Jamey Johnson To Release “21 Guns” Next Friday

Coming soon and just in time for Memorial Day weekend. Jamey Johnson just announced that he's releasing his first original solo single in nearly 10 years called "21 Guns," a song he wrote in remembrance of all of the servicemen and women who have lost their lives while serving to protect the United States, on May 24th. For many years, Johnson has chosen to focus on playing live shows as opposed to releasing his own music (he last put out a tribute album Living for a Song: A Tribute to Hank Cochran in 2012, over 10 years ago), but has collaborated with other artists and been featured on tons of other tribute albums for many years since that record. One of the most talented artists in the genre, I know I speak for many fans when I say I can't wait to hear all the new music he has coming. Johnson told People that he is planning to continue releasing new stuff: "I wrote a song with Randy Houser, Dallas Davidson and Rob Hatch down in the Bahamas called 'What a View.' It is just a straight up-and-down traditional country song and sounds like something our heroes Dean Dillon and Hank Cochran would have written in the '80s." In addition, Johnson will perform "21 Guns" as part of PBS’s National Memorial Day Concert on May 26th. It's a striking, somber tune about how Marines, as well as other members of the military, are not just heroes on the day they lose their life for the country, but rather the day they sign up and willingly commit to whatever outcome happens for the benefit and safety of all of us. And seeing as Johnson is a former Marine himself, it's a very personal song that was inspired after he had been to too many funerals for his friends: "The new song '21 Guns' is coming on May 24th. I wrote it because I have gone to too many funerals of Marines I served with that were just too young. When they die young, you always remember them that way, which is unfair. Guys that heroic that die that young deserve the right to grow old and they didn’t get to. But it is also being at those funerals and seeing their parents who seem much too young to have a child die in that way and wondering what must be going through their minds. This song is the answer to that question." Definitely mark this one on the calendar: https://www.instagram.com/p/C6_oKjmtDTk/?igsh=MWhjOXFidzJpcGdkMA%3D%3D The Alabam native will also hit the road soon on his What A View tour. He's been playing "21 Guns" quite a bit at live shows now, so you can check out one of those performances below to get a taste of what's to come on the studio cut: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GeBSjBDrIc0

All Anthony Edwards Could Do Was Laugh At How Good “Freak Of Nature” Nikola Jokic Was In Nuggets’ Game 5 Win

The Minnesota Timberwolves stunned most NBA followers by beating the reigning champion Denver Nuggets on their home court twice to open their Western Conference semifinals series. Wolves prodigy Anthony Edwards was hamming it up, taunting the Nuggets, and drawing comparisons to Michael Jordan. I love how so many haters want to turn the page on LeBron James as fast as possible, blame him for every aspect of his team's shortcomings, and either cling to MJ as the GOAT, or anoint his successor ASAP so they don't have to be haunted by The King any longer. But this article isn't about that. It's more about how Nikola Jokic, the winner of three MVP awards and an NBA Finals MVP in a four-year span, was discarded, discredited, and discounted even blindingly faster than LeBron ever has been. Denver and Jokic were left for dead. Head coach Michael Malone compiled an edit of all the naysayers to fire the Nuggets up for Game 3, then blasted outsiders for questioning his squad's championship mettle after Game 4. With the series shifting back to the Mile High City for Game 5, Edwards was eager to rise to the challenge, or so he said following the last contest. https://twitter.com/theScore/status/1789868169986969782 Welp, the spunky 22-year-old star shot just 5-for-15 from the field for 18 points, while Jokic put up a line of 40 points, seven boards, 13 assists, two steals, a block, and zero turnovers in the Nuggets' decisive 112-97 win. This time around, rather than talking smack, all Ant could do was chuckle at Joker's greatness. https://twitter.com/thehoopcentral/status/1790616790231658817 It'll never not be funny how little Jokic seems to care about the sport he's better than anyone at in the world. Even at the postgame podium, he's making self-deprecating jokes, with a rather blank facial expression, probably thinking to himself, "How many more weeks until I can return home to Serbia to have dance parties with my friends and race horses?" https://twitter.com/NBA/status/1790638380398584287 You can't tell me these scenes of pure joy weren't in the back of Jokic's mind while he willed himself to grind through another painstaking session with the media: https://twitter.com/mollyhannahm/status/1790609316552007957 Jokic was making a joke about his lack of top-flight athleticism and how he seldom dunks the ball despite how tall he is. However, the "freak of nature" label still applies to him because of how freaking skilled he is at 6-foot-11, and how efficient he is despite lacking the physical tool set of some other more naturally talented big men. Between his shooting range and legitimately uncanny, pinpoint passing ability, there's nothing even a four-time Defensive Player of the Year in Rudy Gobert can do to stop Jokic when he's fully dialed in. https://twitter.com/KevinOConnorNBA/status/1790596657584955428 https://twitter.com/KevinOConnorNBA/status/1790607654127386796 In fact, Gobert missed Game 2 when the Wolves rolled the Nuggets 106-80 — and Jokic was actually less efficient on Tuesday night when Gobert wasn't the nearest defender. https://twitter.com/CrumpledJumper/status/1790623771734507904 Poor Rudy. Jokic has been destroying him in big games for years. https://twitter.com/ESPNStatsInfo/status/1225279115219087364 I've spoken my truth about why Victor Wembanyama deserves Defensive Player of the Year over Gobert many times over by now. To be fair to the latter, I don't think there's anything Gobert, Wemby, or any defender on the planet can do when Jokic wants to get to his spot. Even if you can shut down Jokic as a scorer, he has so many capable teammates with high basketball IQs around him that the Nuggets can still shine on offense. Not a fair fight. It'll take more than Edwards laughing in a state of helplessness for Minnesota to push this series to a Game 7 rubber match. He'll simply have to score 40 or more — and even then, that might not be enough. If it's any consolation, MJ didn't make it to the Conference Finals until his fifth season. Edwards is only about to wrap up his fourth, so to some degree, he's on the right track. ...Sorry I have to: LeBron dragged the Cavs to the NBA Finals in Year 4, but that's neither here nor there!   https://giphy.com/gifs/theringer-denver-nuggets-the-ringer-joker-movie-L4SnGzhjIuFWhGdzQ2 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1x6Lgq7jQN8

Luke Combs, Tyler Childers, Lainey Wilson & More Featured On Stacked ‘Twisters: The Album’

A stacked lineup for this film's album. The backing music can often make or break a movie, but a good album can send a film into a cultural phenomenon, like the last Hunger Games album did. Twisters is the follow-up to the 1996 blockbuster Twister, and this secondary film features Daisy Edgar-Jones starring as Kate Cooper and Glenn Powell starring as Tyler Owens. The film is set to hit theaters on July 19th, and today, the album that accompanies the film revealed its complete artist list. Luke Combs previously announced that he has a single in the tracklist, “Ain’t No Love In Oklahoma," which was an explosive rollout for the album's sound. The entire song and music video drops tomorrow, and the teasers are making it seem like it will be an absolute heater. https://www.instagram.com/p/C67LdT5yTeT/ Today, the full album artist list was released, proving that this film is well on its way to becoming a cultural phenomenon. The lineup is absolutely STACKED. From heavy hitters like Jelly Roll, Tyler Childers, Lainey Wilson, Megan Moroney and Charley Crockett, the album will also feature some of the hottest up-and-coming names like Wyatt Flores, Red Clay Strays,  Sam Barber, Jake Kohn, Tanner Usrey and Tyler Halverson. I mean, COME ON! I am stoked to hear what this album has in store, and I will be patiently waiting until July 19th, when we can listen to it in full. https://www.instagram.com/p/C6_k01cu1Cn/

FULL ARTIST LIST:

Luke Combs Miranda Lambert Lainey Wilson Jelly Roll Megan Moroney Kane Brown Bailey Zimmerman Thomas Rhett Shania Twain Tyler Childers Leon Bridges Benson Boone The Red Clay Strays Warren Zeiders BRELAND Dylan Gossett Tucker Wetmore Wyatt Flores Sam Barber Conner Smith Mason Ramsey Flatland Cavalry Tanner Adell Alexandra Kay Wilderado Tanner Usrey Jake Kohn Charley Crockett Nolan Taylor Tyler Halverson Lanie Gardner

Check out the movie trailer while you are here. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jm27YjLnPHc&t=1s

Country Music Hall Of Fame Announces New Exhibit, ‘Luke Combs: The Man I Am’

A spotlight on the life and career of Luke Combs. The Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum just announced a new exhibit called Luke Combs: The Man I Am, which will open on July 11th of this year and run through June 15th, 2025. It will focus on Luke's early life in the mountains of North Carolina, to his journey in Boone playing bars in his college town at Appalachian State University where he got his start, and of course, his meteoric rise to the top of the charts and becoming one of the genres biggest superstars. The exhibit will include artifacts important to his career, including instruments, awards, pictures and other personal items from his collection. And of course, that also includes a CD of Combs’s debut EP The Way She Rides, which was released independently in 2014, signed to the parents of his best friend Adam Church, the cassette of Tracy Chapman’s self-titled 1988 debut album that includes “Fast Car,” one of Luke's early favorites, as well as the iconic black Columbia PFG shirt Luke wore in the breakout 2016 music video for “Hurricane," and much more: "Few artists have experienced the kind of meteoric rise and sustained success Luke Combs has since signing his first recording contract in 2016, two years after he moved to Nashville. From his blue-collar North Carolina roots to his place at the top of the country charts, the exhibit will trace Combs’s life and career by way of musical instruments, song manuscripts, stage wear, tour memorabilia, and more." In addition, to celebrate the exhibit's opening, Combs will make a visit to the museum for a songwriters round alongside some of his closest collaborators in Ray Fulcher, Drew Parker, Rob Williford and more to share stories and perform some of their hits on July 11th (opening day). Tickets to see the exhibit are on sale now, and if you’re as big of a fan of Luke as I am, then this is certainly a must-see stop next time you’re in Nashville: https://www.instagram.com/p/C6_lqK2tXe7/?img_index=1

Lil Wayne Recalls The Time Willie Nelson Taught Him “Sweet Home Alabama” On Guitar Seconds Before He Performed With Kid Rock

What do Willie Nelson, Kid Rock, Lynyrd Skynyrd and Lil Wayne have in common? Pretty much just this, I think... Back in 2008, hip-hop and rap star Lil Wayne was scheduled to hit the stage with Kid Rock to play guitar at the CMA Awards during a performance of his smash hit "All Summer Long. The only problem was, Lil Wayne got there maybe five minutes before they were scheduled to perform, and didn't have any time to practice or actually learn the song. The tune was released in 2008 as the third single from Kid Rock's 2007 seventh studio album Rock n Roll Jesus, and I guess Kid Rock and the production crew just assumed Wayne knew the track and could play it on guitar... mainly because it heavily sampled chords from the Lynyrd Skynyrd classic "Sweet Home Alabama," and who doesn't know that, right? Well, Lil Wayne didn't, I guess, because he told fellow rapper 2 Chainz the hilarious story in a video a few years back, saying that he really didn't even know how to play guitar at all: "I got a real funny story about Kid Rock. I did the Country Music Awards with him before. I showed up five minutes... I'm gonna tell you exactly how soon it was when I showed up. They weren't in their dressing rooms, they was behind the curtains. That's when I showed up... the curtains were about to go up. I was like, 'What are we doin'?' They're like, 'We're playin' 'Sweet Home Alabama... I know you know that, right?' I was like, 'I'm Black...' LOL... "Listen, the story gets better... I had my guitar, I was gonna play the guitar. He wanted me to play the guitar on stage with him on 'Sweet Home Alabama.'" Lil Wayne had come out with a song called "Leather So Soft" a couple years prior, which featured him on the guitar. But needless to say, he didn't have a single clue how to play "Sweet Home Alabama" or any other song besides that one in particular, and was trying to figure something out seconds before the live performance: "What he don't know is, I don't know how to play the guitar. I just made a song called 'Leather So Soft' and it worked. That's all I know how to play is 'Leather So Soft,' you feel me? Is that gonna work for 'Sweet Home Alabama'? I'm not sure. So somebody sees I'm like, I still don't know, bro... he's like, 'You'll be fine, don't worry.' And who waltzes up backstage right on cue to save the day? None other than Shotgun Willie himself, the great Willie Nelson.  Overhearing the conversation about Lil Wayne not actually knowing that particular song on guitar, Willie tells him it's pretty basic, and if he just keeps his hands on a couple different chords, he really can't mess it up: "Wille Nelson walks up. He comes up, he says, 'Let me show you.' He plays it within two seconds. He says, 'Keep your fingers right here on these two strings, you'll be alright. The whole song, two strings. I played it with him." And right about that time, the curtains went up, and they throw Wayne a Tennessee Titans jersey as he takes the stage to play song he really has no clue about at all: "They throw me a Tennessee Titans jersey, I put it on, and we're all out thee in a Tennessee Titans jersey... here we go. I got to play 'Sweet Home Alabama' with Kid Rock and Willie Nelson." But Lil Wayne wasn't totally out of place, and has heard a lot of the same, legendary stories about Willie out-smoking literally everybody that we all have, saying to the red headed stranger upon their first little guitar lesson: "And I told Willie Nelson, I said, 'I heard you smoked Snoop under the table.' He said, 'Right under that mother****er.' I said, 'I ain't Snoop... Know that. Know that.'" You really can't make this up. What a story.

@whiskeyriff One of the best unexpected trios. // Read more at WhiskeyRiff.com #whiskeyriff #countrymusic #kidrock #willienelson #lilwayne ♬ original sound - Whiskey Riff

And actually, Wayne became the first hip-hop artist to ever play the CMA's back in 2008, and I'd say he was a pretty quick learner, because I would've never known about that whole fiasco one way or the other based on watching their performance. They put on quite a show, thanks in large part to Mr. Wille Nelson, and the whole performance was introduced by Carrie Underwood, no less... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ge-qlgj--2Q Do yourself a favor and watch Lil Wayne tell it himself, it's hysterical: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aZowdq5fCrc

Netflix Lands NFL Christmas Day Games, But Fans Aren’t Thrilled About Adding Another Subscription Service To Watch Football

Well done here by Netflix to secure the rights to this year's NFL Christmas Day games. I still don't know how they manage to keep their whole operation afloat given how far in the red they are. Investing gazillions of dollars in original content and acquiring splashy preexisting IPs has certainly added up. Although Netflix's profits have spiked after their password sharing crackdown, there's still conservatively well over $10 billion in debt. But hey, picking up a cash cow like the NFL is about the best move they could've made as far as dipping their toes into the sports media market. https://twitter.com/albertbreer/status/1790745340045304036 https://twitter.com/FOS/status/1790759291005333779 It really is incredible how much the NFL is king these days. The NBA used to own Christmas Day. Only in 2022 did the NFL decide to make the holiday a showcase for themselves by scheduling three games. Up until then, Christmas Day games in pro football were just by happenstance more or less. Now? They're stepping on the throats of the NBA, and there's nothing Roger Goodell's rival commish Adam Silver can do about it. Things get a little weird this particular year when it comes to scheduling logistics, as the holiday happens to fall on a Wednesday. It'll probably require some shuffling around of bye weeks and what not. When the NFL forces its players to play on suboptimal rest, it really irks me. Adding at least one extra bye week during the regular season — even before it likely expands to 18 games — is such a no-brainer solution to increase the chances that the league's biggest stars stay healthy for the whole year and through the playoffs. OK mini-rant about player safety over. The meat of this Christmas Day/Netflix issue is the fan experience, and how many are dismayed by the fact that they'll have to shell out for another streaming service in order to see every game this coming season and beyond. https://twitter.com/SleeperNFL/status/1790744278538576238 https://twitter.com/HardRockBet/status/1790746154100994070 https://twitter.com/DraftKings/status/1790745255127527790 https://twitter.com/hughart_michael/status/1790744396356595830 https://twitter.com/MichaelCoffey1/status/1790746946749026325 https://twitter.com/Jacob_Homec/status/1790749793414955116 https://twitter.com/Stop_Hammerzeit/status/1790744876843413589 https://twitter.com/scar179nyc/status/1790746608092483986 https://twitter.com/HunterSleppy/status/1790746623238136047 https://twitter.com/Davethe_King1/status/1790746759540727945 https://twitter.com/PghPrinny/status/1790749616624816472 Odds are about -10000 that Netflix will introduce a price hike right leading into November or December in anticipation of a subscription surge just so that folks can enjoy football during the holidays. On the other hand, Netflix already has the largest streaming subscription base in the world. Most people already have it. Not like it's some obscure platform. Some of the outraged feels a little phony to me. Plus, this is where things are headed. Right? I won't be surprised if everything is streaming-based in a handful of years or so. Can't you see the ManningCast getting its own hub at one of the major streamers? Disney+, Hulu and Max just launched a bundle subscription package. Netflix, Apple TV+ and Peacock are aiming to follow suit. If you can just get in on those two bundles going forward, it's a win for everyone. As far as the NFL is concerned, the only hurdle for mass viewership is NFL Sunday Ticket, which resides on YouTube TV nowadays. The NFL and Netflix are the tip of the spear when it comes to forward-thinking paradigms about streaming and entertainment consumption. Whatever blowback there is in the near future about this Christmas Day partnership will blow over in short order. Because like, come on, everyone is going to subscribe to Netflix — if only to watch the NFL on Christmas. Another point of proof about why the NFL is king: Many of us will be on the edge of our seats tonight for the schedule release — despite some games already being revealed — waiting to find out which teams will play this Christmas Day.

Is Dale Earnhardt’s Widow, Teresa Earnhardt, Trying To Make Peace With Dale Jr?

Is this her way of extending an olive branch? The widow of the legendary Dale Earnhardt, there might not be anybody more hated by NASCAR fans than Teresa Earnhardt - and she hasn't even been involved in the sport in a decade. "The Wicked Witch of the South" hasn't done much to win over her late husband's fans - or his family - since the Intimidator's passing in the 2001 Daytona 500. Teresa was the third wife of Dale Earnhardt, and the stepmother to Dale Earnhardt Jr. And when Earnhardt tragically lost his life in the final turn of the Daytona 500, Teresa also inherited another role: NASCAR team owner. Dale Earnhardt had started his race team, Dale Earnhardt, Inc., in the 1980s to field cars for himself in the then-Busch Series. The team eventually grew into the Cup Series, and in 2000 he began fielding a car for his son, Dale Jr. Longtime NASCAR fans know how the story ends: With the sport’s most popular driver, Dale Earnhardt Jr., leaving the team his father built after a bitter (and public) battle with his stepmother over ownership in the company, and the team folding just a few years later (after Teresa said they would just "make another Dale Jr." if he left the team). It’s a saga that’s left many in the sport unwilling to even discuss Teresa Earnhardt. And when the fans discuss her, they usually don’t have many nice things to say. Teresa and her stepsons, Dale Jr. and his half-brother Kerry, have had a turbulent relationship to say the least. Aside from Dale Jr.’s battle with his stepmom over his dad’s race team, Teresa also filed a lawsuit against Kerry over his use of the Earnhardt name when Kerry announced plans to roll out a line of homes and furniture called “The Earnhardt Collection.” Then there was the commercial that Budweiser released to honor Earnhardt Jr. before his last race in the Cup Series. Fans quickly noticed that the commercial didn’t feature Jr.’s #8 on the car, or any of the trademarks of Dale’s DEI car that are still owned by Teresa, leading many to assume that Teresa refused to allow Budweiser to use the DEI trademarks in honoring Dale Jr. So yeah, Teresa hasn’t exactly endeared herself to Earnhardt’s sons – or their fans. But is she ready to finally try to make amends? Since Earnhardt's death, Teresa has controlled all things DEI, even after the race team folded after merging with Chip Ganassi Racing. And she still tightly polices the use of the intellectual property owned by the former race team, which now serves as basically a merchandise company. A few years ago Teresa did abandon the trademark to the #15 logo, the car driven by Michael Waltrip, that was owned by DEI. But until now she's kept the trademarks to the #1 and the #8, the other two car numbers that the race team put out onto the track. In fact, back in 2022 when Ross Chastain (who currently drives the #1 car) sported a Dale Earnhardt throwback paint scheme, his team was forced to change the font of the number on the car because it infringed on Teresa's trademark.

I mean saying it this way, Trackhouse in 2022 when Chastain drove the Dale Jr. No. 1 Coke Throwback... They tweaked the no. 1 to have their iconic Trackhouse slash on a DEI font which I find unique, and cool. But yet, it's unnecessary to sue the teams for using a font. Stupid. pic.twitter.com/T3KlKZXgva

— Steven Watters | Don't Tread on Me 🐍 (@SWattersRacing) April 25, 2024

So petty. Of course there's some history there too: Chastain drives for Trackhouse Racing. The president of Trackhouse is Ty Norris, a longtime NASCAR executive who served as the president of DEI until being unceremoniously dismissed by Teresa. So there's a lot of speculation that there's still some bad blood from Teresa towards Norris. Which brings us to today. The trademarks for both the #1 and the #8 logos used by DEI were set to expire next month, meaning that if they weren't renewed, Teresa's control over those logos would finally be released - and Dale Jr. could sell his own #8 merch featuring the car he's most famous for driving, or teams could run Dale Jr. throwback paint schemes without having to worry about a lawsuit. Well Teresa did file to renew the trademark...for the #1. Now, I'm not sure how much Steve Park merch is still flying off the shelves these days. But apparently Teresa wanted to keep the trademark for the #1, in what seems like a petty shot at Ty Norris since he's the president of the team that currently runs the #1 car. But even more interesting, Teresa has not yet filed to renew the trademark for Dale Jr.'s iconic #8. https://twitter.com/JackhammerJT/status/1789744108199673910 The current registration for the trademark is set to expire on June 3. After that time, DEI's registration of the mark will be cancelled and Dale Jr. will be free to use the number and font however he wants. Is that what she's planning on doing? Is this her way of extending an olive branch to her stepson? It's obviously a little odd that she wants to hold on to the #1 trademark but not the #8, considering Junior's number is much more valuable than the #1 of Steve Park. I mean, Dale Jr.'s #8 car was iconic, and he still remains one of the most popular figures in the sport. There's plenty of demand for Dale Jr. #8 merch, even though it's been 15 years since he drove the car. Of course she could also still be planning to renew the trademark before the deadline, which would be a pretty shitty move to make everybody think that she's going to let Junior have it and then file to renew it at the last minute. But then again, if she's willing to sue her own stepson over the use of his own name, I wouldn't put anything past her at this point. I guess we'll just have to wait and see.

Shed Hunter Looks Up To Find Monster Mountain Lion Staring Him Down

They say you can tell by what a predator is thinking by the look in their eyes. It’s a crazy thing to think about, being close enough to a notorious killer and being able to see the look in their eyes that tells you that you are possibly on the menu. Mountain lions operate like a thief in the night. They will come out of nowhere, quiet as a mouse, and wait for the right opportunity to absolutely ruin your life. They say don’t take your eyes off them because that’s when it's all over. Watching them hunt however is incredible in the few rare videos that pop up. They take down their prey almost instantaneously, grabbing ahold of their neck and going for a quick kill. They are massive and incredibly elusive, rarely being seen by humans, and that's purely by choice. The fact something can remain so hidden is scary on its own right. Typically, they avoid human interactions as much as they can. But, every once in a while, they come out and will even target us... Yikes. They also say if you do spot one, it's already seen you, and this man unfortunately had one of the most freighting encounters out there. He was out searching for deer sheds and setting up trail cams near Campbell River, British Columbia, Canada, when he felt like something was watching him. He was right... He looked up and spotted a cougar staring directly at him only about 60 feet away. The video shows the monster tom staring him down with a clear look of interest in its eyes. If you look close enough you can almost see the dinner bell ringing inside them. The cougar gets with 50 feet at certain points during this standoff, and the shed hunter attempts to scare the cougar off multiple times before he can finally sneak away completely unharmed. "I was out on a walk looking for shed antlers and setting trail cameras. I looked down at a shed antler and was taking pictures when I felt something watching me. I looked up to see the cougar starring at me at 20 meters. I attempted to scare the cougar away 3 times. The cougar returned and finally, after a 3rd attempt I was able to slowly walk out of the area to safety, no cougars were harmed." This one makes the old skin crawl a little bit just thinking about what could have happened. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=loYDhdNKw6U