He stands by it to this day. Not long ago, Tim McGraw sat down for an interview on The Tim Ferriss Show podcast, where he opened up about his 1994 hit “Indian Outlaw” and why he had to fight to have it included on an album. It faced controversy for using offensive Hollywood stereotypes of Native American culture, and critics, including some Native American leaders, found it disrespectful, and even some radio stations ended up banning it, though the song was a commercial success even still. McGraw says he considered it “lightning in a bottle,” though his label and one of his producers didn’t like “I had that song for my first album and nobody liked it. The label didn’t like it. James Stroud didn’t like it. Byron liked it, but I couldn’t talk James into letting me record it and I couldn’t talk the label into it.” Some on his team viewed it as “too controversial,” and they were right about that part, and they were rightfully worried that some radio stations wouldn’t play it: “It was too controversial, and it was a bad song. It wasn’t country music.” McGraw first heard it after running into songwriters Tommy and Max D. Barnes at the Hall of Fame Lounge and Hotel in Nashville, and they played it for him live, and Tim says he learned it right away and started playing it at all of his sets around town: “I heard it that first night and I started playing it immediately. Learned it and started playing it in all the clubs around town, the honky-tonks around town, and when we would travel and play clubs all over the country, I was playing that song, and we’d end up having to play it two or three times a night, four times a night, because people loved it so much.” People loved it right away, and eventually, it became his first top 10 hit, peaking at #8 on the Billboard U.S. Hot Country Songs chart. It was also a minor crossover hit, peaking at #15 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 all-genre chart. While he was obviously happy for the success, McGraw says he understood why it was controversial, though that didn’t really bother him. He explained that he actually met with “several Native American leaders,” and as you can imagine, some liked the song, and some didn’t. Tim validated their concerns, and assured them that his intentions with “Indian Outlaw” were pure, and he actually didn’t mind the fact that some went after him to raise awareness for their concerns, and it didn’t offend him in the least: “I understood why it was controversial, because it was stereotypical, and it was sort of a play on Native American stereotypes. And there was a lot of controversy around it, and I understood the controversy and I wasn’t upset about the controversy. In fact, I met with several Native American leaders. Some liked the song, some didn’t like the song. And my answer was, ‘Look, I understand what your concerns are. The song’s not meant to be that way, I understand your concerns.’ My opinion, if you need to go after me in order to raise attention and awareness, by all means, use my song for that. If you like it or don’t like it, if you can make something good happen from it, then by all means, I’m not going to be offended.'” Tim went on to say that nowadays, he often performs the song at Native American-owned casinos and he always asks every time if they want it out of the setlist: “Now when I play Native American casinos, when I meet with the elders or the chiefs before the show, I always say, you know, ‘I have ‘Indian Outlaw’ on my set, but I’m happy to take it out if it’s offensive.’ And invariably 99.9% of the time they say ‘that’s why we hired you… is to sing that song.’ So they love it. So it’s been really good to me.” I think it’s a super interesting take, and the song put him on the map for a lot of country fans when it was released in 1994. In many ways, it’s a product of its time, and while I don’t think a song like that would get released in 2026, it’s interesting to hear that Native American communities seem to love it in Tim’s experience. The full podcast is available below. “Indian Outlaw” The post “I’m Happy To Take It Out”: Tim McGraw Says “99.9%” Of Native American Casinos Want Him To Perform “Indian Outlaw” first appeared on Whiskey Riff.

The Red Clay Strays continue to subtly knock their social media content out of the park. Nowadays, modern artists and bands have two things to focus on: their actual music and their online presence. Things aren’t as simple as they used to be, and social media is a never-ending beast. If artists aren’t trying to use the platform to rocket themselves to stardom, they are making sure they stay consistent with posting to maintain the stardom they’ve already achieved. It can truly be a daunting task, but The Red Clays Strays make it look easy. They have found that sharing videos that give fans a look into their band’s everyday life is all that it takes to create connection. At the end of the day, the people that we all love to go see perform their music up on stage are humans too, and the behind-the-scenes footage that the Red Clay Strays share through social media helps remind their fans of that. The latest example is an early look at one of their 2024 releases: “God Does.” In the video, the members of the band are all dressed up in tuxedos inside a church, with frontman Brandon Coleman seated at a piano at the very front. The footage captures him singing a version of “God Does” that still had some cleaning up to do (not much, if we’re being honest). There are only a couple of differences between the rendition that Coleman sings here and the studio recording that eventually landed on their sophomore album. In the chorus, you’ll hear Brandon sing “With him, I always win” instead of “On him, I can depend.” And it also seems as though they switched around the verses of “God Does,” and eventually placed the “Devil baits the hook” portion of the song at the very beginning. It’s incredible to hear the track that really just had some minor fine-tuning to go through: “A very early version of ‘God Does’ before we ever recorded it. Sounds a little different from what we ended up with.” How cool is that? And if you thought it looks like Coleman and his bandmates were dressed up for some sort of fancy occasion, you’d be correct. It was actually a very special day for Brandon Coleman and his wife, Macie… the day that they got married. As you can see in the picture below posted by Macie Coleman on January 20, 2024, the wedding photographer was able to capture a special moment between the two at the very piano that above photo was featured in. Take a look: View this post on Instagram So not only did fans of the Red Clay Strays get a look at a very early version of “God Does,” they got an inside look at the wedding between Coleman and his wife from back in early 2024. The Red Clay Strays went on to release “God Does” in July of 2024 as a part of their second album, Made By These Moments. And judging by this video, there’s a very good chance that some workshopping for that project – at least for one song that was on it – took place on Brandon Coleman’s wedding day. That wedding-day-piano-playing with the bandmates acting as a makeshift audience was a small step in how you hear the song today: “God Does” by The Red Clay Strays The post The Red Clay Strays Share Video Of Brandon Coleman Playing Early, Piano Version Of “God Does” first appeared on Whiskey Riff.

President Trump just called out the ‘Fake News Media’ about their phony stories that he is considering limited strikes on Iran, but mostly about their phony stories that General Daniel ‘Razin’ Caine . . .

Surprisingly limited chart success. The post The classic Frank Sinatra song that held the number-one spot for the longest first appeared on Far Out Magazine.

Memorable. The post The Washington DC hardcore show Dave Grohl called the his “own personal” Woodstock first appeared on Far Out Magazine.

Watching the series is now easier than ever.

His late wife is featured in his new documentary.