40 years of solid country gold. When it comes to ’90s country, there aren’t many artists higher on my personal favorites list than Shenandoah. The band behind hits like “Two Dozen Roses” and “The Church on Cumberland Road” was formed in Muscle Shoals, Alabama back in 1984 by lead singer (and one of the greatest country vocalists of all time) Marty Raybon, along with drummer and background vocalist Mike McGuire. While they started as a house band, they quickly landed a deal with Columbia Records and released their debut self-titled album in 1987. It was their sophomore album, The Road Not Taken, that made the band a household name with hits like “Sunday In the South” and “Two Dozen Roses,” which along with “The Church on Cumberland Road” became Shenandoah’s first three consecutive #1 hits. Over the next decade, the band was a staple of country radio and became one of the foremost bands of the ’90s with hits like “Ghost In This House,” “The Moon Over Georgia,” “I Want To Be Loved Like That,” and one of my personal favorites, “Janie Baker’s Love Slave.” After taking some time off from the band starting in the late ’90s, Raybon once again became the lead singer of Shenandoah in 2014, and since then the band’s continued to take their hits on the road while also dropping new music in their signature ’90s country style. And now, after four decades as a band, Shenandoah is hitting the road for a massive 40th anniversary tour. Featuring several festival stops, including Rock the Country, Two Step Inn in Georgetown, Texas and the recently announced Alan Jackson’s 5 O’Clock Somewhere Fest in West Palm Beach, Florida, the tour will start later this month in Wickenburg, Arizona and wrap up in Thackerville, Oklahoma in December, with stops in nearly every corner of the country along the way. (I’ve already got my eye on the Nashville date in October). Shenandoah’s one of those bands that seems underappreciated for a group with so many massive hits in their catalog. And if you’ve seen them lately, you know that Marty Raybon’s still got the pipes that he had 40 years ago when they were first getting started in 1984. I always like to remind people to go see your favorite artists while you still have the chance, because they’re not going to be touring forever. Shenandoah is one of those iconic ’90s country bands that every country fan needs to see at least once, and for their 40th anniversary, they’re making sure that everybody will get the opportunity. I know I’ll be there when they make their stop in music city, singing my ass off to all of their many hits. Shenandoah 40th Anniversary Tour Dates: Mar 27 – Wickenburg, AZ – Flying E Ranch Mar 28 – Edna, TX – Red White & Bulls Apr 3 – West Chester, OH – Lori’s Roadhouse Apr 11 – Moncton, NB – Casino New Brunswick Apr 12 – Moncton, NB – Casino New Brunswick Apr 17 – Orange Grove, TX – The Post OG Apr 18 – Georgetown, TX – Two Step Inn Apr 24 – Lancaster, PA – American Music Theatre May 1 – Belleville, TX – Rock the Country May 15 – Rama, ON – Casino Rama Resort May 22 – Monticello, MS – Atwood Music Festival May 23 – Fort Worth, TX – Billy Bob’s Texas May 29 – Bloomingdale, GA – Rock the Country June 6 – Gail, TX – Coyote Store June 13 – West Palm Beach, FL – Alan Jackson’s 5 O’Clock Somewhere Fest June 19 – Hiawassee, GA – Georgia Mountain Fairgrounds June 20 – Patterson, GA – Mossy Pond Lodge June 26 – Gas City, IN – Performing Arts Center June 27 – Blacksburg, SC – Festival July 3 – Charles Town, WV – Hollywood Casino at Charles Town Races July 11 – Fortuna, CA – Fortuna Rodeo July 16 – Florence, AL – St. Jude Trail Ride July 17 – Mount Vernon, KY – Renfro Valley Entertainment Center July 22 – Paso Robles, CA – California Mid-State Fair July 23 – Yerington, NV – Night in the Country July 24 – Corona, CA – Dos Lagos July 25 – Fort McDowell, AZ – We-Ko-Pa Casino Resort Aug 1 – Gethsemane, KY – The Amp Aug 5 – Wausau, WI – Wisconsin Valley Fair Aug 8 – Detroit Lakes, MN – WE Fest Aug 9 – Hastings, MI – Rock the Country Aug 14 – North Lawrence, OH – Neon Nights Aug 18 – Lewisburg, WV – West Virginia State Fair Aug 21 – Fairbury, IL – Fairbury Fair Aug 22 – Chippewa Falls, WI – Northern Wisconsin State Fairgrounds Aug 24 – Centre Hall, PA – Grange Fair Aug 28 – Ocala, FL – Rock the Country Sept 11 – Hamburg, NY – Rock the Country Sept 17 – Philadelphia, MS – Ellis Theater Sept 19 – Morehead, KY – Poppy Mountain Bluegrass Festival Oct 3 – Marshall, TX – Bear Creek Smokehouse Oct 9 – Nashville, TN – TBD Oct 16 – Rockdale, TX – Rockdale Fair Oct 17 – Angleton, TX – Brazoria County Fair Nov 14 – Lufkin, TX – Temple Theater Nov 21 – Kingman, KS – Kingman Historic Theatre Dec 4 – Tulsa, OK – Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Tulsa Dec 5 – Thackerville, OK – WinStar World Casino & ResortThe post Shenandoah Announces Massive 40th Anniversary Tour first appeared on Whiskey Riff.

What a win for Sturgill Simpson. In an era where streaming music isn’t just the norm but ultimately the standard for consuming music, having a physical-only release is incredibly risky. While of course, the largest artists on the planet, such as the Taylor Swifts, Morgan Wallens and The Weeknds of the world may be able to get away with it, it comes with a risk, especially when you’re a cult hero such as Sturgill Simpson, AKA Johnny Blue Skies. As time passes, however, it seems as if the risk was not only worth the reward but Simpson is experiencing record-breaking album sales upon the release of his new album under the Johnny Blue Skies moniker, Mutiny After Midnight. If you haven’t been keeping up with the album’s complicated rollout, let me give you a quick rundown. Back on February 13th, Simpson would turn heads by officially announcing Mutiny After Midnight’s release on March 13th. However, there was a catch — it would be released exclusively on physical media, only having a CD, vinyl and cassette release. While this may have seemed like an out-of-left-field move for most artists, given the dedicated, non-traditional fanbase he’s gained over the past decade or so, it actually made a lot of sense. For Simpson, it was a way to not only give a middle finger to streaming services, which have never been profitable for independent artists, but it was also another form of protest, something that the entirety of the album was based upon. In a bold move, however, on Sunday, March 1st, Simpson ended up posting the album early. Essentially “leaking” his own album nearly two weeks early, the “Swamp of Sadness” singer posted the entirety of Mutiny After Midnight onto YouTube. In typical Sturgill fashion, he simply left this message on social media to guide all of his fans to the early release “Ooops…. might’ve just posted the whole fuk’n album on YouTube…. for the real ones.” For an entire week, Sturgill and JBS fans were able to stream the album they were previously told would be un-streamable, and it was glorious… until it wasn’t. After just eight days of being on YouTube, it was then removed from the platform, once again making March 13th Mutiny After Midnight’s “official” release date. Upon the album’s intended release on March 13th, he explained why they decided to do that while also thanking fans for their support. To explain it as quickly as possible, Sturgill and Co. knew that the album was eventually going to get leaked online in some capacity and wanted to get ahead of it themselves, in addition to showing support for independent record stores. Additionally, he’d signal that the album will most likely find its way onto streaming in the coming months as well. “Thank you very much to everyone for joining in on all the fun and being such good sports over the past few weeks. We made this record with a sense of immediacy and in the moment expression with the pure intention of simply having fun and making people forget about everything else, even if for only 44 minutes. Thank you to everyone that ‘gets it’ and to all the writers for the kind words and love. We had originally planned a physical only release for at least the first 4 to 6 weeks to support and show solidarity with independent record shops and to promote an increasingly bygone physical and tangible connection between music and music fans… the almost mystical bond and stems from holding a new piece of artistic expression in your hands while hearing it for the first time. There were some hiccups (and some opportunists) thus some in the moment adjustments that only led to more fun and chaos. Personally, I’m just here for the chaos. Plus I’ve always really wanted to leak my own record.” As Sturgill said himself, there were certainly some hiccups involved with the album’s rollout in its entirety. The question that remained, however, was, “Did it affect Mutiny After Midnight’s impact and overall sales?” The short answer is no, not at all. On Sunday, Mutiny After Midnight debuted at #3 on the all-genre Billboard 200 albums chart, selling 59,000 total units (all physical, of course) in its first week. In turn, it became the first album exclusively available on physical formats to reach the top 10 in nearly three years, with the last to do so being Taylor Swift’s Record Store Day-exclusive vinyl release Folklore: The Long Pond Studio Sessions back in May 2023. Before Swift, the last time a physical-only release cracked the Top 10 on the Billboard 200 was Garth Brooks’ The Anthology back in 2017. One thing to note, as Simpson does in the caption, is the fact that Swift’s Folklore: The Long Pond Studio Sessions and Brooks’ The Anthology were both a limited Record Store Day release and a box set, respectively. In other words, this was the first time an original, non-exclusive album released physically cracked the Top 5 on the Billboard 200 in well over 15 years. In response to the accomplishment, Simpson would take to Instagram and simply post an image of Popeye with the caption, “Put that in yer pipe and smoke it…” View this post on Instagram Not only did he crack the Top 5 on the Billboard 200. Thanks to the hefty 59,000 physical units, the “Situation” singer was able to top both Billboard’s Top Rock & Alternative as well as their Americana/Folk Albums chart, going #1 in a rare double-up. Unsurprisingly, Mutiny After Midnight also debuts at #1 on their Top Album Sales, Indie Store Album Sales and Vinyl Albums chart, marking the fifth time he’s topped the vinyl-only chart. Incredibly, this marks Simpson’s highest-selling week in his entire career and also ties 2016’s Grammy-winning A Sailor’s Guide to Earth for his highest-charting album on the all-genre Billboard 200 to date. While there have certainly been some critics of the album’s rollout, from its physical-only release to its eventual “leak” on YouTube, it’s pretty safe to say that all the chaos worked out well in the long run for the “Turtles All the Way Down” singer. Regardless of your thoughts on the inherently risky album rollout, it’s pretty safe to say that the gamble paid off big time. Before you go, fire up the one track that’s available online now, “Situation.” The post Johnny Blue Skies Tops The Rock & Americana Charts As ‘Mutiny After Midnight’ Debuts #3 On All-Genre Billboard 200 first appeared on Whiskey Riff.

Tyler Halverson pulling the curtain back on why artists sometimes choose to skip out on Nashville. The singer-songwriter hailing from South Dakota (and proudly gatekeeping his state) recently joined the Whiskey Riff Raff podcast to discuss how he didn’t feel pressure putting together his sophomore album, In Defense of Drinking, revisited his dream blunt rotation, talked about his goal to sing at the NFR opening ceremony, and revealed why he wanted to keep his most recent album “less polished.” Halverson then gave his take on modern country music albums being 25 songs long, how he never passes up a thrifting opportunity, and said that one of his favorite genres of music to listen to is… big band music from the 1940s. Like I said earlier, there’s really no stone left unturned in the conversation with the “Beer Garden Baby” singer. And at one point during the interview, Halverson got on the topics of venues in Nashville that he enjoys playing. He touched on a couple of spots that he enjoys in Music City, but then admitted that Nashville isn’t his favorite place to play, and explained why that’s the case: “I like playing shows, no matter where it’s at. But I think there are better places to play shows than Nashville. That’s a whole thing where you get a lot of people… it’s a lot of industry people coming out and hanging out. You can get a lot of (arms crossed and standing still). Not so much of the crowd hanging out and jamming. I think I’ve always just looked at Nashville as a place to write and record more than to play.” @whiskeyriff Preach. @Tyler Halverson @rockthecountry #whiskeyriff #whiskeyriffraff ♬ Beer Garden Baby (feat. Parker McCollum) – Tyler Halverson Valid point there. If artists spend a whole lot of time in Nashville working, they probably wouldn’t mind a change of scenery when it comes to touring. Of course, on the flip side of the coin, the Nashville show gives artists the chance to invite fellow artists to come out and give fans a surprise guest… we see it all the time when artists are headlining the Ryman or Bridgestone Arena. We even asked Halverson if he think that’s why a lot of other artists – even those outside of the country music genre – tend to pass on scheduling concerts in Music City. The “Fort Worth Losing” singer didn’t want to speak for all artists, but did offer up his hypothesis on why Nashville isn’t an artist’s favorite place to play: “I’m not really sure what the whole reason is for that. I think everyone probably just sees it as home. And we’re not trying to play while we’re at home.” So if you were ever wondering why some of your favorite artists never seem to pick Nashville as one of their tour dates… now you know why. To listen to the full interview, check it out on YouTube or 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 Tyler Halverson On Why Some Country Artists Don’t Enjoy Playing Shows In Nashville first appeared on Whiskey Riff.