Great news. Back on February 24th, the incredibly underrated Oklahoman singer/songwriter, J.D. Graham, was hospitalized following a catastrophic car accident. While traveling through New Mexico, he was hit by a semi-truck and forced into another semi on the interstate. Graham was reportedly unable to move his limbs at the scene and had to be airlifted to a hospital in Amarillo, where he has remained in the ICU. Shortly after the accident, Texas/Red Dirt media outlet, Galleywinter, was keeping fans updated on the matter through Instagram. Sharing these chilling photos of Graham’s car in the accident’s aftermath, it’s clear that he is lucky to still be alive: Galleywinter also shared an update directly from Graham in the hospital: “I’m barely alive here. Thank you guys, I’m still discombobulated, but my daughter said that people were helping out with some things. I’ve got a broken back, broken ribs, broken heart. My dog died in the car that was with me. It’s a tragedy, and thank you guys for the support. I hope to see you guys soon. I’m not too worried about music stuff right now. But I just gotta get better. Just giving you guys an update. Love you.” View this post on Instagram To make matters worse, Graham’s wife, Amy, has been unable to work due to ongoing cancer treatment. Because of this, the “Sidewalk Bobby” singer’s daughter set up a GoFundMe to help out. In an outpouring of support from the Red Dirt music family, over $71,000 has already been raised. The accident has weighed heavily on the minds of many artists and fans in the Red Dirt and Texas community, and we’ve been waiting with bated breath for an update regarding his health. Thankfully, Graham would take to social media on Wednesday, March 25th, to provide an update on his recovery from the accident. View this post on Instagram In a lengthy caption, the 48-year-old singer/songwriter would begin by thanking everyone for their generosity on the GoFundMe campaign, noting how it takes a major financial burden off both him and his wife. Additionally, he’d express how grateful he is for the support he received from Amy and his daughter. “Thank you to everyone that has donated their time and hearts to my cause. I’m truly grateful for everyone’s continued generosity. It has taken a giant burden off of me and my wife and there’s no way we could do this without you folks. My daughters and wife deserve a trophy for all they have done to take care of me. They have been on the front lines. It’s really cool to have support from everyone in my family.” Graham would then give everyone a much-anticipated health update. Noting how difficult it is for him to come to terms with slowing down, he’d state that he is healing slowly but surely. He’d add that there are “a lot of things” he still can’t do physically, but he’s making progress every day. “The healing is going slow, but it’s going. There are still a lot of things I can’t do but I’m making progress every day. It’s always been difficult for me to slow down even when I’m supposed to and I’m coming to terms with that more every day. There is a mental component to this that caught me completely off guard and it sucks. I’ve never been good at sitting still.” At the end of the post, he’d also give some clarification on the injuries he sustained. Contrary to some reports, Graham broke his back and a “bunch” of ribs in the accident — not his neck. Gruesomely, he’d note that his thoracic spine was forced to be rebuilt in the aftermath, requiring 14 screws and titanium rods on his thoracic vertebrae (T1-T7 specifically), and that his spinal cord was damaged and leaking fluid before getting patched up during surgery. He’d also note that he is able to walk “ok” at this point in his recovery process, and he is currently wearing a Cervical Thoracic Orthosis (CTO) brace, which restricts motion in the neck and upper back, for up to 12 weeks. Graham would finish the post by expressing that he’s still in a lot of pain but is remaining optimistic through his recovery process, noting that he’s grateful to still be here despite the gruesome crash. “I will eventually heal from this and get back to chasing my dreams. I’m just not sure when and I know I will have to ease back into it. I have some more imaging scheduled in two weeks… It’s painful but I remain optimistic and grateful to still be here by the grace of God.” Though the surgery was a success for the singer/songwriter, it’s still going to be a lengthy road to recovery. Keep Graham and his family in your prayers as he continues to heal from the horrifying accident.The post J.D. Graham Provides Positive Update Following Catastrophic Car Accident: “I’m Making Progress Every Day” first appeared on Whiskey Riff.

Celebration comes in many forms, and for Dasha, it's a trip to Louis Vuitton and a new Bronco with quilted seats. What a ride! Continue reading…

There’s a lot to dissect here… Sin City, Viva Las Vegas, the city that never sleeps. The sayings can go on and on about how to describe Las Vegas, and you never know what acts you might stumble upon while visiting the Vegas Strip. From Blue Man Group and Oz the Mentalist to Jennifer Lopez and Kelly Clarkson, the entertainment that you find in this city can appeal to anyone’s liking. There is truly an act for anyone and everyone. And while some big names have residencies at the various big resorts, there are also up-and-coming acts that are hoping to make it big in Vegas. Recently, a country artist went viral during a show. Cali Tucker, apparently a relative of country music icon, Tanya Tucker, recently did a residency at the Aliante Casino and is getting a lot of eyes on her performance of Luke Combs’ “Ain’t No Love In Oklahoma” cover she laid down in her setlist. Tucker performed quite a few covers during her show, and I have to be frank, the girl’s got some pipes. However, it’s not her stellar vocals that are gaining her attention. It’s her elaborate stage setup. During her performance of the hit song from the movie Twisters, Tucker was sitting on an acrobatic performer on all fours, dressed like a horse. Okay, playing into the Oklahoma theme, I guess, but it does not end there. The performer was also on stilts, making it appear like some skinny horse that a child might draw. The whole spectacle is very… Las Vegas. But unfortunately for Tucker, the performer on stilts detracts from her vocals, and the spectacle becomes the focal point of her cover rather than her voice. Not to mention, Tucker looks like she is hanging on for dear life up there. Like that can’t be comfortable, right? Maybe this is a lesson in “less is more”… Check it out for yourself: @mothertuckerpr1 @calitucker (@Tanyatucker’s niece) performing @lukecombs “Ain’t No Love in Oklahoma” live in concert! Video by @dustin_j_r ♬ original sound – Mother Tucker PR The general public was also distracted by what was happening on stage, beyond the singing, and the comments section became wildly entertaining. Read a few of my favorites while you’re here: “What in the sleep paralysis is happening?” “What the F is going on here?” “This actually isn’t allowed in Oklahoma.” “I thought this was the masked singer.” “It’s too much and not enough all at the same time.” “That’s enough TikTok today.” “A whole team of people had to sign off on this idea…” “There is nothing about this song that warrants all that.” “My secondhand embarrassment got embarrassed lol.” “Hey, so we can agree this one’s weird.” “I don’t like whatever this overstimulating nightmare is.” “Hope this was free.” “No way someone sat down at a meeting and thought this was a groundbreaking idea.” “I hope this guy got paid bank for that WTF.” “There is absolutely no way I could do this without laughing.” Cali Tucker chimed in later and doesn’t seem too bothered by the haters: “Ya’ll are crackin me up with these comments! Please keep’em coming! Also come to a show I’d love to have you all! www.CaliTucker.com” At least she’s a good sport about it all….The post Las Vegas Country Singer Goes Viral For Bizarre Performance Of Luke Combs’ “Ain’t No Love In Oklahoma” first appeared on Whiskey Riff.

She’s having a huge moment right now, and it’s well-deserved. Ella Langley is gearing up to release her highly-anticipated sophomore album Dandelion, which will be out in less than a month on April 10th. And last night, she won the Best New Country Artist award at the 2026 iHeartRadio Music Awards, and before the show, she spoke with Billboard about her hit single “Choosin’ Texas.” She recently broke the record for longest-running #1 hit on Hot 100 by a female country singer after the song spent its fourth non-concurrent week in first place on that chart, surpassing Taylor Swift, who spent three weeks at #1 back in 2012 for her pop hit, “We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together.” Of course, Ella wrote the song with Miranda Lambert, Luke Dick, and Joybeth Taylor, and it’s become an absolute juggernaut and huge mainstream crossover hit. Ella says it’s all been “surreal,” explaining that she owes so much of it to her fans who have changed her career: “It feels surreal. I think this has been the biggest moment for me where I’ve seen how fans can change your career. You know, for so long, you’re like, alright, one song at a time, one record at a time. But with this one song, and they’ve done it continuously for me, but really with ‘Choosin’ Texas,’ man, have they taken a hold of it. And it’s so cool, it’s cool to see the ownership they take in it, and the different versions they do, its’ just wild.” When asked what about this song specifically has reached so many people well beyond country music fans, Ella explained that she really doesn’t know exactly, and it’s something she’s talked about with the other co-writers: “I don’t know, I don’t know. I really don’t. We all talk about it, all of us that wrote it, we talk about that. We love this song. I don’t know if it’s because it’s a very honest point of view, but I hear a lot of songs all the time, so I don’t know. I tried to add some groove into this record, I tried to add big, singing chorus and big melodic guitar licks that you can remember, and I don’t know if it feels nostalgic or just sounds like something I hadn’t heard before. I don’t know.” Of course, some of the first people that texted her were Miranda, who executive produced Dandelion, and Lainey Wilson: “My friend Miranda Lambert is on the whole record, she executive produced it, so she reached out. Lainey Wilson who’s here tonight, and a lot of people have. It’s been really cool to see the support.” It’s a heck of a girl group to be in, and Ella joked that no one should mess with them: “Don’t mess with us, you know, I love that.” Amen to that… It sounds like Ella is also going to be writing with some new people out in LA while she’s there this week too, which is super interesting and it sounds like she’s certainly taking advantage of all the new opportunities coming her way with all of this success, as she should: “I mean, there’s so many people, not just country. My favorite thing is to get in the room with people and just see how their brain works, see how they write a song. I’m doing some writes out here in LA for the first time this week, and it’s cool. I’ve always wanted to do that, so we’re having some fun with some different people this week.” I would love to know who she’s working with, and obviously the focus is on all of the new music she has coming very soon, but I will be very interested to see if anything comes of these writes and what it might sound like at some point… stay tuned. The full interview is below. Turn it up… “Choosin’ Texas” The post Ella Langley Says She Doesn’t Know Why “Choosin’ Texas” Has Resonated With So Many People: “It Feels Surreal” first appeared on Whiskey Riff.

Gonna be hard to top this one. In many ways, country music is in the best spot it’s been in decades. Whether it’s Ella Langley taking a traditional country song, “Choosin’ Texas,” to the top of the Billboard Hot 100 for four weeks and counting, Zach Top garnering national attention after his Grammy win or the rise of indie/alt. country groups like The Red Clay Strays, Turnpike Troubadours, Treaty Oak Revival and many more, most days, there isn’t too much to complain about in the genre broadly speaking. With that being said, however, there are still moments every now and then that make me question everything. Today is no different with the release of Graham Barham’s newest atrocity, “BREAKUP (DOWN),” which makes the genius (and certifiably insane) decision to interpolate Jay Sean and Lil Wayne’s 2009 Diamond-certified smash hit, “Down.” You might be asking yourself, “Now, who the hell is Graham Barham?” While I wouldn’t blame you for asking, I can almost guarantee that you’ve heard his viral “hit” (if you can even call it that) from last year, “OIL MONEY.” In case you were lucky enough to avoid the song, it was apparently inspired by Taylor Sheridan’s hit show, Landman. The track quickly went viral (mostly for all the wrong reasons) thanks to the egregious trap beats used in the production, the use of viral ring girl from Jake Paul and Mike Tyson’s fight, Sydney Thomas, in promotion and the truly nonsensical lyrics that read as follows: “She got a body like oil moneyCartier cross around her neck ’cause sheOnly ever seen the kind of club countryHouse in the Gulf where it’s always sunnyLittle tan line honey” Barham would then follow up “OIL MONEY” with an equally egregious song with none other than Florida Georgia Line’s Tyler Hubbard, “WHISKEY RAIN,” which was subsequently mocked just as much, if not more than his first viral song. With today’s new outing on “BREAKUP (DOWN),” I think he may have outdone himself and created a song that’s somehow worse than the two aforementioned tracks. I think there’s absolutely no denying that Sean and Lil Wayne’s “Down” is a certified club hit. While it’s not some piece of high art, there’s a reason why it’s been so popular over the past 15 years; it’s a catchy, fun song. With that being said, however, I don’t know why Barham would decide to attach the track to this exhaustingly boring, autotuned-to-all-hell monstrosity centering around a breakup (how original), “BREAKUP (DOWN).” Following in the footsteps of “OIL MONEY,” Barham decided to enlist another star to help him promote this disasterpiece — this time calling Heisman winner and failed NFL quarterback, Johnny Manziel, to star in the cringe-inducing music video and TikToks leading up to the song’s release. @grahambarham I KNOW Y’ALL KNOW THE END OF THIS ONE!! #newmusic #countrymusic #unreleased @Johnny Manziel ♬ BREAKUP DOWN – Graham Barham For all intents and purposes, this song was dead on arrival, with commenters on TikTok absolutely annihilating the song, its decision to interpolate “Down” and the inclusion of Manziel. There were genuinely too many comments to include, but here are some of the best from Barham’s string of promotional videos. “This genuinely ruined my day” “When autotune is so heavy it trups over itself” “Is this a joke?” “Go ahead and don’t release this” “Not only does he make bad songs, now he is ruining good ones too…” “Please stop” “SH*TS FIRE ON MUTE” “Why are you destroying country music” “I never thought that there would be a song worse than oil money, but you don’t disappoint, this song is way worse” “This is the type of music a coworker listens to” “Where can I not listen to it?” “Unrelease this!“ All jokes aside, I seriously cannot wrap my head around Graham Barham as an artist. In many ways, he presents himself almost as a parody of some wannabe frat bro, nearly a parody of the likes of Florida Georgia Line in their prime. And if he was actually releasing these songs as a satire of the egregious nature of the likes of FGL and bro-country as a whole, the shtick would actually work. However, it becomes increasingly apparent with each and every release that Barham is, in fact, being serious and actually thinks these songs and music videos are “cool.” There may have been a very short window during the lows of bro-country in the 2010s when this could have actually worked from a commercial standpoint, but we are thankfully long past that point. Now, all we can do is point, laugh and ponder what market he’s trying to appeal to with these abhorrent country-rap crossovers. If you’re a sucker for punishment, check out the song below. The post “Oil Money” Singer, Graham Barham, Is Back With An Early Contender For Worst ‘Country’ Song Of The Year, “BREAKUP (DOWN)” first appeared on Whiskey Riff.