ESPN and the Masters called upon a country star to be the voice of the beloved golf tournament coming in April. With just over two weeks until the Masters officially tees off, ESPN has unveiled its new “Georgia On My Mind” campaign for everyone’s favorite major tournament. The brought in Thomas Rhett to record a cover, and it’s still not the favorite choice if you ask Masters fans (most think they should stick with Ray Charles’ rendition), but it is going over better than last year, when ESPN had Noah Kahan do the cover. To make a long story short, people hated Kahan’s recording of the song last year. That’s because a) some considered it to be out of the “Stick Season” singer’s vocal range and b) he’s from Vermont. Ray Charles’ version of “Georgia On My Mind” just makes sense. He’s from Georgia, and the song highlights all of the southern state’s great features. Hell, the state of Georgia even recognizes Charles’ rendition as their state’s official song. And with Augusta National Golf Club (home of the Masters) nestled in Augusta, Georgia, it just makes too much sense. So I’ll give ESPN credit… they at least went out and got a singer from Georgia this time around. Rhett hails from Valdosta, Georgia, and he said that having his cover of the song be the official song for ESPN’s Masters tournament campaign was a dream come true: “Recording ‘Georgia On My Mind’ was a pretty surreal moment for me. Being from Georgia, sports and music are both just in my blood. Obviously nobody can touch the original, but it meant a lot to me to be asked to honor both the song and tradition of the Masters.”  Smart of Rhett to admit that no one is going to touch the original. And a cover song can always be tricky. I think that’s partly why people disliked Noah Kahan’s stab at it last year… he tried to make it his own. Thomas Rhett, on the other hand, stayed true to the Ray Charles’ recording, and I believe that greatly benefited him (even though some people still dislike it). The country star says the song means a lot to him already, and now means even more since he’s got his own cover out there: “As long as this song has been in my brain, it has meant ‘Go Dawgs’ for me in Athens, and it’s April in Augusta. I’m immediately transported to my home town of Valdosta, Georgia, watching the Masters with both sets of my grandparents. That song will forever have a special place in my heart. It’ll always make me think of the Masters.” Excited to have @ThomasRhett sing this year’s rendition of “Georgia on My Mind” for @TheMasters pic.twitter.com/CKtspwDqQ1 — ESPN (@espn) March 23, 2026 Pretty solid, if you ask me. You’ll likely be hearing Thomas Rhett a lot in the next couple of weeks if you tune into ESPN. His song will be accompanied by beautiful footage from the Masters, and ESPN actually went ahead and released the ad spot earlier today. It leans heavily into the storied history of Augusta National Golf Club, and Rhett’s “Georgia on my Mind” pairs up well with scenes from The Masters: Here's ESPN's 2026 campaign for @TheMasters. Thomas Rhett covering "Georgia on my Mind." pic.twitter.com/BWOdSinhYD — Josh Carpenter (@JoshACarpenter) March 23, 2026 Not bad, right? There’s been more positive things said about it than negative, but the haters are out in full force in the reply section. The consensus is that it’s better than the version they rolled out in 2025, but that they’d still be better off going with the original: Better than last year with Noah Kahan, but just give us the classic — Spencer May (@mayjspencer) March 23, 2026 Serious question – why do they keep messing around with any version except the original? Thomas Rhett isn’t going to bring any additional eyeballs covering a song in a commercial, so what’s the motivation? All they’re doing is pissing off the core audience. — Timely Bogey (@timelybogey) March 23, 2026 In my opinion, an improvement over the Noah Kahan version, but still offensively bad. Ray Charles erasure is incredulous. — Walker (@yearning_tree) March 23, 2026 Not good but better than Noah Kahan last year — Ray Sutton (@raysutton_21) March 23, 2026 Hey… you can’t make everyone happy. But the power ranking sure seems to go: 3) Noah Kahan 2) Thomas Rhett 1) Ray Charles While Rhett’s version is still fresh on your noggin, go ahead and fire up Ray’s version. The country star did the song justice, but it’s still hard to beat the original: “Georgia On My Mind” by Ray Charles And here’s the country star’s full version of the song, in case you wanted to give it a listen too: “Georgia on My Mind” by Thomas Rhett The post Thomas Rhett Covers “Georgia On My Mind” For ESPN’s 2026 Masters Tournament Campaign first appeared on Whiskey Riff.

She’s one of the best in the business… and not just when it comes to writing and recording her own songs. Miranda Lambert has written plenty of hits for some of country music’s biggest modern stars, too. Miranda released her debut album Kerosene in 2005, she’s scored multiple chart-topping hits, holds the record as the most-awarded artist in ACM history, is a three-time Grammy winner, multiple Platinum-certified albums, and accolades for Female Vocalist of the Year from both the CMA and ACM. It’s impressive to say the least, we all know what kind of solo career she’s had as one of the most prominent country artists over the last 20 years, but it should be noted too how much of that experience and success she’s used to help other artists get ahead in their own careers. She’s become a mentor and friend to ladies like Ella Langley and Lainey Wilson, and she continues to help write some of the best country songs in the mainstream part of the genre. And she recently shared a post on Instagram of a video of her singing a medley of some of the songs she’s co-written for other artists that perfectly captures even in just the last several years how much that rings true… from Chris Stapleton and Morgan Wallen to Ella Langley and Lainey Wilson, it’s a stacked list, and all of the songs have been written and recorded in the last five or less years. Check them out: “What Am I Gonna Do” — Chris Stapleton This song was included on Chris Stapleton’s 2023 fifth studio album Higher, and it’s easily one of my favorites from the album. Chris and Miranda co-wrote it, and we all know they have a knack for stunningly beautiful country heartbreakers. “Outrunnin’ Your Memory” — Luke Combs Luke and Miranda co-wrote this song with Dan Isbell, and Miranda is also a featured vocalist. I’ve always thought this song should’ve been MUCH bigger, because it’s super catchy and who doesn’t love a good duet? They sound great together, and that first verse just gets me very time… “Outrunnin’ Your Memory” was included on his 2022 Growin’ Up album, and I can never get enough: “Choosin’ Texas” — Ella Langley Of course, this song is absolutely crushing it right now, and Miranda and Ella co-wrote “Choosin’ Texas” with Luke Dick and Joybeth Taylor. The song has spent its fourth week at #1 on the Hot 100 as of today, and Ella has officially surpassed Taylor Swift with the record for longest-running #1 hit on the Billboard Hot 100 by a female country singer in history. “Thought You Should Know” — Morgan Wallen This song is undoubtedly one of the biggest on this list, and when you pen a hit for the biggest act in music, you clearly know what you’re doing. “Thought You Should Know” was written by Morgan with Miranda Lambert and Nicolle Galyon, and included vs a single form his 2023 One Thing at a Time album. It ultimately went #1 on the Billboard US Hot Country Songs chart, and in my humble opinion, remains one of the best songs in his vast and very successful catalog. “Good Horses” — Lainey Wilson Miranda is a featured on “Good Horses,” which she co-wrote with Lainey and Luke Dick, and it was included on Lainey’s 2024 Grammy-nominated album, Whirlwind. We know Miranda has written and co-written some of her own biggest hits like “Bluebird,” “Vice,” and “Gunpowder & Lead,” and plenty of songs for other artists that didn’t make the medley like Parker McCollum’s “Falling Apart,” and Jelly Roll’s “The Lost,” but just those five songs alone prove that not only is Miranda one of the most impressive and accomplished solo artists in the modern era of country music, but one of the most prolific writers for herself and others, too. She’s a generational talent, and no doubt she earned her spot in the Texas Songwriters Association Hall of Fame which she was inducted into in February, and I’m sure she will continue to for decades to come. Miranda recently debuted a medley of all of the above songs at a show, saying she wanted to sing some of her favorites she’s written with friends in the pretty recent past. To remain so relevant as an artist, and writer, like this is NOT easy to do, and makes it look like it’s nothin’ because it’s just the standard she’s set after so many years in the business: “I wrote a lot of songs with some of my best friends. I thought I would do a little medley for y’all of a few of my favorite songs I’ve written.” It’s just heater after heater… check it out: View this post on Instagram The post Beyond Her Own Hits: 5 Songs Miranda Lambert Penned For Other Country Artists first appeared on Whiskey Riff.

I guess I have been living under a rock… because I had no idea Kesha’s wrote a massive country hit.. If you’re anywhere in your late 20’s and early 30’s, then I’m sure Kesha’s songs like “Your Love Is My Drug” and “TiK ToK” still bring the nostalgia. The pop star has had huge hits and at one time was probably the biggest pop star in the world, or on a short list as one of them, but she has also been in the media quite a bit over the last decade because in 2014, Kesha accused Dr. Luke, one of her former producers, of sexual, physical, emotional, and verbal abuse, and attempted to break her contract with his label, Kemosabe Records. After Kesha’s accusations, Dr. Luke filed a defamation lawsuit, noting that her claims were false and defamatory. While the two reached a settlement agreement in 2023, Kesha’s nearly decade-long battle was very tumultuous. That garnered a ton of attention, and Kesha is now back to putting out new music, and she comes by her musical chops very honestly because her mom, Rosemary Patricia “Pebe” Sebert, is a very accomplished songwriter who wrote one of Dolly Parton’s early hits, believe it or not, in addition to of course writing for her daughter as well as Miranda Cosgrove, Miley Cyrus, Pitbull and more. The songs Sebert wrote for other artists have combined sales of over 8 million copies in the United States alone, and she released her self-titled debut album in 2025 through Kesha’s own independent record label, Kesha Records. But really, her signature song which is now a country classic is “Old Flames Can’t Hold a Candle to You,” which Sebert penned with then-husband Hugh Moffatt (who is not Kesha’s father) for country artist Joe Sun for his album Old Flames. Dolly then included a cover of the song on her 1980 album Dolly, Dolly, Dolly, and it became a huge hit, peaking at #1 on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart. I honestly had no idea, but it being Kesha’s mom who wrote such a country classic is kind of mind blowing… I never would have guessed it. But some of that country influence still shows up in Kesha’s own catalog from time to time, and she previously recorded an acoustic version of “Old Flames Can’t Hold a Candle to You” for her 2013 Deconstructed EP. Kesha also recorded a song called “Resentment” in 2019 for her 2020 album High Road, which features country’s own Sturgill Simpson on background vocals and harmonies in the song’s chorus, and Brian Wilson (of The Beach Boys) and songwriter Wrabel are on it it too. Additionally, Kesha has worked with Morgan Wade, so she definitely knows her country, and I imagine that’s due in large part to her mom’s influence. And Kesha and Dolly brought “Old Flames” completely full-circle in 2017, Kesha and Dolly teamed up for a re-recording of the song for Kesha’s album Rainbow. While Kesha understandably had a lot going on in her personal life over the last decade or so, before that, she really was one of the world’s biggest young pop stars, and it’s cool to know that her mom is also a very important part of Dolly history. We have Kesha’s mom, Pebe Sebert, to thank for helping Dolly kick of her career with a massive hit and put her on the track to icon status… I mean, she has to be the coolest mom ever. “Old Flames Can’t Hold a Candle to You” Here’s the Kesha and Dolly duet: And “Resentment” with Sturgill: Kesha was also recently featured on Morgan Wade’s song “Walked on Water”: The post Did You Know Kesha’s Mom Wrote One Of Dolly Parton’s Biggest #1 Hits? first appeared on Whiskey Riff.