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Spoiler alert: If both Congress and the Senate are cheering for it, it’s probably designed to screw you. Do you really think Trump’s promise to ban CBDCs means your financial freedom is safe? Because while politicians rail against central bank digital currencies on the campaign trail, the system is quietly being built under a different …

Is there anything this duo can’t sing? Of course, Chris Stapleton is the name on the front of all the albums, but his wife Morgane provides such an incredible compliment to his powerful voice. The pair have delivered a number of award-winning songs and albums, countless tour dates over the past decade or so, but this might be one of my performances they’ve ever given. As part of a St. Jude Radiothon on the Bobby Bones Show a few years back, Chris and Morgane stopped by the studio to perform a stripped down version of the Lee Ann Womack hit, “I Hope You Dance.” Written by Mark D. Sanders and Tia Sillers, “I Hope You Dance,” was recorded by Lee Ann Womack featuring Sons of the Desert for her 2000 album of the same name. The song topped both the Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks and Hot Adult Contemporary Tracks charts, and also reached number fourteen on the Billboard Hot 100. It won the 2001 CMA Award for Single of the Year, as well as the ACM award for Song of the Year. It also won a Grammy for Best Country Song and was nominated for the all-genre Grammy Song of the Year. And here, we get to really see Morgane shine on the accompanying vocals, even taking the rare lead in the bridge of the song. Check it out: And of course, the original version: ‘All-American Road Show’ Tour Dates Already gearing up for a busy 2026. Chris Stapleton is extending his All-American Road Show tour into next year with two-night stands in Las Vegas, Thackerville, Oklahoma and Uncasville, Connecticut. While Stapleton has been on tour this year both opening for George Strait, as well as playing his own full band shows, these new ones will be a little bit different in that Stapleton will be the only name on the bill, performing alongside his full band with no openers. While I obviously appreciate hearing up-and-coming artists and discovering new music with a typical large tour that usually has two different openers, there’s something special about just getting to hear the headliner and having all of the time dedicated to them performing. It doesn’t happen often, especially with someone like Stapleton, so if you’re able to make it to any of these shows, it will certainly be a special experience. If you haven’t seen him before, he’s as incredible as you would imagine live, and I highly recommend getting to one of his shows at some point because he’s truly one of the best in the business. And if you don’t see your city, or anywhere near your state, on this list, I have a feeling more shows will be announced down the road so you’ll likely (hopefully) end up with at least one near you by the time 2026 rolls around. Tickets will on sale Friday, September 26th for the newly announced shows: View this post on Instagram A post shared by Chris Stapleton (@chrisstapleton) This announcement comes during another massive year for Stapleton, who recently earned three nominations at the 59th Annual CMA Awards in Entertainer of the Year, Male Vocalist of the Year, and Music Video of the Year for “Think I’m In Love With You.” Earlier this year, he named Male Artist of the Year at the 60th Annual ACM Awards, marking his fifth time winning the category. In addition, he recently released a duet with Miranda Lambert called “A Song To Sing,” which channels their inner Dolly and Kenny and is super groovy and fun, finding them reflecting on a timeless love that only gets better with time. In terms of solo music, Stapleton put out his most recent album Higher in 2023, so hopefully fans can expect new music sometime next year too. CHRIS STAPLETON CONFIRMED TOUR DATES: October 10—Hollywood, FL—Hard Rock Live October 11—Hollywood, FL—Hard Rock Live November 1—Gonzales, LA—Boots on the Bayou May 26—Panama City Beach, FL—Gulf Coast Jam February 4—Las Vegas, NV—Dolby Live at Park MGM February 5—Las Vegas, NV—Dolby Live at Park MGM February 20—Thackerville, OK—WinStar Lukas Oil Live February 21—Thackerville, OK—WinStar Lukas Oil Live February 27—Uncasville, CT—Mohegan Sun Casino February 28—Uncasville, CT—Mohegan Sun Casino “A Song To Sing” The post WATCH: Chris & Morgane Stapleton Sing A Flawless Acoustic Cover Of Lee Ann Womack’s “I Hope You Dance” first appeared on Whiskey Riff.

Johnny Cash’s rendition of “Hurt” is considered to be one of the greatest cover songs of all time. It was so impactful that Trent Reznor, the lead man for Nine Inch Nails and the writer of the song, once admitted that the song wasn’t his anymore. Cash had made the dark, emotional track his own, and the famous music video that’s paired alongside the cover is powerful enough to create instant water works. And that was mostly thanks to legendary producer Rick Rubin. Rubin sat down with Rick Beato recently to talk about his incredible career as a producer, and just as “Hurt” will forever be associated with Johnny Cash as one of his final pieces of work, Rubin will always be attached to the song since he was the one that convinced Cash to cover it. As he explains in the interview, Rubin and Cash had a formula for picking out songs to cover, and the producer was always looking for something in particular when it came to potential cover songs: “At that time, I had already made five albums with Johnny. This was on the sixth album, and he was always looking for songs. He would write one or two songs typically on an album and the rest would be covers. And what I came to realize was things that worked best… the key was the lyrics. If the lyrics were right, it didn’t really matter what genre the music was or where it came from.” Rubin liked finding songs that were sort of out of the box – at least when it came to having Johnny Cash cover them. He recalled another cover the pair had worked on that Johnny wasn’t a big fan initially. Cash apparently reacted to it in the same way that he reacted to the NIN song being pitched: “I remember one of the early ones we did. We did a Soundgarden song, ‘Rusty Cage.’ That was one of the first ones where, I remember sending him the Chris Cornell version – the Soundgarden version – and he listened to it and he’s like, ‘What are you thinking? I can’t sing that.’ When I sent him the Nine Inch Nails song, he just thought I was crazy.” But Rubin, as he explained earlier, knows what makes a good song a good song. He’s kind of notorious for that. So “Hurt” stuck out to him, and he continued to send it to Johnny as an idea… even though the country music legend he was working opposite of had different feelings about it: “In Trent’s version, this beautiful song is buried in this sound. That’s what he was going for, and it’s beautiful. But when I played that for Johnny, he didn’t hear the song. I sent him a burned CD of probably 25 potential songs, and that was number one. When he called me back, he didn’t respond to that one. He responded to a couple of others. And then the next CD I sent him, it was number one again. It’s one of the only songs that I probably sent him three times in these compilations I’d send of songs to consider.” Finally, after multiple attempts at trying to get Johnny to hear it himself and get on board, Rubin had to come out and be blunt. The producer singled out the NIN song, and as he tells the story, Cash only understood where he was coming from when he provided a demo for what he envisioned the Johnny version being: “There’s that song that I sent you, and he was like, ‘I don’t hear it at all.’ And then I think I might have done a demo. I was in the studio with Smokey Hormel working on something else, and I had Smokey play the acoustic part and I might have sang the vocals myself. I said, ‘It can sound like this. Just read the lyrics.’ And I think that’s what convinced him. He said, ‘I’ll only do it when we’re together.'” Johnny said that, “I’ll only do it when we’re together” part because – with his old age and failing health – he rarely ever left his home to record new material. Rubin would often be in California communicating back and forth with Cash, basically working together remotely before it was commonplace to do so. But Johnny knew with “Hurt” that he wanted to be in the same room as Rubin in the recording process, and traveled out to California one last time to record the song that’s now viewed as one of his famous – even though it’s not actually his. You can hear more about the origins of Cash’s “Hurt” cover in the in-depth interview with Rick Rubin below: Gas it up: Johnny Cash – “Hurt” The post “What Are You Thinking?” – Johnny Cash Thought Rick Rubin’s Idea To Cover NIN’s “Hurt” Was Insane first appeared on Whiskey Riff.

Ending 2025 with a record-setting show. Zach Bryan isn’t playing a lot of concerts this year, announcing last year that he would be taking a break from touring this year to pursue a masters degree in Paris, France. But he still had a handful of shows on the books, including three nights at Metlife Stadium, a Red Rocks show, and a show at Notre Dame Stadium. But he saved his biggest show for last. Earlier this year, Zach announced that he would be playing a show at the University of Michigan’s Michigan Stadium in Ann Arbor, the first-ever concert at the Big House, along with John Mayer, Ryan Bingham and the Texas Gentlemen and Joshua Slone. Now, if you’re not a college football fan, you may not realize that the Big House is the largest stadium in America, and the third-largest stadium in the world, with an official capacity of 107,601 – although it’s hosted events with up to 115,000 before. And when tickets went on sale for the show, they sold out within hours, with Zach announcing that it would be the largest ticketed show in United States history: “You guys just sold out the biggest ticketed show in American history. I owe you my life, my humility and every ounce of effort I have. I love y’all more than any song. What a wild and rowdy damn 6 years. God bless the musicians who came before us. The respect is immeasurable. Thank you so much for having us University of Michigan, we won’t let you down.” View this post on Instagram A post shared by Zach Bryan (@zachlanebryan) And last night, Zach took the stage in Ann Arbor in front of 112,000 people, officially breaking the record for the largest ticketed concert attendance in US history, a record that had just been set a little over a year ago. The previous record for the largest ticketed concert was held by George Strait, who played Texas A&M University’s Kyle Field, in College Station, Texas last June with fellow Texas natives Parker McCollum and Catie Offerman. The attendance for that show was 110,905, just over a thousand less than Zach was estimated to have in Michigan last night. Before the King did it last year, you have to go all the way back to 1977 for the previous record-holding crowd, which was a show by the Grateful Dead at Raceway Park in New Jersey which attracted 107,019 Deadheads. It’s the last show of what’s been a tumultuous year for Zach Bryan, who’s found himself in the middle of feuds with several of his fellow country artists including one-time duet partner John Moreland and, of course, Gavin Adcock, who Zach recently jumped a fence to confront at a festival. Despite all the controversy, it’s clear that Zach remains one of the biggest artists in country music, one of only a handful who would be able to pull off a record-setting show like the one last night in Michigan. We don’t know whether Zach plans to embark on a full tour for 2025 or whether it will just be one-off shows like he did this year, but it’s safe to say that wherever he shows up, the fans will be there too. @sway_loww Zach Bryan Oklahoma smokeshow, can’t ever get tired of this song #oklahomasmokeshow #zachbryan #bighouse #michigan #countryconcert ♬ original sound – swaylow The post “This Might Be The Craziest Thing I’ve Ever Done” – Zach Bryan Breaks George Strait’s Record For Largest Ticketed Concert In US History first appeared on Whiskey Riff.