"Well, I am just not shocked by anything, anymore." Continue reading…

I think it’s probably just a joke, people… For months now, Ella Langley and Riley Green have been at the center of rumors that they were more than friends… It first started when fans were convinced that Riley and Ella, who worked together on the massive hit “You Look Like You Love Me,” were an item, or had at least some sort of romantic fling or something of that nature. They shut that idea down pretty much from the get go, and Riley has said before that Ella is “too smart” to date him, adding that they knew going into it that the song would cause conversation about their relationship status. They were fully expecting fans to embrace the love story, or the idea of it, the same way they did for legendary country music couples like George Jones and Tammy Wynette. He explained: “Yeah, I mean, Ella’s probably too smart to date me anyway. But I think that’s kind of the country music fan, like, they love the Tim McGraw and Faith, and the George and Tammy. And when we first started having the success we did with that song, I kinda told Ella, I was like, ‘There’s gonna be a lot of things said, but I mean, you don’t really have to play into it or not play into it, it’s gonna be something people enjoy the same way we do when we go listen to those songs.’” Even when Ella herself said they were just very good friends, it still wasn’t enough to convince the world that they were not together. But since Riley and Megan Moroney have been seen together more recently, fans have moved onto the idea that they have something going on with them, so who knows at this point. All press is good press, remember that, y’all. But fans think they’ve gotten some sort of confirmation about Ella’s true feelings on Riley, who she is opening up for on his extensive Damn Country Music tour this summer, when she winked at a sign last night in Wilmington, North Carolina that read: “Wink if Riley’s a dumb***.” Ella looked straight at it and gave it a solid wink, along with a little smirk while reading it: @desevegrace What we have all been wondering @Ella Langley #fyp #rileygreen #ellalangley ♬ original sound – desevegrace I think it’s important to consider that Ella has a big slot opening for Riley on this tour, and they’ve had two successful duets together in “YLLYLM” and “Don’t Mind If I Do,” so even if there is some sort of bad blood (and I have no idea if there is), I feel like she wouldn’t put him on blast like that and it’s probably just meant to be funny… People in the comments seemed to think it confirmed their suspicions about the state of the relationship between Riley and Ella, though: “TEEEEEEAAAAA. We all knew it. God bless her. Imagine choosing Megan over this queen. EMBARRASSING.” “This is fr the only hard evidence we have on this rumor and it’s now 100% confirmed.” “She smiled as she was reading it.” “Didn’t even break stride, Queen behavior.” “She’s such a bad***.” “The wink and the little smile just spoke a thousand words!” “The confirmation we all needed.” “Thank you for your service!” “She was so smooth with it too ICON.” “The way my jaw just dropped!” “Wilmington doing the Lord’s work.” “This is incredible that’s all I needed to see to confirm every suspicion I had.” “ICONIC.” “THE GRIN HAHAH.” I tend to lean towards this comment being true, but who really knows. For a while, they seemed to have a sort of brother/sister relationship, but again, I can’t say one way or the other in terms of if they ever had an actual romantic relationship: “I’m married for 10 years and I’d still wink if someone asked me this about my husband.” Fair enough, honestly… do with all of this information what you will and draw your own conclusions at this point. Riley is currently out on the road for his Damn Country Music Tour, with Ella Langley serving as direct support, and they will be on the road through November. This is still the superior duet between them in my humble opinion… “Don’t Mind If I Do” RILEY GREEN DAMN COUNTRY MUSIC TOUR DATES: June 12th, 2025 – Baltimore, MD – Pier Six Pavilion *$- June 13th, 2025 – Wilmington, NC – Live Oak Bank at Riverfront Park *$- June 14th, 2025 – Raleigh, NC – Coastal Credit Union Music Park at Walnut Creek *$- June 19th, 2025 – Franklin, TN – FirstBank Amphitheater *$- June 21st, 2025 – Huntington, WV – Marshall Health Network Arena *$- June 26th, 2025 – Cadott, WI – Hoofbeat Country Fest % June 27th, 2025 – Brainerd, MN – Lakes Jam % June 28th, 2025 – Milwaukee, WI – Summerfest % July 10th, 2025 – Winnipeg, Canada – Country Thunder % July 12th, 2025 – Pendleton, OR – Pendleton Whisky Music Festival % July 13th, 2025 – Chicago, IL – Windy City Smokeout % July 18th, 2025 – Kettering, OH – Fraze Pavilion *- July 19th, 2025 – Harrington, DE – Delaware State Fair % July 20th, 2025 – York, PA – York State Fair % July 24th, 2025 – New York, NY – The Rooftop at Pier 17 *@& July 25th, 2025 – Boston, MA – MGM Music Hall at Fenway *@& July 26th, 2025 – Gilford, NH – Bank of NH Pavilion *@& August 1st, 2025 – Bethlehem, PA – Musikfest % August 9th, 2025 – Birmingham, AL – Coca-Cola Amphitheater *$- August 16th, 2025 – Sainte-Hélène-de-Kamouraska, Canada – Lasso 2025 % August 17th, 2025 – Calgary, Canada – Country Thunder Calgary % August 21st, 2025 – Bonner, MT – KettleHouse Amphitheater *?- August 22nd, 2025 – Idaho Falls, ID – Mountain America Center *?- August 23rd, 2025 – Nampa, ID – Ford Idaho Center Amphitheater *?- August 25th, 2025 – Morrison, CO – Red Rocks Amphitheatre *?- August 28th, 2025 – Corning, CA – Obsidian Spirits Amphitheater *@- August 30th, 2025 – Puyallup, WA – Puyallup Fairgrounds at Washington State Fair %• September 6th, 2025 – Niagara Falls, Canada – Misty City Music Festival % September 10th, 2025 – London, UK – O2 Forum Kentish Town / September 11th, 2025 – London, UK – O2 Forum Kentish Town / September 12th, 2025 – London, UK – O2 Forum Kentish Town / September 13th, 2025 – Birmingham, UK – O2 Academy Birmingham / September 15th, 2025 – Manchester, England – O2 Victoria Warehouse / September 16th, 2025 – Glasgow, UK – O2 Academy Glasgow / September 18th, 2025 – Belfast, UK – Waterfront Hall / September 19th, 2025 – Dublin, Ireland – Olympia Theatre / September 26th, 2025 – Washington, DC – Washington Nationals Park October 4th, 2025 – Winnsboro, SC – Field & Stream Festival % October 10th, 2025 – North Charleston, SC – Riverfront Revival % November 6th, 2025 – Grand Rapids, MI – Van Andel Arena #~/ November 7th, 2025 – St Louis, MO – Chaifetz Arena #~/ November 8th, 2025 – Kansas City, MO – T-Mobile Center #~/ November 13th, 2025 – University Park, PA – Bryce Jordan Center #~/ November 14th, 2025 – Toledo, OH – Huntington Center #~/ November 15th, 2025 – Peoria, IL – Peoria Civic Center Arena #~/ November 20th, 2025 – Lincoln, NE – Pinnacle Bank Arena #~/ November 21st, 2025 – Oklahoma City, OK – Paycom Center #~/ *Ella Langley +Jake Worthington @Vincent Mason #Jamey Johnson ~Drake White $Lauren Watkins ^Jake Worthington -Preston Cooper !Erik Dylan &Wyatt McCubbin ?Mike Ryan ;Channing Wilson •Josh Ross /Hannah McFarland %Festival date This post contains links from our Affiliate Partners program. If you use these links to make a purchase, we may earn a commission at no additional cost to you.The post Fans Think Ella Langley Confirmed Her Relationship Status With Riley Green By Winking At Fan’s Sign During Wilmington Show first appeared on Whiskey Riff.

When you can't find the words to describe your love for your new baby girl, country music has you covered. Continue reading…

Country music star Dierks Bentley released his 11th studio album Broken Branches earlier today, and forgive me for this horrible pun, but I’m gonna go out on a limb and say that the project might possess one of the best songs of Dierks’ entire career The reflective new album meets Bentley where he currently is – exploring life’s outlier moments and bravely cherishing the fact that we’re all broken branches on a family tree. Songs like the title track and “For As Long As I Can Remember” explore that theme, while other tracks like “Cold Beer Can” (his collaboration with Stephen Wilson Jr.) and “She Hates Me” present Dierks’ signature blending of heartfelt and humor. There are a number of songs on the new record worth singling out (“Never You” with Miranda Lambert would certainly like a word), but the one that has stood out to me thus far is the track that comes in at number eight on the track list: “Off The Map.” I was fortunate enough to see Dierks Bentley play the new song during his recent “Dinner in the Creek” event, and there was something special about hearing the song highlighting the feeling of being off the map in a place that one could ironically describe as off the map: @whiskeyriff New album Friday. @dierksbentley #whiskeyriff ♬ original sound – Whiskey Riff Upon first listen, you might not think that this song has the power and allure to compete with some of Bentley’s prior No. 1 hits like “Drunk on a Plane” and “What Was I Thinkin’.” And to be clear, “Off The Map” probably won’t rocket to the top spot on the country music charts in the coming weeks. But a song being a career best and being a smash, radio hit are not mutually exclusive. “Off The Map” sits in the idea that getting away from everything and unplugging is often associated with physically being somewhere away from civilization. Dierks – and the writers that brought the song to life (Jeremy Bussey, Lauren McLamb and Adam Wood) – argue that “Off The Map” moments can happen anywhere and everywhere you want them to… or need them to. As the chorus so elegantly explains: “Might be on a barstool sipping something cold Might be on a back porch off a backroad Might be in an airstream, might be in the gulf stream Might be in a daydream, who the hell knows? Laid up in a beach chair, laid up on my couch Somewhere by my lonesome, somewhere in a crowd If you can’t find me, I ain’t lost Sometimes life’s just better off the map.” For an artist that’s been in the country music machine for over two decades, it only makes sense for Dierks to voice his desire to escape from time to time. And everything about the song is a perfect storm that typically makes for a timeless classic. The wordplay. The relaxed rhythm. The relatability. Call it recency bias, but I genuinely think it’s up there with some of Bentley’s best work. Was it released as a single ahead of the album’s release? Nope. Is their a little star beside it on music streaming services to let you know it’s one of the project’s highlights? Negative. But as I’ve pleaded, those things don’t always directly relate to success. Sometimes the triumph of an album is in its ability to be revisited years down the road, and for my money, “Off The Map” is the one that I’ll always go back to with Dierks Bentley’s Broken Branches record. Take a listen: Oh, and I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention that Dierks Bentley will be joining the Whiskey Riff Raff podcast sooner rather than later (his episode drops on June 17th). Make sure to keep your eyes peeled for that upcoming interview to hear even more from the “I Hold On” singer about his latest country music masterpiece.The post Dierks Bentley’s New Song “Off The Map” Just Might Be One Of The Best Of His Country Music Career first appeared on Whiskey Riff.

Texas country gold. Randall King is enlisting one of his good friends and a fellow honky tonk Texan, Braxton Keith, for a brand new single “Cheatin’ On My Honky Tonk.” View this post on Instagram A post shared by Randall King (@randallkingband) King is entering a new chapter of life, and reflecting on hanging up some of his honky tonk ways on this new single. In April, Randall King welcomed daughter Paisley Leanna with fiancée Brittany Warthan. Becoming a parent is a big adjustment for anyone, but for those who spend their life on the road, going from honky tonk to honky tonk singing their jukebox jams under neon lights, it’s even more of a shocking change. “My fans all know how much I love a honky tonk, however life’s looking a little different these days. I’m spending less time under that neon glow and more time at home with my girls, and this song felt like the perfect way to bridge ‘Into The Neon’ and this next chapter. I couldn’t think of anyone better to join me on it than my good buddy Braxton Keith. Hope y’all enjoy!” View this post on Instagram A post shared by Randall King (@randallkingband) In “Cheatin’ On My Honky Tonk,” King and Keith sing a cheeky tune about missing those late nights, cold beers, and the sounds of boots stomping against the hardwood floors. Written by Phil O’Donnell, Ira Dean, and Ronnie Dunn, the tune talks about spending more time at home and less out on the town. King opens the song by talking about how his little girl is keeping him at home and that he feels like being away from his first true love, honky tonks, makes him feel like he’s cheating on his old ways. Ironically, King sings about how “she’s” gotten him cooped up, which could be his woman or his daughter, making the song relatable to those hanging up their party ways because they met an honest woman or because they are entering a chapter of fatherhood. “She got me lovin’ up on her Cooped up in her house Been a month of Friday nights Since I closed one down My good timing beer drinkin’ Buddies are thinkin’ I’m dead or gone a wall…” Ironically, King sings about how “she’s” gotten him cooped up, which could be his woman or his daughter. This makes the song relatable to those hanging up their party ways because they met an honest woman or because they are entering a chapter of fatherhood. Keith comes in during the second verse, singing as though he’s holding down the fort but also wants his friend and fellow honky tonk enthusiast back on stage with him. “Well this old bar room’s been missing you bad Cussing your name, saying you’ll be back The whiskey never hit me Like when she kissed me From the moment on…” The song’s composition is upbeat, hooking you from the first guitar lick. The combination of the steel guitar, piano, and the moan of King’s vocals in the chorus makes “Cheatin’ On My Honky Tonk” a certified twanger. This one needs to be played at max volume. The union of Randall King and Braxton Keith is a long-time coming, as King supported Keith in the early days of his career, often bringing him out on the road with him. Braxton Keith noted that it’s an “honor” to be featured on this song: “Randall’s been championing me in my career from the beginning. We had a lot of fun on this one. It was an honor to be asked to sing on his song.” Both of these men are keeping the traditional honky tonk sound alive, and have a blast in the process. For fun, check out a mustache-less Braxton Keith covering Brooks & Dunn’s “Neon Moon” in the early days of his career with Randall King. What a full circle moment with Ronnie Dunn being a co-writer on “Cheatin’ On My Honky Tonk.” @jc3090_ @Braxton Keith @randalkingmusic and a drummer who has performed with both. @Cogneato #braxtonkeith #randallking ♬ original sound – John martinez The post Randall King Enlists Braxton Keith For New Texas Country Twanger, “Cheatin’ On My Honky Tonk” first appeared on Whiskey Riff.