The collaboration no one saw coming. Anyone who calls themselves a fan of music knows that the Red Clay Strays – consisting of Drew Nix (electric guitar, vocals, harmonica), Zach Rishel (electric guitar), Andrew Bishop (bass), John Hall (drums), Sevans Henderson (keys), and frontman Brandon Coleman – have been on the rise for quite some time. They’ve released two stellar albums already (Moment of Truth, Made By These Moments), and there’s another on the way that’s supposed to drop sometime in the summer of 2026. Fans of the band have been waiting for any sort of update on that front ever since they shared their first single from the project – “People Hatin'” – back in October of last year. Today, the Red Clay Strays shared this to let people know that something is coming soon: View this post on Instagram Yes, that’s comedian Matt Rife, if you were wondering. What’s Matt Rife doing sitting on a bus in a Red Clay Strays teaser? That’s what everyone is trying to figure out. Matt Rife has previously described the Red Clay Strays as “music for the soul,” so there’s no doubt that he’s a fan of their work. Apparently that’s so well-known that the band from Mobile, Alabama called him up to get him involved. Based on the comments below the post, some fans are excited: “This mashup is so unexpected, but I’m here for it.” “Matt Rife and the Red Clay Strays? I’m in.” “RCS and Rife together? My dream come true.” Others aren’t so happy with the collaboration: “Eww is that Matt Rife.” “I love the Red Clay Strays but not sure what to make of Matt Rife.” “Why him?” And absolutely no one (except for the Red Clay Strays drummer Andrew Bishop, who dropped into the comments and said “I know what it is”) has any idea what the teaser could mean. Are they releasing a music video for an already released song that features Matt Rife in it? Could the band from Alabama be rolling out another single, and using the comedian to help them make the announcement? Or is this just something to do with the Red Clay Stray’s recently announced Fan Fest? That last one seems like as good of a guess as any… considering the fan fest would likely include various entertainment avenues, and music and comedy can easily go together. All the Red Clay Strays shared alongside the video was, “Got something coming soon.” While we don’t know what it is for sure, or when “soon” will be, we do know that the band and the comedian have crossed paths before. This past year, Matt Rife actually introduced the band’s set at Gulf Coast Jam in Panama City Beach, Florida. He called the Red Clay Strays one of his favorite all-time bands, and declared them as one of the biggest rising stars in all of music: @706bigstepper Comedian Matt Riffe introduces The Red Clay Strays at Gulf Coast Jam 2025 in Panama Coty Beach Florida! @Matt Rife @The Red Clay Strays @Gulf Coast Jam @Country Music Association @Comedy Central @Lowkey Country @Pepsi #mattriffe #theredclaystrays #goodgodlywoman #gulfcoastjam #gulfcoastjam2025 #countrymusic #country #beach #concert #concerts #fyp #foryou #foryoupage ♬ original sound – BigStepper So yeah… Matt Rife is a fan. The Red Clay Strays even posted a video of the comedian on their band’s official social media page. Rife’s favorite song by the band is evidently “I’m Still Fine,” and they shared a video of Rife standing right in front of the stage, belting out the song with the rest of the crowd just a couple of months back: @theredclaystraysIt’s one of our favorites to play, too ♬ original sound – The Red Clay Strays Clearly the comedian and the country music group are fans of one another, which kind of makes the possibilities for this latest teaser endless. One clue that Matt Rife gave fans was in the form of his own comment underneath the Red Clay Strays’ post. Whatever it is that the Red Clay Strays have in the works with the comedian… it’s something that’s enough for Matt Rife to call it a dream come true. “A dream come true. God is good.” Get ready.The post “Coming Soon”: Why The Red Clay Strays & Comedian Matt Rife Have Fans Confused With Surprising New Teaser first appeared on Whiskey Riff.