What to watch on streaming next month, from new movies to new shows. Continue reading…

The collab I’ve been waiting for since last year. Last July, Stephen Wilson Jr. opened up for Eric Church during his 3 night run at Red Rocks. And every night, I kept waiting for SWJ to appear during Church’s set. The combination of the two makes too much sense: They’re both trailblazers who are unapologetically themselves, with their own sound that pushes the boundaries and sets the standard when it comes to both songwriting and musicianship. Of course Church has a two decade head start on Stephen Wilson Jr., who was previously a food scientist for Mars before making the jump to music. But if there were ever two kindred spirits on their own respective musical journeys, it’s EFC and SWJ. Unfortunately the collab at Red Rocks never came. But luckily, they delivered tonight in Texas – and Whiskey Riff was there to witness it. Stephen Wilson Jr. is one of an all-star cast of openers that Church selected for his Free The Machine tour. And during their stop at Dickie’s Arena in Fort Worth, Church welcomed the relative newcomer to the stage for a collaboration that not only paid tribute to some country music legends, but proved that country music is in good hands with artists like Stephen Wilson Jr. primed to pick up the mantle. Midway through his own set, Church welcomed his opener back onstage, much to the delight of the capacity crowd in Fort Worth. And first up, they delivered a show-stopping performance of the Guy Clark-penned hit “Desperados Waiting For A Train.” The song has been recorded by a number of country legends over the years, from David Allan Coe to The Highwaymen, but Church and Wilson Jr. managed to not only pay tribute to the past but breathe new life into the country music classic: (If you can’t see the video, you may need to disable your adblocker and refresh). But that wasn’t all: They followed it up with a duet of one of the greatest country songs ever written (and I will fight anybody who disagrees), with their version of the Willie Nelson and Ray Charles collab “Seven Spanish Angels.” Church’s tour has been full of magical moments, from trombone solos from band member Roy Agee and powerhouse performances from Joanna Cotten, to his openers like Ella Langley and Charles Wesley Godwin joining Church on stage for all-time collabs. But the performance with Stephen Wilson Jr. was something special. These two are clearly kindred spirits, artists who blazed (or are blazing) their own trail and making country music better for it along the way. It’s not often that you get two artists like this at the same concert, much less on the same stage together, and everybody who was in Fort Worth to witness it knew exactly how special it was. I was waiting for it to happen at Red Rocks, but I’m just thankful I was in Texas to finally see it happen. Now, if they want to run it back in Austin tonight, I definitely wouldn’t be mad about it…the more we can see of these two together, the better country music will be for it. (I’m also still trying to get Church to run back his Whiskey Riff-inspired “New Old Me,” which he debuted at Red Rocks. Maybe one of these days). “New Old Me”@ericchurch https://t.co/2N2KCwaITt pic.twitter.com/id7YPeWIgF — Whiskey Riff (@WhiskeyRiff) July 17, 2025 The post Eric Church & Stephen Wilson Jr. Team Up For Show-Stopping Collab Of Guy Clark & Willie Nelson Hits During Fort Worth Concert first appeared on Whiskey Riff.

Akins, party of seven! Continue reading…

What’s a pirate era of your music career without a little treasure hunt? In case you didn’t get the memo, Sturgill Simpson is no more. If you are looking for him, you are actually looking for a pirate named Johnny Blue Skies. He and his band, the Dark Clouds, have an album coming out Friday, March 13 that’s titled Mutiny After Midnight. The artist formerly known as Sturgill has stated that the only way to get your hands on the new music will be through physical media such as vinyl, CD and cassette. And some fans don’t even have to wait until March 13. The official Johnny Blue Skies social media accounts fired out a cannonball of an update earlier today. The “Swamp of Sadness” singer let everyone know that the new album is already out in limited capacity… you just have to know where to find it. Using a picture from Sturgill Simpson’s time in the Navy, the social page sent out this exciting message: “TREASURE HUNT ALERT! 10 copies on shelves at your local record shop in select markets… run b****es. I’M THE CAPTAIN NOW.” View this post on Instagram Oh, how sweet it would be to be able to get your hands on one of those limited copies. The most interesting part about this latest update in the Mutiny After Midnight saga is that… well, there’s not much specificity there. A whole lot of Sturgill/Johnny Blue Skies fans are going to be running from record store to record store hoping to find the vinyl that’s out two weeks prior to its actual release date. Talk about a pirate-like adventure. For the lucky souls that do find the treasure, they’ll be able to experience what has been described by JBS as a protest disguised as a disco record. In the Mutiny After Midnight letter, Johnny Blue Skies described the upcoming project as this: “We decided to make an album centered firmly on groove. We started every day from scratch with a basic groove. I wrote the songs and lyrics in the moment on the spot, and everyone established their individual parts servicing the songs and not the individual ego… There’s a simple goal we as a band set out to achieve: to make a dance record. So this protest, this mutiny is really more about the primary dance. The dance of all creation. To be clear, it is a protest against oppression and suppression, and the only tried and tested true antidote to that is pure, unfiltered, unapologetic, relentless disco-hedonism.” And lucky for us, it sounds like we’ve got ourselves a sneak peek. The Johnny Blue Skies account has been active today. Shortly after the “TREASURE HUNT” post was sent out, audio paired with a He-Man meme (the memes from the JBS account have been nonstop hilarity) was shared. A quick Shazam of the music was met with no matches… meaning that the funky groove you hear when you press play on this video below is likely from one of the nine songs included on Mutiny After Midnight: View this post on Instagram That’s certainly the disco sound that Sturgill Simpson/Johnny Blue Skies has been promising. Now that I’ve heard a snippet, I really wouldn’t mind hearing the whole thing. I can either a) wait until March 13 like I originally intended to or b) drop everything and go on a treasure hunt at my local record stores… and hope that no one else had the same idea. I’m torn on what to do. If you happen to go out searching for it, here’s what you are looking for: View this post on Instagram   Hope some lucky Sturgill/JBS fans out there are able to sniff out the “X that marks the spot” at their local record store. Some might call it unconventional to only release a new project on vinyl, CD and cassette… but it’s certainly building up some hype for the new project. Mutiny After Midnight Tracklist Make America Fuk Again Excited Delirium Don’t Let Go Stay On That Viridescent Situation Venus Everyone Is Welcome Ain’t That A B**** The post “TREASURE HUNT ALERT”: Sturgill Simpson Surprise Drops ‘Mutiny After Midnight’ At Select Record Stores & Shares Snippet Of New Song first appeared on Whiskey Riff.

It changed the entire country genre. Continue reading…