The "Dial Drunk" singer's response to fans calling his music sleepy? It sounds like the best music festival ever. Continue reading…

We’ve got another confirmed NBA star that’s a big fan of country music. Golden State Warriors forward Jimmy Butler is probably the most recognizable star in the NBA that likes the country music genre. He has supported the industry publicly on multiple different occasions, and though Butler’s fandom of country started as a joke, his love for the genre now is as serious as it gets. How do we know that? Well, anyone that has a country music album on the way probably loves country music. The fact that he’s put time aside in his busy, professional-athlete schedule to record 2oo songs and counting is a testament to his interest in the genre. Apparently, the very first country song that he ever heard was “Don’t Take The Girl” by Tim McGraw, and he was hooked from that moment on. Since then, he’s become a huge fan of more modern day stars like Morgan Wallen and Luke Combs, and has even become pretty good friends with Luke Bryan. There was even a rumor that he skipped out on a game to go to a Morgan Wallen concert, and if that were true, he’d most definitely be the “leader in the clubhouse” when it comes to biggest country music fans in the NBA. New York Knicks center Mitchell Robinson would like a word though. If you haven’t heard the name, that’s okay. Robinson has been busy holding down the center position for the Knicks since he was drafted by New York in 2018. He’s actually the longest tenured player on the Knicks team now, which would make you think that he’d have some seniority when it comes to the aux cord in the locker room (yes, I know aux cords aren’t used anymore and it’s all bluetooth). However, a recent post on Robinson’s Snapchat/influencer account showed that his teammates were getting first pick on locker room music, and they went with “Where The Hood At” by DMX. That sounds like a decent pre-game song to bump, but Mitchell Robinson would have preferred to listen to some country music… specifically Morgan Wallen: “Here we go with this music again. Morgan Wallen please?” Knicks: DMX Where the Hood at Mitchell Robinson: pic.twitter.com/mPt63FiwmP — New York Basketball (@NBA_NewYork) November 20, 2025 And before you go and say, “Is that even real?” I can confirm that Mitchell Robinson posted it for all of us Snapchat friends and followers to see. Now it’s being aggregated online by other NBA accounts. Why is it a big deal that NBA players sometimes like country music? I don’t know, but it is. With Mitchell Robinson, it shouldn’t really come as a surprise. He actually moved to Nashville, Tennessee recently, where he has a farm and is able to focus on his health and diet during the offseason. Robinson has chickens, and apparently even grows his own vegetables. So not only is he a fan of the slow life that country music often waxes poetically about… he lives it. Here’s a video he shared not too long ago of him waking up in “God’s country,” which has to be another example of Robinson being a fan of Morgan Wallen: @mitchellrobinson_23Waking up to this every morning is a blessing ♬ Kansas Anymore – Megan Moroney Lots of his social media posts are set to country music songs, and hey, moving to Nashville, Tennessee is a pretty good sign of the New York Knicks star being a fan of country. Now, if he could only convince his teammates on the Knicks to play Morgan Wallen or any other country artist before games…The post New York Knicks Star Mitchell Robinson Wants His Teammates To Cue Up Some Morgan Wallen In The Locker Room first appeared on Whiskey Riff.

The Red Clay Strays love country music too much to rush it — and their CMA win proves they’re doing something right already. Continue reading…

Whoops… Joe Rogan let the “Red Clay Strays new album in 2026” cat out of the bag a little early. Back in September, the country rock band from Mobile, Alabama were out in Joe Rogan’s neck of the woods to join in on the popular podcaster’s show. Brandon Coleman (frontman), Andy Bishop (Bassist) and Drew Nix (guitarist) all sat down on The Joe Rogan Experience and discussed their careers, how the band formed, names the group almost went by, their single “People Hatin’,” and how their faith has guided them throughout everything. But the standout portion of the interview was that The Red Clay Strays already have a new album put together, and it’s expected to drop in June of next year. Towards the beginning of the interview, it first sounded like Rogan was talking about their “new album” in reference to Made By These Moments, which would be their newest. But it quickly became clear that Rogan was talking about The Red Clay Strays having a new project on the way, and that he had already heard the whole thing. The podcast host was talking with the band about how well they all get along when he threw this comment out there: “The final product is amazing, and the new album is really f***ing good. It’s coming out in June of next year? Is that when it’s supposed to come out? The press thing I got said June of next year, I was like, ‘This should come out now.’” And in the room, it certainly seemed like there was a “Was Joe supposed to say that?” kind of vibe. The Red Clay Strays went along with it, and Brandon Coleman was the first to respond to Rogan’s question: “We’re shooting for summer of next year. We don’t really know yet.” The band’s bassist, Andy Bishop, then chimed in and seemingly confirmed that the news Joe Rogan had just broken was just meant for Joe Rogan to know: “You’re probably the only one that’s supposed to know that.” To be clear, it wasn’t awkward, and there wasn’t any tension… but it did seem to catch the Red Clay Strays off guard. When I watched it for the first time, it certainly seemed like they were keeping cool as their new album announcement leaked right in front of them. Rogan isn’t one to typically edit his podcast interviews that much, so the band just adapted to the situation and said a couple more things about the album coming in 2026. In a recent interview with Variety Events, The Red Clay Strays confirmed that Joe Rogan broke the news of their new, upcoming album… and it was not by design. Coleman, Bishop, Nix and Sevans Henderson were seated in the CMA Awards Lounge and asked by Variety about the band’s growth and live circuit that they’ve been on. The band said that they’re very appreciative of finally feeling accepted, and excited for what’s to come. One of those things to come is their next album, which frontman Brandon Coleman confirmed a) is coming in June of 2026 and b) Joe Rogan accidentally told the world about it before they got the chance to: “We do have the next album coming out in June of next year. Joe Rogan announced that on his podcast. We weren’t going to announce it at first. Joe Rogan just read it off, and I guess that’s it.” Andrew Bishop added that Rogan just read it straight off the press package that he was given, so it’s not entirely the podcast host’s fault for breaking the news. The bassist also said that if there was a place for the new album info to get leaked, on The Joe Rogan Experience isn’t the worst place in the world for it to happen: “It got put in the press package… which that’s a pretty good place to announce one if you are gonna do it though, I guess.” Pretty funny that Joe Rogan said something he wasn’t supposed to and The Red Clay Strays just rolled with it. That’s certainly how it seemed when The Joe Rogan Experience episode with the band came out in September. Now, Coleman, Bishop and the rest of the band are verifying that’s exactly how things went down. The post The Red Clay Strays Confirm That Joe Rogan Wasn’t Supposed To Break The News About Their New Album On His Podcast first appeared on Whiskey Riff.

One of the many hits written by the late, great Brett James. The Grammy Award-winning country songwriter was tragically killed in a plane crash back on September 18, 2025, when the plane he was piloting crashed near Franklin, North Carolina after taking off from John C. Tune Airport in Nashville. His wife and stepdaughter were also killed in the crash, which is still under investigation by the NTSB. After his death, tributes to James began pouring in from the many artists he worked with over his hitmaking career. Carrie Underwood, who won a Grammy for the Brett James-penned “Jesus Take the Wheel,” shared a touching tribute in the wake of his passing: “Brett’s passing is leaving a hole in all of us that I fear won’t ever go away. It will forever be a reminder that this life is but a moment…we have to make the most of each day we’re given here on earth. Each day is a gift. I’m asking all of you to pray for his family, friends and all of us that were blessed enough to know Brett. Love you, man. I’ll see you again someday.” View this post on Instagram And Jason Aldean dedicated his own Brett James-written hit, “The Truth,” to the late songwriter shortly after his death: “He also wrote this next song, which ended up being one of the biggest songs of my career. So tonight we want to send this out to our friend that we lost tonight, our boy Mr. Brett James. This one’s called The Truth.” @jasonaldeanmusic Heartbroken to hear of the loss of my friend Brett James tonight. I had nothing but love and respect for that guy and he helped change my life. Honored to have met him and worked with him. Thoughts and prayers going out to his family. ♬ original sound – Jason Aldean After his death, Kenny Chesney opened up on how hard it was to perform “When The Sun Goes Down” for the first time after James passed away. The song was a solo write from James and became a #1 hit for Chesney and Uncle Kracker back in 2004: “The first time I sang one of his songs after he passed was at Farm Aid with Willie Nelson in Minneapolis. And all of a sudden it hit me. I was going to do a song called ‘When the Sun Goes Down,’ which he wrote by himself. And it was the first time it was really- the wound was really open. It was really fresh, his passing. And I had to go up there and sing that song.” At that point, Kenny had only performed the song once since James passed away, but said that when he performed it in the future it would be a celebration of James: “I haven’t had to sing it since. But I’m going to, because I’m not going to let that stop me. It’s almost like in a celebratory way now.” And last night at the CMA Awards, Kenny was true to his word and used his performance to honor Brett James. Kenny performed two of his hits, “American Kids” and “When the Sun Goes Down.” And at the end of the performance, he made sure to include a tribute to his late friend, flashing pictures of James on the screen behind him before ending it with a shoutout to James. For some reason the awards show didn’t include an “In Memoriam” segment this year, so it was nice to see Kenny take it upon himself to pay tribute to the legendary songwriter.The post Kenny Chesney Paid Tribute To Late Songwriter Brett James With “When The Sun Goes Down” Performance At The CMA Awards first appeared on Whiskey Riff.