In this episode, we’ll take a look at a few exchanges that occurred during Tucker Carlson’s interview with Senator Ted Cruz. During that interview, the subject of the Bible and Israel came up and, as always, someone misquoted Scripture to engage in an entire theology of why they think we must bless the modern state …

Guess what’s in the “Big Beautiful Bill”, besides a load of debt? VSO Gun Channel breaks down one of the things stuffed inside it. We have seen the text of the One Big Beautiful Bill and it contains sections 1 and 2 of the Hearing Protection Act as well as the SHORT Act.  Article …

The Willie to his Waylon. Today, Charley Crockett appeared as the guest on the Joe Rogan Experience podcast, where he talked about growing up in South Texas with a single mother, and how he eventually started hitchhiking and traveling around the country playing music for tips in his guitar case,. Of course, he eventually make a name for himself and became one of the premiere independent artists in the genre. He has been with Thirty Tigers management for years now, and when he first got signed, he was an emerging artist who was working to get on the level of the likes of Colter Wall, who was their premiere artist for a while. But Colter ended up leaving Thirty Tigers for a big label in RCA Records, and Charley was considering making the move to a big label himself. He had discussed earlier in the podcast about how Willie Nelson left RCA Victor in the early ’70s to head back to Texas, ultimately signing with Atlantic Records and releasing his Shotgun Willie album, which was the start of an incredibly legendary career. Not long after that, Willie signed with Columbia Records, who gave him complete creative control, and he subsequently put out Red Headed Stranger and the rest, as they say, is history. During that time, Willie’s outlaw buddy Mr. Waylon Jennings was signed with RCA as well, and he threatened to walk like Willie if they didn’t grant him complete creative control, as well. He was then able to produce his own music, use his own band, and do things his own way, and between the two of them, the outlaw movement of the ’70s that shaped country as we know it was born. Charley broke it down beautifully and got into the details of all of that, and he also talked about why he thinks so many artists are wanting to get into country now: “Nashville was such an old system. It’s kinda like a country music today, one of the reasons everybody’s sprinting into it is because it’s like one of the only places left where there was loyalty, long-term loyalty in the fan base. Compared to what happened with pop music in the last 20 years, with pop and hip-hop and all that. I mean, everyone of those guys called me at one point and was like, ‘I want to get into the country music because you’ve got loyal fans.’ All hip-hop industry guys. All of ’em, every last one of ’em. And they’ve had success with a whole bunch of guys since then I just didn’t do it.” They talked about the authenticity of artists like Colter, which led Charley to talk about how him leaving Thirty Tigers made way for him to score an incredible deal: “Man, you mentioned Colter, I wanted to say this, this is something I wanted to bring up with the Willie and Waylon thing and I’ve been meaning to tell Colter this, so I’ll just tell him on your show. So we were both on the Thirty Tigers roster for years. I met Colter out at Willie‘s Ranch 10 years ago. He’s one of my favorites, I’ve always, always loved his songwriting. I mean, everything he put out is great, don’t you agree? Special, really special. Man, it blew us all over. And you know what’s funny, man, he’s just getting better. I wanted to buy him a pickup truck as a gift for this, and here’s why. So he was on the roster, I was on the roster. And I started way down at the back of the line and made a lot of records. And more and more of the labels are calling, and each record I’m putting out is doing better than the previous one, and there’s more money and promotion going into album. But a lot of outside guys are calling, you know, all the coastal labels are calling. New York and LA are all over me. Colter ends up pulling up stakes and going to RCA.” Colter didn’t just leave his music behind, and he took his catalog of music and everything with him, which paved the way for Charley to gain creative control with Thirty, because they didn’t want to lose him too. He didn’t know it at the time, but they ended up “handing the keys” over to him and he says he wants to buy Colter a truck as a gift because of how big of a deal that was for him… in fact, he called him his own Willie Nelson: “And he didn’t just go to RCA, he took everything with him. He took the whole catalog over there, and I wouldn’t really aware of that. I didn’t know what was going on. And RCA, they had hollered at me through one of their A&R guys or whatever, but their big guys were never really interested in me out there. So they weren’t one of the ones that was like really hot on me. But David Macias at Thirty Tigers, very similar to… what I’m saying is, Colter to me is kind of like Willie left RCA back in the day, and when he left, all the sudden, those guys because he took everything with them, were about to lose me. And they f******* handed the keys over to me. You know what I mean? I think a lot of it had to do with the fact that Colter had left and just took everything… And so that ended up happening on a record cycle for me for an album called ‘$10 Cowboy.’ And I was this close to going to the New York boys, and Macias comes in last minute and beats them all on the royalty rate, on the money, on everything. So I guess what I’m saying is, Colter is kind of my Willie Nelson. Appreciate you, bud. You’re doing good.” If it wasn’t for Colter walking and going to a new label, it’s unlikely Crockett would’ve maintained that kind of creative control because that’s simply just rare for any artist, regardless of how big the label is… at the end of the day, the music business is still a business, so it certainly worked out for him to be able to have the ability to go about his music exactly how he wants to. I think many fans would be surprised about how rare that really is, and if you’re lucky enough to find the Willie to your Waylon in country music, you’ve certainly lucked into something special. You can watch the podcast episode below.   The post “Colter Is My Willie Nelson” – Charley Crockett Compares His Record Deal Situation To Waylon & Willie In The ’70s first appeared on Whiskey Riff.

The supergroup ASIA returned with a new line-up featuring only one original member, the keyboardist Geoff Downes. His bandmate in YES, the guitarist Steve Howe won't be part of the reunion, nor the drummer Carl Palmer, who is busy with the ELP tour (Band which he is the only surviving member). Besides Downes, ASIA's new line-up has: Harry Whitley (Bass and vocals), John Mitchell (Guitar) and Virgil Donati (Drums). Geoff Downes talked about the comeback after signing a contract with Frontiers Music Srl. company."ASIA is thrilled to have recently signed a new deal with Frontiers Music Srl. Having been loyally supported by the label throughout the ASIA reunion period from 2005-2015, we are now entering an exciting new chapter in the band's 45-year history with a sequence of live albums, DVDs and a brand new studio album scheduled for a 2026 release." "It's very much a homecoming for the band, and so we are greatly looking forward to a long and fruitful partnership with them in the future. Watch this space!" The band already played in Japan and United Kingdom this year. With whom the new ASIA members have already worked Virgil Donati He has recorded and toured with the likes of Planet X, Steve Vai, Allan Holdsworth, Tony MacAlpine, Steve Walsh, Bunny Brunel, Scott Henderson, Seven The Hardway, Erik Norlander and UK, amongst many others. John Mitchell John is a highly versatile musician who predominantly sings and plays guitar. He is a member of several popular progressive rock bands including Frost*, It Bites, The David Cross Band and Arena. John releases his solo music under the pseudonym Lonely Robot, and has so far released four solo albums. He also masterminded the bands Kino and The Urbane and played bass for alternative rock band A. John was a founder member of the Wetton Downes side project ICON, touring with them and appearing on the first two studio albums. For many years he performed as a member of John Wetton’s live band. He has worked with a large variety of musicians including Martin Barre, Peter Cox, Steve Hogarth, Nik Kershaw and British actor Lee Ingleby. John is also a renown record producer and sound engineer, running his own studio facility, Outhouse, in Reading, UK. He has recorded and produced music for a number of mainstream rock artists including Enter Shikari, You Me At Six, Steven Wilson, Don Broco, Lower Than Atlantis, Architects, Funeral For A Friend, McFly and many more. Harry Whitley Whitely uploaded a number of Asia covers to his YouTube channel and soon noticed how these videos were performing far better than any others. It didn’t take long for Harry’s performances to come to the attention of Geoff Downes – and at that moment the die was cast. When a recent charity tribute concert was planned to celebrate the life of John Wetton, Downes invited Whitley to step up and take charge of the Asia lead vocals. Alongside Billy Sherwood (YES) on bass, Jay Schellen (YES) on drums and John Mitchell (It Bites, Frost*) on guitar, Whitely took his place on stage next to Geoff Downes. You can see the entire info about the musicians on ASIA's website. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MwP4ifUeuoM&pp=ygUOYXNpYSBiYW5kIDIwMjQ%3DThe post ASIA has new line-up without Carl Palmer and Steve Howe appeared first on Rock and Roll Garage.

Zak Starkey, who is the son of The Beatles' Ringo Starr, was The Who's drummer for 29 years and was fired twice by the band recently. It all started after a feud with Roger Daltrey. Everything started during a show where Roger Daltrey felt he was playing some wrong parts. In an interview with Rolling Stone, the musician revealed that his father told him: "I've never liked the way that little man (Daltrey) runs that band.'" What Ringo Starr said about Roger Daltrey Starkey also noted that he was playing it right and it was Roger who got the song wrong, probably because he couldn't hear most of the instruments. "I spoke to Roger last week. He said, 'Don't take your drums out of the warehouse, we might be calling you.' What the fuck? These guys are fuckin' insane! I've been fired more times than Keith Moon in ten days." "He came in four bars early. And I just sent him an e-mail going, 'I watched you on TV last night, you were off.' It's 30 years in the group. It's like a family. But he came in four bars early. And he just asked for the drums to be turned up, and he couldn't hear the piano." "But I love Roger. He never misses a note. His voice is still so pure. It's like a laser beam. He always nails it. They've not changed one key since the start of conceptual art as rock & roll. But he just got lost. He blamed it on the drums being too loud, and then it got made into this huge social media thing." "And it freaked him out and he's going around doing solo shows, and saying it's 'fake news.' But it wasn't me. I was in the car and gone before they finished the last acoustic song. There was no argument in the dressing room. Nothing. I was halfway home by the time they finished." "I dropped two beats. I've watched that film three times. I'm looking on the floor, and I can't see it. If I drop two beats, where the fuck are they?" Starkey also said he would accept The Who's offer to return "Oh, man, of course I would. I said to Pete, 'Thirty years. In the thirty years, you put the bar so fuckin' high. What the fuck do I do now?' And I don't even just mean musically, but lyrically. Because if you're in a band, you've got to know what the words mean so you can transmit it properly. It's really fuckin' important." "I said to Pete, 'What do you suggest?' I mean, the guy demands 200 percent every night, everything you've got. When you get back to the hotel, you're not physically tired. You're mentally tired from the whole conversation of it. It's like them jazz players that are counting to 24 in five seconds," Zak Starkey said. He was replaced by Scott Devours, who is Roger Daltrey's solo band drummer. Devours is one year younger than Starkey and is American. He was previously part of bands like Oleander and IMA Robot. He is a good friend of the band and works with Daltrey for more than a decade already. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EoarH8C5dUIThe post Zak Starkey reveals what Ringo said about his firing and Daltrey appeared first on Rock and Roll Garage.

Considered the last great Pink Floyd album, "The Wall" (1979) was written by Roger Waters and was inspired by his life, so he took the band's creative control during the recording of that record and bullied a lot the keyboardist Richard Wright who ended up being fired by the band in 1981 for not contributing enough to the group. In an interview with CBC, Bob Ezrin, who produced the album, recalled how Waters bullied Wright. Producer Bob Ezrin recalls how Roger Waters bullied Richard Wright during the making of "The Wall" "During the making of 'The Wall,' this was the time at which Roger was sort of declaring what he perceived as his primacy within the band. And the story was based on his life. So he had a very deep, proprietary feeling about the whole story and the whole project. He was resistant to input from the other guys to begin with." "But then as it started to come in, like, 'Comfortably Numb,' or, 'Young Lust' or 'Run Like Hell' - what a great guitar riff - so when these things started to come in, even though there may have been an initial resistance, the minute that it started to feel good or sound good, Roger was in. There was a lot of laughter. People think it was all angst and tears and stuff. There was a tremendous amount of laughter, kibitzing, messing around." "There was a lot of schoolyard bullying from time to time. Roger was very tough on Rick. He was disappointed in Rick's contribution to the record, which was not correct because Rick's fantastic. And the minute that he plays or sings, it just becomes Pink Floyd. He's such an essential part of the sound, but he's a very sensitive man and was feeling a little bit removed from the process after the making of 'Animals.'" "I think he was self-conscious, and Roger, like many bullies, they recognize weakness the minute they see it. They smell blood, and they go for it. So I think, not consciously, but just naturally, Roger started to get pissed off," (Transcribed by Ultimate Guitar). "The Wall" is the band's second best-selling album, it has sold an estimated amount of more than 30 million copies. But when it comes to double albums, the record is the best-selling of all time. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mPIPeguXOQAThe post Producer recalls how Roger Waters bullied Wright during “The Wall” appeared first on Rock and Roll Garage.