Jelly Roll, Alan Jackson, Kenny Chesney and more open up in these 7 raw country songs about sobriety and second chances. Continue reading…

Kelly proves she’s one of the few vocalists who can match Brandon Coleman’s fire. Continue reading…

Fought for her role. Landman Season 2 is already almost over. And I can’t be the only one who felt like we were watching the premiere a few weeks ago. This season has left fans with mixed reviews, as not everyone has loved the slower plotline. However, Billy Bob Thornton gave us all a fair warning that the pace of this season would be much different than the first and would dive deeper into family dynamics and would develop other characters: “Now that the audience knows all the characters, Taylor was able to really dive into the relationships more. Last season, we had to explain what this business was all about and who the people are. This season, he was able to really focus in the first few episodes on the family dynamic and the business dynamic. But this one really ramps up as it goes on, and there’s more and more intensity.” One of the family dynamics that Taylor Sheridan has chosen to focus on this season is the relationship between Ali Larter’s character, Angela Norris, and Michelle Randolph’s character, Ainsley Norris. While their plotlines have not been well-received online, I do think it’s been a nice light edition to the tense moments as Tommy Norris navigates running M-Tex Oil alongside Cami Miller after Monty’s death. While Angela Norris might be an acquired taste for viewers, Ali Larter knew since the moment that she read about Angela’s character that she wanted that role—but the audition process was not a cake walk for the Legally Blonde alum. During a recent sit-down with CBS Mornings, Larter opened up that the audition process nearly burnt her out, and she was close to walking away. Going into the segment, it was shared that Larter auditioned for the role three times and was screen-tested against 10 other actors. Larter was ready to answer how much she wanted this role, but was not afraid to admit that thinking about the audition process for this role was giving her slight PTSD. “Even you just bringing that up gives me sheer terror again. The audition process is incredibly difficult, especially when you feel like you’re right for a role. I connected with this the first time I got the pages of it, and it stretched out over three months. And then when you go in a room, there’s 20 people there and you deliver. I had to do 19 pages, a long monologue that I got the night before. And you know, I think that process almost burned me out. I was so raw at that point, I almost didn’t care. I was ready to go. I was like, ‘If you don’t want this, then I don’t want you.'”  All that hard work paid off because I can’t imagine anyone else in the role other than Ali Larter. Later in the conversation it was brought up that the chemistry between her and Billy Bob Thornton was slightly surprising. Ali Larter attributed their on-camera chemistry to Billy Bob Thornton’s dedication to the role and willingness to help anyone on set. “It’s so interesting, you never know where chemistry is going to come from, and I think that you know he commits and spends so much time on the set. He’s incredibly present and giving as an actor. So, when you’re number one on the call sheet, you really set the tone for how it’s going to run on set, and we both work in a similar way that we love what we do. And we also feel really grateful to be a part of something where the writing is that special, so we do the work… When you have that level of respect, that’s where the chemistry comes from.” The two might be the embodiment of opposites attract; they sure do know how to play unconventional lovers well. Maybe their character’s unusual love for each other helps play into the chemistry; it looks a little irregular to some, but very natural to others. Based on the teaser for this season finale, it looks like Angela isn’t happy that her husband was fired, so it will be interesting to hear her thoughts on Cami’s decision. Check out the entire interview while you’re here: The post “Sheer Terror”: Ali Larter Reveals The Brutal 3-Month Audition Taylor Sheridan Put Her Through For ‘Landman’ first appeared on Whiskey Riff.

Charley Crockett on the silver screen. There’s really no one like Charley Crockett in the music industry. He bet on himself when he self-released his debut album back in 2015, and through his hard work and persistent and consistent way of going about music, things have only gone up for him since then. And while his audience has grown considerably over the past couple years, he’s still on the tier that’s below “household name,” which makes absolutely no sense to me. Especially when you consider that since 2015, Crockett has released over 15 albums, with his most recent projects being $10 Cowboy, $10 Cowboy Chapter II – Visions of Dallas and his 2025 releases of Lonesome Drifter and Dollar A Day. I’m actually very excited to see what the “Son of Davy” cooks up in 2026 – and beyond. Though it’s safe to assume that new music is on the way (he hasn’t gone more than a year without putting out an album in over a decade), there’s nothing that’s set in stone music release wise for this year just yet. However, Crockett did take to social media to share that a feature documentary focusing on him will premiere at the Santa Barbara International Film Festival next month. The documentary, titled A Cowboy In London, will debut on Thursday, February 5, and will be shown again at the film festival on Saturday, February 7. The country music artist says the Jared Christopher-directed documentary will be an honest and vulnerable look at his career, and explore the cost of being a touring artist year after year: “Proud to share that my feature documentary, ‘A Cowboy in London, will have its world premiere at the Santa Barbara International Film Festival this February. This film is honest. It’s vulnerable. Even uncomfortable at times. It shows the road the way it really is… no polish, no pretending. If you’ve ever wondered what it costs to keep doing this year after year, this one’s for you.” Jared Christopher has worked with Crockett as his photographer and videographer for some time now, and the director is also credited with two TV series: Titletown, TX (2018) and The Texas 6 (2020). And this isn’t the first documentary that’s honed in on the country troubadour. It was just last year that another documentary titled Charley Crockett: $10 Cowboy premiered at the Austin Film Festival. That one mainly followed his album release shows at various Texas venues, and incorporated live concert footage from each. Funny enough, that documentary was born pretty much accidentally. Charley and his team were just trying to gather content for social media and anything else they might need it for, and when they looked it all afterwards… they realized it would make for an interesting documentary. There’s not much word on this new documentary on the way, but judging by how Crockett talked about it in his post, A Cowboy In London will pull the curtain back on his process a bit more than Charley Crockett: $10 Cowboy. It’ll probably be closer to the country star’s The Road To Music City USA, which you can actually watch at the link below: “The Road To Music City USA” The post “No Polish, No Pretending” – Charley Crockett To Premiere “Vulnerable” New Documentary ‘A Cowboy In London’ At SBIFF first appeared on Whiskey Riff.

Gotta love some small-town drama. As a key member of the traditional scene that was still alive and well in the 90s, Tracy Lawrence remains, ’til this day, one of the prominent members. With nine #1 hits, four certified-platinum albums, two ACM Awards and an additional CMA Award for Vocal Event of the Year in 2007 for “Find Out Who Your Friends Are,” the 57-year-old singer/songwriter has consistently flown under the radar when you take a look back at his career years later. When talking about Lawrence, it’s hard not to mention smash hits such as “Sticks and Stones,” “Alibis,” “Paint Me a Birmingham” and the aforementioned “Find Out Who Your Friends Are.” With that being said, however, there’s no denying that “Time Marches On” has become his signature song over the years. Released on March 18, 1996, as the second single off the album of the same name, “Time Marches On” was an immediate hit for Lawrence. Written independently by legendary songwriter, Bobby Braddock, the track would go #1 on Billboard’s Hot Country Songs chart for three weeks, just three months after its release in June 1996. Since then, it’s been his most successful single in the streaming age, currently having over 184 million on Spotify alone and even becoming a bit of a trend on TikTok on and off throughout the years due to the iconic second verse where Lawrence essentially airs out all the dirty laundry of the fictional family. “Sister’s using rouge and clear complexion soap Brother’s wearin’ beads and he smokes a lot of dope Mama is depressed, barely makes a sound Daddy’s got a girlfriend in another town” As it turns out, the success and seemingly authentic nature of the fictional song caused Lawrence a whole lot of issues shortly after its release. Appearing on the always-entertaining Big D & Bubba Show last week, the “Texas Tornado” singer sat down to talk about everything ranging from his harrowing experience getting shot during a mugging in Nashville to his “Mission: Possible Turkey Fry & Benefit Concert,” which recently celebrated its 20th anniversary and raised $355,000 back in November. Early in the episode, the trio discussed “Time Marches On.” First, Lawrence would reveal that he was first drawn to the song simply due to the shock value of the “smokes a lot of dope.” “The strangest thing about this song for me, I really cut it because I love the line, ‘Smokes a lot of dope.’ And I thought that was a great shock factor to it.” However, Lawrence would note that the popularity of the song had some consequences. Given that he was raised in the small town of Foreman, Arkansas, which only had a population of around 1,100 when he was growing up, he was the talk of the town. And due to the incredibly funny yet specific lyrics of the track, many thought that 1) Lawrence wrote the song himself and 2) it was completely autobiographical. In turn, his father, who was the vice president of a small bank in town, received a lot of backlash thanks to the line, “Daddy’s got a girlfriend in another town.” It got so bad, in fact, that Lawrence would note that it caused him “a lot of personal struggles: “There are pieces of the song that I didn’t take into consideration, you know? I grew up in a town of about 1,100 people. My dad was the vice president of the small bank there, and this song caused daddy a lot of stress in his life because the line of the song is ‘Daddy’s got a girlfriend in another town.’ I never took into consideration how many people would think I wrote that song [like] it was autobiographical. And it cause him a lot of personal struggles because people thought it was about my dad. It’s not true at all… When that song became such a massive hit, I never took into consideration when I heard it for the first time what an impact it would have on my family.” As mentioned earlier, the story undoubtedly has a happy ending thanks to the continued success of the track thirty years later. If anything, it’s another clear indication that songwriters should be credited much more for their work. If that was the case, Lawrence wouldn’t have even been in the situation in the first place. Watch the full episode here: The post Small Town Scandal: Why Tracy Lawrence’s “Time Marches On” Caused A Major Problem With His Family first appeared on Whiskey Riff.