Midland is officially back. Since breaking out back in 2017 with their 5x platinum hit, “Drinking Problem,” Midland has remained one of the most fascinating groups in terms of mainstream country music. In case you didn’t know, they’re comprised of Mark Wystrach, who is a former actor turned singer, Jess Carson, a lifelong musician and Cameron Duddy, who was a music video director best known for directing Bruno Mars’ classic, “Uptown Funk.” Over the years, they’ve caught some flak for the admittedly strange backgrounds of two-thirds of their members, as well as their dedication to keeping an incredibly flashy, 70s aesthetic seemingly constantly. Despite this, however, I’d go as far as to say that Midland has remained the best country band in the mainstream over the past decade. Sure, you can question the authenticity as much as you want, but there’s absolutely no denying that hits like “Burn Out” and “Cheatin’ Songs” as well as deep cuts such as “Adios Cowboy” and “I Love You, Goodbye” are not rock-solid tracks that harken back to the oftentimes glitzy nature of 1970s country. After dropping their fifth studio album, Barely Blue, back in 2024 with the likes of Kaitlin Butts and Paul Cauthen and scoring a semi-viral hit with ACM New Female Artist of the Year nominee, MacKenzie Carpenter, on “I Wish You Would,” Midland is back with their next project. Just announced, Midland will be releasing their sixth studio album, Stages, on Friday, June 12th. View this post on Instagram Discussing the album, Duddy, Midland’s bassist/vocalist, would note that Stages serves as a tribute to all the stages and places they’ve been over the past decade. “We’ve gone so many places and done so many things. I think we got to that place in the road where we wanted to pull it all together. The title is really a tribute to all the places where we’ve made our stand, but it’s also about all the phases and stages we’ve been through to get here.” Wystrach, Midland’s frontman, would add that the record, at its core, is about bringing together their Texas and California roots, noting that the marriage between the two is what really matters to them. “And the more you dig into country’s roots, the more there is to work with. We’ve always had real respect for the original Texas and California country, so this album lets us pull all that through the songs we’ve written and found to really focus on what matters to us.” Finally, Carson, Midland’s guitarist/vocalist, would echo Duddy’s sentiment about Stages being a tribute to the band’s life on the road over the years, noting that all the “road dust, sweat and music listened to” can be felt throughout the record. “Nashville, Texas, California, everywhere in between; we’ve been in a pick-up, then a van and finally a bus – it’s all in these songs. The road dust, sweat, music listened to, it all seeps into who we are and what we do.” Overall, Stages will be produced by Trent Willmon (Cody Johnson’s Human: The Double Album) and will include 10 songs. In addition to pre-released tracks, “Marlboro Man, “Glass Half Empty” and the Chris Stapleton co-write, “Drinkin’ Dark Whiskey,” the record will include the aforementioned Carpenter duet and a brand new collaboration with “Killin’ Time” singer, Clint Black on “Up In Texas.” Stages’ next single, “Shooting Memories With Tequila,” will be released tonight at midnight. Stages Tracklist “Marlboro Man” (Dean Dillon, Tim Nichols, Josh Thompson) “One Day You Won’t” (Seth Ennis, Mike Robinson, Matt Roy) “Shooting Memories With Tequila” (Ryan Beaver, Joe Clemmons, Mike Walker) “Walk A Mile” (Carson Chamberlain, Wyatt McCubbin, Michael White) “Glass Half Empty” (Jess Carson, Cameron Duddy, Jeff Hyde, Ryan Tyndell) “I Wish You Would” (with Mackenzie Carpenter) (Mackenzie Carpenter, Jonathan Hutcherson, Jamie Moore) “Up In Texas” (feat. Clint Black) (Jess Carson, Cameron Duddy, Josh Osborne, Bryan Simpson) “Drinkin’ Dark Whiskey” (Michael Henderson, Chris Stapleton) “Drunk Enough” (Jess Carson, Mark Wystrach, Nathan Barlowe, Jamie Moore) “Vaquero” (Joseph Patton, Brett Sheroky, Dan Wilson) Before you go, fire up their most recent release, “Drinkin’ Dark Whiskey.” Midland 2026 Tour Dates 5/7: Corpus Christie, TX – Corpus Rodeo 5/22: Arlington, TX – Globe Life Field 6/6: Nashville, TN – CMA Fest 2026 6/13: Driggs, ID – Ridgeview Pro Rodeo 6/19: Grolloo, NLD – Holland International Blues Festival 2026 6/20: Copenhagen, DK –Tivoli Gardens 6/22: Munich, DE – Backstage Werk 6/24: Paris, FR – Alhambra 6/26: Arendel, Norway – Taste of Country 6/27: Interlaken, CH – Trucker & Country Festival 2026 7/16: Bakersfield, CA – Dignity Health Theater 7/17: Costa Mesa, CA – The Pacific Amphitheatre 7/18: Cabazon, CA – Morongo Casino Resort and Spa 7/21: Sacramento, CA – Cal Expo 7/24: Cardwell, MT – Headwaters Country Jam 2026 7/25: Sundance, UT – Sundance Mountain Resort 8/1: Sidney, MT – Richland County Fair & Rodeo 8/6: Sandpoint, ID – Festival at SandpointThe post Midland Announces New Album, “Stages” first appeared on Whiskey Riff.

She’s a country girl through and through. Back in 1977, Dolly Parton released what would become a major crossover hit, “Here You Come Again,” which ultimately became the title track to her album of the same name. The song was written by Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil, and it topped the country singles chart in addition to becoming her first Top 10 Pop hit, peaking #3 on the Pop singles charts in January of 1978. The story goes that Weil accidentally erased the original first line while messing with the recorded while her co-writer was out, and she didn’t know what to do, so she “made one up,” and Mann knew right away that it wasn’t his original line, but he liked hers better: “I didn’t know what to do, so I made one up. I made up the melody and the lyric. When he came back I sang it to him. He said ‘that’s not my opening line, but I like yours better.’ We kept it.” The song was actually first pitched to Brenda Lee, and she kept it for over a year and never ended up recording it. B.J. Thomas was the first to record the song when he included it on his self-titled album in 1977, and it reached the ears of Parton’s producer Gary Klein, who thought it would be perfect for Dolly. But Dolly was reluctant to cut it, because she knew one the one hand, it would broaden her fanbase and help her jump into pop, but she was very afraid it would alienate her country base and she wasn’t willing to do that in order to become a pop star. So Klein came up with the idea to bring in steel guitarist Al Perkins in order to give the song a more country feel, according to Songfacts from Tom Roland’s The Billboard Book of Number One Country Hits. Klein says Dolly was very “relieved” when the added the noticeable steel guitar: “She wanted people to be able to hear the steel guitar, so if someone said it isn’t country, she could say it and prove it. She was so relieved. It was like her life sentence was reprieved.” Dolly ultimately won a Grammy win for Best Country Vocal Performance for a Female with “Here You Come Again,” and in an interview with SiriusXM, her former manager Sandy Gallin confirmed that Dolly did not initially want to record it, because she was loyal to the country market and was never going to turn her back on her country fans to go pop: “She said, ‘A monkey can sing this song and have a hit with it.’ She was very nervous that it would turn off the country market, which she was very loyal to. There was no way she wanted to ever let anything insinuate that she may be turning her back on the country audience to go to pop.” It doesn’t surprise me at all that Dolly handled her transition to pop this way, and she was hugely successful in the pop world starting in the mid-70s with “Here You Come Again,” and while there were some fans who I’m sure weren’t happy about it, Dolly has always stayed true to herself and her country roots, and I think that has a ton to do with why she’s become the icon we know and love today. Plenty of musicians from every single genre around should be taking notes… turn it up: “Here You Come Again” The post “A Monkey Can Sing This Song” — Why Dolly Parton Didn’t Want To Record This 1977 Hit Song first appeared on Whiskey Riff.

Cody Johnson is all for country and Christian music continuing to share the same space. The 38-year-old artist hailing from Texas has never shied away from his relationship with God. He’s had all kinds of success, and yet he remains grounded and connected to the things that matter the most to him: his family and his faith. Sure, his albums are going to deliver hard-hitting country songs… but they almost always include a Gospel track too. One of his biggest hits that’s viewed by some fans as a Christian song is “Til’ You Can’t.” Though it doesn’t directly mention faith (Kid Rock’s version of the song does), the existential theme of the Lord calling people home gets some people thinking about their relationship with God. While speaking with Backstage Country, CoJo said that “Til’ You Can’t” is a truly special and powerful song: “I’ve had a young lady come up to me and tell me that she didn’t commit suicide because of this song. I’ve had a couple say that they were going to get divorced until they heard this song. I’ve had people say, you know, I haven’t spoken to this person in a decade until I heard this song… Now it’s like the pillar in the set. People wait all night long just to say, ‘When is he going to sing this song?’ And it’s so cool to watch their reactions when you start the song. I was definitely blessed with this one. That’s for sure.” As to whether or not that specific track is a Christian song or a country song, Johnson believes that it can fit into any box that it really need to. In fact, the country star went on to say that there are plenty of genres that have country music as the overarching umbrella. “I think that country music and Christian music and then country music and R&B and rock music and Rockabilly and Bluegrass… they are all kind of cousins of this thing called country music.” Great way of thinking about it. In the modern era of country music, there’s always a lot of debate about what’s country and what’s not. Cody Johnson is here to say… why does that really matter? Plenty of artists blur genre lines, but when it specifically comes to Christian music, that specifically is more about subject matter than it is the sound. That’s why there is Christian pop music, Christian rock music, and Christian hip hop… why can’t there be country worship music too? Of course, plenty of country music artists share their faith through their music, and many got their first taste of performing in church when they were young. So country music and Christian music might be a little more than cousins… they share deep roots. And CoJo has plenty of other songs that are, without a doubt, Christian. Fans are often asking CoJo to put out a full-fledged Gospel record because he’s always sprinkled in a faith-based song here and there in his albums. Johnson has never dedicated an entire album to gospel, but it certainly feels like that could be coming at some point though. If CoJo ever does, he just might rework “Til’ You Can’t” (or even just adopt the Kid Rock version) and include it in a collection of his other Christian songs that help lift up the Lord. “Til’ You Can’t” by Cody Johnson “Til’ You Can’t” by Kid Rock The post Cody Johnson Perfectly Explains the Deep Connection Between Country & Christian Music first appeared on Whiskey Riff.

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“On a train back to Boston and we’re jumping the gun…” Chances are if you’re on TikTok you’re already familiar with Stella Lefty‘s viral hit “Boston.” The song absolutely blew up when she began teasing it back in February, even drawing attention from Parker McCollum on the very first teaser of “Boston” that she posted: The song is an interpolation of Noah Kahan’s “Stick Season,” with Kahan even credited as a writer despite not actually writing on the song. The studio version officially dropped back in March, and since then it’s already racked up 28 MILLION streams on Spotify as well as thousands of videos on TikTok. In fact, Wyatt Flores even brought out the emerging artist to perform her hit song during Stagecoach Festival recently: @flores_motor_co Wyatt brought out Stella Lefty to sing Milwaukee and Boston at Stagecoach #wyattflores #stellalefty #boston #stagecoach #festival ♬ Boston – STELLA LEFTY “Boston” is currently sitting at #52 on the Billboard Hot 100 and #29 on the Hot Country Songs chart, and she’s already followed it up with her next single, “I Know I Know,” which just dropped this past Friday. Her viral success has a lot of fans wondering where she came from, and who exactly this artist is who’s pretty much everywhere after seemingly blowing up overnight. Stella Lefty is an indie-folk leaning country artist, who dropped her first single “Kiss Me” back in November 2024. She released a few songs throughout 2025, but her first viral hit came earlier this year when she released a song called “Thinking ’bout You,” which has racked up 27 million streams after first popping up – you guessed it – on TikTok. While no official announcement has been made, it appears since earlier this year Lefty has been signed to Atlantic Outpost, which is the country and Americana imprint of Atlantic Records and also serves as home for artists like Willow Avalon and Sam Barber. And she’s already landing herself spots on some major tours, with opening spots for Mumford & Sons and Tucker Wetmore coming later this year, along with several solo shows and festival dates. But with popularity obviously comes scrutiny, and many are questioning just how Stella Lefty managed to blow up so fast – and pointing to her billionaire father. You see, Stella Lefty’s real name is Stella Lefkofsky, and she’s the daughter of Groupon co-founder Eric Lefkofsky, who currently serves as the founder and CEO of Tempus AI, a health technology company. Many in her comments are critical of Stella for being a “rich kid” and assuming that she bought her musical career. But that seems a little short-sighted to me, because these days you have to have talent to take off like she has. In the age of streaming, we’re seeing more and more independent artists become superstars without the help of radio or record labels. Sure, it helps to have money to put behind your music, but how many artists have been pushed by major labels only to be dropped a few years later because nobody was listening to their music? If a label with its billions of dollars and promotional machine can’t make an artist a superstar, a tech CEO can’t just buy his daughter a career either. Others online seem to be annoyed by her promotional strategy, which seems to be posting the same clip of her songs over and over. There are plenty of comments calling her a “one verse wonder” and questioning whether there are even any other lyrics to the song, because most of the clips feature the same short verse. But I think that’s part of the reason that the song has gone so viral: It’s catchy, and when people hear it over and over it quickly gets stuck in their heads. So no, I don’t think Stella Lefty is an “industry plant.” It seems like she’s mastered using social media to promote her music, which is what record labels are looking for these days. There’s no doubt that played more of a role in her (apparently) getting a record deal than her father did, because it’s pretty much a requirement that an artist have a large social media following before they’re given a record deal. And let’s not overlook or diminish something else: Her undeniable talent. She’s got a mesmerizing, smoky voice and a sound that fits in perfectly alongside artists like Kahan and Wyatt Flores who are both having massive popularity right now. Stella Lefty has clearly capitalized on the popularity of her style of music right now, writing catchy songs and figuring out how to make them go viral. I have a feeling we’ll be hearing a lot more from her in the future – even if it’s just one verse at a time on TikTok. The post Let’s Talk About Stella Lefty, The Daughter Of Billionaire Groupon Founder Going Mega-Viral With Her Song “Boston” first appeared on Whiskey Riff.