Looking back on some of the wild tales of David Allan Coe. Earlier this week, the heartbreaking news was shared that outlaw legend David Allan Coe had passed away at the age of 86. The news was confirmed by a representative who said that the singer passed away on April 29 while in an intensive care unit. David Allan Coe is one of those country music artists who embody the phrase, “The man, the myth, the legend.” One of the most renowned names in the outlaw music movement, and arguably, the most deserving of the title, he is also one of the most polarizing. But you can’t deny the musical genius… from “You Never Even Called Me by My Name,” to “The Ride,” and “Longhaired Redneck,” he was also the original artist to release “Tennessee Whiskey,” he wrote Johnny Paycheck’s megahit “Take This Job and Shove It.” Born in Akron, Ohio, on September 6, 1939, the country legend had a rough upbringing, being sent to reform school at age 9 and spending most of his childhood and early adulthood there… or behind bars. But while serving time in prison in his hometown, Coe developed a love for songwriting and, after being released in 1967, moved to Nashville to pursue a music career. While many artists back then were making significant sacrifices to realize their dreams, Coe had hardly a dollar to his name and took a massive leap of faith by moving to Music City. However, it did not take him long to get noticed. How did he do this, you might ask? He camped out front of the Ryman Auditorium, the original home of the Grand Ole Opry, in a hearse, often busking for money. It was hard not to notice Coe in a red and white Cadillac hearse, with his name on the back and the words, “SUPPORT THE GRAND OLE’ OP’RY,” singing as folks filed in for shows on the weekend. David Allan Coe, and the hearse he lived in when he moved to Nashville. He parked it directly in front of the Ryman Auditorium on weekends. Whenever people entered the Ryman for the Grand Ole Opry, he would stand on top of the hearse and play for the crowds of people coming in. pic.twitter.com/p6NWXEdcas — VintageCountryMusic (@realcountry1953) January 16, 2026 Sure enough, the red hearse caught the attention of some independent label reps, and it all worked out for David Allan Coe. He was signed to Shelby Singleton’s Plantation Records. Coe’s first two albums on Plantation were Penitentiary Blues in 1970, and Requiem for a Harlequin in 1973. After Tanya Tucker had a #1 hit with Coe’s “Would You Lay With Me (In a Field of Stone)” in 1973, he caught the attention of the major labels and signed with Columbia Records. This number one hit solidified his spot at the table, and the rest is history. They sure don’t make ’em like this anymore. The news of Coe’s passing is extremely heartbreaking, and although he was seen as a polarizing figure in the space, there is no doubt that his sound influenced many artists we love today. His death came just months after sharing photos of himself in the studio and giving fans hope that there may be new music on the way. And while it appears that there will be new music on the way, the album was recorded years ago, and never released. Ken Madson, who was David Allan Coe’s manager, tells TMZ that Coe recorded his final album back in 2017 with a record label, but the label ultimately backed out and decided not to release it – so for the last 9 years, the album has remained unheard. Madson says he hopes to release the album on September 6, 2026 which would have been Coe’s 87th birthday. The album reportedly features a mix of previously released songs and new material, including a new song called “A Million Reasons.” Rest in peace to a true legend. Fire up his rendition of “Would You Lay With Me (In A Field Of Stone)” before you go. The post How the Late David Allan Coe Launched His Career From the Back of a Hearse first appeared on Whiskey Riff.

Koe Wetzel has recently become intrigued by the yacht rock genre. The country music star recently joined the Whiskey Riff Raff podcast to talk about how becoming a dad has changed his life for the better, how Koe Wetzel Day came to be, new music that’s on the way, and his upcoming album being written before he became a father. The Texas native also discussed how he connects with God and how he’s growing deeper with his faith, how excited his grandma would be for him to make a Gospel album, his friends not recognizing him anymore because he’s a truly changed man, and how he and Parker McCollum have been back in the studio together. Simply put, there’s a lot of exciting things happening in Koe Wetzel’s life right now. One of the more minor things that he’s recently found a lot of joy in is… the yacht rock genre (move over Keith Urban). Wetzel was discussing how he loves the vibes of beach front festivals (speaking of, get your Gulf Coast Jam tickets here), and always tries to work in some beach tunes. By beach tunes, he means “Margaritaville” by Jimmy Buffett. And speaking of beach music immediately led Koe Wetzel to reveal that there’s a new genre of music that he’s become a big fan of lately. It’s been his go-to vibe while driving, playing golf, or doing anything really: “I’m a big yacht rock guy. I’ve been jamming to so much yacht rock man. I got in the truck the other day. I got on SiriusXM or whatever and put it on my yacht rock station. Dude, I was just jamming. It felt so good. Even on the golf course. Anywhere. It just soothes the soul a little bit. I don’t know if it’s a getting older thing maybe?” @whiskeyriff @Koe Wetzel #whiskeyriff #whiskeyriffraff ♬ original sound – Whiskey Riff If you’ve never heard of the style of music before, it originated and became popular in the late 1970s and early 1980s… and dads everywhere absolutely love it (we hypothesized with Koe that it could be a dad thing). There wasn’t really a legitimate name for the sub-genre of rock until someone associated it with “the type of music you listen to while boating.” Considering one of the biggest hits of yacht rock is “Sailing” by Christopher Cross, that makes sense. Koe Wetzel loves it so much that he’s trying to figure out how to work it into music that he’s currently working on, and he’s not ruling out some saxophone – or as he called it, “Dirty Sax” – showing up on a future project of his: “We’ve been trying to incorporate into some of the music we’ve been making. We haven’t mastered it yet. There’s such a feel good vibe about it. Hopefully one day I can get there. But like… the saxophone? Some Hall and Oates? Oh my gosh, it’s so good. Maybe on the next record, we’ll throw in some dirty sax or something like that. Just to kind of get that good time feel.” Koe Wetzel yacht rock concept album? I’m absolutely here for it. You can hear more about it by checking out the interview on YouTube or making sure to download the podcast on Apple Podcasts by searching “Whiskey Riff Raff” or by clicking here. We’re also available on Spotify and wherever else you can listen to podcasts. Cheers, y’all. Audio Video The post Koe Wetzel Has Become A Big Yacht Rock Fan: “It Just Soothes The Soul” first appeared on Whiskey Riff.

Sure, you know Carrie and Scotty were on 'American Idol.' But can you name the hitmakers who were on 'Nashville Star'? Continue reading…

A long time coming. In an era filled with some of the most exciting voices we’ve heard in the genre lately, ranging from the likes of Tyler Childers and Sturgill Simpson to Turnpike Troubadours and Colter Wall, there’s no one doing it quite the way Zach Top is these days on a national scale. Though there are plenty of other stellar artists keeping the traditional scene alive, such as Jake Worthington, Charley Crockett and more, the Washington native has launched himself into the stratosphere as of late. Of course, this was highlighted on a national scale the past few months when he not only took home Best New Artist at the CMA Awards in November, which he accepted with a Coors Banquet in hand, but also when he scored his first-career Grammy earlier this month. In turn, Top became the first-ever winner of the brand-new Best Traditional Country Album category, winning it with his sophomore album, Ain’t In It For My Health. Keeping the momentum going, the “South of Sanity” singer would snag not one but five nominations at the upcoming 61st annual CMA Awards on May 17th. In addition to scoring his first-career Male Artist of the Year nod, the Washington native would also score nominations for Album of the Year (Ain’t In It For My Health) and Single and Song of the Year (“I Never Lie”). Though Top caught some buzz with the release of “Sounds Like the Radio” back in January of 2024 before the release of Cold Beer & Country Music, there’s really no arguing that “I Never Lie” was the track that helped blow him into the stratosphere. In addition to receiving a whole lot of virality online, it would eventually become Top’s first-career #1 hit in on country radio in May 2025 and receive a 2x platinum certification from the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). As it stands today, Top has gotten a Best Country Solo Performance and Best Country Song nomination at the Grammys, a Single and Song of the Year nomination at the ACM Awards and the aforementioned Single and Song of the Year nod at the upcoming CMAs. With “I Never Lie” being so successful, it felt a bit odd that Top never pulled the trigger on a music video for the hit song. That, however, changed today. Taking to Instagram this morning, Top would announce the official music video is finally here, calling it a “silly little movie.” “Now there’s a silly movie to go along with I Never Lie… you know the drill.” View this post on Instagram Like his recent music video for “South of Sanity,” Top keeps “I Never Lie’s” just about as simple as it gets. There’s no visualization of the song’s narrative. Instead, it depicts Top performing the song on various stages along with b-roll footage of scenes of him and his band out on the road on his Cold Beer & Country Music Tour over the past year. Though I’d like to see Top pull out all the stops and deliver an elaborate, narrative-driven music video much in the vain of Ella Langley’s “Choosin’ Texas” or Kaitlin Butts’ “You Ain’t Gotta Die (To Be Dead To Me)” at some point in the future (especially considering the fact he’s so effortlessly funny), I have to respect the “Guitar” singer’s dedication to keeping it simple and letting the music do the heavy lifting here once again. Check it out below. Zach Top Summer Tour Dates June 5 – Durant, Oklahoma – Choctaw Grand Theater with Cole Goodwin June 12 – Orange Beach, Alabama – The Wharf Amphitheater with Cole Goodwin June 20 – Columbia, Maryland – Merriweather Lakehouse with Wyatt McCubbin July 9 – Salt Lake City, Utah – Utah First Credit Union Amphitheater with Jake Worthington July 10 – Boise, Idaho – ExtraMile Arena with Jake Worthington July 15 – Saskatoon, Saskatchewan – Sasktel Centre with Lukas Nelson July 16 – Edmonton, Alberta – Rogers Place with Lukas Nelson August 7 – Ottawa, Ontario – Canadian Tire Centre with Wyatt McCubbin August 8 – Canadaigua, New York – CMAC – Constellation Brands Marvin Sands Performing Arts Center with Wyatt McCubbin August 13 – Wantagh, New York – Jones Beach Amphitheater with Marty Stuart  August 20 – Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania – PPG Paints Arena with Marcus King August 21 – Allentown, Pennsylvania – PPL Center August 22 – Bangor, Maine – Maine Savings Bank Amphitheater with Marcus King August 28 – Gilford, New Hampshire – BankNH Pavilion with Marcus KingThe post WATCH: Zach Top Releases Official Music Video For Breakout Hit, “I Never Lie” first appeared on Whiskey Riff.

Another amazing month of country music in the books. In just the past few weeks, there have been so many amazing album and single releases, and it’s impossible for us at Whiskey Riff to cover every single song that deserves to be heard upon its release. But in my opinion, that is a great problem to have, and it speaks to the strength of the country music scene today as opposed to a decade ago or so. So, in an effort to draw attention to some of this music, I’ve compiled a list of 30 new songs released over the last month that we didn’t get to cover in depth at Whiskey Riff, but should all be on your radar as a country music fan. I could probably list close to 100 songs that have been released within the past month that we haven’t covered but are still worth listening to, though for the sake of relative brevity, we’ll keep it at 30. And hopefully in addition to finding a handful of songs to throw on your playlist or keep in rotation, you’ll find a few new artists to explore their catalog, keep up with, and see live as well, because there are so many underrated and up and coming artists waiting to be discovered that are included in this list. “As It Seems” – Eli Adams “Baby Blues” – James Tucker “Blue Stars” – Blue Stars – Vincent Neil Emerson “Cordova Street Blues” – Jarrod Walker “Dead Man Walkin'” – Waylon Wyatt “Everything Keeps Changin'” – Railroad Earth ft. Paul Hoffman of Greensky Bluegrass “Family Man” – Trey Pendley “Going Gone” – Josiah and the Bonnevilles “Good Day” – Yarn – Saturday Night Sermon “Ghost Moon” – Futurebirds “Great Value Childers” – Moonlight Mile “Hands in the Dirt” – Susto String Band “Heart” – Charlie Marie “Heartache” – Duane Betts “Homemade Margaritas” – Thomas Csorba “Leave The Light On” – Sam Burchfield “Like A River” – Connor Daly “Misfit Hearts” – Zachary Baker – Dark Horse “Moon Over Montana” – The Brudi Brothers – Dark and Stormy EP “My Side of the Mountain” – Old Crow Medicine Show ft. Del McCoury, Ronnie McCoury, & Molly Tuttle “Never Gonna Love This Down” – Erin Viancourt “Red Shoes” – Maggie Rose “Roll the Dice” – Steep Canyon Rangers “Shoot Me Straight” – Joshua Ray Walker “Small Town Living” – Josh Mitcham “Someone Who’s Done This Before” – Kolton Moore & the Clever Few “The Birds Know” – Jim Lauderdale and The Po’ Ramblin Boys – The Birds Know “Try Again” – The Deslondes “Tollbooth” – John R. Miller “Woman (Your Love Is Right)” – Rob Baird Check out our Under The Radar playlist to hear all of these songs in one place. Spotify: Apple Music: The post 30 New Country Songs That Need To Be On Your Radar – May 2026 first appeared on Whiskey Riff.