favorite song Riley has put out in years. It’s slow, heartfelt, and full of heartbreak, a Riley Green specialty, but it was apparently intended to be an upbeat beer drinkin’ song at first. Riley told Katie Neal during an interview on her Katie & Company radio show that he penned it while backstage at a show in Rogers, Arkansas: “I was in the green room in Rogers, Arkansas, I played a show at the Walmart amphitheater. And there’s a Topgolf next door, and I had a bunch of buddies from Arkansas come to the show, and they were all going to Topgolf, and remember thinking, yeah I’ll send them all over there and then I can like have some quiet. So I sent everybody to Topgolf, and I wrote the song in the green room. I remember my security guard kept busting in and checking on me, and I was like, ‘I’m fine.'” He had a guitar lick that was a bit slower, and once he tried that out with this idea of “don’t mind if I do,” Riley says it was “really easy to write”: “I had the idea for a while. I think it was gonna be like a fun, beer drinking song. Don’t mind if I do, like, I went out last night. And that was the way I pictured it. So I sat down with the song, and I had this little guitar lick I was doing, and I thought about, man, how cool would it be if it was like, don’t mind if I do to that call from that ex or whatever it is. And so I went down that road, and it was a really easy song to write. And the first song I had written as a duet without a female involved in it. So that’s a little weird, you know, to write a females perspective on a chorus at the end but I thought that was cool.” It’s impressive how well he wrote that last chorus, and I very much prefer this Riley and Ella duet to their award-winning viral hit, “You Look Like You Love Me.” Of course, loving the song as much as I do now, I can’t imagine it being any different and it would seem crazy to think about it being any different now. I have no doubt it will be topping the country charts very soon, and I love it when truly great country songs get their flowers, so to speak. “Don’t Mind If I Do” Riley will head out on his 2026 Cowboy As It Gets 2026 tour in April. Cowboy As It Gets 2026 Tour Dates: April 16th, 2026 – Southaven, MS – Landers Center#~$ April 17th, 2026 – Louisville, KY – KFC Yum! Center#~$ *ON SALE 10/3 April 18th, 2026 – Nashville, TN – Bridgestone Arena#~$ May 7th, 2026 – Charlotte, NC – PNC Music Pavilion#~• May 8th, 2026 – Alpharetta, GA – Ameris Bank Amphitheatre#~• June 18th, 2026 – Holmdel, NJ – PNC Bank Arts Center#~• June 19th, 2026 – Saratoga Springs, NY – Saratoga Performing Arts Center#~• June 20th, 2026 – Wantagh, NY – Northwell at Jones Beach Theater#~• June 25th, 2026 – Noblesville, IN – Ruoff Music Center#$* June 26th, 2026 – Burgettstown, PA – The Pavilion at Star Lake#$* July 16th, 2026 – Green Bay, WI – Resch Center#~• July 23rd, 2026 – Salt Lake City, UT – Utah First Credit Union Amphitheatre#~• August 6th, 2026 – Darien Center, NY – Darien Lake Amphitheater#/• August 7th, 2026 – Cuyahoga Falls, OH – Blossom Music Center#/• August 8th, 2026 – Bristow, VA – Jiffy Lube Live#/• August 13th, 2026 – Camden, NJ – Freedom Mortgage Pavilion#/• August 14th, 2026 – Hartford, CT – The XFINITY Theatre#/• August 15th, 2026 – Bangor, ME – Maine Savings Amphitheatre#/• August 21st, 2026 – Sioux Falls, SD – Denny Sanford#$*^ August 22nd, 2026 – Grand Forks, ND – Ralph Engelstad Arena#$*^ #Justin Moore ~Drake White $Mackenzie Carpenter •Hannah McFarland *Adam Hood /Zach John King The interview with Neal: The post “It Was A Really Easy Song To Write” – Riley Green Says His Duet With Ella Langley, “Don’t Mind If I Do,” Was Supposed To Be A “Beer Drinking Song” first appeared on Whiskey Riff.

The NPR Tiny Desk Concert we actually needed. This week, bluegrass wizard himself, Billy Strings, finally got his chance to do his own episode of NPR’s Tiny Desk Concert series Part of making it big in the music industry is getting invited to participate in the series, and while it can be a little gimmicky, many artists and bands see it as an honor to play the Tiny Desk venue. People like Chris Stapleton, Sturgill Simpson, Post Malone and many others have taken their talents to the Tiny Desk to play intimate sets that are later posted by NPR. I think they can really be interesting because you get to hear artists who are typically selling out very large venues in a very small, intimate setting, and they give their songs a totally different sound that is much more raw and simple, which I typically prefer. Especially when t comes to country and bluegrass artists, this kind of setting just lends itself so well, and you know that Strings and his band absolutely crushed it… Billy says it was a very special moment in his career to be able to do his own Tiny Desk show: “We’ve been lucky to play a lot of cool venues. But this one’s different. It has that same soul to it because — I’ve seen so many amazing performances that happened right here and I kind of believe that love and spirit kind of soaks into this environment, so just standing here feels like a special thing.” Strings and his band played through four songs in “Red Daisy,” “My Alice,” “Malfunction Junction” and “Gild the Lily,” which was epic and you get a very close-up look at his incredible guitar work, as well as the musicianship of everyone in his band. They’re just incredible, and if this doesn’t make you want to see him live in person, I don’t know what will… he is one of the most talented people in the music industry, and this is one of the best Tiny Desk shows they’ve ever done. I’m just in awe every time I watch him perform: I still haven’t made it to see him live, I’m sure you’ll want to after seeing that video, and you’re in luck, because he has an extensive list of 2026 tour dates already announced, which you can check out below. BILLY STRINGS CONFIRMED TOUR DATES: December 5—Louisville, KY—KFC Yum! Center (SOLD OUT) December 6—Louisville, KY—KFC Yum! Center (SOLD OUT) December 10—Tulsa, OK—BOK Center December 12—Fort Worth, TX—Dickies Arena December 13—Austin, TX—Moody Center December 14—Austin, TX—ACL Live at the Moody Theater (SOLD OUT) February 6—Athens, GA—Akins Ford Arena (SOLD OUT) February 7—Athens, GA—Akins Ford Arena (SOLD OUT) February 10—Asheville, NC—ExploreAsheville.com Arena (SOLD OUT) February 11—Asheville, NC—ExploreAsheville.com Arena (SOLD OUT) February 13—Asheville, NC—ExploreAsheville.com Arena (SOLD OUT) February 14—Asheville, NC—ExploreAsheville.com Arena (SOLD OUT) February 20—Nashville, TN—Bridgestone Arena February 21—Nashville, TN—Bridgestone Arena February 22—Nashville, TN—Ryman Auditorium (SOLD OUT) April 2—St. Augustine, FL—St. Augustine Amphitheatre April 3—St. Augustine, FL—St. Augustine Amphitheatre April 4—St. Augustine, FL—St. Augustine Amphitheatre April 8—Tampa, FL—Benchmark International Arena April 10—Savannah, GA—Enmarket Arena April 11—Savannah, GA—Enmarket Arena April 14—Greensboro, NC—First Horizon Coliseum April 17—Charlottesville, VA—John Paul Jones Arena April 18—Charlottesville, VA—John Paul Jones Arena April 22—Charleston, WV—Charleston Coliseum April 24— Fishers, IN—Fishers Event Center April 25—Fishers, IN—Fishers Event CenterThe post Billy Strings Puts On A Bluegrass Clinic For NPR Tiny Desk Debut first appeared on Whiskey Riff.