Solid country gold right here. Simply put, there’s no one doing it quite as well as Zach Top these days. 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. In addition to being labeled as the savior of traditional country music, Top has proven himself as the quintessential human jukebox over the past few years when it comes to delivering phenomenal covers of different songs across multiple eras. From Chris Stapleton’s “Nobody to Blame” and Billy Currington’s “Good Directions” to Shenandoah’s “Two Dozen Roses” and Conway Twitty’s “Slow Hand,” the Washington Native has yet to meet a classic song that he cannot perform flawlessly. This week, in particular, proved to be quite the busy one for the “I Never Lie” singer. In addition to slating another batch of dates on his Cold Beer & Country Music Tour, Top has seemingly been everywhere. On Thursday, he’d make a surprise appearance at The Red Clay Strays’ album release show in Nashville and perform “Where The Corn Don’t Grow” before returning on Saturday for his headlining set at CMA Fest. In between the two Nashville appearances, however, Top would play a headlining show in Durant, Oklahoma, at Choctaw Grand Theater. Here, he’d deliver another flawless rendition of one of the most influential songs in his career, none other than George Strait’s 1982 hit, “Amarillo By Morning.” At this point, Top is no stranger to the classic track from the King, frequently covering it over the past few years. This time, however, he decided to strip it back and perform it acoustically, commenting that he had to forgo having the iconic fiddle in the intro. Even without the fiddle, the 28-year-old singer/songwriter did what he does best and delivered an absolutely flawless rendition of the country standard. @kira6021 Amarillo By Morning cover by @@Zach Top in Durant, OK ##zachtop##concert##fyp ♬ original sound – Kira… As previously mentioned, “Amarillo By Morning” has a special place in Zach Top’s career, as it was the first song he ever learned to play on guitar at five years old, something he revealed back in 2024 in a conversation with CMT’s Cody Alan. “The first big one was George Strait for me. Ever since I was about three years old, I thought he looked pretty cool in a cowboy hat and holding a guitar. That was my parent’s favorite, so they had him playing nonstop in the house growing up. Actually, the first song I ever asked to learn how to play on guitar when I took my first lesson when I was five. I walked in there and the girl asked me what I wanted to learn to play, and I said, ‘Amarillo By Morning.’” A full circle moment. Zach Top 2026 Tour Dates June 11—Decatur, AL—Rock the South June 12—Orange Beach, AL—The Wharf Amphitheater≠ June 13—Orange Beach, AL—The Wharf Amphitheater≠J June 18—Bloomington, IL—Tailgate N’ Tallboys June 19—North Lawrence, OH—The Country Fest June 20—Columbia, MD—Merriweather Post Pavilion« June 25—South Greenfield, MO—Baker-Spain Stampede June 26—Bonner Springs, KS—Country Stampede June 27—North Platte, NE—NEBRASKAland DAYS July 9—West Valley City, UT—Utah First Credit Union Amphitheatre July 10—Boise, ID—ExtraMile Arena July 11—Pendleton, OR—Pendleton Whisky Music Fest July 15—Saskatoon, SK—SaskTel Centre∆ July 16—Edmonton, AB—Rogers Place∆ July 18—Whitefish, MT—Under the Big Sky Festival July 23—Minot, ND—North Dakota State Fair July 25—Cheyenne, WY—Cheyenne Frontier Days 2026 August 6—Toronto, ON—Rogers Stadium~ August 7—Ottawa, ON—Canadian Tire Centre« August 8—Canandaigua, NY—CMAC« August 13—Wantagh, NY—Northwell at Jones Beach Theater≈ August 14—Boston, MA—Fenway Park~ August 15—Boston, MA—Fenway Park~ August 20—Pittsburgh, PA—PPG Paints Arena∞ August 21—Allentown, PA—PPL Center August 22—Bangor, ME—Maine Savings Amphitheater∞ August 27—Dieppe, New Brunswick—YQM Countryfest 2026 August 28—Gilford, NH—BankNH Pavilion∞ September 1—Toronto, ON—Rogers Stadium~ September 11—Lake Tahoe, NV—Lake Tahoe Amphitheatre at Caesars Republic« September 17—San Diego, CA—Pechanga Arena« September 18—Anaheim, CA—Honda Center September 19—Fresno, CA—Boots In The Park September 25—Corpus Christi, TX—Hillard Center Arena« September 26—San Antonio, TX—Frost Bank Center« October 2—Jacksonville, FL—VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena October 3—West Palm Beach, FL—iTHINK FinancialAmphitheatre October 8—Des Moines, IA—Casey’s Center≈ October 9—Rosemont, IL—Allstate Arena≈ October 10—St. Paul, MN—Grand Casino Arena≈ October 15—Sioux Falls, SD—Denny Sanford PREMIER Center≈ October 16—Milwaukee, WI—Fiserv Forum≈ October 17—Grand Rapids, MI—Van Andel Arena≈ October 23—Lafayette, LA—CAJUNDOME∆ October 29—Duluth, GA—Gas South Arena∆ October 30—Nashville, TN—Bridgestone Arena∆ ≠with special guest Cole Goodwin «with special guest Wyatt McCubbin ∆with special guest Lukas Nelson ~with Chris Stapleton ≈with special guest Marty Stuart And His Fabulous Superlatives ∞with special guest Marcus King BandThe post Zach Top Delivers Stunning Acoustic Rendition Of “Amarillo By Morning” In Durant, Oklahoma first appeared on Whiskey Riff.

The moment Johnny Blue Skies fans have been waiting for. Just in time for the heat of the summer, the artist formerly known as Sturgill Simpson finally released his latest album, Mutiny After Midnight, to streaming. Technically, it’s been available ever since March 13, when it was released through physical media only. The original announcement of the album said that fans would only be able to get their hands on vinyl, cassette and CDs – A.K.A. no digital or streaming option. Just shy of a month after its release, Mutiny After Midnight was available to buy digitally through iTunes. And now, almost three months after the album dropped, it’s on streaming services. That’s not a surprise. The Dread Pirate Johnny Blue Skies had told fans that it would eventually be released on streaming with a couple of extra songs thrown in… though no one knew exactly when that would be. In a social media post from March, JBS talked about how the unconventional album drop led to his biggest first week of his career, and that the music would eventually find a home on streaming: “I can assure you, if nothing else, there are meetings taking place right now throughout the music industry amongst those who pray to formula currently discussing and analyzing the fact that without interviews, tv performances, singles, music videos, or an ounce of ‘marketing’ outside a steady steam of stupid ass memes, we have already had what those that follow charts refer to as the biggest ‘first week’ of any album in my entire career… and ‘first week’ technically just started today. We’ll probably put it on iTunes at some point. We’ll probably stream it (with bonus tracks) at some point. But the album is out in stores today. Go buy a physical copy… or don’t. Stream it illegally… or don’t. But as your attorney, I advise you to put the phone down, get out of the house, and go grab a copy and find a place to crank it with some friends or even strangers… you might even get laid. It’s all the same f***ing day man… so don’t let the bastards get ya down.” That “some point” is today. Fans will be excited to know that three additional songs are included on the “Extended Edition” of Mutiny After Midnight. Stu’s cover of Eddie Murphy’s “Party All The Time,” which has been a setlist staple over the past couple of years, made the track list. And so did “Whiter Shade of Pale” and “You Don’t Miss Your Water,” which are also covers that have shown up in live Johnny Blue Skies shows. Both songs were featured prominently in Sturgill’s Why Not? Tour. “Whiter Shade of Pale” was originally released by Procol Harum in 1966, and “You Don’t Miss Your Water” came out in 1961 thanks to a soul artist named William Bell. The pair of songs fall very comfortably into Sturgill Simpson’s/Johnny Blue Skies’ wheelhouse… and are now official releases underneath the JBS moniker. It’s been a long wait for those that didn’t go the physical media or digital purchase route… so what are you waiting for? Go turn up Mutiny After Midnight on any and every speaker you can find. It’s a gift from JBS, and he delivered it to his fanbase on his birthday. Happy Birthday to Stu… and thanks for letting the rest of us in on the celebration. Apple Music Spotify The post ‘Mutiny After Midnight’ Is Now Available On Streaming Platforms & Johnny Blue Skies Threw 3 Extra Songs In first appeared on Whiskey Riff.

Riding off into the sunset. After a decade in the genre, viciously fighting against bro-country and penning some of the most insane tracks in country history, such as “F**k You B**ch,” “Eatin’ P***y/Kicking A**” and “Drop ‘Em Out,” Wheeler Walker Jr. has officially announced his retirement from country music today. At this point in his career, I doubt that he truly needs an introduction. However, if you’re somehow unfamiliar with Wheeler, he is a character/singer created by Ben Hoffman, an actor and comedian who has written with the likes of Norm McDonald and starred in shows such as Arrested Development. With that being said, he’s had a long history of being pretty respected among some of the best in the genre, famously appearing with both Tyler Childers and Sturgill Simpson all the way back in 2018 for a performance of “Sit On My Face.” Throughout his career, Walker Jr. has scored five #1 albums on Billboard’s Comedy Albums chart, with two of those debuting inside the Top 10 on the Country Albums chart as well. In fact, he’s the first artist ever to simultaneously chart on both upon the release of his debut album, Redneck Sh*t, back in 2016. Back to the retirement itself, the “Born to F***” singer would say in a statement that he “can’t do this anymore,” before commenting on the fact that every song in Nashville is written by “twelve idiots named Chase,” which is likely a shot at Chase Matthew, who has scored hits with abhorrent songs such as “Darlin'” and “We All Grow Up.” Additionally, he’d joke that he doesn’t want to be around when country music becomes “fully AI.” “I can’t do this anymore. Every song in Nashville is written by twelve idiots named Chase about trucks they don’t own and farms they never worked on. I really don’t wanna be around when country music becomes fully AI, which sadly will be better than most of the crap they’re putting out now.” In tandem with his retirement, Walker Jr. announced his final tour, Pullin’ Out: The Farewell Tour, as well as his final album, Pullin’ Out, which will be released on Friday, September 25th. As for the album, he will once again be working with the legendary Dave Cobb, who has produced the likes of Chris Stapleton’s Traveller, Jason Isbell’s Southeastern, Sturgill Simpson’s Metamodern Sounds In Country Music, The Red Clay Strays’ Made By These Moments and many more. This will mark the sixth time and final time the pair have teamed up for project. As for the tour, it will begin on October 15th in Grand Rapids, Michigan, at The Intersection before wrapping up on May 15th in Nashville at the Mother Church itself, The Ryman Auditorium. Along the way, Walker Jr. will be hitting the likes of Los Angeles, Boston, Austin, Detroit, Denver, Seattle and many more cities across the U.S. and Canada on the lengthy set of 58 shows. In addition to the retirement announcement, new album and tour, Walker Jr. dropped the first single off Pullin’ Out, fittingly titled “F*** This Bar,” which I would embed, but thanks to the explicit nature of the material, YouTube won’t allow me. Pullin’ Out: The Farewell Tour Dates Oct. 15: Grand Rapids, Mich. – The Intersection Oct. 16: Pittsburgh – Roxian Theatre Presented by Citizens Oct. 17: Beaver Dam, Ky. – Beaver Dam Amphitheater Oct. 19: Madison, Wisc.- The Sylvee Oct. 21: Davenport, Iowa – Capitol Theatre Oct. 22: Detroit – The Fillmore Detroit Oct. 23: Cincinnati – Bogart’s Oct. 24: Indianapolis – Egyptian Room at Old National Centre Nov. 5: Jordan, N.Y. – Kegs Canalside Nov. 6: Huntington, N.Y. – The Paramount in concert with Northwell Nov. 7: New Haven, Conn. – Toad’s Place Nov. 8: Boston – Citizens House of Blues Nov. 10: Moncton, NB – Casino New Brunswick Nov. 12: Montreal, QC – MTELUS Nov. 13: Ottawa, ON – HISTORY Nov. 14: London, ON – London Music Hall Nov. 15: Toronto, ON – HISTORY Nov. 17: Sayreville, N.J. – Starland Ballroom Nov. 19: Columbus, Ohio – The Bluestone Nov. 20: Cleveland, Ohio – The Agora Nov. 21: Charles Town, W. Va. – Hollywood Casino at Charles Town Races Feb. 24: Milwaukee – The Rave / Eagles Club Feb. 25: St. Louis – The Factory Feb. 26: Kansas City, Mo. – Uptown Theater Feb. 27: Denver – Summit Music Hall Feb. 28: La Vista, Neb. – The Astro Theater March 2: Tulsa, Okla. – Cain’s Ballroom March 4: Austin, Texas – ACL Live at the Moody Theater March 5: Dallas – The Bomb Factory March 6: Houston – House of Blues Houston March 7: Corpus Christi, Texas – Brewster Street Icehouse March 9: Odessa, Texas – Dos Amigos March 11: Albuquerque, N.M. – Revel March 12: Tempe, Ariz. – Marquee Theatre March 13: Del Mar, Calif. – The Sound March 16: Los Angeles – Troubadour March 18: Napa, Calif. – Uptown Theatre March 19: Reno, Nev. – Grand Sierra Resort March 20: Salt Lake City – The Complex March 21: Boise, Idaho – Treefort Music Hall March 23: Eugene, Ore. – McDonald Theatre March 25: Portland, Ore. – Roseland Theater March 26: Seattle – Showbox SoDo March 27: Vancouver, BC – Commodore Ballroom March 30: Kelowna, BC – Kelowna Community Theatre April 1: Calgary, AB – Event Centre @ Grey Eagle Resort & Casino April 2: Edmonton, AB – Midway Music Hall April 3: Saskatoon, SK – Coors Event Centre April 5: Winnipeg, MB – Burton Cummings Theatre April 7: Green Bay, Wis. – EPIC Event Center April 8: Minneapolis – First Avenue April 9: West Des Moines, Iowa – Val Air Ballroom April 10: Rosemont, IL – Joe’s Live April 22: Richmond, Va. – The National April 23: Raleigh, N.C. – Bowstring April 24: Atlanta – The Eastern May 15: Nashville – Ryman AuditoriumThe post Wheeler Walker Jr. Announces Retirement, Slates Final Album & Tour first appeared on Whiskey Riff.

The phone was eventually returned. Morgan Wallen is no stranger to making headlines for throwing things, and this past weekend during what was supposed to be a two-night stop in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania at Acrisure Stadium this weekend got interesting. Night two has caused a lot of uproar because Morgan Wallen and his team called off the concert very early in the day because of forecasted bad weather. Here was the official announcement from Wallen: “After talking with local officials and my team, there is no choice but to cancel tonight’s show due to severe adverse weather conditions expected throughout the rest of the day and night. Safety for my fans and crew is the highest priority. Refunds available at point of purchase.” Admittedly, the conditions were expected to be rough… but once it got to the part of the day when the concert was supposed to be taking place, it couldn’t have been more beautiful: Morgan Wallen cancelled in Pittsburgh tonight due to weather. In his defense, it is perhaps the most beautiful night I’ve ever seen pic.twitter.com/kKJsB4qLaJ — Dustin Nickerson (@DustinNickerson) June 7, 2026 After unfounded rumors started swirling that Wallen had canceled the concert for other reasons (like being hungover) and just used the inclement weather as an excuse, the country singer put out a video clearing the air and responding to his fans that were outraged. You cancel too late and people are mad, cancel too early, people are mad… you can’t win. And we know that at least one fan from night one of the his Pittsburgh stop was probably a little perturbed as well because… the “Last Night” singer chucked their phone across the stage. I could go on and on about phone etiquette at concerts, and I’m not exactly sure why a security guard was holding someone’s phone for them, but as you’ll see in the video below, Morgan Wallen wasn’t having it when he saw the phone being held up close to the stage: @nathan_lomago11 DO YOUR DAMN JOB SECURITY !! per Mr. Morgan Wallen Pittsburgh @morganwallen #concert #imtheproblem ♬ I Can’t Love You Anymore – Ella Langley & Morgan Wallen According to on commenter, J. Croo, the phone was actually given to the security guard by a fan to take a video from the front of the stage: “It was actually my wife’s phone that got tossed. She gave it to the security girl to hand up to Morgan Wallen to hopefully grab and take a selfie. Phone was recovered with no damage.” Here’s another angle: @rachelmargaret_ He tossed that thang. #morganwallen #pittsburgh ♬ A Summer Place – Hollywood Strings Orchestra Not a great look, but maybe there’s more than meets the eye to this story. For starters, I’m not sure why a security guard is taking videos of a concert and not, you know… maintaining security? These folks are hired to do a job, and that clearly isn’t it. Also, it’s pretty common for artists to have specific songs that media is allowed to film. Granted, the security guard isn’t media, but this narrative going around that Morgan just whipped some fan’s phone for no reason is probably not the case. Though, it’s certainly not a great look to take a fans phone and throw it, though I highly doubt he knew that was a concert-going fans phone who paid to be there… I’m sure he thought it belong to security. Now is there a better way to handle that regardless of who the phone belonged to? Absolutely, and had Morgan not had the immediate reaction to grab the phone and maybe asked someone to tell them to stop, I feel like we might not be having this discussion right now, but I digress… But the husband of the woman, Amy, whose phone it was, is sharing more about what happened, as he posted his own video of the phone getting thrown by Morgan, saying that his wife had handed the phone to security to give it to Morgan, and even he admitted that “security should be doing security things,” adding that he got why that happened: “Well that just happened… Amy gave her phone to the lady to hand to Morgan Wallen and he launched it. I get it… security should be doing security things, but….” @jcroo419Well that just happened… Amy gave her phone to the lady to hand to Morgan Wallen and he launched it. I get it… security should be doing security things, but….♬ الصوت الأصلي – وحيد And he also shared an “edited” video of what happened once the phone was thrown, explaining that there was an over 9-minute video from the time it happened until another security guard went and found it and returned it to Amy. “This is an edited video of the phone hitting the stage and then the security guy finding it and returning it to my wife. I say edited because it was videoing for over 9 minutes under the stage where it fell.” Tons of commenters wanted to know more about what happened, and he said he might be able to convince his wife to share her side of the story, so we’ll see… but it sounds like they weren’t all that upset about what happened. Of course, if you’re willing to shell out the kind of money that I’m sure they did for such close seats, you’re probably a big fan, and it seems like they have some sort of understanding as to why that happened. Hopefully, we’ll hear something from Amy, because something tells me she’s going to have a whole lot to say, but at least her phone is seemingly still in one piece: @jcroo419This is an edited video of the phone hitting the stage and then the security guy finding it and returning it to my wife. I say edited because it was videoing for over 9 minutes under the stage where it fell.♬ Supernatural Ambient_UMA, UFO, Ghost, Haunted, Doomsday Prophecies, Alien Encounters, Life After Life, Bermuda Triangle, Psychic(1094836) – Ney Morgan still has 10 shows left on this tour, which will conclude in August in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania at Lincoln Financial Field. ‘Still The Problem’ Tour Dates June 19 || Chicago, Ill. || Soldier Field w/ Brooks & Dunn, Gavin Adcock, Zach John King June 20 || Chicago, Ill. || Soldier Field w/ Ella Langley, Gavin Adcock, Zach John King June 26 || Clemson, SC. || Clemson Memorial Stadium w/ Brooks & Dunn, Gavin Adcock, Jason Scott & The High Heat June 27 || Clemson, SC. || Clemson Memorial Stadium w/ Ella Langley, Gavin Adcock, Jason Scott & The High nHeat July 17 || Baltimore, Md. || M&T Bank Stadium w/ Brooks & Dunn, Gavin Adcock, Jason Scott & The High Heat July 18 || Baltimore, Md. || M&T Bank Stadium w/ Ella Langley, Gavin Adcock, Jason Scott & The High Heat July 24 || Ann Arbor, Mich. || Michigan Stadium w/ Thomas Rhett, Hudson Westbrook, Blake Whiten July 25 || Ann Arbor, Mich. || Michigan Stadium w/ HARDY, Hudson Westbrook, Blake Whiten July 31 || Philadelphia, Penn. || Lincoln Financial Field w/ ​​Brooks & Dunn, Hudson Westbrook, Blake Whiten August 1 || Philadelphia, Penn. || Lincoln Financial Field w/ Ella Langley, Hudson Westbrook, Blake WhitenThe post “Security Should Be Doing Security Things”: Husband of Fan Defends Morgan Wallen for Throwing Wife’s Phone first appeared on Whiskey Riff.

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