“If any individual or group that still claims that the right to keep and bear arms is not an individual right, then that individual or group is just as likely, to use the words of the nineteenth-century chaplain William Biederwolf, to ‘Look all over the sky at high noon on a cloudless day and not …

Duke Energy is contributing $100,000 to the One SC Fund to help support our food banks during the federal government shutdown. I’m grateful for their generosity and hope it will encourage others to join our effort to help South Carolina families in need. Donate here:… https://t.co/ydKXVbkkmS — Gov. Henry McMaster (@henrymcmaster) October 30, 2025

Just like pretty much everybody else in the world, Merle Haggard once had a crush on Dolly Parton. We here at Whiskey Riff often wonder what Jolene had to look like for Dolly Parton to be worried about her stealing her man. Dolly has, across decades, been an icon that women and men adore. She’s still a hot item according to Zac Brown, and back in the heyday of the 70s, Dolly was a certified heartbreaker. For proof, just look to two songs that Merle Haggard penned during a brief period where he was falling head-over-heels for the country music star. If you’ve ever heard the two songs “I’ve Got A Yearning” and “Always Wanting You” by Haggard, those are both about Dolly… and Merle announced that to the world during a Ralph Emery On The Record interview (a TikToker recently highlighted this interview). The show might not have lasted long (it ran from 1993 to 1995), but it provided some great, long-form interviews with some of the biggest names in country music. In this particular conversation, Emery got around to asking Merle about his relationship with Dolly Parton. He even pointed out that in Merle’s book, Sing Me Back Home, he had written this about Dolly: “I was like a schoolboy. I could have carved ‘Merle loves Dolly’ on every tree in the country if she asked me to.” Haggard admitted to falling in love with Parton during the 1970s, when the two were particularly close and helped one another out with music. Merle even recalled the late night that turned into an early morning when he wrote two songs about his feelings for Parton – “I’ve Got A Yearning” and “Always Wanting You” – and tried to call her at 3:30 in the morning to play her one of them: “It was about 3 o’clock in the morning. I was at Harrah’s Casino, it must have been 1974. I wrote two songs that night, and both of them are about her. We were using each other for soundboards at the time. I didn’t have any intentions of ever making anything happen out of this love. I knew it was absolutely impossible… But we could write songs. And so I wrote these two songs: ‘Always Wanting You’ and ‘I’ve Got A Yearning.’ Around 3:30 a.m. my time, I called her house and some lady answered. I said, ‘Is Dolly asleep?’ She said, ‘She sure is.’ I said, ‘Well would you go wake her up? I’ve got a song that I’ve been working on all night and I know she wants to hear it.'” The woman who answered eventually got Dolly on the phone after some additional pestering from Haggard, but that’s all that we got from the rest of the story. Merle went on to speak highly of Parton, saying that when she first broke into the country music scene, some had trouble looking past the “facade” of her big hair and… well, he mentioned other things. Merle clearly knew her on a deeper level, and that’s made evident by listening to the two songs he wrote and woke her up for. But first, check out the interview where he talked all about it: “On The Record with Ralph Emery – Merle Haggard” And now, go ahead and give a listen to the pair of songs that Merle Haggard wrote in one night with Dolly Parton on his mind: “Always Wanting You” “I’ve Got A Yearning” The post “Go Wake Her Up?” – Merle Haggard Once Called Dolly Parton At 3AM To Play Two Songs He Wrote About Her first appeared on Whiskey Riff.

Here for the drama. This year, Morgan Wallen is up for several trophies at the CMA Awards, including Entertainer of the Year, Male Vocalist of the Year, and Album of the Year for his album I’m The Problem. He is also the reigning Entertainer of the Year and has 18 career CMA nominations in total, and has won just two of them, New Artist of the Year in 2019 and the aforementioned Entertainer of the Year in 2024. Of course, he was banned from attending the CMA Awards in 2021 after a the infamous video surfaced of him using a racial slur, and he did not attend the show last year despite winning the evening’s biggest award. In many ways, Wallen and the CMA Awards have a complicated relationship, and it’s highly unlikely we’ll see him there this year as the the 2025 CMA Awards will air live from the Bridgestone Arena in two weeks, on November 19 at 7 p.m. CT, on ABC with Lainey Wilson taking over as solo host. Just this week we heard him take a shot at the CMA Awards during a surprise duet with Ella Langley. While he seems like the obvious choice to win Entertainer of the Year due to the success of his I’m The Problem stadium tour and massive album of the same name, it’s certainly not a guarantee as we’ve seen in the past, which reminds me of the time he straight up called out the CMA Awards during a different award show. In 2023, Morgan won big at the Billboard Music Awards, sweeping the night with 11 trophies, including Top Male Artist, Top Hot 100 Artist, Top Billboard 200 Album, Top Hot 100 Song, and more. It was easily the most wins out of any other artist, and yes, he even beat Taylor Swift with that number, as she came in right behind him with 10 wins. Morgan took home trophies for the aforementioned three categories, in addition to Top Streaming Songs Artist, Top Country Artist, Top Country Male Artist, Top Country Touring Artist, Top Country Album, Top Streaming Song and Top Country Song with his mega hit “Last Night.” Much like he has this year, Morgan had dominated the Billboard charts in 2023, and he used some of the time in his acceptance speech to take a shot at the CMA Awards. To go along with another massive tour in 2023, where he did two nights at stadiums all over the country, he also had one of the best-selling albums of the year with One Thing At a Time, and has had three #1 singles this year (to go along with his three from 2022). “Last Night” was Billboard’s top streamed song and a massive, multi-week #1 hit on the all-genre chart, and these awards are based on numbers and metrics and less on voting and how much labels are willing to shell out, so in a certain sense, it does feel a bit more “fair.” And Morgan was willing to let everyone know his apparent displeasure with the CMA’s, saying in his speech that he came home “empty-handed” at the last awards show he went to, and this time, he doesn’t have “enough hands for them all”: “You know, like the song says, you win some you lose some. And last award show I went to, we came home empty handed, and this one, I don’t have enough hands for them all. So either way, I promise I’m gonna stay the same regardless if I come home with 10 or 0. I’m gonna give y’all my all every single night, every single time I go into the studio. Thank you, all these awards are really for my fans, so thank you guys so much. Thank you. You took a boy from east Tennessee driving a two-door Toyota Tacoma and turned me into one of Billboard’s top artists, so God bless y’all.” It’s hard to blame him for being a little bit upset… like him or not, no one is a bigger or hotter name in the music industry right now, which made it all much more obvious how strange it really was for him to keep losing. In fact, he hardly acknowledged the EOTY at all, only sharing a photo of it in a carousel of others long after the show took place… so yeah, it was obvious he’s still probably annoyed by it, at the least: View this post on Instagram Morgan actually admitted during an interview with Billboard back in 2023 that losing that night did bother him for a little while, saying he couldn’t figure out why he was “mad”: “Bothered me for like five minutes. And then I’m like, ‘Why am I mad? I’m about to go play for 80,000 people in Atlanta.’” Yeah, when you’re selling out stadiums (and cashing the checks from the highest-grossing tour in country music) it’s hard to stay upset over something that ultimately has no impact on your career. That has continued to be the case over the last several years, and with another massive stadium tour already on the books for 2026, and likely some new music coming too, Morgan continues to prove that the CMA Awards need him a lot more than they need him… and that really is the ultimate revenge, isn’t it? You can watch the Billboard speech here: You can view the full list of 2025 nominees below. 2025 CMA Awards Nominees Entertainer of the Year Morgan Wallen Luke Combs Lainey Wilson Cody Johnson Chris Stapleton Album of the Year Am I Okay? – Megan Moroney Producer: Kristian Bush Mix Engineer: Justin Niebank Cold Beer & Country Music – Zach Top Producer: Carson Chamberlain Mix Engineer: Matt Rovey F-1 Trillon – Post Malone Producers: Louis Bell, Charlie Handsome, Hoskins Mix Engineer: Ryan Gore I’m The Problem – Morgan Wallen Producers: Jacob Durrett, Charlie Handsome, Joey Moi Mix Engineers: Charlie Handsome, Joey Moi Whirlwind – Lainey Wilson Producer: Jay Joyce Mix Engineers: Jason Hall, Jay Joyce Male Vocalist of the Year Chris Stapleton Morgan Wallen Luke Combs Cody Johnson Zach Top Female Vocalist of the Year Lainey Wilson Ella Langley Megan Moroney Kelsea Ballerini Miranda Lambert Vocal Group of the Year Old Dominion The Red Clay Strays Little Big Town Lady A Rascal Flatts Vocal Duo of the Year Brooks & Dunn Dan + Shay Brothers Osborne The War and Treaty Maddie & Tae Single of the Year “4X4XU” – Lainey Wilson Producer: Jay Joyce Mix Engineers: Jason Hall, Jay Joyce “Ain’t No Love In Oklahoma” – Luke Combs Producers: Luke Combs, Chip Matthews, Jonathan Singleton Mix Engineer: Chip Matthews “Am I Okay?” – Megan Moroney Producer: Kristian Bush Mix Engineer: Justin Niebank “I Never Lie” – Zach Top Producer: Carson Chamberlain Mix Engineer: Mat Rovey “You Look Like You Love Me” – Ella Langley ft. Riley Green Producer: Will Bundy Mix Engineer: Jim Cooley Song of the Year “4X4XU” – Lainey Wilson Songwriters: Jon Decious, Aaron Raitiere, Lainey Wilson “Am I Okay? – Megan Moroney Songwriters: Jessie Jo Dillon, Luke Laird, Megan Moroney “I Never Lie” – Zach Top Songwriters: Carson Chamberlain, Tim Nichols, Zach Top “Texas” – Blake Shelton Songwriters: Johnny Clawson, Josh Dorr, Lalo Guzman, Kyle Sturrock “You Look Like You Love Me” – Ella Langley ft. Riley Green Songwriters: Riley Green, Ella Langley, Aaron Raitiere New Artist of the Year Zach Top Ella Langley Stephen Wilson Jr. Tucker Wetmore Shaboozey Musician of the Year Jenee Fleenor (Fiddle) Paul Franklin (Steel Guitar) Brett Mason (Guitar) Rob McNelley (Guitar) Derek Wells (Guitar) Music Video of the Year “Am I Okay?” – Megan Moroney Directors: Alexander Gavillet, Megan Moroney “I’m Gonna Love You” – Cody Johnson & Carrie Underwood Director: Dustin Haney “Somewhere Over Laredo” – Lainey Wilson Director: TK McKamy “Think I’m In Love With You” – Chris Stapleton Director: Running Bear “You Look Like You Love Me” – Ella Langley & Riley Green Directors: Ella Langley, John Park, Wales Toney Musical Event of the Year “Don’t Mind If I Do” – Riley Green ft. Ella Langley Producers: Scott Borchetta, Jimmy Harnen, Dann Huff “Hard Fought Hallelujah” – Brandon Lake w/ Jelly Roll Producer: Micha Nichols “I’m Gonna Love You” – Cody Johnson w/ Carrie Underwood Producer: Trent Willmon “Pour Me A Drink” – Post Malone ft. Blake Shelton Producers: Louis Bell, Charlie Handsome “You Had to Be There” – Megan Moroney ft. Kenny Chesney Producer: Kristian Bush The post Remember When Morgan Wallen Called Out The CMA Awards After Leaving Empty-Handed In 2023? first appeared on Whiskey Riff.

A Southern take on a rock and roll classic. This is AC/DC like you’ve never heard them before. Of course, most readers of this are familiar with Chris Stapleton’s powerful pipes. The 8x CMA Male Vocalist of the Year is one of the most talented musicians of our generation, proving himself as a prolific songwriter long before breaking out as a solo artist in 2015 with his critically acclaimed record Traveller. As of late, I’ve found myself in a deep dive listening to Stapleton cover classic blues songs in the 2010s, and it’s a goldmine. I have honestly had his version of “It’s A Man’s Man’s Man’s World,” which was performed in 2019, on repeat, and have found a new fixation on his rendition of B.B. King’s “The Thrill Is Gone” as well. This dive into these cover performances by Stapleton has taken me to all corners of the internet and reminded me of another stellar cover he delivered after breaking into the scene. For this performance, Stapleton again ventures outside of the country music genre, putting his twang on a classic. Back in 2017, on the final night of Chris’ All-America Road Show Tour, Chris brought Brent Cobb to the stage for a tribute performance of “You Shook Me All Night Long.” At the time, Brent Cobb, a singer and songwriter hailing from Ellaville, Georgia, was opening up for Stapleton, and if you’re not familiar with Cobb’s work, then this is the perfect place to start. Cobb is responsible for penning many country hits, including The Steel Woods’ “Let The Rain Come Down,” and Whiskey Myers’ “Bar, Guitar and a Honky Tonk Crowd.” He even has songs cut by Luke Bryan. Similar to Stapleton, Cobb has a strong background in songwriting before focusing on his solo career as an artist. Cobb’s most recent record, Ain’t Rocked In A While, leans heavily into the rocking energy of Cobb’s live shows, and an AC/DC cover would fit right into that tracklist… However, this night in 2017, the two men made “You Shook Me All Night Long” entirely their own. The two did the performance in honor of AC/DC guitar player and founding member Malcolm Young. Malcolm passed away in November of 2017 after a lengthy battle with dementia. The original version of the tune highlights a rip-roaring guitar riff and Brian Johnson’s electric vocals. Stapleton and Cobb’s version is slowed down and sung more as an acoustic ballad, giving the classic tune an entirely new life. With both the men’s southern drawl seeping through the vocal delivery, the song is countryfied to the max. The song is silkily smooth on a listener’s ears as the harmonious paring of Stapleton and Cobb’s vocals washes over you. This version of “You Shook Me All Night Long” is far different from the original, but it’s still a heater. Check it out: The post WATCH: Chris Stapleton & Brent Cobb Deliver A Silky Smooth Cover Of AC/DC’s “You Shook Me All Night Long” In 2017 first appeared on Whiskey Riff.

Perfection. As time passes, it’s become abundantly clear that Tyler Childers has become one of the latest living legends in the genre. Undoubtedly a key piece of the independent and Appalachian movement that has swept country music over the past decade, seemingly everything he touches turns to gold. And despite the controversy surrounding his latest release, Snipe Hunter, back in July, Childers has proven time and again that he isn’t afraid to get a little weird with both his studio and live performances while simultaneously delivering some of the most boundary-pushing, captivating music in the genre. This has been shown a countless number of times throughout his career. Of course, you have his monster, traditional hits such as “Feathered Indians,” “Lady May” and “All Your’n.” With that being said, however, Childers has never been one to shy away from going for it whether it be on eclectic tracks like Snipe Hunter’s “Poachers” and “Dirty Ought Trill” or the entirety of 2022’s Can I Take My Hounds to Heaven?, which features three separate versions of the record’s eight tracks. Another thing that has become clear over the years with the “Country Squire” singer over the years is his ability to cover nearly any song imaginable to absolute perfection. On his studio albums alone, he’s covered the likes of Kris Kristofferson’s “Help Me Make It Through The Night” and S.G. Goodman’s “Space and Time.” In concert, however, he’s thrown a plethora of different legendary covers throughout the years ranging from Pink Floyd’s “Time” to Charlie Daniels Band’s severely underrated track, “Trudy.” For my money, however, his best cover is none other than his 2022 performance of Merle Haggard’s legendary 1968 single, “Mama Tried,” with the Grateful Dead’s Bob Weir. Taking place during the 50th anniversary of Ace at Radio City Music Hall back in April 2022, Childers joined Weir and his band the Wolf Bros for a very Grateful Dead-esque jam session that consisted of both “Mama Tried,” as well as “Turn On Your Love Light,” “Lady With A Fan” and “Terrapin Station” throughout the epic, 34-minute performance. As for “Mama Tried” itself, it’s nothing short of perfection from Childers. There’s so much to be said about him as an artist, from the aforementioned songwriting ability to his important role in the indie movement. With that being said, one aspect of Childers as a musician that has continually flown under the radar is his vocals. Sure, they might not wow you the way someone like Chris Stapleton can on his patented vocal runs. However, Childers has the unique ability to adapt to any song from any era. Much like his contemporary, Charley Crockett, the Kentucky native has one of those voices that truly feel timeless, and it’s displayed perfectly on this iconic Haggard track. And, of course, Weir and the Wolf Bros are nothing short of fantastic, effortlessly transitioning from song to song with ease throughout the performance. If you’re a fan of Childers and Weir, this is a must-watch. Watch the entire 34-minute performance, beginning with “Mama Tried,” here: Tyler Childers Tour Dates November 15 – London, UK – The O2 March 3 – Dublin, Ireland – 3 Arena March 6 – Glasgow, UK – OVO Hydro March 8 – Manchester, UK – AO Arena March 10 – Brussels, Belgium – Ancienne Belgique March 13 – Paris, France – Salle Pleyel March 15 – Berlin, Germany – Uber Eats Music Hall March 17 – Copenhagen, Denmark – K.B. Hallen March 21 – Amsterdam, Netherlands – AFAS Live June 7 – Lexington, Kentucky – Railbird Music Festival June 13 – Columbus, Ohio – Buckeye Country SuperfestThe post Throwback To Tyler Childers & The Grateful Dead’s Bob Weir Covering The Hell Out Of Merle Haggard’s “Mama Tried” Back In 2022 first appeared on Whiskey Riff.

The Hunger Games movie was the exact same as the book to me | Mark Brady Stand-Up Comedy

Bringing up too many bad memories. The post The Beach Boys song that was too painful for Brian Wilson to perform live: “Brings back bad memories first appeared on Far Out Magazine.