As fall settles in across the United States, a familiar yet evolving threat is making headlines once again: new COVID-19 variants driving a noticeable uptick in cases. Dubbed Nimbus (NB.1.8.1) and Stratus (XFG), these Omicron subvariants are not only spreading rapidly but are also linked to some peculiar symptoms that are catching both patients and […]

Prickly Pear Health provides medical support for women’s brain health, a voice-first, AI-powered companion that helps women in their 30s to 50s navigate the hormonal changes that affect brain health.

While the HR Tech Guideline was last valued at $1.15 billion, the sale will likely yield a profit for most investors.

Eazewell helps families navigate end-of-life planning, from coordinating a funeral to cancelling someone's mail, with the help of AI.

Government shutdown underway, White House pulls BLS nominee E.J. Antoni, Communist Chinese flag raised over Philadelphia City Hall, and more.

Colby Acuff is a man of the people. That notion shines true now more than ever through his brand new record, which is slated to hit streaming platforms everywhere on Friday. In anticipation of the album’s release, I caught up with Acuff recently to discuss the decision to leave his record label in an ever-changing music industry landscape, and how newfound creative freedom led to his most ambitious project yet – An 11-track concept record titled Enjoy the Ride. Having just arrived at the venue for a show with Southall in Bozeman, MT, after playing the night before in Great Falls, Acuff was practicing what he preaches as a hard touring road warrior when he hopped on a Zoom call with me to talk about the new album. Spending around 210 days on the road with his band this year, the Coeur d’Alene, ID native is no stranger to the grind. In fact, they’ve been putting up numbers higher than that each of the last few years – and this year was a bit slower by design. At some point in your career, you’ve paid your dues and are able to afford a few extra days off. But there is definitely a time, especially for young artists, when they feel the need to accept every gig they can, and acknowledge that they need all the help they can get. It wasn’t long ago that Acuff was in this situation. In a lot of ways, he’s still in that phase of his career. But when he made the decision to sign with a major record label in 2023, it was clear to him that it was the right move for his career as he would greatly benefit from the support, stability, and resources that a label provides. He says: “When I signed in 2023, they had my best interest. They allowed me to not sell my catalog. It was a licensing deal for three records that we were going to do. I really needed it at the time.” With the label, he recorded and released his two previous projects, American Son and Western White Pines, both of which have experienced considerable success. But as the industry continued to change, so too did Acuff’s needs, and although it wasn’t an easy decision, he ultimately made a move to leave the label earlier this year, before creating that third record. “The industry was changing and I didn’t feel like the label was going to benefit me as much as they could have two years ago. The deciding factor for me was control over the music.” Explaining further that any money received from a label is essentially in the form of debt – something that he expressed all young artists need to understand – it is clear that Acuff was looking to regain ownership of his music. But more importantly, perhaps, he was looking to regain total control over the creative process in making the music. The newfound sense of creative freedom that came with leaving the label paved the way for his brand new album Enjoy the Ride. Working with Eddie Spear to bring this project to life – the prominent producer with whom he had collaborated on his previous two records – the duo took to the streets of Knoxville, TN; Johnson City, TN; and Asheville, NC, and interviewed dozens of random people they encountered in an effort to find ideas for his next project. An out-of-the-box concept that never would have been approved by a label, the result, Acuff found, was more inspiring than he could have imagined. At a high level, he discovered that all people, regardless of background, share many of the same fundamental desires. “When we asked them what they would do if they won the lottery, the first thing every single person said was ‘I’d buy a house.’ This tells me that winning the lottery and buying a house are exactly the same to people, which is really sad.” Chalking this up to an inherent desire for stability, Acuff continued to expound upon these desires he discovered, revealing that people also value freedom, crave validation, and want to be seen as a good person. Inspired by these themes, Acuff used these as the foundation for the concept and characters that are most prominent in his new record. “Instead of getting 10 or 11 songs that were specific to these individual people we interviewed, I realized I had to write 10 or 11 songs about everyone. And then I made it a concept record, and it tells a full story through about a man and a woman, and all of the tropes that people deal with every day are embedded in these two characters.” Thus, Enjoy the Ride was born, and as the male and female characters develop throughout each track, every listener is bound to relate to their troubles and triumphs, proving that all of us humans are more the same than we are different, a message that is often lost upon society in today’s division. Ironically, Acuff’s own story reflects many of these same desires, having initially signed with the record label for stability and validation, but ultimately leaving in search of creative freedom, that allowed him to have this inspirational experience and turn it into a thought provoking concept record. The making of Enjoy the Ride was eye opening for Acuff, to say the least, and he gained a great deal of perspective throughout the process: “I just want to give people agency in their life. And I’m not in it to be famous. I’m in it so that the songs can be way bigger than me… At the end of the day, I’m just a fly fishing guide from Northern Idaho. I’m pretty lucky.” And with that, make sure to keep an eye out for Colby Acuff’s sixth album Enjoy the Ride to drop this Friday. In the meantime, check out the track list below and give the singles that have been released thus far a listen. Enjoy the Ride Tracklist: “Trail Less Traveled” “Enjoy the Ride” “Her Song (Numb to Everything)” “Love Was Just a Feeling” “As Good as It Gets” “Average American” “Most Lonesome Song” “His Song (What’s a Man’s Supposed to Be)” “Cost of Life” “Simple Little Life” “Learned Along the Way”The post Colby Acuff Opens Up About Leaving His Record Label & How It Led To His Forthcoming Concept Record, ‘Enjoy The Ride’ first appeared on Whiskey Riff.

A bit of a full-circle moment. After housing the likes of Eric Church on his epic, three-night run back in July, as well as the likes of Zach Bryan, Riley Green, Sierra Ferrell, The Red Clay Strays, Jordan Davis and Zach Top recently, Megan Moroney became the most recent country act to step on stage at the iconic Red Rocks Amphitheater in Morrison, Colorado, last night. Serving as a bit of an early sendoff on her massive year that included leading the way with six nominations at the upcoming CMA Awards in November and scoring her 2nd #1 hit with “Am I Okay?” in June, last night’s Red Rocks show marked the second time she’s headlined the venue in her career. Before playing what she described as the “longest show” on the Am I Okay? Tour, Moroney took a moment to reflect on how far she’s come over the past few years before thanking the crowd for selling out the venue: “It started out, I was driving a rental car around the country. And then we finally got the church van with a U-Haul. And then we upgraded to a bandwagon, our least favorite. It was all of us on one bus. I was sleeping, not even in a bunk; I was sleeping in the back. And now we’re here, sold out at Red Rocks. I just wanna start this show by thanking y’all so much for being here and for all your support and allowing us to live out our dreams. Thank you so so much.” Moroney would proceed to deliver a plethora of different hits, including “Tennessee Orange,” “6 Months Later” and “Indifferent,” along with the unreleased song penned to her niece, “Beautiful Things,” and the highly-requested deep cut from her debut album, “Georgia Girl.” The most memorable moment of the night, however, would come later in the set when she performed the standout track from 2024’s Am I Okay, “I Hope You’re Happy.” In case you’re unfamiliar with the track, “I Hope You’re Happy” serves as one of the emotional tethers on Am I Okay?, providing a heartbreakingly realistic depiction of a breakup in which Moroney wishes her ex catches every dream he’s been chasing while simultaneously hoping she never hears about it. In the third verse, the Georgia native makes a direct reference to the venue she performed at last night when she pens that she hopes he sees the Eagles perform their legendary 1973 track, “Desperado,” at Red Rocks. “I hope the Eagles take a victory lap to Red Rocks And you hear “Desperado” live from the front row I hope the girl you’re with knows all the words And you buy matchin’ tour t-shirts And I hope your friends never let me know” Wasting no time to take the opportunity to provide a full circle moment for both herself and the song, Moroney immediately dove into a cover of “Desperado” after “I Hope You’re Happy,” and she absolutely crushed it. Anyone who’s familiar with the Eagles knows their songs aren’t exactly the easiest to perform, but the “I’m Not Pretty” singer did not disappoint. Much in the vein of Eric Church performing various Bruce Springsteen songs along with “Springsteen” at his shows, Moroney made a brilliant move here, performing “I Hope You’re Happy” and “Desperado” back-to-back. If I were her, I’d make it a setlist staple. Watch here: @mary_sheaaMegan Moroney with the best surprise ever!!!♬ original sound – mary “Hope You’re Happy” Megan Moroney Tour Dates October 2 – Los Angeles, CA – Greek Theatre October 3 – Las Angeles, CA – Greek Theatre October 4 – Las Vegas, NV – The Theater at Virgin Hotels Las Vegas October 5 – Las Vegas, NV – The Theater at Virgin Hotels Las Vegas October 10 – Dallas, TX – Texas Trust CU Theatre October 11 – Dallas, TX – Texas Trust CU Theatre October 12 – Dallas, TX – Texas Trust CU Theatre October 18 – Tampa, FL – Julian B. Lane Riverfront Park October 23 – Brisbane City, Australia – Riverstage October 25 – Sydney, Australia – Sydney ShowgroundThe post Megan Moroney Delivers Impressive Cover Of The Eagles’ “Desperado” At Red Rocks first appeared on Whiskey Riff.

Already got it all worked out. Earlier this week, the bombshell news dropped that country music star Keith Urban and his superstar actress wife Nicole Kidman had separated and were heading towards a divorce. And yesterday it became official when Kidman filed for divorce after 19 years of marriage. While the news was shocking to everybody on the outside, as it turns out, the parties had already been working privately to get everything sorted out before the separation became public…and I mean EVERYTHING. Kidman filed for divorce in Davidson County here in Nashville, where the couple lives with their two children, 17-year old Sunday Rose and 14-year old Faith Margaret. And though the documents were just filed yesterday, the two had already completed a marital dissolution agreement and proposed parenting plan nearly a month ago. The marital dissolution agreement, which outlines the division of assets and property, was signed by Kidman on September 6, while Urban had signed it a week prior on August 29. And in the document, which has been reviewed by Whiskey Riff, the parties revealed that they had already split the majority of the personal property, things like household furniture, appliances and art. The couple also agreed that each would retain full ownership of all of their creative work, with neither getting any interest or intellectual property in the other’s work through their entertainment careers. That basically means that he gets all of his music, she gets her movies, and neither can claim that they own any part of the other’s work. The agreement is so detailed that the couple even laid out how to divide their hotel, airline and credit card points: Basically, each party gets to keep all the points in their own name or associated with their own credit cards. It sounds like their finances were fairly separate, with each maintaining their own bank and investment accounts, so I’m assuming all of their credit cards were separate too – and with as much travel as they do (especially Keith flying back to his home country of Australia (he was born in New Zealand and raised in Australia) he’s probably racked up quite a few airline miles. Along with splitting their property and hotel points, the couple have also worked out custody of their two teenage daughters. According to a proposed parenting plan, Kidman is to have the majority custody of the children, for a total of 306 days per year. Urban will have the children every other weekend, from Saturday at 10:00 AM to Sunday at 6:00 PM, with the holidays and school breaks rotating between the two parents. But while Kidman will serve as the primary residential parent, they both will, however, share joint decision making for the children. As far as alimony or child support, Kidman has agreed that Urban has “prepaid” any child support owed to her, and neither parent is asking for anything further. While the parenting plan lists both parents’ income as “in excess of $100,000” monthly, they both agree that “each party has significant separate assets and means to independently care for both minor children while in his or her care.” Based on the fact that everything has already been worked out before the divorce was even filed, it’s clear that this wasn’t a sudden decision and that the separation has been ongoing for at least over a month now. But as far as divorces go, legally speaking this is about as painless as possible, when you can get both parents to agree on everything from the beginning. Of course a judge will still have to sign off on the agreement, and divorcing parents are required by the state of Tennessee to take a parenting class, but it seems like pretty much everything is taken care of – even the hotel and airline points – and all that’s left to do is wait the mandatory 90 day waiting period for a judge to grant the divorce.The post Keith Urban & Nicole Kidman Agree To Split Custody – And Hotel Points – In Detailed Divorce Filing first appeared on Whiskey Riff.

The Supreme Court has just given President Trump a loss on his action to fire Federal employee Lisa Cook, refusing to act on an appeal that reinstated her. The will hear arguments . . .