The album launched the first of a long string of hits. Continue reading…

Talk about a full-circle moment. These days, it seems like folk-country is all the rage. While, of course, Zach Bryan blew the entire subgenre into the stratosphere with his meteoric rise over the past five years, there have been plenty of stellar artists that toe the line between genres popping up seemingly weekly. With names like Sam Barber, Dylan Gossett, Wyatt Flores and more dominating with a rootsy, folk-inspired take on alternative country, Evan Honer is another name that simply shouldn’t be overlooked. Though you can argue that a bulk of the Arizona native’s discography exists somewhere between alternative and folk, he has delivered some jaw-dropping songwriting moments that adhere fairly close to country over the years. One of the key moments that helped him break out was none other than his cover of Tyler Childers’ legendary, unreleased track, “Jersey Giant,” alongside Julia DiGrazia. Though plenty of artists have covered the song and released it, including the likes of Sam Barber, Josiah and the Bonnevilles and Elle King, who actually got Childers’ blessing to cut the song back in 2022, Honer’s cover has become many country fans’ go-to version of the song that’s actually available to stream. In fact, the track is his most listened to track on Spotify by a wide margin, boasting over 200 million streams. Honer’s cover is so popular, in fact, that Childers himself joked about “Jersey Giant” being the Arizona native’s song when the two met last year at Nashville’s Turkey & the Wolf Ice House. During the brief interaction, the “Take Me As I Come” singer approached Childers to introduce himself and was met with quite the compliment from the “Jersey Giant” songwriter. “Dude, I cover your song all the time.”  Childers jokes with Evan Honer. “I love ‘Jersey Giant.’”  Honer laughs at his joke that “Jersey Giant” is his song, before responding that he was not planning on bringing up his cover of the song at all. Childers then tells Honer that he recognized him from the crowd, and it appears that he was very pleased Honer made the effort to introduce himself after the show. Evan Honer meets Tyler Childers. // https://t.co/hm9LHw1Tsk@evanhonermusic @TTChilders pic.twitter.com/s85B2jmWpD — Whiskey Riff (@WhiskeyRiff) July 28, 2025 Flash forward a year later, and Honer is now opening a plethora of dates on Childers’ Snipe Hunt Tour, which is the biggest set of shows size-wise in both of their careers. With the first batch of shows with Honer opening last night in Birmingham, Alabama, at the Coca-Cola Amphitheater, many were wondering if he’d finally get a full-circle moment and perform the track that has impacted both of their careers. Turns out, that was the case. After Childers started the set out with the likes of “Eatin’ Big Time,” “Shake the Frost,” “Onedia” and the 6x platinum, “All Your’n,” the Kentucky native called Honer back to the stage to perform “Jersey Giant” for the first time together live. Introducing him, Childers would say the 25-year-old singer/songwriter’s version of “Jersey Giant” is his “favorite Evan Honer cover.” @thomasgroom22 @Tyler Childers Jersey Giant with Evan Honer Birmingham, AL 6/4/2026 #tylerchilders #jerseygiant #cocacolaamphitheater #timmytylerchilders #alabama @Evan Honer ♬ original sound – Thank me for my service They say never meet your heroes, but in Honer’s case, I think connecting with Childers turned out pretty damn well. Unsurprisingly, the two crushed the performance and provided one hell of a full-circle moment for the young, rising songwriter. Snipe Hunt Tour Dates June 7 – Lexington, Kentucky – Railbird Music Festival June 10 – Darien Center, New York – Darien Lake Amphitheater – with Evan Honer June 11 – Hershey, Pennsylvania – Hersheypark Stadium – with Evan Honer June 13 – Columbus, Ohio – Buckeye Country Superfest July 9 – St. Louis, Missouri – Hollywood Casino Amphitheater – with Wednesday & Scott T. Smith July 12 – Chicago, Illinois – Wrigley Field – with Jon Batiste & Wednesday July 14 – Kansas City, Missouri – Morton Amphitheater  – with Wednesday July 15 – Des Moines, Iowa – Casey’s Center – with Wednesday July 18 – Boulder, Colorado – Folsom Field – with Jon Batiste & Wednesday September 30 – Sacramento, California – Golden 1 Center – with Wednesday October 2 – Seattle, Washington – Climate Pledge Arena – with Wednesday October 3 – Portland, Oregon – Moda Center – with Wednesday and Scott T. SmithThe post WATCH: Evan Honer Joins Tyler Childers For Performance Of “Jersey Giant” In Birmingham first appeared on Whiskey Riff.

He doesn’t miss. In a year full of breakouts across both the independent scene and the mainstream alike, ranging from the likes of Ella Langley and Zach Top to The Red Clay Strays and Treaty Oak Revival, Stephen Wilson Jr. undoubtedly experienced one of the biggest ones in 2025. Of course, fans of the independent scene have been quite familiar with him over the past few years. After delivering his stellar debut on his bon aqua EP, featuring the likes of “American Gothic” and “Year to Be Young 1994,” in June of 2023, Wilson Jr. made himself known in a big way just six months later with his mammoth, 22-track debut album, Søn of Dad. Last November, he put the entire public on notice of his talent when he was not only nominated for New Artist of the Year at the 59th CMA Awards but also took to the stage to deliver his stunning reimagining of Ben E. King’s 1961 classic, “Stand By Me.” Along with The Red Clay Strays, who also had a big night and introduced themselves to a wider audience with a killer performance of their current single, “People Hatin’,” it seemed like the “I’m A Song” singer had his “moment” at the CMAs. He’d keep the momentum going in 2026 as well. After dropping “Gary” at the end of the year, which has been climbing the charts since, Wilson Jr. would score his first-ever ACM Award last month, taking home Visual Media of the Year for his cinematic music video for “Cuckoo.” It’s safe to say it’s been a pretty busy last few weeks for Wilson Jr. After scoring the ACM back in May, yesterday, he delivered a killer set at the Riverfront Stage at CMA Fest in Nashville. The set, which included past hits like “Gary,” “Cuckoo” and “I’m A Song,” came to an incredible conclusion when the Indiana native made his way to the crowd to shred an extended outro of “Gary.” View this post on Instagram Less than 12 hours later, Wilson Jr. would return with his brand new single, “Preacher’s Kid.” Spoiler alert: it’s yet another winner from the scientist-turned-country star. View this post on Instagram Written independently by Wilson Jr., “Preacher’s Kid” takes aim at the hypocrisy often found in the church, especially among titular preacher’s kids. Holding zero punches, he comes out of the gate firing, remarking that he “don’t give a damn about you or Jesus.” “Preacher’s kid don’t give a damn about you or Jesus He’s got cocaine on his nose thinks no one sees it Yeah, he’s a special kind of phony Says he’s working on his testimony for later he’ll ride out a cloud of sin” Delivering even more biting commentary in the chorus, the 46-year-old singer/songwriter calls the titular character a “Sunday morning tongue speaker” who hooked up with his teacher, contrasting his sins with the facade he puts up to cover them up. “He’s the Wednesday night youth leader Sunday morning tongue speaker Hooked up with his school teacher Swear it’s like nobody knows” Undoubtedly, it’s a fascinating song lyrically that touches on the hypocrisy that a lot of members of the church have experienced at some point or another in their lives among their peers. These lyrics are complemented beautifully by Wilson Jr.’s patented grungy, southern rock sound, which sounds better and more unique than ever here. Biting, both lyrically and sonically, “Preacher’s Kid” is nothing short of a must-listen from Wilson Jr. “Preacher’s Kid” Stephen Wilson Jr. Tour Dates 7/17 – Spokane, WA – BECU Live at Northern Quest 7/24 – Virginia Beach, VA – The Dome by Rutter Mills 7/25 – Baltimore, MD – Pier Six Pavilion 8/7 – St. Augustine, FL – St. Augustine Amphitheatre 8/8 – Raleigh, NC – Red Hat Amphitheater 9/6 – Los Angeles, CA – Hollywood Palladium 9/18 – Seattle, WA – Paramount Theatre 9/19 – Portland, OR – McMenamins Grand Lodge (Concerts in the Grove) 9/22 – Nampa, ID – Ford Idaho Center Amphitheater 9/24 – San Francisco, CA – The Masonic 9/29 – Phoenix, AZ – Arizona Financial Theatre 10/15 – Belfast, UK – SSE Arena 10/19 – Glasgow, UK – O2 Academy Glasgow 10/22 – London, UK – O2 Academy Brixton 10/23 – Bristol, UK – The Prospect Building 10/25 – Manchester, UK – O2 Victoria Warehouse 10/27 – Paris, FR – Le Trianon 10/29 – Zurich, CH – Volkshaus 10/30 – Cologne, DE – Theater am Tanzbrunnen 11/1 – Utrecht, NL – TivoliVredenburg (Ronda) 11/3 – Copenhagen, DK – VEGA 11/4 – Stockholm, SE – Fållan 11/5 – Oslo, NO – Sentrum Scene 11/21 – Birmingham, AL – Avondale Brewing Company 12/2 – Pittsburgh, PA – Citizens Live at The Wylie 12/9 – Atlanta, GA – Coca-Cola Roxy 12/11 – Nashville, TN – The TruthThe post Stephen Wilson Jr. Takes Aim At False Prophets In Killer New Song, “Preacher’s Kid” first appeared on Whiskey Riff.

The opening song to Morgan Wallen’s I’m The Problem tour. And “Don’t We” is also his current radio single, and of course, was included on his record-breaking fourth studio album, and was written by Wallen with Rocky Block, John Byron, Ashley Gorley, Blake Pendergrass and Ryan Vojtesak. It’s the seventh country-format single from the album and eighth overall, and it has already been certified Gold and is still climbing the charts at country radio, and certainly stands a chance to become his next radio chart-topper. The lyrics find Morgan reflecting on the small town lifestyle and explaining why, even though many people in these smaller, more rural areas don’t have all the money and material items, they are rich where it counts: “Wouldn’t trade this holler for a stone-cold million dollars My green all comes blue collar, and I’m all good with that This world’s been changin’ but these folks ’round here they ain’t been They all still windshield wavin’ when they slow rollin’ past We could live a little higher on the hog But I don’t think that we’d be no better off Not everybody got that spot out in The Forty Some ten point buck they shot hangin’ like a velvet trophy Fridays in parkin’ lots outside of somewhere holy Not everybody likes this kinda life, but we do, don’t we?” It’s a theme that runs throughout Morgan’s music, and even though he’s a huge superstar now, he comes from humble beginnings growing up in small town east Tennessee, eventually moving to Knoxville in his teenage years. And today, he shared a really cool live performance video of “Don’t We” from Tuscaloosa, Alabama, where he played at Bryant-Denny Stadium, which shows him coming up to lots of smoke and fan-fair and is extremely high quality, almost making you feel like you’re right there in the stadium with him. Tons of people love to hate Morgan, and while he isn’t necessarily at the top of my playlist every day, he puts on a heck of a show and definitely knows how to do it up for massive stadium, which isn’t easy to do. Check it out: He also teased a new, unreleased song on his social media accounts yesterday, so this could be his last radio single before he starts putting out new music and potentially announcing a new album: View this post on Instagram “Don’t We” Morgan will plays two concerts in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania this weekend at Acrisure Stadium. ‘Still The Problem’ Tour Dates June 5 || Pittsburgh, Penn. || Acrisure Stadium w/ Brooks & Dunn, Gavin Adcock, Zach John King June 6 || Pittsburgh, Penn. || Acrisure Stadium w/ Ella Langley, Gavin Adcock, Zach John King June 19 || Chicago, Ill. || Soldier Field w/ Brooks & Dunn, Gavin Adcock, Zach John King June 20 || Chicago, Ill. || Soldier Field w/ Ella Langley, Gavin Adcock, Zach John King June 26 || Clemson, SC. || Clemson Memorial Stadium w/ Brooks & Dunn, Gavin Adcock, Jason Scott & The High Heat June 27 || Clemson, SC. || Clemson Memorial Stadium w/ Ella Langley, Gavin Adcock, Jason Scott & The High nHeat July 17 || Baltimore, Md. || M&T Bank Stadium w/ Brooks & Dunn, Gavin Adcock, Jason Scott & The High Heat July 18 || Baltimore, Md. || M&T Bank Stadium w/ Ella Langley, Gavin Adcock, Jason Scott & The High Heat July 24 || Ann Arbor, Mich. || Michigan Stadium w/ Thomas Rhett, Hudson Westbrook, Blake Whiten July 25 || Ann Arbor, Mich. || Michigan Stadium w/ HARDY, Hudson Westbrook, Blake Whiten July 31 || Philadelphia, Penn. || Lincoln Financial Field w/ ​​Brooks & Dunn, Hudson Westbrook, Blake Whiten August 1 || Philadelphia, Penn. || Lincoln Financial Field w/ Ella Langley, Hudson Westbrook, Blake WhitenThe post WATCH: Morgan Wallen Shares Epic Live Performance Video Of “Don’t We” From Tuscaloosa, Alabama first appeared on Whiskey Riff.

There’s a lot of “country guys” on the Atlanta Braves, but one player in particular takes the cake. Some members of the Braves recently sat down with us on the Whiskey Riff Raff podcast. Third baseman Austin Riley, utility player Kyle Farmer, and the voice of the Braves Radio Network, Ben Ingram, all carved time out of their 162-game schedule to talk about their favorite country artists, how the locker room is full of “Ella Fellas,” and how the Atlanta Braves and country music have always been intertwined. Austin Riley talked to us about how convenient it is for him that baseball season ends right when hunting season begins, Kyle Farmer (a Georgia native) discussed how fitting it is for him to be a member of the Braves at this point in his career, and Ben Ingram also gave some insight on how he takes care of his golden radio voice. We got to spend a good amount of time with the Braves play-by-play announcer, and found out rather quickly that he’s got a great taste in music. Ingram told us that, ironically enough, he doesn’t find a lot of country artists through the radio. Rather, he relies on word of mouth from those around them… and based upon his list of favorite artists, it’s working out great: “I love Turnpike Troubadours. I love Whiskey Myers. Big fan of Colter Wall, Tyler Childers, Sturgill Simpson. It’s a lot of stuff that you don’t hear on the radio. That’s where I gravitate to. Shane Smith and the Saints. Charles Wesley Godwin.” Throw all of those names together and you’d have a heck of a playlist. With that kind of country music taste, we felt as though Ben Ingram could be trusted to ascertain the “most country” guy on the Atlanta Braves. It didn’t take long for the voice of the Braves to throw out some names, and even provided one that many fans wouldn’t expect: “Austin is definitely in the conversation. I’d probably start right there. I’d say… this might throw you for a loop, because when you think of ‘country,’ you think of American-born players. Martín Pérez is a rancher in Venezuela. He’s got hundred and hundreds head of cattle. In fact, I think he plays baseball so he can ranch. That’s his passion. That’s pretty country as well.” @whiskeyriff @Atlanta Braves #whiskeyriff #whiskeyriffraff ♬ original sound – Whiskey Riff Though Ingram also mentioned Dylan Lee, Eli White, and Mike Yastrzemski in the conversation, it sounds to me like Pérez can comfortably take the title of “Most Country Braves Player.” And speaking of country, there’s quite the celebration of country music coming up on June 13 at the Home of the Atlanta Braves. It’ll feature a stacked lineup including Cody Johnson, Ella Langley, Ernest and Mackenzie Carpenter. The star-studded gathering of artists playing inside Truist Park makes for a can’t-miss event. You can hear more from Austin Riley, Kyle Farmer and Ben Ingram of the Atlanta Braves by checking out the interview on YouTube or making 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 Ben Ingram, The Voice Of The Atlanta Braves, Reveals Most “Country” Guy On The Team first appeared on Whiskey Riff.