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• With the rise of Jason Aldean's "Try That In A Small Town" from #2 to #1 in its second week on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, country music has done something that's never been done before 
• With Morgan Wallen's "Last Night" at #2 and Luke Combs' "Fast Car" at #3, country hits take the Hot 100’s top three spots in a single week for the first time, dating to the Hot 100’s inception in August 1958
• The single, which was released in May, made a mammoth leap on sales and airplay charts in a direct response to CMT's banning of the video for the song and the ensuing controversy in mid July

Source: Billboard

• Jimmie Allen fans will be happy to know that the embattled country star is readying to go on tour - albeit a little confused by the nature of the tour
• On his socials this weekend, Jimmie announced an upcoming three-night comedy tour
• Calling it the "I Said What I Said" tour, the invitation-only series of shows are tentatively slated for October
• Source: People

• Zach Bryan has yet to have a true country radio hit - but that doesn't mean he hasn't made it in the music industry. In fact, the singer just set a new all-time record on the Billboard charts
• And NOT on the country charts. Zach's "Something In The Orange" has now been on the Billboard Top 100 Chart for an unbroken 65 weeks - setting the record for longest run for a male country singer on the all-genre chart
• Five more weeks, and he'll officially own the record for longest-running country hit of all time on that chart, male or female, surpassing LeAnn Rimes' "How Do I Live"
• Source: WhiskeyRiff

• Dierks Bentley was readying to play a concert in Bristow, Virginia over the weekend when he noticed that several headliners had big pictures of themselves hanging on the walls in the backstage area
• Noting pictures of artists like Jason Aldean, Tim McGraw and Luke Bryan - but none of him - Dierks said, "I've headlined these places, sold them all out, many times...just not getting the respect I feel like we deserve as a band"
• Dierks then proceeded to hang his own portrait, saying, "Sometimes you just gotta do it yourself"
• He then added a smaller portrait of his band "Hot Country Knights" just outside the ladies' room door with an evil chuckle
• Source: WhiskeyRiff

• Tim McGraw is head of a talented family - there's wife Faith Hill, of course, but also their three daughters, Gracie, Maggie and Audrey
• All three daughters sing, but not with dad. Tim said recently that he'd like to record as a family; "I talk about it all the time, and they're like, 'I ain't singing with you, dad'"
• Tim thinks he knows why. "They'll sing with mom. But I'm probably not up to par with the rest of them," the singer admits. "I'm the worst singer in the family"
• Source: TasteOfCountry

• LeBron James’ son Bronny James has been discharged from the hospital after a sudden cardiac arrest
• Cedars-Sinai Medical Group reports Bronny's condition as stable, conscious, and “neurologically intact”
• The hospital shared they are “hopeful for his continued progress and are encouraged by his response”
• LeBron James expressed gratitude for people’s support and confirmed that the family is doing well
• The family is together, safe, and healthy, and they appreciate the love and support from the community
• Source: TMZ

• TikTok’s “girl dinner” trend has gone viral, with women sharing their low-effort, highly pleasing takes on snacky meals they love.
• Now Popeyes is getting in on the fun by adding their own take on Girl Dinner to menus.
• The fast food chain restaurant now offers a “Girl Dinner” on their menu that’s made up of just their side items, including mac and cheese, mashed potatoes and biscuits.
• Source: Today

• You wouldn't think it at first - or even second - glance, but there are those that believe Luke Combs' cover of Tracy Chapman's hit "Fast Car" is problematic
• While many believe having a queer Black female songwriter top the country charts is groundbreaking - and it is - there are those that find the way in which that happened to be less than great
• The problem, in their opinion, is it took a straight White male to elevate a queer Black female to the top of the country charts; and while many celebrate that it happened at all, there are those that feel Chapman would never have made it on her own
• Source: Today

• The music industry is rapidly changing - so there's a new term we need to get used to: "bundle"
• A "bundle" is apparently more than a single but less than an EP; in Walker Hayes' case, it consists of two tracks
• Just released by Hayes: the "Strait Two Stepping" bundle, which consists of two songs tailor-made for a country dance floor
• Source: CountryNow

• With their duet quickly climbing the country charts, Justin Moore and Priscilla Block decided to drop a little gift for their fans
• Jumping on social media, both stars posted, "Surprise! Since y’all have supported You, Me, And Whiskey so much, as a thank you, we wanted to give you another version… Acoustic version available everywhere now. What do y’all think of it?"
• The single is currently in the Top Five - which makes it the biggest hit thus far in Priscilla's young career, and the 14th Top 5 song for the veteran Moore
• Source: WhiskeyRiff

• Craig Morgan is not only a country star, he's also a veteran of our armed services, serving 17 years in the US Army and US Army Reserve
• Even though Craig has been an avid supporter of our military, perhaps he felt like he wasn't doing enough - but no one can say that now
• At the Grand Ole Opry Saturday night, Craig announced that he was re-entering the US Army Reserve - and was sworn in on-stage
• The singer/soldier said later, "I love being an artist but I consider it a true privilege and honor to work with what I believe are the greatest of Americans, my fellow soldiers. God Bless America. Go Army"
• While Craig is putting the uniform back on, this doesn't mean an end to his country music career - as his "God, Family, Country Tour"  kicks off September 30
• Source: WhiskeyRiff

• It's all about time and place. Luke Bryan, like many country artists, enjoys pulling fans on stage occasionally to join them in singing one of their hits
• But Luke is smart about it. A video has surfaced of a recent concert where Luke was getting ready to pull someone on stage to help him sing his hit "Home Alone Tonight" - and as the song's title suggests, it's basically a tune about "Netflix and chill"
• Addressing a fan in the front row who was willing to be his duet partner, Luke suddenly asked her how old she was - and when she told him she was 16, Luke backed away, saying "Sixteen? She’s too….Oh, I got to get away from you. Yep - I do not need that coming up online in the morning"
• And while the video is in fact online, Luke comes off better for the exchange
• Source: WhiskeyRiff

• We've seen plenty of artists pull a fan on stage to sing with them, with varying degrees of success. Sometimes fans lock up, forget the words, lost in the spotlight and the glow of standing right next to their musical heroes
• Not so much with Shenandoah and five-year-old fan Cutler Lombard. He's gone viral on Tik Tok for singing their 80's hit "Two Dozen Roses" word-for-word
• The band had the chance to bring Cutler up on stage, and the kid had confidence beyond his years, as he took the lead vocal and never let it go as the band played behind him
• Source: WhiskeyRiff

• We were all scared of things as kids and some of the things that we were afraid of seem silly now that we’re grown-ups.
• A Reddit thread has people admitting the “dumbest” things they were scared of as a child.
• From “the PS2 startup sound” to “the boat scene in ‘Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory,’” these are some of the weirdest responses.
• Source: Reddit

• Tyler Childers has been teasing fans with cryptic messages and profile pics on his social media for the last week or so - hinting at something on the way. Now we know what he was leading up to
• The singer made two announcements yesterday - one, that a new album was coming September 8 called "Rustin' In The Rain," and two - the first single was coming out...now
• The lead single from his upcoming sixth album is called "In Your Love," and the video tells the story of two miners who fall in love in the 1950's 
• Source: WhiskeyRiff

• It's been a minute since we've heard new country music by Maren Morris
• However, if her Instagram is any indication, the singer could be teasing something new already in the can and ready to drop
• In the post, Maren is obviously jamming to some of her own music - including the lyric, "Do you hear that?" - which is how she also captioned the clip 
• Source: Maren Morris/Instagram

• Tim McGraw did an intimate show at the famed Whisky A Go Go in Los Angeles Monday - and when he was on stage, he called out a young fan who gave him a very special gift
• "My little pal over here, she made this bracelet for me. It's got my wife and all my daughters' initials on it, so thank you Berkeley. I appreciate it," Tim said from the stage
• He also offered the young fan a bit of advice, "Remember what I told you earlier, right? Be strong and fierce, right? Be a woman who goes out and conquers the world"
• Source: People

• The Jason Aldean controversy has had some effect on the performance of "Try That In A Small Town"
• For every person decrying the song and the video, there's another backing the artist and his musical world view
• A week into the firestorm, we're seeing how this is playing out for the song's performance - with reports that the song is already the fourth highest-selling song of 2023 in the US based on last week's sales figures alone
• Source: CountryNow

• While there were rumors that Luke Bryan and others had asked CMT to pull their videos in solidarity with Jason Aldean, they were just that - rumors
• But one artist has asked CMT to yank their videos - 90's country star Neal McCoy
• "I am seeing where some of my more popular Country Music Padnuh’s are separating themselves from CMT. In solidarity, I am asking that CMT removes all of my current videos," he said in a Facebook post
• It's hard to tell if McCoy is seriously boycotting the network or doing this tongue-in-cheek. First, he's years removed from putting out music that competes for airplay; second, he added "That'll show 'em" to his statement, which further points the needle towards the "I'm just funnin' ya" angle
• Source: WhiskeyRiff

• Jason Isbell has gotten involved in the Jason Aldean controversy - Tweeting out digs at Aldean for not writing his own songs
• Now Jason's opened up a little more on the subject, speaking to MSNBC on yesterday's "Morning Joe"
• Isbell talked about a number things, including his new album "Weathervanes," his advocacy for gun control - and how he felt about Jason Aldean's "Try That In A Small Town"
• Source: MSNBC