The '19 Kids and Counting' alum has been arrested and charged in an alleged sexual abuse case involving a minor, stemming from a reported 2020 incident. Continue reading…

There’s another star in the making in the Bryan family. Whether you like Luke Bryan’s music or not, he’s been a critical piece of the country music puzzle for the past two decades. Sure, he’s one of the names closely associated with the “Bro Country” movement of the 2010s. But through it all, he’s been a steward of the genre, and someone who has helped country music work its way into the mainstream. And I don’t want to make you (the reader) feel old, but Luke Bryan has a son that’s about to enter into college. Luke and his wife, Caroline, have two boys: Thomas “Bo” and Tatum “Tate” Bryan. The older of the two, Bo, is currently a junior in high school, and all signs point towards him being quite the athlete. He’s currently enrolled at the Battle Ground Academy in Franklin, Tennessee, where he plays baseball, football and competes on the wrestling team. He’s set to graduate next year in 2027, and it’s looking like Bo Bryan is going to try and continue his football career at the collegiate level. Video is currently circulating online of the Battle Ground Academy quarterback participating in a Under Armor Next Football Camp in Atlanta, Georgia. Bo was out on the field showing off his quarterback skills while his country music star dad watched nervously from the sideline: “At 6’1, 210lbs – It might be too early to tell, but Bo established himself as a first in line performer this past weekend.” View this post on Instagram Looks like he’s got an arm on him. Bo Bryan has already taken unofficial visits to both South Carolina and Georgia. Luke Bryan is known to be a big time Georgia Bulldogs fan, so there could be a connection there. Then with South Carolina, Bo could have an in thanks to Battle Ground head coach Bobby Bentley, who used to be an assistant for the Gamecocks. There’s still plenty of time for Bo Bryan to get offers, take visits and figure out where he might be able to continue his football playing career. And it’s cool to see that the son of Luke Bryan decided to carve out his own path, rather than follow in his dad’s footsteps and pursue music. It’s also great to see the country star carving out time in his busy schedule to support his son. That’s actually something that he’s very intentional about, and previously explained on Country Countdown USA that he preferrs to leave the Friday’s of his concert schedule open, and it’s all because Luke wants to put being a father first. With both of his sons being involved in sports (Bryan’s youngest, Tate, plays golf), he wants to be there for them as much as he can be. Those Friday night lights at a football stadium are more important than Friday night concert lights would be for Luke Bryan, as he explained: “Bo is playing high school football. I try to take every Friday off so I can see him play. Tate is playing golf too. Bo has been driving, so we don’t see him as much any more. I don’t know what we’re going to do when he goes off to college.” So don’t expect to see Luke Bryan playing a concert on a Friday night… at least during football season. And keep an eye out for Bo Bryan, who could be making the jump to college football in the next couple of years.The post Luke Bryan’s Son, Bo, Is Working To Become A College Football Quarterback first appeared on Whiskey Riff.

Doesn’t want to be known for his politics. Country music has always touched on political themes, going as far back as the working-class themes touched on by Jimmie Rodgers and the Carter Family, or Woody Guthrie’s “This Land Is Your Land” or Elton Britt’s patriotic World War II anthem “There’s a Star Spangled Banner Waving Somewhere” from the early 1940s. From artists like Johnny Cash and Merle Haggard in the 1960s through the anti-establishment songs of Willie Nelson and Waylon Jennings in the ’70s, and more recently the post-9/11 boom of patriotic country songs, politics has always been woven through the fabric and history of country music. And that shouldn’t be a surprise: Country music is, as is often said, three chords and the truth. When you’re singing about real life, politics are naturally going to be a part of it. These days there are plenty of artists on both sides of the aisle who like to jump into politics not only with their music but with their platforms, whether that’s on social media or making endorsements or even appearing with political candidates at rallies. But Luke Combs says he has no plans to join them in their political activism, on either side. Of course over the course of his career so far, there have been occasions where Luke has either chosen to insert himself into the political conversation, or he’s been dragged into it by something in his past. Combs caught a bit of heat during the height of the Black Lives Matter movement after the internet dug up a music video from 2015 that featured the Confederate flag. In 2021, Luke joined a panel discussion about racism in country music with Maren Morris where he essentially apologized and said he wasn’t a racist. But as a result of that conversation, many labeled him “soft,” “woke”, and if nothing else, a “liberal.” And as he explained in a recent interview with the New York Times’ Popcast, he still comments on his social media to this day because of it: “There’s always something on my videos like, ‘I can’t believe you like Luke Combs, he’s a liberal.’ One, I’ve never said what I am. That’s the thing that blows me away the most about it. Basically seven years ago, me saying that I was not a racist led to people saying, ‘Well he must be a liberal.’ I’ve been accused of a million things. I would consider myself heavily moderate in everything. That’s to the point where I’m not liberal enough for liberals and I’m not conservative enough for conservatives. I kind of like it that way. I also kind of like people not really knowing what I have going on politically.”  Combs, though, has no interest in being a standard-bearer for one side or the other, and denied in that same interview that he tries to push an agenda for either side of the political aisle: “I’m not a guy that feels like I need to push some sort of agenda. I’m a musician. No one is calling Donald Trump and asking him how to write a song. No one is calling AOC and saying, ‘How do I make my album better?’ Why do we care what Chris Stapleton thinks about politics?” Now, Luke obviously isn’t the only artist who chooses to stay out of politics. And as it turns out, he wants to follow in the footsteps of another country legend in being known more for being a good person than for being political. Dolly Parton is well-known for her charitable works, but has always refrained from speaking on politics or taking sides on political issues. And Luke Combs said during a recent interview with GQ that he hopes to follow her lead in keeping politics out of his music and his career: “That’s the space that I would like to operate in, you know what I mean? Basically, just being a good person, and doing what you believe is right, and not getting involved in the minutiae of labeling it. Why can’t you just be a good person and just be loved? It does take some massaging to do it all in a way that doesn’t come off as, like, deceitful or trite. It’s a delicate balance, but she has done a masterful job of it.” Honestly, it’s refreshing to hear artists say that they have no interest in being political. In our hyper-partisan society, everybody feels like they need to give their opinion and take one side or the other. And it gets exhausting. People judge others based on who listen to because simply being a fan of an artist’s music is seen as a political statement, when it should be about the music. It becomes an echo chamber where one side of the political aisle won’t listen certain artists simply because they disagree with who they vote for, and we’re all worse off for it. Good for Luke Combs for not wanting to get involved in that.The post Luke Combs Says He Wants To Be Like Dolly Parton When It Comes To Politics: “Just Be A Good Person” first appeared on Whiskey Riff.