Luke has always had his finger on the pulse of country music. You can have your qualms about the entirety of Luke Combs‘ musical output over the past decade; however, you simply cannot deny that he has been nothing but a net positive in country music since his debut in 2017. Even if you ignore all the chart and sales success, which features him being the third-highest-selling country artist behind Morgan Wallen and Garth Brooks, having the 1oth-most #1 hits on country radio since 1990 and consistently selling out stadiums across the country, he’s also been a force for positive change as well. If you’ve been keeping a close eye on his career, you’re well aware at this point that Combs has been ahead of the curve when it comes to bringing out the best that the independent/alt country scene has to offer. From selecting Zach Bryan to open shows on his 2022 stadium tour to having the likes of Colby Acuff and 49 Winchester open throughout his Growin’ Up and Gettin’ Old Tour and most recently, joining Charles Wesley Godwin on his new track, “Better That Way,” the “Beer Never Broke My Heart” singer has always selected some of the buzziest indie artists to join him on his massive stadium tours over the past few years. Because of this and the massive success he’s been experiencing at the moment on his My Kinda Saturday Night Tour, I thought it was the perfect time to look back on some moments that proved that Combs had his finger on the pulse of country music and showed that he just gets it. 1. Enlisting Zach Bryan On His 2022 Tour As we sit in 2026, it’s pretty safe to say that Combs, Zach Bryan and Morgan Wallen are the “big three” in country music. Of course, Ella Langley is dominating everyone in the genre right now as arguably the biggest artist in all of music. It remains to be seen how sustainable Ella’s meteoric rise will be, but by this time next year, we could very well have a “big four” in the genre. But back in 2022, however, this was simply not the case. Though Bryan was undoubtedly hot at the time, already breaking out with DeAnn and just releasing his mammoth major label debut album, American Heartbreak, he was nowhere near the superstar he is today. Combs, being the savvy artist he is, grabbed the “Something in the Orange” singer early, allowing him to perform at stadiums, Empower Field at Mile High in Denver, Lumen Field in Seattle and Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta in particular, before he’d end up selling them out himself (and making American history) a few years later. It’s not the most incredible pull, given that Bryan was already pretty buzzy, but you’d be hard-pressed to find another artist grabbing the “I Remember Everything” singer that early. 2. Forming A Unique Relationship With 49 Winchester Though there’s plenty of competition out there today, there’s no denying that 49 Winchester has emerged as one of the most talented bands in the alternative country/southern rock scene. Lately, especially with their partnership with Lucille Records (of MCA Records), the release of their brand new album, Changes of Plans and their first-ever nomination at the ACM Awards for Group of the Year, they’ve gotten some more mainstream attention. Combs, however, was on the 49 Winchester wave all the way back in 2022, famously rocking their t-shirt during a Rolling Stone photoshoot before enlisting them as openers on his 2023 world tour across the pond. Hilariously, frontman Isaac Gibson was first tipped off to the fact that Combs was a fan of their music when the band received an order from him, which he told us recently on the Whiskey Riff Raff Podcast. 3. Selecting Flatland Cavalry, Colby Acuff & Wyatt Flores As Openers Combs’ stellar track record with openers doesn’t just end with Bryan and 49 Winchester. Throughout the years, he’s also snagged some of the more slept-on artists that haven’t quite hit the highs of the “Oklahoma Smokeshow” singer. Though Flatland Cavalry and Wyatt Flores have been receiving more attention, with Flatland snagging three-straight ACM nominations for Group of the Year and Flores continuing to rise in the Red Dirt scene, pulling Acuff back in 2024 on the Growin’ Up and Gettin’ Old Tour was an incredible pull. For all intents and purposes, Acuff has remained one of the most slept-on artists and songwriters in the genre today, and the selection from Combs further proves how in-tune he has been with his opener choices. 4. Teaming Up With Charles Wesley Godwin, The Wilder Blue & Charlie Worsham Unlike most artists on this list, Godwin and Combs go way back. So far back, in fact, that Godwin opened up for the “Hurricane” singer all the way back in 2016 at a bar called Schmitt’s Saloon in CWG’s hometown of Morgantown, West Virginia. Years later, he’d open up for Combs once again on his aforementioned Growin’ Up and Gettin’ Old stadium tour back in 2024. Obviously, the big event between the two came earlier in the month when they teamed up for “Better That Way,” which is not only a killer song itself but also allowed the West Virginian to chart his first-ever song on a Billboard chart, scoring a debut at #60 on their Country Airplay chart this week. Godwin has remained one of the best artists working today, and it’s been incredible to see Combs boost a long-time collaborator and help him score a major career accomplishment. .@CharlesWesleyG debuts a song on Billboard's charts for the first time in his career this week with "Better That Way," with @lukecombs. The song debuts at No. 60 on #CountryAirplay. — billboard charts (@billboardcharts) May 27, 2026   In 2023, after confessing to be a longtime fan of the band, he teamed up with The Wilder Blue on a cover of Steve Young’s “Seven Bridges Road” for their Super Natural album. And then finally, he teamed up with the super talented Charlie Worsham for “That’s How I Learned To Pray” in 2023 as well. Everyone working in country music knows and loves Charlie Worsham. He’s highly respected, incredibly talented, and just an all-around fantastic ambassador of country music. He’s written songs, played on records and joined touring bands during his career, however his solo work hasn’t quite garnered the attention it deserves. 5. TikTok, Comments & More This one’s a bit all-encompassing, but if you’re tapped into the underground scene within country music, on TikTok in particular, you’ll see Combs commenting on and supporting a plethora of different artists. Notably, he was found in the comment section of rising star, Kenny Whitmire, when he was having a viral moment with his breakout hit, “I Gave Her The Moon.”  In fact, Combs has talked at-length about this recently on the Zach Sang Show, saying he does this to encourage younger artists and boost their confidence: “Sometimes I’ll get stuff come across and it’s got 2, 300 likes on it, and I’ll fire a comment on it and I’m like, ‘Hey man, you’re unbelievably talented, you need to hear this.’ Not that my opinion really matters. I do it as a fan, but also I can’t imagine if 10 years ago, if Eric Church would have commented on my video and said, ‘Hey man, you’re super good.’ The confidence that would bring you or could bring a kid – is that the difference between them going, ‘Well should I give up or not?’ Even if it gets them another week of keeping going. In some ways it feels like a superpower, to be able to just go in and say, ‘Hey man, I’ve done what you did and I’ve made it to where I made it to, and just keep going.’” Additionally, you can find him commenting on other stellar bands in the alternative country/southern rock scene like Cigarettes @ Sunset, recently hyping up their new release, “Appalachian Raised,” which comes out this Friday. @gary1999_ App raised this Friday and I’m freaking out y’all #appalachia #lukecombs #countrymusic #boonenc ♬ Appalachian Raised – Cigarettes @ Sunset Luke Combs Tour Dates May 30 Parc Jean-Drapeau – Montreal, QC June 5 Rogers Stadium – Toronto, ON June 6 Rogers Stadium – Toronto, ON July 4 Ullevi – Gothenburg, Sweden July 7 Accor Arena – Paris, France July 11 Johan Cruijff ArenA – Amsterdam, Netherlands July 18 Slane Castle – Slane, Ireland July 19 Slane Castle – Slane, Ireland July 25 Scottish Gas Murrayfield – Edinburgh, UK July 31 Wembley Stadium – London, UK August 1 Wembley Stadium – London, UKThe post 5 Times Luke Combs Proved He Was A Great Champion For Underground Country Artists first appeared on Whiskey Riff.

Officially hitched. Almost exactly a year after debuting their relationship on the red carpet of the American Music Awards last May, Zac Brown and jewelry designer Kendra Scott have tied the knot during a small ceremony in Greece. The couple had reportedly been dating for a few months before they made their red carpet debut together, and on July 24 announced that they were engaged after Zac pulled off an elaborate proposal that involved 30 elephants. As Zac recalled at the time: “Kendra’s such an amazing human being. We share so much in the way we love our family, the way we protect our people and our business, the way that we fight for good things in our philanthropy, the way that we choose to try to help each other. I had to figure out a way to do it. So, we were actually on a river. And on a barge with 30 elephants on the bank and the sun setting and birds flying over and hippos in the water. And I got it good.” And Scott also showed off her massive pink diamond engagement ring: View this post on Instagram Well apparently the couple didn’t want to spend too long planning an elaborate wedding, because TMZ confirmed that the two were married over the weekend in a small, intimate ceremony in Greece. The wedding took place at the Canaves Epitome Resort in Santorini, and was attended by a small group of their friends and family. It marks the third marriage for Brown, who was married to his first wife Shelly for 12 years before splitting in 2018. He then married model and actress Kelly Yazdi in August 2023, but the couple announced that they would be getting a divorce just a couple months later in December 2023. He has five children with his first wife, ranging in age from 12 to 20. Meanwhile, Scott has been married three times before, and has three children from her previous marriages. Brown has been locked in a bitter legal dispute with Yazdi since their divorce, with the singer filed a lawsuit against her in May of 2024, claiming that she was defaming him with an Instagram post about being in a controlling and abusive relationship. Zac was not named in the post. Yazdi made a statement in response to the lawsuit, saying that she had been afraid to speak up on the matter, but wanted to set the record straight. She also said that Zac asked her for a divorce over Zoom, just 9 days after their wedding party. His ex-wife had also previously served as Executive Vice President of his business, Zac Brown Collective, and accused her of forwarding confidential business information to her personal email after he asked for a divorce. Earlier this year, a court ruled in favor of Brown in finding that Yazdi breached her confidentiality agreement with the business, ordering her to return all confidential information and refrain from using or disclosing any confidential information obtained through her employment. For her part, Yazdi has filed an appeal of the ruling, and has claimed that Brown is using litigation to attempt to silence her about issues in their relationship and short-lived marriage. Hopefully things go better for Zac and Kendra this time around.The post Zac Brown Marries Jewelry Designer Kendra Scott During Small Ceremony In Greece first appeared on Whiskey Riff.

Ratings for Episodes 1 and 2 of 'Dutton Ranch' are finally in. Continue reading…

That would be quite a pairing. Riley Green attended the American Music Awards this past weekend, in addition to performing, and he spoke with E! News on the red carpet ahead of the show, and he was asked about his upcoming role as a judge on The Voice. Riley will join for Season 30 of the reality singing competition show, where he will be joined by fellow judges Kelly Clarkson, Adam Levine and Queen Latifah, and the show is set to air sometime this fall. He says he just met Queen Latifah for the first time last weekend, and he has yet to meet Adam, so fans will really get to know each of them, and their dynamic as a whole, in realtime when the show actually airs: “I’m so brand new, I met Queen Latifah yesterday. Kelly Clarkson sent me a message kind of taking trash about the show. And I haven’t met Adam yet, so I love that we’re gonna kind of meet each other and build that rapport in real time, you know, when we’re doing the show. It will be real when we start filming. Kelly’s definitely talked the most trash, so she’ll probably be tough. But I got to meet Queen Latifah and that was a big deal. She was a larger-than-life figure for me growing up.” Riley was also asked about which artist he might want to work with as a dream collaboration, and his answer might surprise you… it wasn’t a fellow country artist he named, but rather pop artist Teddy Swims. While Swims is in the pop world, he has dabbled in tons of genres, from R&B  to country, and if you don’t recognize his name, you’ve probably heard his massive hit song “Lose Control” in some grocery store or out and about. Riley explained that he loves Swims’ voice, and thinks he could sing about anything, and he’d love to find a really country song for them to do together: “I was thinking Teddy Swims, I saw him earlier today. He just has such a great voice, such a talent. I think he could sing about anything, so we could find a country song for us to do together.” Swims has done songs with Maren Morris and Thomas Rhett, but Riley definitely has a much more traditional style than those two, so it would be really interesting to hear what they might come up with or what they’d select to record. Riley is actually putting out a new song tomorrow called “Think As You Drunk,” though it’s unclear if it’s part of a bigger project or just a one-off single. Riley put out his most recent album Don’t Mind If I Do in 2024, so it feels like we’re probably due for something pretty substantial soon, but obviously Riley’s got a lot going on so he might not be ready to dive into album promotion and all of that anytime soon. Stay tuned… He performed “Worst Way” at the AMAs: Luke Combs Let it rip on a cover of “Lose Control” last year you can check out here: View this post on Instagram The post Riley Green Reveals The Surprising Pop Artist He Wants To Collab With first appeared on Whiskey Riff.