The company is partnering with Flytrex to make Uber Eats deliveries later this year. Uber is also making a small investment in Flytrex.

Notion is launching its AI agent to let you automate tasks across hundreds of pages.

Before I begin the body of this column, let me inform readers that this column is written each Tuesday before the Thursday publish date. This means my column last week was written before Charlie Kirk’s assassination. However, even if I had written the article on Wednesday or Thursday, I would not have devoted the column …

Is the market for country music festivals in trouble? Over the past couple of years, we’ve seen several major country music festivals canceled, and others announce that they won’t be returning. Notably, the Faster Horses Music Festival in Michigan didn’t return for 2025, and there’s no word on whether organizers plan to bring it back in 2026, while a smaller festival that tried to take its place was canceled just days before the event. Last year, Gordy’s HWY 30 Music Fest Texas was canceled after announcing a bizarre lineup including Nelly, Vanilla Ice, Color Me Badd and Hinder, and this year Gordy’s also canceled the 2025 edition of their flagship Idaho festival, citing current “circumstances out of our control, economic uncertainty and Gordy’s continued decline in health.” This comes after concerns from artists about still being owed money from previous festivals, and ticket buyers who were still owed refunds from canceled festivals, and Gordy’s announcing that the future of the festival is still uncertain. And just recently, Field & Stream Music Fest announced that the festival was canceled for the second year in a row, after the inaugural event was postponed last year due to Hurricane Helene. Of course every year we see new festivals pop up, like Morgan Wallen’s Sand In My Boots Festival in Gulf Shores, Alabama, which was a huge success. But it seems like the market for festivals is in trouble. Earlier this year, country music radio station 102.5 The Bull in Birmingham and iHeart Country announced they were teaming up to bring a brand new music festival to the Iron City called Iron Hills Country Music Festival. The stacked lineup was set to include Turnpike Troubadours, Ryan Bingham, Travis Tritt, Midland, Chase Rice, Jo Dee Messina, Dylan Marlowe, Eli Young Band, Conner Smith, Chayce Beckham, Kashus Culpepper, American Aquarium, Channing Wilson, and many more. But today, organizers announced that the festival was canceled, citing economic conditions and “softer-than-expected demand.” Translation: They didn’t sell enough tickets. “It is with a heavy heart that we announce Iron Hills Music Festival, originally scheduled for October 11–12, has been canceled due to rising economic and logistical challenges. This difficult decision comes after it became clear that we would be unable to deliver the quality experience our fans deserve. Increased production costs combined with softer-than-expected demand made moving forward financially and operationally impossible this year. Refunds will be issued automatically within 30 business days.” View this post on Instagram A post shared by @ironhillscountry So what’s going on? Why are so many festivals being canceled, and is it a sign of a bigger problem facing country music festivals? I think there are probably a number of factors at play, not the least of which being the economy forcing consumers to cut back on spending. When you drop a few hundred dollars for tickets, pay for a hotel room, food and concession prices at the festival, you’re easily in it for $1,000 minimum. That’s a big commitment for people to make right now. Then there’s the saturation of the market. There are typically only so many artists who are available to play festivals in any given year. Some artists are on their own tours and aren’t doing festivals, some artists are taking time off from touring altogether, and the result is a limited list of major artists for festivals to choose from. That means that the same artists often end up on the lineups for many different festivals throughout the summer, giving fans options in their area for which festival they want to go to. That forces festivals to compete with others that have largely the same or similar lineups, and naturally brings down the demand for all of the festivals. The festivals that we’re seeing succeed right now are those that feature unique lineups. Rock the South and Rock the Country are killing it right now, because they’re usually not getting the same lineup as every other festival in the area. Same with festivals like Two Step Inn in Georgetown, Texas, and of course Morgan Wallen’s Sand In My Boots Festival. Ultimately, festivals are going to have to find ways to set themselves apart to succeed. Whether that’s drawing in names like Alan Jackson and Sturgill Simpson to headline like Two Step Inn, or partnering with a major artist like Hangout Fest did when it changed to Sand In My Boots Fest for 2025, or thinking outside the box like Rock the South and Rock the Country, it’s clear that the same formula festivals have relied on for years isn’t going to work in the competitive market we’re in right now. And unfortunately, if I had to guess, I’d say that means we’ll be seeing a lot more festivals close up shop in the next couple of years.The post Is The Market For Country Festivals In Trouble? Inaugural Iron Hills Country Music Festival In Birmingham Canceled Due To “Softer-Than-Expected Demand” first appeared on Whiskey Riff.

Stirring the pot. Gavin Adcock is making sure he has the last word after his Born & Raised incident with Zach Bryan. This past weekend, Zach Bryan jumped over a barbed wire fence while at Born & Raised Fest in Pryor, Oklahoma, to confront Gavin Adcock. I won’t really go into all the details, because I’m sure anyone who cares has seen it by now, but long story short… Gavin called Zach out after Zach aggressively responded to a 14-year-old girl on TikTok who complained that he didn’t stop and meet with fans in New York. To be fair, Zach spent time with fans 2 of the 3 nights. But then Gavin sat down for another interview with Rolling Stone and basically said that he didn’t think that Zach was a very good guy. And thanks to his relationship with Brianna LaPaglia, I believe there are quite a lot of people who would share that sentiment. At Born & Raised, Zach joined Gabriella Rose during her opening set, and even hijacked the duet to call Gavin out from the stage… again, not the best look for Zach. He allegedly saw Gavin through a fence as he was leaving and stopped to confront him, hopping over the fence, before he was grabbed by security, and no punches were thrown. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Whiskey Riff (@whiskeyriff) Afterwards, Gavin said: “Had a headline show to play. Dude was absolutely wasted. Had to do what was good for the fans. Everybody knows how that woulda ended.” And in another comment on his own post, Gavin confirms that he didn’t want to fight Zach because he didn’t want to go to jail before his own headlining set: “Had a show to play for Oklahoma. Wasn’t going to jail over that psycho.” And he summed it up with the caption on his own TikTok post: “Dude needs help.” Aaron Watson said it best in his reaction video that if a man is jumping three rows of barbed wire, he might be a little crazy. However, based on some more information that Gavin Adcock gave, speaking about the wild scene, it appears that ZB did not jump the fence entirely unprovoked. “Like I already said, I don’t think Zach Bryan’s a very good person. He wasn’t locked out of the festival. He had been there all day with his multiple security guards. He saw me standing between my buses when he got here and saw me walk on my bus when I went to watch the Georgia game. Proceeding to go to other artists and ask them, ‘Where’s Gavin? Where’s Gavin?’ And their guests, and treat them like dogs**t. Flipping them birds and saying just douchebag stuff to them all day. So he had plenty of opportunity through the whole day to do whatever he wanted to do. But decided he was going to wait like an hour before my set while I was standing out there.” But it wasn’t until Zach was outside the fence that he decided to confront Gavin – and Gavin admits that he had some fun with it: “I wasn’t even mad. Didn’t even have a single reason to fight him. After he had already left before my set, I was standing outside. He pulls up in a pickup truck outside the gate and starts giving out threats. So I just decided to stir him up to the point where he jumped over the fence. I don’t think anybody’s scared of Zach Bryan. I’m just an adult, and fighting him would have only meant going to jail, missing my set, and falling into a Zach Bryan lawsuit. And we all know he likes to manipulate people with money.” Gavin also seemingly responded to some of the criticism that he wasn’t willing to fight Zach, explaining that he had a headline show to perform and didn’t want to mess it up for the fans in attendance: “No artist that cares about their fans is going to fight right before their set, missing going on and disappointing fans that spent way too much money to be there. And he created this whole “I’m badass jump over the fence” narrative just to try to make himself look bigger or tougher even though he could have just walked on in the gate. He had been in there all day.” He ended by wishing Zach well: “And at the end of the day, I know my decision I made was right. I didn’t take the Zach Bryan bait. And I’ll be praying for him to get better because he sure needs it.” View this post on Instagram A post shared by Gavin Adcock (@gavinadcockmusic) Since the incident, many other artists have chimed in, noting that the constant beef that Gavin Adock finds himself in his getting ridiculous, along with how this fight was a bad look for country music as a whole. And artists are seeing both sides of the argument, noting that ZB stood on business given the previous statements that Adcock said about Bryan, but also understanding why Adcock didn’t want to throw punches before his set. At the time of writing, Zach Bryan has not commented on the situation, and he’s posting his usual content of songs he’s into, his pets, and hanging out with his girlfriend. On the other hand, Adcock is not letting it go and is still milking the situation. After we saw how Adcock went after Charley Crockett, it’s safe to say that Adcock likes to have the last word, and he’s doing that again with the Zach Bryan altercation. In Adcock’s most recent post, he’s trolling Zach Bryan right before he jumped the fence, sharing an image of ZB on the other side of the chain link, captioning it: “I love the zoo.” Of course, that is not meant in a nice tone, given that Adcock implied that Zach Bryan was crazed and out of control before jumping the fence. I must admit that out of all the jabs that Adcock has taken at ZB since Born & Raised, this has to be one of the most creative ones. Fans of the “Outside Dog” singer thought this post was gold. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Gavin Adcock (@gavinadcockmusic) Although it seems like ZB is not letting this get to him, Adock’s continual posts do make it seem like he’s still bothered by Zach Bryan and the words they exchanged. It will be interesting to see if Zach Bryan eventually responds to the situation or if he takes the “high road” and lets Adcock keep jabbing until the public is over the drama.The post Gavin Adcock Continues To Troll Zach Bryan With New Instagram Post: “I Love The Zoo” first appeared on Whiskey Riff.

Passing the torch. Of course, country icon Reba McEntire has had an incredible career — after first being discovered singing the National Anthem at the 1974 National Finals Rodeo by country music star Red Steagall, he helped her record a demo, which eventually lead to a contract with Mercury Records. After Reba released her self-titled 1977 debut album, her career took off in the early 1980s with several hit songs and her first #1 hit “Can’t Even Get the Blues” in 1983, and she has gone on to won 16 ACM Awards, six CMA Awards and three Grammys. Additionally, she has had an impressive acting career, notably starring in her hit sitcom Reba which is an all-time classic, in my humble opinion. She has done it all, and at 70-years young, Reba recently revealed that she’s engaged to longtime boyfriend Rex Linn, who is also an actor. And one of the things I love most about Reba is her refreshingly honest personality and quick wit, because she’s never one to shy away from telling the truth and her feelings on winning major awards is no exception. In an extensive feature with Esquire, Reba admitted that she isn’t always content with winning awards and scoring 31 hits… she has a competitive edge and always wants more, even though she’s been doing it forever. Most artists won’t admit they actually want to win big awards, but Reba revealed that she always has the desire to win, and she recalled a moment at either the ACM Awards or CMA Awards when she realized not everyone feels the same way. Reba says Miranda Lambert was up for Female Vocalist of the Year, and had already won it in years prior, and Reba wished her luck. Miranda responded that she didn’t really want to win, and wanted someone else to have their time since she had already had that experience as an artist: “I get a number-one record, I want another number-one record. I won an award, I want another one. I’ll never forget Miranda Lambert coming up to me when she was nominated for Female Vocalist of the Year after she’d already won it, and I said, ‘Good luck, Miranda.’ She said, ‘Oh, I already won, it’s time for somebody else.’ What person lets that come out of their mouth? I was shocked. I thought everybody was just like me.” I’d be willing to bet this was probably at the ACM Awards because Miranda is the most decorated artist in ACM Awards history, having won 37 Academy of Country Music Awards thus far. She’s won Female Vocalist of the Year nine times, so I guess it would be nice of some of the younger ladies eventually started winning that one some, too. Miranda has always been one to take younger artists under her wing, so to speak, like Lainey Wilson and Ella Langley, for example, and I think this private moment with a legend like Reba really speaks to the fact that Miranda puts her money where her mouth is, so to speak, when it comes to genuinely supporting and helping artists coming up behind her. But still, love that Reba still has that fire to win after all these decades… Speaking of Miranda and Reba, they performed together at this years ACM Awards: The post Reba Says Miranda Lambert Told Her She Didn’t Want To Win Another Major Country Award Because It Was Time For Someone Else: “I Was Shocked” first appeared on Whiskey Riff.

It’s just breaking that Erika Kirk has just been appointed as the new CEO and Chair of the Board of Turning Point USA. Below is the announcement:

This video by Western Lensman is the perfect example of just how duplicitous the leftwing media is in this country. While this video shows MSNBC turd Chris Hayes, it’s really what they . . .