Darius Rucker concert in lieu of a college football game? That’s not exactly the kind of the trade off you hear about all that often, but that’s exactly what’s happening at the University of South Carolina. The school’s athletic department has opted to put on a block party and country music concert instead of holding their annual spring football game. Why, you might be asking? Because who really wants to watch college football in April, that’s why. That’s actually not the reason why the University of South Carolina decided to call upon one of their most famous graduates to put on a concert. Let me be clear: The real reason the Gamecocks Athletic department partnered with Rock Block to put on what they are calling the Garnet & Black Spring Fest because… their stadium is currently under construction. In other words, it’s kind of hard to put on a spring football game when your football stadium is an active construction zone. So rather on punting on the whole thing altogether, the athletic department thought up another way to get fans excited and to come together to celebrate South Carolina athletics. Darius Rucker, a longtime supporter of the Gamecocks and a University of South Carolina graduate, will be joined by country singer Lauren Alaina for a concert that will act as the cap to the entirety of the Garnet & Black Spring Fest. Early on Saturday, April 11, the University of South Carolina will put on a free-to-attend block party right outside of their Colonial Life Arena (where Rucker and Alaina will play that night). The festival will feature all kinds of fun for the whole family, including meet and greets with South Carolina football players. Then, the doors to the concert will open around 6 o’clock, with Darius Rucker and Lauren Alaina getting things kicked off about an hour later (props to me for all of the football puns so far, eh?). The audible by the athletics department to pivot from a spring football game to a full-on music festival is a great idea, and South Carolina Athletics Director Jeremiah Donati is very much looking forward to seeing it all come together in a couple of months: “The Garnet & Black Spring Fest promises to be a great event for fans of all ages and gives us an opportunity to come together and celebrate what it means to be a Gamecock. Our department has been hard at work finding new ways for our fans to interact with one another and our student-athletes, and the Garnet & Black Spring Fest is just one of the new events that we will be announcing to meet that goal. Due to the ongoing stadium construction, our ability to host a Spring Game this year was going to be challenging as our top priority is ensuring Williams-Brice Stadium is ready for our September 5 home opener. As a result, the Garnet & Black Spring Fest was created to not only provide fans with the opportunity to meet and greet our football student-athletes but to come together as Gamecocks.” So South Carolina football fans won’t be seeing any hard hits out on the field when April rolls around. Instead, they’ll be watching Darius Rucker perform hits like “Alright” and “Wagon Wheel” inside Colonial Life Arena. Not a terrible trade off… but definitely different than watching young athletes throw on the pads and give fans a taste of what’s to come when the actual football season rolls around.The post Why The University Of South Carolina Is Hosting A Darius Rucker Concert Instead Of Their Annual Spring Football Game first appeared on Whiskey Riff.

Of the 17 country singers in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, 14 made country music's version. Continue reading…

Chris Stapleton will always remember the words that legendary college basketball coach, Rick Pitino, shared at his basketball camp. Most of us only know Stapleton as the rocking country music star with arguably the best voice in all of the business. But what if I told you that he once had dreams to lace up his shoes and play college basketball under the bright lights? That might be a stretch to say honestly. That assumption is just based off of a picture that was shared by legendary college basketball coach Rick Pitino back in early 2024. He’s one of the only head coaches to lead two different universities to NCAA titles… if you disregard the fact that the NCAA took away his most recent national championship at the University of Louisville. As a Louisville fan, I don’t have the energy to get into that whole situation. You probably know what happened, and what led the NCAA to vacate Pitino’s 2013 NCAA title with the Louisville Cardinals. Since he left Louisville, he’s had coaching stints overseas, at Iona University, and now is the head coach of St. John’s up in New York. And way back in the day, he got his first national championship with the University of Kentucky. From 1989 to 1997, Pitino coached the Wildcats, and led them to one of their many NCAA titles in 1996. Somewhere in those years, he also hosted a Rick Pitino Basketball Camp in Lexington, Kentucky, and guess who was there? Chris Stapleton. The “White Horse” singer was born and raised in Lexington, Kentucky, so the timeline makes sense for him to have participated at the UK basketball camp. He must have had a rather memorable showing at the camp too, because many years later, the former Kentucky coach tracked down this photo of a young Stapleton and said this: “Chris Stapleton at Kentucky Wildcats basketball camp. Didn’t like the way he played defense. Told him to go into music instead. Don’t thank me Chris, it’s okay.” @ChrisStapleton at KY Wildcat basketball camp. Didn't like the way he played defense. Told him to go into music instead. Don't thank me Chris, it's ok pic.twitter.com/NRZioGzglw — Rick Pitino (@RealPitino) January 7, 2024 So because Stapleton didn’t play great defense (which is a staple of any Pitino led team), the Kentucky coach allegedly told him to spend his time doing something else other than basketball… like going into music. It’s great to imagine that the great Rick Pitino was responsible for Stapleton’s country music career. He’s obviously joking in that post, but thanks to a new episode of New Heights (hosted by the Kelce brothers) that featured Chris Stapleton, we now know that there was something that Pitino said during that camp that stuck with the country music superstar. Jason Kelce was asking Stapleton if playing and listening to multiple forms of music makes you a better musician. The “Broken Halos” singer’s mind immediately went to multi-sport athletes and how playing multiple sports can actually help make you better all around, which took him back to a quote from Pitino that the coach delivered at his Lexington camp: “I have to share this just because it popped into my head as you were saying that. When I was a kid, I went to Rick Pitino basketball camp. Rick Pitino spoke to us before the camp or whatever. He was like, ‘Now in order to be a good basketball player, you have to play three sports: one on one basketball, three on three basketball, and five on five basketball.’ That popped in my head as you were saying that.” So Rick Pitino DID have an impact on Chris Stapleton’s music career after all. I say that because Stapleton’s actual answer to the question shows that Pitino’s advice – which was partly joking and partly serious – did stick with the singer and songwriter: “I do think there’s something that can strengthen you as a musician if you can at least have a working knowledge of a lot of different kinds of music. But at some point, all these influences kind of converge into whatever it is that you are and that’s what that is.” You can hear more from Chris Stapleton (and get extra insight into his sports past) in the latest episode of New Heights: The post Chris Stapleton Shares The Advice From Rick Pitino That Stuck With Him When He Attended Basketball Camp As A Kid first appeared on Whiskey Riff.

A noble goal for the up-and-coming Leon Majcen. On the latest episode of the Whiskey Riff Raff podcast (which was actually a double episode), Leon Majcen talked to us about being raised by Bosnian refugee parents, almost quitting music altogether during 2020, his ambitious plan to release two to three albums a year for the next five years, and one of his career goals being that he does well enough to give back to his parents. Majcen was born in the Czech Republic to Bosnian and Croatian parents who had fled there from Bosnia during the Yugoslav War in mid-90s. Before he turned two, he and his parents relocated to Clearwater, Florida. Once they made the move, they wished for the best for their son, and encouraged him to pursue whatever he felt passionate about. That passion ended up being music, and a full circle moment confirmed that Leon Majcen was on the right path: “My mom definitely hoped I’d do something else. She wanted me to be a doctor. It just didn’t work out that way. With my dad, he was stoked. When my dad was young, he asked his dad for a guitar. His dad never got him a guitar. So when I was around 9, I asked my dad for a guitar. And I didn’t know any of this prior. I asked him for a guitar and he was like, ‘If you get a guitar, you can’t just let it sit in the corner collecting dust.’ My dad told me that later on (and said), ‘When I was around that age, I wanted to play too. My dad never gave me the opportunity.'” Ever since Leon Majcen (last name pronounced “might-sin”) got that guitar, he’s been chasing his country music dreams. His parents have been on his team all along the way. They made major sacrifices to bring him to the United States, and considering all they did to give Leon a better life, they felt it was only right that he pursue a career in music. Though they both express their worry and concern from time to time, they both know that their main goal in relocating to America was to give their son a better life: “He’s been super supportive. Both of my parents have. But my mom’s just been more scared for me… my dad kept encouraging me. He’d say, ‘We didn’t come to this country just so you could work some job you don’t want to work. Go write songs. If that’s what you want to do, do it well.’  @whiskeyriff @Leon Majcen on the latest Whiskey Riff Raff podcast #whiskeyriff #whiskeyriffraff #leonmajcen #countrymusic ♬ World Gone By – Cloverdale Version – Leon Majcen & Philip Bowen & Cloverdale Family Band And if you listen to any of Majcen’s music, he’s certainly doing the songwriting thing well, and he’s surely making his parents proud. Leon says that the support he’s felt from his parents has been invaluable to him and his career, and he hopes one day that he can give back to them as thanks for all that they’ve provided. In his head, retiring both of his parents with money made through his music is one of the career goals he’s chasing after the hardest: “My parents never really got to pick what they wanted to do. Especially after they came to the states. They just had to take whatever job they could. If I could give back to my parents somehow, just make their life a little bit easier, I’d count that as a win.” Majcen has the talent to do just that, and here’s to hoping that one day, those dreams become reality for Leon and his parents. To hear more about the country music singer’s journey thus far, and what he hopes to achieve in the near future, make 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 Rising Country Star, Leon Majcen, Wishes To Do Well Enough To Help His Bosnian Refugee Parents Retire: “I’d Count That As A Win” first appeared on Whiskey Riff.

It’s hard to understate just how much of a force to be reckoned with Chris Stapleton has become throughout his music career. With 12 Grammys, 19 CMA Awards, 11 ACM Awards and a plethora of other hardware from the likes of Billboard, the Americana Music Association, ASCAP and more, the Kentucky native is arguably the biggest and most critically-acclaimed country artist this century. Among all the awards, last month, Stapleton made history as the only artist to capture a double-diamond song from the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) as his cover of David Allan Coe’s “Tennessee Whiskey” officially sold over 20 million units in the U.S. At this point in his career, Stapleton has essentially accomplished all that an artist can possibly dream of, between the awards, hits, tours with legends such as George Strait and more. And these days, it seems as if he’s toying with the possibility of retiring. If you recall, back in January, the “White Horse” singer appeared on the podcast, Armchair Expert with Dax Shepard. Here, he’d tell the actor and podcast host that he has no plans to record a new record or even write a new song (his last record was Higher in 2023), citing that he wants to give some time back to his family. “I don’t know when I’m gonna make another record or write a new song, I’m probably not really in the mood. And that’s ok with me…. I don’t know how much longer I’ll even go play. I want to make a thoughtful decision… (my family) gave a lot for me to be sitting here with you and I owe them some things I think, some time in particular. I’ve done more than I’ve ever set out to do.” During the conversation with Shepard, he’d add that he’s truly searching for a creative spark as of late, and it’s admittedly a bit more elusive than it used to be in the past. “It’s important to find that. For me, fuel is the search. I’m gonna have to search for something. I’m gonna have to hunt for something. I don’t know what that is or where it’s going to come from… I’m not hanging up my spurs. I’m just saying I’m looking for the fire. I need the fire. And I want the fire to lead. Sometimes that’s more elusive now than it used to be.” Stapleton would follow those comments up with a very simple, one-word answer regarding plans of recording new music in a pre-Super Bowl interview with Rolling Stone as well: “Nope!” Today, the “You Should Probably Leave” singer appeared on Jason and Travis Kelce’s podcast, New Heights, and reconfirmed that he has no intention of getting into the studio any time soon. When asked about whether he likes writing or recording better, Stapleton would candidly say that he enjoys both when they’re working but prefers the studio overall. Immediately after, he’d state he doesn’t have “any plans to go do much of that these days” regarding going to the studio. “I like it all when it’s working. I’m frustrated by it all when it’s not. I do enjoy writing, but I don’t do a lot of that anymore. I do enjoy going to the studio. The studio’s probably my favorite part, really, although, I don’t have any plans to go do much of that these days really either.” Overall, it looks like Stapleton is more than happy to simply hit the road and perform while balancing time with his family, something that I can’t blame him for. Though it might be a bit disappointing to not hear any new music from him, aside from some one-off singles and collaborations, I think fans (myself included) would much rather see him take his time, find that creative spark and deliver another stellar album whenever the time is right instead of pumping out a project just for the sake of it. Watch the full podcast here: All-American Road Show Tour Dates May 23 – Nashville, Tennessee – Nissan Stadium with Lainey Wilson & Allen Stone June 11 – Jacksonville, Florida – Vystar Veterans Memorial Arena with Allen Stone June 13 – Tampa, Florida – Raymond James Stadium with Lainey Wilson & Allen Stone June 17 – Burgettstown, Pennsylvania – The Pavilion at Star Lake with Allen Stone June 20 – Charlotte, North Carolina – Bank of America Stadium with Lainey Wilson & Allen Stone June 24 – Hershey, Pennsylvania – Hersheypark Stadium with Grace Potter June 26 – North Charleston, South Carolina – North Charleston Coliseum with Grace Potter July 8 – Mountain View, California – Shoreline Amphitheater with Molly Tuttle July 10 – Chula Vista, California – North Island Credit Union Amphitheater with Molly Tuttle July 17 – Portland, Oregon – Providence Park with Grace Potter July 22 – Vancouver, British Columbia – Rogers Arena with The Teskey Brothers July 24 – George, Washington – The Gorge with Grace Potter July 29 – Shakopee, Minnesota – Mystic Lake Amphitheater  with Allen Stone August 1 – Cincinnati, Ohio – Paycor Stadium with Lainey Wilson & Allen Stone August 6 – Toronto, Ontario – Rogers Stadium with Zach Top & Allen Stone August 8 – Detroit, Michigan – Ford Field with Lainey Wilson & Allen Stone August 14 – Boston, Massachusetts – Fenway Park with Zach Top & Allen Stone August 18 – Virginia Beach, Virginia – Veterans United Home Loans Amphitheater with Maggie Rose August 21 – Atlanta, Georgia – Mercedes-Benz Stadium with Lainey Wilson & Ashley McBryde August 26 – Wantagh, New York – Northwell at Jones Beach Theater with Carter Faith August 28 – Philadelphia, Pennsylvania – Freedom Mortgage Pavilion with Carter Faith October 2 – Bristow, Virginia – Jiffy Lube Live with Mike Campbell & The Dirty Knobs October 7 – Lincoln, Nebraska – Pinnacle Bank Arena with Nikki Lane October 9 – Kansas City, Missouri – Morton Amphitheater with Nikki Lane The post “I Don’t Have Any Plans To Do Much Of That”: Chris Stapleton Reconfirms He’s Not Planning On Recording New Music Any Time Soon first appeared on Whiskey Riff.